I am wondering how successful HOTS will be. It's releasing next year according to the last conference call, but possibly beta this year. I am wondering how people feel about Blizzard, and purchasing the next part of the starcraft series. Will issues like clumping, balance, bnet 2.0 features, custom game interface etc push you away to other games?
Poll: Will you buy HOTS?
Yes (1279)
75%
Yes. if they improve _______ (bnet 2.0, gameplay, balance, custom games etc) (239)
14%
No. (143)
8%
(42)
2%
1703 total votes
Your vote: Will you buy HOTS?
(Vote): Yes (Vote): Yes. if they improve _______ (bnet 2.0, gameplay, balance, custom games etc) (Vote): No. (Vote):
Poll: Will you use the marketplace to buy premium maps?
No (1339)
94%
Yes (86)
6%
1425 total votes
Your vote: Will you use the marketplace to buy premium maps?
No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
this
i dont wanna buy a new game for $50+ just to play 20 UMS maps and get new units.
Of course I will buy HoTS, but I fail to see how you put balance under "issue", I like RTS games, SC2 is by an insane leap the best balanced game (excluding BW). When you ask the question "If not SC2, then what RTS?" you find out pretty much everyone will get HoTS.
I also buy games for the actual game, I got FB, myspace, twitter, MSN, yahoo, aim whatever for social stuff. Hope they fix the custom games system of course since it has been an awesome part of WC3 and BW (less so in SC2 due to well, it being bad). But that is still just a BONUS ontop of the actual RTS game.
SC2 is better than any other RTS on gameplay and balance so it is a pretty easy decision for an RTS loving fan.
Also everyone that wants to ladder will be buying HoTS; I see a lot of "no's" above me, but either you only play custom, or you will be buying HoTS.
I will buy HOTS no matter what but I really hope some of the units are removed or changed dramatically for battlenet gameplay. Obviously battlenet 2.0 would be a great addition.
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
You can to this day play warcraft ROC, but practicly everyone that plays WC3 plays TFT, will be just the same with SC2. But of course if you don't mind playing against bots it is fine.
I voted for the blank option because I'm using that as an "other". I'm not sure yet whether I'll buy HotS, will probably reserve judgement until I see how good the campaign is and how people enjoy the multiplayer aspects. I don't play Sc2 much anymore anyways so I'll see whether demos or previews for HotS pique my interest.
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
Somebody doesnt want to learn how to play TvZ without having to camp mass thors.
It's a given that you will be required to have HotS before you can attach legacy of the void to the account since they are stacked expansions.
I personally think that having 2 different ladders for WoL and HotS is really stupid because then you end up with a divide of players and it will make tournaments have to choose or do both ladders.
I will buy the expansions, as all the tournaments/personalities are. I will probably play WoL from time to time though because HotS looks absolutely horrendous.
On February 20 2012 01:15 ODKStevez wrote: I personally think that having 2 different ladders for WoL and HotS is really stupid because then you end up with a divide of players and it will make tournaments have to choose or do both ladders.
If there wasn't two ladders then it would be not letting people play a game they payed for. And plus everyone would complain.
I will buy it regardless, unless they do stupid stupid shit which will just fuck up the entire game and make everyone quit, as long as everyone else continues to play then I will.
I am going to buy HotS because of the single player. It was the only reason why I played BW (granted I was only like 9-10 at the time) and single player was the main reason I bought WoL
What? Are maps going to have to be purchased from now on, or is OP speculating? I've been thoroughly disappointed in the quality of Blizzard's maps, there is no way I'd pay extra money for them. I'd rather pay actual people from the community for maps like Cloud Kingdom, or other cool customs that take 20x more time to make than it took to blindly throw together a map like Blistering Sands.
I don't see what the point is. Starcraft 2 isn't even that great to mod and play around with because of the shitty battle.net limitations. The engine is fine in theory but battle.net isn't, and the popularity system is terrible and the regions having different maps is terrible, and it's just all terrible. It doesn't seem suited to breed a creative marketplace so why even have a market. Blizz are just wasting their time if they're seriously developing this marketplace idea. They should concentrate on adding the spectator features that Dota 2 has, which would be smart imo but they won't do it.
Here's the thing. Blizzard is relying on our commitment and love for the game to buy the expansions (that's an opinion and a generalization, obviously not necessarily fact).
Old Blizzard in my opinion would have relied THEIR own quality production and reasonable game release to bring us in. I wouldn't have touched SC2 with a pole if it wasn't for how much I had enjoyed the original. They banked on that, they got it and now that its gone HOTS isn't a forgeone conclusion but a struggle whether I want to see what I've waited so long all the way through or quit.
Maybe, wont buy it on launch, Im gona whait a little bit to se how it pans out or I will play the BETA and then decide. If I had a milion cash I would definetly buy it, but I dont soooo.
Hope they balance burrowed banelings, that sounds like a really good map control unit and make the viper cloud bigger and last way longer, but most importently REMOVE UNIT CLUMPING but thats not gona happen
I'll get HOTS just because that will be the new game. WOL will probably not be patched anymore and left alone. HOTS will have all the tournaments and patches. Plus for the amount of time I have/do put into SC2, $50 is a good deal. I might buy some of the custom maps - will have to see the price and how good the map is. The only WOL map I would even consider buying is Squadron Tower Defense cause I love it.
As a matter of a personal opinion, I can't help but disagree with many of Blizzard's game design decisions and the goals they want to achieve with certain changes, so no, ain't gonna buy HotS, and as I can understand their reasoning, probably won't buy LotV either.
