Starcraft 2

[Slippery]

For some reason the old SCII thread has gone awol (or I'm retarded and just can't find it).

Either way, reports (http://www.giantbomb.com/news/the-starcraft-ii-beta-has-begun/1874/)are leaking out that the Beta has started, so you might want to go check your battle.net account if you opted in.

No beta for Slippery, but considering my PC is dead, that's not such a big deal.

[sausage]

Coming to 360?

[Slippery]

Nope.

[AranchineD]

People are still interested in this game?

[texta]

People are still interested in this game?Yes..

[AranchineD]

Wow. Those people must, like, have nothing else in their lives if they're interested after all this time. Surely they must be the Gran Turismo fans of the PC world.

[tau]

eh, I think everyone who's interested in it aren't really actively interested, since it's been fking forever. However most people know when it does eventually ****ing come out already it'll be mindblowingly orgasmic.

[TrinityJayOne]

I opted in, but Mass Effect 2 allowed my sub to lapse so I probably won't be picked. 100x more interested in Diablo 3 anyhow!

[FrozenSoul80]

Wasn't this supposed to come out last year? ****, Blizzard, you're becoming as bad as Valve.

[ElPresidente]

Already were. Blizzard's never had a rep for delivering on time.

Anyway I can confirm that the Beta has started and the first batch of codes has gone out as my damned Twitter feed is pretty much alight with all of Australia's journos stating how long they have until their copy has downloaded. :P

Thankfully I was able to join in on that fun. :P

[sausage]

Minimum requirements?

[AranchineD]

Minimum Requirements:
• Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7
• 2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor
• 1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7
• 128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card
• 1024x768 minimum display resolution
• 4 GB free hard space (Beta)
• Broadband connection

[sausage]

Broadband connection

lol aran

[AranchineD]

Hey man, better get the last out of it while you still can!

[Azzaman]

just checked my battlenet account, not in the beta :(

[ElPresidente]

In case anyone here is in I'm ElPrezAU.nathan

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Wow. Those people must, like, have nothing else in their lives if they're interested after all this time. Surely they must be the Gran Turismo fans of the PC world.

You have the worst taste in everything.

Still fairly pumped for this game, missed out on Beta though =[

[Northy179]

*sigh* so many people loosing their battle net accounts because they believed there was a working crack for the beta.... which was really a keylogger or somethin.

seriously, hows a software crack going to override battle.net credentials? are people really that dumb?

[Vindik8or]

Yes they are. I was in a WoW guild that was ruined by people getting hacked, and I am surprised how most of the people who play Star Trek Online manage to login.

[Zan]

I've been gorging on SC2 videos all week. Wish I could actually play it. Here's two good channels worth following, nearly all videos with commentary and all in nice detail.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HuskyStarcraft
http://www.youtube.com/user/HDstarcraft

[Slippery]

Teamliquid (http://www.hyper.com.au/forums/www.Teamliquid.net) have a bunch of live user streams going (top right hand corner), not all are for SC2 though.

[Saxby]

Loving those youtube channels...

[ElPresidente]

Folks who were following me on Twitter got the chance to win a key last week. Dunno if I'll ever get more in hand before the Beta has wrapped up but I'll be sure to let y'all know in advance if I'm going to run another comp.

As far as my experiences with the game have been, I'm having an absolute ball. I'm not enough of an SC head to be able to tell you all the unit tweaks, etc but the overall game just feels more up to date. The interface is fantastics, there are lots of automation efficiencies built in to the game (you can command group multiple buildings for instance) and the strengths of the races feel more pronounced for me than previous.

[TrinityJayOne]

I would trade you my unborn 18yo daughter for a Diablo 3 beta code. Just puttin' it out there. >_>

[SOX]

Folks who were following me on Twitter got the chance to win a key last week. Dunno if I'll ever get more in hand before the Beta has wrapped up but I'll be sure to let y'all know in advance if I'm going to run another comp.

As far as my experiences with the game have been, I'm having an absolute ball. I'm not enough of an SC head to be able to tell you all the unit tweaks, etc but the overall game just feels more up to date. The interface is fantastics, there are lots of automation efficiencies built in to the game (you can command group multiple buildings for instance) and the strengths of the races feel more pronounced for me than previous.

