[PC] StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm out!

[EddieA]

According to Gamespot, it appears that part 2, Heart of The Swarm, is scheduled for early 2012.

[jersoc]

hmm, possibly up for a promotion, been playing silver leagues all day.

getting a bit better against my ZvZ too. Just had a fun little game with a different BO against zerg. seemed to do well. Doing much better at scouting which totally let me win. Plus I think my fast expand just out econ him.

I feel as if no one else plays ladder here

[Thin_J]

I can't seem to ever be bothered to start the ladder. I did it in the Beta for a bit, but they did an account wipe about 8 or 9 matches into it and I never restarted. Haven't ever even played my placement matches in retail.

I am playing 1v1's, but not with random people from the internet. Entered a tournament a couple of the dudes are running on another forum. That's gone well so far, though I expect my run to end soonish. My next match will be with a mid to high gold level player and all the dudes up till now have been low to mid Silver level. The two potential opponents are supposed to have their game played by sometime on Monday. If the Zerg guy wins I have a shot. I'm pretty solid at the mirror match. If the Protoss guy wins I'm almost guaranteed to end up in the loser's bracket. I have a horrible time against Protoss.

[MaxSteele]

Remember the cheating bans at the beginning of the month?

Those bans affected people who used cheats on the single player version of the game also.

[hepcat]

I have no problem with that. 

[jersoc]

Remember the cheating bans at the beginning of the month?

Those bans affected people who used cheats on the single player version of the game also.

you mean used trainers and the like. not cheats.

[MaxSteele]

Remember the cheating bans at the beginning of the month?

Those bans affected people who used cheats on the single player version of the game also.

you mean used trainers and the like. not cheats.

I think we're talking about semantics here.  Trainers let you cheat in single player mode.

Yeah, I have a problem with banning people from playing a game that they cheat in single player for.  It's one thing to ban people who are cheating online, but there's no harm in letting people cheat all they want in single player.

Also, the article I reference calls it 'cheats and trainers'.  So even if you don't believe trainers are cheating, they covered both.

[hepcat]

If the achievements in single player directly tie into multiplayer then I can certainly understand banning those who use cheats/trainers in sp.  Given the fact that the starcraft franchise is frequently viewed as a multiplayer game first and a single player experience second, i think that's quite fair.

[MaxSteele]

If the achievements in single player directly tie into multiplayer then I can certainly understand banning those who use cheats/trainers in sp.  Given the fact that the starcraft franchise is frequently viewed as a multiplayer game first and a single player experience second, i think that's quite fair.

There are in-game cheats for single player, and if you use those, Blizzard disables achievements.

If Blizzard can detect third party cheats, they can simply disable achievements when they detect them as well.  No need to ban.

[hepcat]

The presumption on your part is that Blizzard can detect these third party cheats.  Perhaps they can, but for how long?  And why should they devote any effort whatsoever to keeping up with that?  I would rather they focus on more important things.

[MaxSteele]

The presumption on your part is that Blizzard can detect these third party cheats.  Perhaps they can, but for how long?  And why should they devote any effort whatsoever to keeping up with that?  I would rather they focus on more important things.

No presumptions.  They detected them because they banned people for using them.  I would rather they didn't devote any effort to keeping up with it, but they did and they do.

[hepcat]

The presumption on your part is that Blizzard can detect these third party cheats.  Perhaps they can, but for how long?  And why should they devote any effort whatsoever to keeping up with that?  I would rather they focus on more important things.

No presumptions.  They detected them because they banned people for using them.  I would rather they didn't devote any effort to keeping up with it, but they did and they do.

You're assuming they detected ALL of them.  And that they will ALWAYS be able to do so without devoting any extra effort to the process.  That's what was presumptuous.

[MaxSteele]

The presumption on your part is that Blizzard can detect these third party cheats.  Perhaps they can, but for how long?  And why should they devote any effort whatsoever to keeping up with that?  I would rather they focus on more important things.

No presumptions.  They detected them because they banned people for using them.  I would rather they didn't devote any effort to keeping up with it, but they did and they do.

You're presuming they detected ALL of them.  And that they will ALWAYS be able to do so without devoting any extra effort to the process.

I don't care about how many people they detect.  I am specifically talking about that Blizzard detected people using third party cheats in single player, and they suspended them or disabled their CD key.  They received the same punishment as those who were cheating in online games.

Blizzard should have disabled achievements if that is what they are worried about when it comes to people cheating in single player mode.  They have the ability to do this because they disable achievements if you use the in-game single player cheats.

Suspending or disabling a CD key for a game because a player cheated in single player mode should never happen.