It depends on the competitive scene for me. I'll only play the game the the pro's play. If Heart of the Swarm is too goofyt o balance, the pros will play WOL (which is looking like the case....replicators...)
Even blizzard said that they expected the pro scene to stay with WOL for a while.
Frankly, I'd rather go back and play BW on Fish Server than deal with bnet 0.2 for 2 more years. HOTS neeeeeeds to be a huge revamp of a lot of sc2 in order to keep its fan base. If HOTS is as big of a let down as it is sizing up to be, then LOTV will have a hard time getting purchased since most people will quit sc or go back to brood war.
The new units look poorly thought out, the new 'features' are things that should have been included from release, and there isn't any sign of Activision changing the UI/Chat. I can only hope that they change their course, because atm HOTS looks like it will be the starcraft killer for a lot of people...
i will buy HOTS if they make some changes to the units they showed at blizzcon. i'm not gonna play with replicators, those terrible 'harrassment' units that i cant remember the name of, or without carriers.
I honestly don't care about battlenet 2.0 at all and I don't understand why its such an issue for people. I have enough social networking experiences throughout my day with fb and teamliquid that it makes no difference whatsoever. Why do i like starcraft? because the matchmaking system finds opponents quickly, there is little hassle between logging on and finding a match, and it offers a great gaming engine. I can go online and immerse myself in the starcraft community on multiple websites, I don't really have a demand for another outlet.
After reading all the posts in this thread I'm starting to consider not buying it... >.<
I agree that the multiplayer "improvements" suck ass in the most dramatic way, but I've always been holding onto the hope that a lot is gonna change with them before they're done. Hopefully I'll get in beta and then by the end of that be able to make an informed decision off of that...
Not even a slight fan of WoL singleplayer, so I won't be buying HotS for that.
I bought WoL on release and I'm pretty sure I won't do the same with HoTS. I don't spend nearly enough time with the game anymore to justify buying right away...
I will just play the HOTS mod that is an exact replica of the expansion, and then use custom ladder.
Saved 30€ or whatever they plan to charge. Downsides? None. Upsides? Better ladder, and map pool. Now that it saves you money enough people should be motivated enough to use it.
Kind of disappointing that there's such a large number of people that will unconditionally buy HotS. I wouldn't categorize WoL as a failure, but I would say its deeply flawed and blizzard has demonstrated that they don't understand how to handle game design. That, and the fact that dota2 has sucked me in means blizzard will have to release a damn fine game for me to consider buying an expansion.
I beg of all of you guys who are not fully satisfied with WoL to buy HOTS until it gets the patch updates ( if it doesnt have from the start ) that are required to really enjoy the UI .
On February 20 2012 01:03 dacthehork wrote: I am wondering how successful HOTS will be. It's releasing next year according to the last conference call, but possibly beta this year.
Where did they say this? If it's true, they are sure taking their time. I thought it was supposed to be released ~18 months after WoL.
On February 20 2012 01:55 Sea_Food wrote: I will just play the HOTS mod that is an exact replica of the expansion, and then use custom ladder.
I don't think there's gonna be a custom ladder since it's against Blizzard's ToS.
I will buy HotS on release. However, if they do not address the game design/balance issues with HotS, and improve on Battle.net, I will no consider LotV.
On February 20 2012 01:19 SkelA wrote: I wonder if you could play multiplayer on HOTS for example if you havent bought it but you got WOL?
I got WOL as a gift but havent played it much and dont really plan to buy HOTS so just curious ^^
No, you won't be able to. If that was the case then the only real stuff we would be buying would be the single player and other random content. I could see most of the yeses in the poll being nos simply because they would still get to play multiplayer, without paying for more.
I won't spent a cent on the marketplace thing because 1) the custom map system is terrible and 2) I fully expect any popular paid maps to be shamelessly copied and put up for free and I have no faith in blizzard to do a good enough job to stop it from happening.
If there were a 3rd option like "Depending on the quality of the content", I think you'd get a more accurate census on actual opinions. Personally, I voted "No"... because I'm simply not going to go crazy and BUY BUY BUY on the marketplace. However, if there were to become an extremely popular custom game that's got a full dev team and a very unique playstyle, I'd CONSIDER buying it. If anything, my FEW purchases on the Marketplace would be VERY situational and strongly depend on whether or not the content in question would be worth anything in terms of replayability. No, I won't be dropping $2 or whatever on every stupid custom game some kid learning how to play with the galaxy editor makes. Not in this economy...
I'm gonna buy it but i wish there was an option for guys like me who don't care about the extra single player -_- i just want the new units, unless of course WoL can still be played and you don't need to have HoTS then i might buy it and LoTV together in a bundle.
Holy BALLS Blizzard, please fix your terrible and ineptly designed custom game interface, it's so bad it makes me want to cry. BW customs were legitimately the most fun I ever had playing any game, SC2 should be right there but the system completely limits the development of new custom games.
Of course I'll buy HotS. If previous Blizzard expansions are any indication there will be huge differences and (most likely) improvements. Plus I'll have to if I want to stay competitive.
I will probably cave and buy HotS. However, if they make no strides to making this game more social and fixing their god awful interface, I'm going to get bored very quickly and will most likely not buy the Third Expansion, whenever that is years after HotS.
it pisses me off that people are gonna buy HOTS no matter what bliz does with it. Their actions are what allow blizzard to get away with putting C&C shit in SC2.