If you don't really enjoy RTS' all that much (mostly due to lack of skill), would it be the game to convert you?
I'll still pick it up for the custom maps people will come up with but I'm curious whether I'll actually be able to enjoy the main game this time.

[ElPresidente]

I'd say probably not. I daresay you'll get a kick out of the single player but the mp is very micro-focused (though not as micro focused as before) which is where most people seem to have issues with competitive play in RTS games. This isn't a bad thing but if traditional RTS isn't your thing I doubt SC2 will be.

I would trade you my unborn 18yo daughter for a Diablo 3 beta code. Just puttin' it out there. >_>

I too would trade your unborn 18 yo daughter for D3 beta code. :P

[TrinityJayOne]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they say at Blizzcon that the editor is so powerful you could make just about anything with it? DotA clones may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Regarding Diablo 3, they're surely getting close to an open beta. The website has been updated with male and female versions of the Wizard and Monk respectively, but still no female Witch Doctor. The female Monk is fairly average next to the awesome male design, but the male Wizard is very good. He looks young and sort of rebellious, certainly nothing like your stereotypical pointy hat + robes look.

[sidochrome]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they say at Blizzcon that the editor is so powerful you could make just about anything with it? DotA clones may just be the tip of the iceberg.

SC2's Galaxy editor looks pretty robust - here's the early look via a feed rip from last year's BlizzCon - click through for higher quality.

joNPrnY4K_4

[ElPresidente]

Considering SC2's beta is as much a test of the game as it is a test of Battlenet 2.0's new functionality I think a D3 beta will still be some time off.

Furthermore I had news of my impending access to the beta way back in May 09 but it took until this year before the invites went out.

Finally I doubt such a beta would launch until after SC2's retail launch. You don't want to spread anticipation over two games when only one is launching in the near future.

*edit*

I so wish that editor was a part of the beta. :P

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

Has there been a semi-solid release date mentioned for this yet or is it still sometime that's not now.

[ElPresidente]

Word hasn't come from Blizzard directly but Activision are saying first half of 2010.

Personally, I call bulldust. :P

Balance still needs working out and at the higher levels of play the strats have begun to homogonise somewhat (not that I'd know personally I'm only in SC2 ladder's equivalent of Vegie Maths - The Copper League. I'm just going off what Dan Hindes over at PCPP has been saying (he's Gold League).

Also Blizzard still haven't quite decided what they are doing with the Protoss Mothership... it gets nerfed, then buffed, then nerfed...

[Slippery]

I would really really like a key for Sc2.

But at the moment I'm just watching the TL net feeds when I get bored.

[sidochrome]

Blizzard President Mike Morhaime himself (on the AB investor call in Feb (http://investor.activision.com/events.cfm)) said they were targeting a 'mid-2010 release', and considering how cagey they normally are on release dates, I'd say it's a fair indication that they'll get it out in a comparable release window.

[TrinityJayOne]

Yeah, everything with WoW is "soon", to the point that it's a recurring gag and the community managers now post it with noun capitilization and a trademark symbol. Release dates aren't given willy nilly, ever.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

When I was working for EB Games the official line was 'soon', and that was 18 months ago.

[ElPresidente]

Blizzard President Mike Morhaime himself (on the AB investor call in Feb (http://investor.activision.com/events.cfm)) said they were targeting a 'mid-2010 release', and considering how cagey they normally are on release dates, I'd say it's a fair indication that they'll get it out in a comparable release window.

Mid 2010 I'd understand but 1st half as Activision says seems unlikely to me. Happy to be wrong though. The folks in my friends list are rarely active... bastards. :)

[Tonez]

Mid 2010 I'd understand but 1st half as Activision says seems unlikely to me. Happy to be wrong though. The folks in my friends list are rarely active... bastards. :)

End of the first half is mid-year.

They could both be right.

[ElPresidente]

I meant mid, giving them time post the first half and you know it. :P

[Tonez]

I meant mid, giving them time post the first half and you know it. :P

haha I couldn't resist.

[TrinityJayOne]

I dunno...I recall the latest WoW beta running right up to a few weeks before launch, with plenty of stuff not even tested (only a few raids I think, Storm Peaks had no content I think). They could definitely still pull it off.