[hepcat]

You're not getting my point.  They can detect the in-game cheats because THEY devised them.  This doesn't mean they can detect ALL cheats from ANYWHERE.  And even if they could, why should they expend any effort in keeping up with these third party cheats as they evolve?  Cops catch some criminals.  Should we assume they're capable of catching ALL of them because of that?

But in any case, if the SP portion allows for perks and bonuses in MP and they don't want third party cheats to spoil this for those who don't use them, then simply use the in game cheats.  i don't understand your problem with this.

[MaxSteele]

You're not getting my point.  They can detect the in-game cheats because THEY devised them.  This doesn't mean they can detect ALL cheats from ANYWHERE.  And even if they could, why should they expend any effort in keeping up with these third party cheats as they evolve? 

But in any case, if the SP portion allows for perks and bonuses in MP and they don't want third party cheats to spoil this for those who don't use them, then simply use the in game cheats.  i don't understand your problem with this?

I see your point.  That's correct.  Blizzard can't detect all cheats from anywhere.

I am specifically talking about the cheats they did detect on single player games.  They detected people playing the single player version, and instead of disabling achievements like they do for the in-game cheats, they suspended or disabled their cd keys.

[hepcat]

Perhaps they're worried about what happens when someone comes up with a cheat they can't detect in SP and they're throwing the fear of God into their customers who would use these things.  They're establishing a precedent that if you cheat in the SP mode (which we've established affects the MP portion) you will be banned.  

Draconian?  Perhaps.  But the MP portion of Starcraft is almost a cottage industry in a lot of places.  

Why not use the in-game cheats?

[MaxSteele]

Perhaps they're worried about what happens when someone comes up with a cheat they can't detect in SP and they're throwing the fear of God into their customers who would use these things.  They're establishing a precedent that if you cheat in the SP mode (which we've established affects the MP portion) you will be banned.  

Draconian?  Perhaps.  But the MP portion of Starcraft is almost a cottage industry in a lot of places.  

Why not use the in-game cheats?

In-game cheats don't always cover everything someone would want to do in the game.  There will always be reasons why someone would want to use a third party trainer over the stock in-game cheats.

You could very well be right about scaring people.  Achievements can be taken very seriously, and if there is a cheat which allows people to affect those achievements in single player and Blizzard can't detect it, I can see where putting up a blanket suspension or disabled key would certainly help to prevent that.  Just disabling achievements wouldn't be enough to stop people from doing it.

[hepcat]

<sigh> I need third party cheats in multiplayer to last more than 10 seconds, apparently.  Man, I suck.   

I finished the SP last weekend and have tried about 5 mp games.  In each, I got my butt handed to me fairly quickly.  I should probably do some reading on strategy.

[CeeKay]

<sigh> I need third party cheats in multiplayer to last more than 10 seconds, apparently. 

that's what she said.

[hepcat]

<sigh> I need third party cheats in multiplayer to last more than 10 seconds, apparently. 

that's what she said.

Are you related to Unagi on OO?   

[Little Raven]

Hep, a couple of my friends and I get together most nights around 9PM central for an hour or so. We often run friendly custom games to help new players along. If you have a headset, install Teamspeak, and we'll even be able to talk you through a lot of stuff.

We won't be able to get you into or anything, but we'll at least be able to make you into a solid bronze player.

[stessier]

Hep, a couple of my friends and I get together most nights around 9PM central for an hour or so. We often run friendly custom games to help new players along. If you have a headset, install Teamspeak, and we'll even be able to talk you through a lot of stuff.

We won't be able to get you into or anything, but we'll at least be able to make you into a solid bronze player.

As a graduate of such sessions, I can say they make a world of difference (and are quite fun)! 

If you want to go against another bronze in 1v1 sometime, feel free to ping me in game: Ashaman #301

[jersoc]

Looks like the patch is out.

rock on fellow, zerg!

[Little Raven]

The patch is indeed out. And OH MY GOD roaches are deadly now.

You wouldn't think it, but that +1 range makes all the difference.

[Little Raven]

WOOOOOO!!!!!!



Making the transition from Zerg to Random was...is...tough. I still lose most of the time when I'm not Zerg. But I do really well when I am Zerg, so I think that throws battlenet off.

[CeeKay]

new Blizzard created custom maps/playstyles/mods/whateveryouwanttocallthem are on the way

[jersoc]

new Blizzard created custom maps/playstyles/mods/whateveryouwanttocallthem are on the way

I'm telling you now. if you value your time, you will not played star jeweled. the game is crazy addictive. the first day there the line was almost nothing. by the 2nd day it was over an hour long to play, word must've gotten around. Left 2 dead is basically that one mission in the campaign where you kill by day and defend by night. Aiur chef did not sound fun and I don't play dota.

I am really, really hoping to see star jeweled very soon. I think I already figured out a great strategy and destroyed everyone I played against with it,heh.