OP is full of bullshit, nothing was said about HotS release date on the conference call. The only info was that Blizzard plans to release at least 2 titles this year.
On February 20 2012 02:34 DyEnasTy wrote: it pisses me off that people are gonna buy HOTS no matter what bliz does with it. Their actions are what allow blizzard to get away with putting C&C shit in SC2.
It goes for any product, really. Its pretty dumb to decide whether to buy something without knowing anything about the game, on the basis of branding alone.
On February 20 2012 02:34 DyEnasTy wrote: it pisses me off that people are gonna buy HOTS no matter what bliz does with it. Their actions are what allow blizzard to get away with putting C&C shit in SC2.
What? SC2 is an awesome game. While I've been highly critical of their overall balance and game design (such as creating units like the Viking and Corrupter that can deny the viability of the Stargate and Robo tech tree at the same time) it is an incredible game and Blizzard makes good games.
Blizzard is the only company I pre-buy games from, because since WC1, they have release quality products that have been worth far more than ~$50 to me (never bought/played WOW, too cheap to pay monthly for any game, but one time is fee is fine for years of play). If I buy one bad game, I'm still way ahead of Blizzard as far as I am concerned in terms of value, though I'd stop pre-buying their products.
On February 20 2012 02:50 Ben... wrote: I'll buy the game itself but there's no way I'm buying any of the marketplace stuff. I never buy DLC for any games.
I'm feeling the same way.
Maybe in LoL, which is F2P, I might consider buying RP, but paying for a $40 expansion to a $60 dollar game, which sold millions, I expect a premium service that doesn't rely on micro-transactions.
I will buy HotS. I will probably not buy premium maps. I suppose if something is good enough I *might* but I mainly play ladder, and I have to assume all ladder pool maps will be free.
In the past I would've said I will 100% be buying it no matter what. Every passing day I can see myself going without it and not caring about it though. I just hate to support a company that is doing such an absolutely terrible job with bnet.
If you look at the history of Blizzard, they have a track record of expansions that significantly improve games and really allow them to take off. They usually don't disapoint, even if it is pricey.
Let's be honest, we all know what we are playing now is basically like the most complete beta of all time, just like Starcraft was before Broodwar(for those that played original SC and not BW, you'll know that the game was pretty horrible). Blizzard isn't dumb, they know we will buy the expansion. They are the master of the carrot, keep you wanting just a bit more. I'm not dumb either, I know the expansion will be great and improve the game dramatically just like their expansions for all previous games have done(although I don't play WoW and I know some of the later expansions weren't great but I know the early were).
So yeah, I'll buy it. Yeah they'll get my $50. And yeah HotS and the following expansion will improve the game dramatically. It is easy to say "Yeah it is just a few units, who cares." But it is amazing how much just a few changes and units can do.
Pretty mutch a no brainer.. I'm going to buy it on release... as fast as possible!!
I don't get how can someone buy any new game and then say starcraft, a game which they probably played more than 500 hours and watched like 1000+ hours, is not worth 50$
On February 20 2012 01:17 Flamingo777 wrote: What? Are maps going to have to be purchased from now on, or is OP speculating? I've been thoroughly disappointed in the quality of Blizzard's maps, there is no way I'd pay extra money for them. I'd rather pay actual people from the community for maps like Cloud Kingdom, or other cool customs that take 20x more time to make than it took to blindly throw together a map like Blistering Sands.
The map marketplace will be for community-created maps. Blizzard decided to do this to help support and encourage mapmakers, and I'm sure Blizzard will make a decent amount of money from it too.
While I'm not 100% satisfied with every aspect of the game I myself love stuff like the smooth pathing which a lot people (or maybe just a vocal minority?) have a problem with. I want multiple building selection, I appreciate being able to have huge unit control groups, I love the custom key system (apart from the missing creep tumor key!) and so on and so forth. I don't want this game to be Broodwar 2 and I agree with just about all bigger design decisions. There's a lot to do when you go into detail with single units and balance, but even in that regard I think Bizzard did a pretty good job so far.
BNet2.0 needs improvements, no doubt, but for me isn't worse than say Warcraft 3. The only real issue is the fucked up market place / map distribution and I hope they'll allow a Wc3 like system as alternative but either way, not too big of a deal for me.
The singleplayer just destroys ever other RTS anyways, so I won't delve into that.
Hell if I would consider Starcraft 2 not worthy of my money, then I may just as well quit gaming right this second. Because to me, "top titles" like Mass Effect, Bioshock, The Witcher etc. are jokes when compared to Starcraft 2 or really any Blizzard title. Let's not even talk about the RTS genre on its one. There aren't even any other RTSs being released that I consider worth playing nowadays (which is a pity because the genre has been fantastic a decade back).
On February 20 2012 03:15 FLuE wrote: If you look at the history of Blizzard, they have a track record of expansions that significantly improve games and really allow them to take off. They usually don't disapoint, even if it is pricey.
Let's be honest, we all know what we are playing now is basically like the most complete beta of all time, just like Starcraft was before Broodwar(for those that played original SC and not BW, you'll know that the game was pretty horrible). Blizzard isn't dumb, they know we will buy the expansion. They are the master of the carrot, keep you wanting just a bit more. I'm not dumb either, I know the expansion will be great and improve the game dramatically just like their expansions for all previous games have done(although I don't play WoW and I know some of the later expansions weren't great but I know the early were).
So yeah, I'll buy it. Yeah they'll get my $50. And yeah HotS and the following expansion will improve the game dramatically. It is easy to say "Yeah it is just a few units, who cares." But it is amazing how much just a few changes and units can do.
You are true but blizz have really gone down the shitter since. If we look at the units that were introduced in brood war we have units such as
-Medic -Lurker -DARK FUCKING TEMPLAR
I mean these units actually are good whereas the replicator... that is such a cop out of a unit.
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
this
i dont wanna buy a new game for $50+ just to play 20 UMS maps and get new units.
umm i am sure that am kinda sure that HOTS will not be 50$
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
I dont think that it will be possible if you want to play full multiplayer.
OFCI buy every blizz game without question. They are all good and they still make games for PC while most make them for console and they feel like it then port them to PC. Like I have 20 mods on skyrim to make it finally PC centric. Plus I like the changes I heard about in hots.
On February 20 2012 01:04 Talin wrote: No, I will skip HOTS and buy the last expansion (if possible, if not then I will buy both HOTS and the last expansion a few months after last expansion is released).
I'll play WoL for as long as it's possible to do so.
considering how long it is taking for HoTS to come out i doubt they even started on the last expansion yet. which mean we might not see LoTV untill 2016 at the earliest....
I'll probably be late to the party. I actually kinda enjoy the single player, even though I'm not really into the lore. It's still just cool to me. I had the pleasure of actually being able to beat campaign (god sc1 campaign was hard without cheats), although the driving factor would be multiplayer. I think I can wait for some strategies to be fixed, major patches to come through (1 food roach?) before I start investing in it
I think HOTS will be a better game than WOL in terms of balance and fun. Therefore of couse i'm going to buy HOTS as soon as it's available on the market.
I'll buy my digital copy of HOTS for the campaign. However, I think we are getting ripped off as consumers since they are just re-making a campagin with little graphical enhancements and give us a few new units they were will proberley make in their own map editor and add into ladder.
What can do about? Wine yea, like that will do much
On February 20 2012 05:09 Sergio1992 wrote: Wanna bet , anyway , that this game will cost 60 dollars?
How much?
How much will Heart of the Swarm cost? We typically don’t provide details about pricing until the game is closer to release. We do view Heart of the Swarm as an expansion set, so for the regions that have a standard box business model such as North America and Europe, we will price accordingly. For other regions that have alternative business models, we’ll provide details at a later date.
OFC i will buy HOTS. Blizzard has never released anything bad (well i haven't tried cataclysm and on wow expansions so can't say anything about them) and so far HOTS looks good imo. Skill cap is irrelevant until pro level since nobody is even near it if he isn't near pro level so for me it doesn't matter and having tried both starcrafts i prefer starcraft 2. In Hots the match-ups will probably get more dynamic as blizzard changes stuff for the better. Sure not all of the ideas for hots presented for us at blizzcon were great, but surely maybe 70-80% of them will be drastically alterned/removed (just look at the development process of Diablo 3)
No, but I will consider it if they improve bnet & make significant changes to the game. Knowing Blizzard though, they'll stick to what they think the game should be, which will be close to what WoL is now. A game with perfectly defined counter systems, uninspiring units, and deathballs. They've been incredibly resistant to the community feedback (except perhaps balance) for WoL, and there's no sign that's going to change in the future. If HOTS is just more of the same with different skin, I won't be touching it.
edit: Oh and the whole marketplace & 'premium map' business just reeks of greed. No one in their right mind is going to pay for maps. Please wake the fuck up Blizzard. You're embarrassing yourself.
I'll buy hots, but probably only because it is a starcraft. The WoL terribly disappointed me. I hope that proves to be a game dota2 have been waiting for. Besides, still continues to play BW
I'll end up buying it, but I really do hope they change some of the ideas they had for it as well as changing this whole BNet 2.0 nonsense. BNet 1.0 is infinitely better.
On February 20 2012 05:31 Fusa wrote: From my understanding HotS will be the last of the B-Net expansions, which means the third expansion will only be there for (single player).
So with that said I would be buying the HotS and still uncertain about purchasing the "third installment"
What? I would like a source that last expansion will only be there for balance.
Why shouldn't I buy it? I mean I play starcraft 2 that's why I search this forum for posts like this lol.
It doesn't mean I will have to play it. I can still play classic. To be honest I like classic more. I love carriers... I dislike shredders and I realy realy dislike the new zerg unit Viper, that can cast CLOUD... which is too strong - no casting and no (ranged) damage from units in the cloud.. I mean we have the deathball in Sc2. This is not Starcraft 1.
Then I agree with Daudr.. balanced game pls! And a one-time 50$ is realy not much. Especially looking at W.o.W. where you have to pay every month to use your expansion of the game.. Not to mention that you sometimes don't play the game because there are other games too.. I like to play rpg-games besides of starcraft like skyrim or diablo.
Why is everyone asuming its gonna be $50? All the WoW expansions were 35€? What would make HotS different than a WoW expansion?
Will buy it, even tough I know im gonna be a beta-tester for few months. These games wont achieve perfect balance even with heavy beta-testings when they are released. Someone who thinks different has no clue.
On February 20 2012 05:56 stfouri wrote: Why is everyone asuming its gonna be $50? All the WoW expansions were 35€? What would make HotS different than a WoW expansion?
Will buy it, even tough I know im gonna be a beta-tester for few months. These games wont achieve perfect balance even with heavy beta-testings when they are released. Someone who thinks different has no clue.
Hm everyone..only one was assuming its 50 bucks. Like 10€ difference to 35€, yea 35€ is more logical of course.