I got my CE art book signed by the Sc2 dev team too. This was really cool because they would actually talk to you about some of things they went through creating and asked how you enjoyed the game and such. It was a lot of fun and they were great people to meet.

I watched some Sc2 games and it was the greatest thing ever. It compares nothing to watching a stream. The energy at the stage was inredible and it was fucking awesome to see the best 3 commentators up there at once. Watching the final game was amazing. The stage was packed and everyone there was so into it. It was incredible and those were 5 very, very intense games. I honestly thought blizzcon was worth it alone to simply experience that. They had an awesome setup too where on the left and right were the players screen and the middle was the commentators. It was incredible seeing how those guys played the game. In one of the games in the finals both players were over 200apm and it was crazy awesome to actually see that in person. Those players did not miss a beat, ever.

Sadly, I was not able to find any pro SC players on the floor to briefly talk with.

[Vidiot]

I only got a chance to try DOTA and was pretty disappointed. It needs some balance work and there is just some weirdness.

Items felt really limited and boring, nothing unique or standout. The melée classes were having a hell of a time. You can unselect your hero, and it happens a lot causing you to either stay in a battle you should run from or charge to your death.

I didn't try the other mods, but I heard good things. It seems like blizzard is trying to provide some accessible minigames. I saw a lot of guys dragging their SO's to play starjeweled.

The pro matches were damn exciting. People were packed around the stage and into the booths behind it. I would have never of guessed the amount of excitement over a perfectly air snipes colossus.

[Ridah]

I watched some of that stuff too, I'm still wrapping my head around the whole e-sport Starcraft 2 stuff. I was sort of getting into it until the end there after the match between NEXGenius (i think that was his name) and Loner when they couldn't find a translator, and one of the sportscasters was going back and forth with this random dude live on the air but off the mic and they actually started fighting over the mic. Eventually the feed was cut and that was the end of it. I felt really embarrassed for them and that tossed the whole thing right back into obscurity for me.

I love SC2 but the e-sports stuff is still strange to me.

[jersoc]

yeah, i didn't see that part. I had to rush to the concert, which I just ended up going to play diablo 3 instead. I could either watch on a screen, or play d3 and still watch it on a screen. choice was obvious for me!

plus i've seen them live before.

none of the people I was with found that exciting. i was actually at the rts stage and they were at the mainstage I guess. they found it boring, but it was freakin intense as hell. I guess you just sorta need to watch them and know a little something about SC2. I watched all of gsl season 1 and tons of day 9 in the last few months. so i guess that helped me get into it.

plus seeing the commentators live was interesting. you see lots of things that you wouldn't because they are streaming the game with the voice on top. like they sorta signal to each other about what's going on and what to talk about.

[Thin_J]

The Blizzcon tournament was borderline sad when compared to MLG DC or GSL Season 1.

There were some great games there at the end but they failed miserably at broadcasting 90% of the matches people really wanted to see and I saw a lot of notes about the players complaining about bad lag spikes through the first couple of rounds.

The FruitDealer vs BoxeR exhibition match was epic though.

And yes, the interview at the end with the translator was monumentally bad, but so were any number of other parts of their presentation. Blizzcon had some of the worst tournament planning and organization I've ever seen.

If you found the competitive SC2 thing at all interesting I'd highly suggest a look into VOD's of MLG DC. They're available on their website.

[CeeKay]

free name change for your SC2 character.

[Ridah]

Is there a way to mute opponents, either on a battle-by-battle basis or in general? I don't need a reminder that our society is filled with gutter trash in every round of SC2 I play.

[jersoc]

mute as in mic? pretty sure you can turn that off all together.

mute as in text? yes as well.

[Ridah]

mute as in mic? pretty sure you can turn that off all together.

mute as in text? yes as well.

Text, yeah. I can't find it...

[jersoc]

should be an option in the menu when you're in the game.

[pingwrx]

Wow I thought  Starcraft II was just for nerds check out some these females that play the winner is very hot.

Tourney
 http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/1172226#blog

The winner
http://www.facebook.com/lindalinda777

[Turtle]

Realize though, that's an all women bracket. I suspect it's meant to promote the tournament as much as it is to establish the best female player. Similar to some gamer girl clans that are really just modeling/promotion groups.

[CellophanePower]

Hehe yea, exactly, a few years ago a female friend of mine was invited to be in a "clan" in order to promote a game. Though she did play it from time to time irl, and she was hot, but not a very good player.

[jersoc]

Brad from Giant Bomb went to Korea during the GSL finals a few weeks ago.

http://www.giantbomb.com/giant-bomb-in-korea-the-gsl-starcraft-ii-finals/17-3514/