Not even starcraft 2 classic has the "perfect balance", so how can we expect perfect balance at the start of an expansion? we just expressed our wish that they work on balance and create a balanced game. The vote doesn't imply "balanced" as perfect state. It's about the process adapting to the current progress of players and strategies. For example snipe was never told to be imbalanced but now where Zerg is using alot of Massive T3 units and ghosts begin to shine. Blizzard is adapting. That's what we wish should go on - and maybe faster... but not so extreme, in my opinnion .. -2 range on infestors.. now +2 range on phoenix, that's all too big.
Ps: Hm other Rtsgames... I tried the new Anno but I won't buy it.
want campaign now *drools* (those imba zerg evolution) ... and bit sad about the 20 mission and want to bite people. But alone for Muradin i would buy HotS.
About the market place thing, i am not saying no, but i don't think there would be much i would pay for.
On February 20 2012 05:56 stfouri wrote: Why is everyone asuming its gonna be $50? All the WoW expansions were 35€? What would make HotS different than a WoW expansion?
Will buy it, even tough I know im gonna be a beta-tester for few months. These games wont achieve perfect balance even with heavy beta-testings when they are released. Someone who thinks different has no clue.
100% will definitely buy HOTS even if they don't improve balance/custom games/bnet 2.0 social features. I want the single player and will probably continue playing ladder.
I will buy HOTS, but not play the single player game. I wish I could save some money and not even get the campaign part of the game.
I don't even play the campaign why can't I just pay for multiplayer features.
I've played like two campaign missions total for Starcraft. That was for Starcraft 1 and it was like two Terran missions. I got bored and started playing ICCUP after that.
On February 20 2012 05:56 stfouri wrote: Why is everyone asuming its gonna be $50? All the WoW expansions were 35€? What would make HotS different than a WoW expansion?
Will buy it, even tough I know im gonna be a beta-tester for few months. These games wont achieve perfect balance even with heavy beta-testings when they are released. Someone who thinks different has no clue.
35 Euros is roughly 46 US dollars
Expansions are always priced the same in $ and €. He means it's 35$ in the US and €35 in Europe.
Of course I will. Playing the same game for a couple years can get pretty dull, as there are only so many strategies you can do before every race knows how to respond to every single one of them. The metagame will eventually run dry, and the expansion will refresh the metagame so new strategies can be inovated.
On February 20 2012 05:28 MHT wrote: Am i missing something? What marketplace? Premium maps what is all this crap?
the premium marketplace allows map makers to upload there UMS maps to it and they have to be payed for.
To be clear, these are custom maps, not ladder maps. From everything I have read, the ladder maps will always be free.
I am fine with the market place. It has little to no effect on 1v1 match ups it allows creative people to make cool stuff and sell it. Also, it allow Blizzard to get more money from SC2, which allows them to justify supporting it more.
On February 20 2012 06:13 Golgotha wrote: .....of course we will buy it....im sorry but i dont know why this is a question
Well obviously some people don't share your opinion, so there is reasoning behind this question. It's not secret HOTS looks lacking (if not downright bad) in some areas, and a lot of people don't have enough money where they can throw it towards something they might not like.
I'll definitely buy the game...I still consider Blizzard to be one of the very best even if they have things they can improve on. Expansions have always been good for their games. After BC in WoW you can argue that expansions were worthless but nevertheless, it's a cash cow that they will keep milking until Titan is out. I won't purchase content from the marketplace unless someone creates something awesome. It's a good idea to help community creators make money and give Blizzard supplemental income.
The units in HotS look good for the most part, although Protoss need something instead of the Replicant that is less gimmicky. I think tweaking the Zerg/Terran units/upgrades will result in improvement for both races with what we've seen so far. Again, Protoss will need to be tweaked but given the way WoL has been balanced so far, I have faith in their ability to make good decisions and improve the race. They still have one more expansion after this, they can't afford to mess this one up if they want to fulfill this game's potential to grow. Even if you consider them fallen to the evil corporate ways of greed, they can't make all of their wonderful cash without the player base intact. Rest assured the game will be worth the money or they'll be hard-pressed to make another dollar off of many of us.
I am genuinely baffled by the constant complaints about things like chat windows, clan tags, user interface, custom games etc. I bought WoL to play ladder games, and it works just fine.
On February 20 2012 06:43 drop271 wrote: I am genuinely baffled by the constant complaints about things like chat windows, clan tags, user interface, custom games etc. I bought WoL to play ladder games, and it works just fine.
The problem is that 90% der sc2 user have played wc3 or sc1 with awesome battle.net 1.0. Without experience from it, they cant baffled about battle.net 2.0. You haven't probably played sc1 or wc3.
I'm really afraid Blizzard is just going to do something like take all the popular maps and make them premium maps. After all Blizzard owns all the maps that get uploaded, so it's not like the map creators opinion will matter. So I'm definitely going to wait a few months after release and see how it all plays out (and I want a better battle.net first)
I'll definitely be buying HotS and LotV. Probably as soon as each of them comes out. And I don't mind waiting for Blizzard to make each one as perfect as possible either.
I won't be buying custom maps for extra money though. It's not something I personally care enough about.
The multiplayer units make me sick, however, I'm sure Blizzard knows what they are doing. I think that anyone who is interested in staying with the sc2 scene at all absolutely must buy this expansion.
Of course I'll be buying HOTS, but custom maps and shit? Haha no thanks. I haven't even bought anything from the TF2 store, despite everyone and their mother buying infinite hats. lol
On February 20 2012 05:28 MHT wrote: Am i missing something? What marketplace? Premium maps what is all this crap?
Marketplace which was renamed to Arcade is the main? battle.net 'improvement' for HOTS (will be patched into vanilla too). In early concepts 'Arcade' button replaces 'multiplayer' button in Bnet UI so the marketplace can be accessed as easy as possible. Current 'multiplayer' button will be combined with 'single player' button. So to start a ladder game you might need couple of more clicks.
For more information you can view the Blizzcon 2011 panel regarding the Arcade:
Of course I'll buy HotS as soon as it comes out. I've spent so many good hours on WoL, it's just dirt cheap when you think of it. Not only am I looking forward to the campain and new multiplayer units, I also want to support Blizzard to investing so much time and money in this game series.
On February 20 2012 05:28 MHT wrote: Am i missing something? What marketplace? Premium maps what is all this crap?
Marketplace which was renamed to Arcade is the main? battle.net 'improvement' for HOTS (will be patched into vanilla too). In early concepts 'Arcade' button replaces 'multiplayer' button in Bnet UI so the marketplace can be accessed as easy as possible. Current 'multiplayer' button will be combined with 'single player' button. So to start a ladder game you might need couple of more clicks.
I'll probably end up buying if just for the campaign and new heroes. Being able to buy/sell premium maps doesnt sound like a bad idea as long as they are relatively cheap and of high quality. Although it might be hard to moderate which maps get to be sold and the prices for them.
On February 20 2012 06:43 drop271 wrote: I am genuinely baffled by the constant complaints about things like chat windows, clan tags, user interface, custom games etc. I bought WoL to play ladder games, and it works just fine.
The problem is that 90% der sc2 user have played wc3 or sc1 with awesome battle.net 1.0. Without experience from it, they cant baffled about battle.net 2.0. You haven't probably played sc1 or wc3.
But b.net 2.0 has way fewer drop than any other RTS in the last 10 years. There was nothing worse in Company of Heroes to be winning and have someone just pull the cord to get a DC instead of a loss.
Why isn't there a maybe/depends on maps option for the premium maps? While I wouldn't pay for any of the maps that are out there right now, I could see myself paying for extraordinary maps or mods where I could be sure of continued support (I think Blizzard has to implement some kind of refund service in case the modder no longer updates the map when it gets bugged through patches etc.).
And I'll buy HOTS for sure, mainly for the campaign.
Oh probably just because my cousin is going to give it one more shot with HotS. Chances are unless they increase the micro potential of units, I'll be back to iCCup once I'm through the campaign. But I'll definitely give it another chance. But none of the DLC for me.
I have to say the 'Blizzard can do no wrong' attitude is kinda gone.
i will buy no matter what. i would even buy it if it were 100$. i played hundreds of hours of sc2, if i play just a fifth of that in hots it would be still worth it
Yes, I will be buying HotS since most players will be transferring over to there. I'm not really sure about the premium arcade games, though. Unless it's actually worth my money and it looks really fun, then I probably won't be buying those. I really hope that the UI isn't the same though, or else that will be a really big turnoff for me.
I've given this thought serious consideration since my UI discussion thread took off, and I must say that I'm at the point where I actually won't buy HotS if the game and especially the interface don't see any improvements.
Every Blizzard game so far I've always enjoyed, from Warcraft 1 to WoW. But I do not enjoy SC2. Despite my inner fanboy crying out at the idea, I have to admit that getting an addon for a game I'm no longer having fun with is a waste of money. I have noone left playing this game with me thanks to everything Blizzard did wrong with it anyway.
I'll get Diablo 3, not going to kid myself there. But HotS? No. What for?
No, i wont because Blizzard keeps ignoring the players criticisms. No LAN, i'm sure no b.net2.0, no freedom to change his name, no clan support etc etc... And monetizing UMS and maps, what a GREAT improvement! They're going too far this time, i'm out.
Ah who am I kidding... I'll buy HOTS. There are very few games that can keep me entertained as long as a good competitive RTS made by Blizzard. I'll buy HOTS but that's it. I won't spend a dime on that freaking marketplace. Whole idea just seems bad and a ripoff.
not surprising that 90% of the people on TL will, now if this was a more general forum, that would be interesting.
Oh also the "Premium" maps make me laugh, by the time HoTS comes out there will be more than enough people who can use the editor to make better maps, i mean hell even now the tournament maps are better than mpap pool
On February 20 2012 07:45 Sergio1992 wrote: Don't say me people were satisfied of WOL campaign :|
The story was way too limited in scope and the characters were flat and generic, but I thought the actual gameplay was quite fun. The branching story tree, different tech paths, multiple difficulty levels and numerous achievements gave WoL quite a bit of replay value.
I think the new Arcade interface that they showed off at the last Blizzcon looks really nice and intuitive. UMS-specific ladders, review ratings, and chat channels really look like a significant improvement over the current system. Hopefully, the algorithm that they use to calculate the "hot" and "up and coming" custom games is decent, and hopefully the map-specific ladder will be useful for a lot of community-made maps. Matchmaking on Daybreak would be a blast, IMO.
If the Arcade comes with HotS only, then so be it. I'm probably going to get that expansion assuming that I'm still playing the game and following the scene, which I plan on doing in the long term since IMO SC2 is really fun to play and watch. If Arcade also in integrated with WoL, then that would be even better.
I wanna see some improvements, especially to battlenet. I haven't even finished the WoL campaign and don't plan to so if it's just a campaign and a couple of gimmicky units like the replicator then they won't get my money. edit: oh and about the marketplace thing, no I won't and don't see the point. I hate dlc and micro-transactions with a passion.
I don't think there needs to be a pool about getting hots on a sc2 site..
The marketplace on the other hand, I won't use it, I don't play this game for UMS and for standard play community maps are better than anything blizz could come up with anyways.
Of course i'm gonna buy HOTS. I'd buy it just for the single player, i'm kinda curious how the story continues. And obviously its worth it's money for the multiplayer, some cool new units.
I won't be buying any premium maps. I dont think this premium stuff is gonna work out anyway. The most popular UMS maps are relatively simple games, lots of tower defense, tug-of-war, dota stuff. If some of those decided to go premium, it would only be a matter of time before some enthusiasts create a clone for free. In order for premium stuff to work, it would have to be complex games with lots of custom art work.
I'm happy to get HOTS, I don't have any problem buying the game since $50 doesn't really hurt me very much at all and I want to play the campaign and be able to play online with the new units etc. That's all fine to me. As for the premium maps/marketplace I am a little undecided but the way I look at it I think I would spend money on them if they were really well made or were special maps (cool tower defence etc) that I would get a lot of play out of. This would be especially true if the map making organisations out there or solo map-makers were getting a cut of the fees because I think it would be good to be able to support them in some way.
On February 20 2012 01:15 ODKStevez wrote: I personally think that having 2 different ladders for WoL and HotS is really stupid because then you end up with a divide of players and it will make tournaments have to choose or do both ladders.
every blizzard RTS has done this. the division of players always results in the expansion being the vast majority and the predecessor being a small minority.
I certainly won't buy it right away. Instead, I'll wait and see if Blizzard manages to bring battlenet at least up to par with what we had in BW, and then wait and see how the matchups change with the new units. If the game is improved by it, then I'll get it. If not, I give up on SC2 and move on to other things.
I voted yes, but I really hope that they are not going to be selling this expansion for anything more than 50 bucks... Not buying the "premium" maps though that is just silly
On February 20 2012 01:17 Flamingo777 wrote: What? Are maps going to have to be purchased from now on, or is OP speculating? I've been thoroughly disappointed in the quality of Blizzard's maps, there is no way I'd pay extra money for them. I'd rather pay actual people from the community for maps like Cloud Kingdom, or other cool customs that take 20x more time to make than it took to blindly throw together a map like Blistering Sands.
it's funny that when people's opinion of balance gets introduced, maps go from being meticulously made to being thrown together in an instant. I hate to say it, but whatever your opinion of a certain map, time and effort went into it. Just like winning an engagement doesn't make it a 'timing attack', and losing an engagement doesn't mean you're an idiot who decided to throw units away.
On February 20 2012 09:55 Kammalleri wrote: What are premium maps? Maps that blizzard actually put effort in or the best map in the community?
Sounds like a dumb idea, but yes I'd buy HotS, looking forward to the campaign and keep having fun with the multiplayer as usual.
Premium maps are maps made by the community who are thinking that it's worth money that they made it. Blizzard will not sell maps on that one, it's a tool for developer to invest a lot of time to create awesome maps and modes like Dota etc.
Search at youtube, there are already tons of good looking projects like whole games etc. Such things will be there I think.
Judging by how I feel about WoL right now and how far HOTS is I probably won't buy it unless there are staggering improvements made to... anything and everything really.
It'll take more than a new campaign and a couple new multiplayer units.
I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
Yup HOTS is a day 1 buy for me (at midnight :D). ^_^. I won't buy anything from the marketplace as from what I know once they do release the market place is that it's just for custom maps not 1v1 maps or anything.
On February 20 2012 10:19 MilesTeg wrote: I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
you realize you're not a hipster if you don't waste money? i'm sure you have a ipad also.
On February 20 2012 10:19 MilesTeg wrote: I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
i'm here because i like to talk trash about blizzards why of handling things not because i love the game and enjoy playing it.
No reason not to buy it. I enjoy SC2 alot, and HotS is just a natural extension of it. Single player is awesome, multiplayer interface could use some work, multiplayer itself is awesome, game's pretty good yo.
I feel like marketplace is seriously great idea - just think about something similar in Warcraft 3. There were so many awesome maps, but a lot of people just didnt know about them. Same in SC2 actually. Nice move from Blizz to support custom maps developers. Just need to make sure, that there will be option to see the rating and popularity of those maps before buying them. So to answer to the OP, yes I will buy HotS and yes I will buy maps from marketplace.
I will buy HOTS because I'm bored with WoL, and because I wanna know what will happen to the characters I've come to love. If people are buying HOTS expecting major balance fixes, I'm sure they'll be very disappointed, because WoL is out for what? 2 years already? And balance problems are still a main concern. I really don't see HOTS fixing anything that should be fixed. If I could, I'd buy Legacy of the Void a few years AFTER its release, so that I wouldn't suffer very much because of imbalance.
On February 20 2012 10:19 MilesTeg wrote: I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
you realize you're not a hipster if you don't waste money? i'm sure you have a ipad also.
On February 20 2012 10:19 MilesTeg wrote: I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
What a stupid post. So if someone doesn't want to throw money at something they think looks bad they're a hipster now?
On February 20 2012 10:19 MilesTeg wrote: I just cannot believe the number of hipster teamliquiders who say they will not buy it... really didn't expect that. Personnally I'd buy it even if they charged 100 bucks.
you realize you're not a hipster if you don't waste money? i'm sure you have a ipad also.
I'm not sure how choosing not to buy something makes one a hipster either. I'm getting HOTS, but I'm sure people have reasons for not buying it other than for the hipster reason of it being "mainstream". lol.
Meh, kind of losing interest with these short short seasons...Don't play enough to have much sense of progress and then the new season keeps wiping my points...As I have work and other stuff I like to do in my free time, I don't really feel like having to play a game as much as possible.
Also, it's taking very long to come out and there is very little news about it. Not really feeling too hyped up any more to buy it day 1. I'll evaluate when it rolls around.
On February 20 2012 11:04 SonOfBoxer wrote: I will buy HOTS because I'm bored with WoL, and because I wanna know what will happen to the characters I've come to love. If people are buying HOTS expecting major balance fixes, I'm sure they'll be very disappointed, because WoL is out for what? 2 years already? And balance problems are still a main concern. I really don't see HOTS fixing anything that should be fixed. If I could, I'd buy Legacy of the Void a few years AFTER its release, so that I wouldn't suffer very much because of imbalance.
Think of the most cliche storyline you can think off, thats SC2 plot. And I bet the trend will continue on the following expansions.
I won't buy HotS because I regret to have bought WoL, and HotS looks just as bad.
I will buy HOTS the day it comes out. I have never played a game as good as SC2 and I feel they deserve $30 for their expansion.
Will I buy premium maps? HELL NO. This is blizzard trying to squeeze in DLC. Activision proved it is a good way to milk your audience. If someone wants to make a map they should not be expecting to get anything for it.
I will wait for a bit, and depends on the beta(if I get access)/impressions of people. I prefer playing brood war currently, it just is more fun imo, but WoL was a pretty good game. I just hope they dont do things like remove the carrier, and put the a-move thing inside, instead of making the carrier fit in. It isnt an automatic buy.
I completely gave up on the story after WoL, I just didnt like it....sc is mostly about the multiplayer now. I thought the story was just too cheesy, or maybe I've grown out of blizzard storylines..starting from war3 where arthas get infested and I was like,oh boy not this again.
WoL is so bad, I quit ~2 weeks after I bought it on launch day. They may have improved on balance from what I read on the forums, but then again those who say this are the same people who will buy HotS no matter what. Most are motivated because "WoL is getting stale and boring", for me it has been since day 1 as Blizzard really hasn't put a single coherent thought behind the new units they introduced in SC2 and they butchered most what they've taken from BW, Zealots, Carriers, Lings, Hydras come to mind. On top of this shitfest of gamedesign I paid good money for a service which is a step-back compared to its predecessor of 14 years of age. I did not pay for anything else but B.Net because the campaign is ridiculous, there were some good ideas designwise, I really liked the idea of the tech tree (which could've been a bit more exhaustive). What really bothered me about the campaign was the lack of feel, maybe its cuz I was 12 when I first played the SC1 campaign, but still today when I think about it there was always this kind of epic feeling of being part in something really big, like survival of the human race and stuff like that. All I got for the SP were some nice cut scenes, Blizzard has always been one of the best companies regarding that matter. But then again there was this ridiculous feeling of watching some drunkass do random shit, like bar brawls and crying a river over some picture on the wall, which didn't even look like the Kerrigan I remember from StarCraft. Nothing epic to be seen, just recycling of content from SC/BW, which I wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been put together so carelessly. I don't wanna go on like this, even if I could for days, because WoL has been the biggest disappointment for me in gaming in a loooong time, only D2 and CS:S have put me off in this way, but that's another story. Bottom line of all this, SC2 just lacks soul. I'm happy for you guys who don't feel this way and are able to enjoy the game, but for me there's just something lacking which I can't even describe properly. I don't even mind MBS and all that jazz, actually I came to enjoy the more user friendly way of playing, even though I raged just as hard as most of this forums members when Blizzard announced MBS, Automine, etc. being implemented in SC2. I also dont mind the deathball clumpiness and the lack of mechanical feel to the game, but thats probably because I don't care much about the competitive side of SC2. Maybe I'm just getting older, but then again today I got into the beta of Tribes Ascend and went on some 10hrs nerding spree.
I guess it's just all of the above combined with a history of disappointments regarding the sequels of the 3 games I loved and still love the most out of all games I have ever played.
BUT, if they fix B.Net and make the game somewhat more appealing and replayable, I could be convinced to shell out some bucks so they can maintain their WoW-servers a bit longer.
On February 20 2012 11:28 Fealthas wrote: I will buy HOTS the day it comes out. I have never played a game as good as SC2 and I feel they deserve $30 for their expansion.
Will I buy premium maps? HELL NO. This is blizzard trying to squeeze in DLC. Activision proved it is a good way to milk your audience. If someone wants to make a map they should not be expecting to get anything for it.
That is ridiculous. Talented mapmakers deserve to have an avenue of reward for their work. You don't have to pay if you don't want to, just don't play the maps; denying the right for mapmakers to make money isn't fair in my opinion.
Buying Maps is kinda iffy without a preview type function.
But what about buying "server space". And generating your own ladder where you can have a certain map pool that you can customize yourself on the fly. Small groups can practice together easily, but also the GSL/MLG/IEM/Dreamhacks/etc, all can run their own ladders allowing Blizzard to appease everyone all at once. Pros/competitive scene gets to practice in mass on the maps they need to, and casuals can either run their own pool or use the Blizz pool that try to hit everyone.