[Sytadel]

It'll have to be well before or after Cataclysm, they could be in an awkward position if SC2 runs late and and is completed around the same time as Cataclysm.

[Slippery]

I'm thinking Cataclysm will be pretty late this year, not that I'd really be in a position to know.

[ElPresidente]

I'd almost bet money on SC2 beating Cataclysm out the door.

[REQUIEM]

How many Koreans will die due to stupidity sessions of gaming after SC is launched you think?

[Saxby]

Probably the whole country. I'm sure we'll see deaths across the globe though... Looks like they have improved EVERYTHING.

[Slippery]

I'd almost bet money on SC2 beating Cataclysm out the door.

I would

[TrinityJayOne]

Well Blizzcon '10 was just announced as being in October, and I doubt they'd release Cataclysm prior to this as otherwise they'd have nothing Warcraft to show off.

[REQUIEM]

Well Blizzcon '10 was just announced as being in October, and I doubt they'd release Cataclysm prior to this as otherwise they'd have nothing Warcraft to show off.

The lack of love in WOW as of late might have quietened them alittle. That is until the Worgens and cataclysm launch.

[Onikage]

If anyone on here is interested in some premade 2v2, let me know!

Disclaimer: I'm pretty terrible! :D

Oniji.aus

[*InFiNiTe*]

I have seen SC 2 labeled as being available in store at Jb HI-FI on March 28th, guessing it didn't happen? I read this on an empty DVD box, about 12 of them stacked up on a display shelf.

This was only 3 weeks ago maximum - what the hell?

[TrinityJayOne]

Hahaha, no it most certainly did not. March 28th 2011 perhaps, but the game is still a ways off yet me thinks.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

EB Games has a Starcraft II Collectors Edition for $148 (http://www.ebgames.com.au/pc-150168-StarCraft-II-Wings-of-Liberty-Collectors-Edition-PC)

Contains:
Art of SCII book
USB dog tag with SC1 and Brood Wars
Behind The Scenes DVD
Soundtrack
SC comic book
WOW in game pet of mini Thor
Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content

I think SC1 and Brood Wars still goes for about $25 in the battle chest pack, and the game will probably cost at least $90. I think I might actually consider ordering this. Shame there's still to firm released date, though.

[AranchineD]

So they really are going to charge full price for a third of a single player campaign YAY

[FrozenSoul80]

That artbook sounds really sweet, but I doubt it is worth the extra $70.

[TrinityJayOne]

Maybe the later campaigns will be cheaper because they only add the campaign, rather than campaign + multiplayer + editor of the initial release. Alternatively (and more likely imo), they'll make the Protoss and Zerg campaign releases more like expansions, with the new campaign + new missions for existing factions + new units. If the editor is even half as good as they make it out to be then the asking price is perfectly justified.

As for the LE, I may have to get that. Another Blizzard crossover pet, woot!

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

So they really are going to charge full price for a third of a single player campaign YAY

I was only estimating the price as something that I usually find new release games to be. I'd forgotten they were releasing the three campaigns separately.

[Slippery]

It'll be full price and personally I have no problems with that. A 30 mission campaign, despite only playing the one race, plus multiplayer seems like a full retail package to me. I mean DoW 2 was all one race right?

[AranchineD]

But it wasn't full price either.

[Slippery]

If that's true, then touche.

Still don't have a problem with it though, at least not unless the campaign turns out to be bad.

[tau]

It helps that starcraft is about a billion times better than dawn of war in every single aspect ^_^

[TrinityJayOne]

So for those of you planning to get your mitts on the Collector's Ed, do so now. I finally got a chance to get into EB today and their posters said that availability ended on 15/4 (yesterday). I asked anyway and the guy said they could allow "one or two more" according to a comms from HQ today. He said they're expecting to reach capacity tomorrow some time. Also, minimum deposit is $50, probably to avoid resellers.

[McChimp]

Yeah, Game's stock of CE's went to hell within a couple of days I think. Sad having to turn people away who want it and have only just heard about it.

[TrinityJayOne]

Unlike most companies, Blizzard's Limited Edition versions really are limited! Looking forward to the game, it'll be a blast.

[aubergine]

I bought two copies of Gears 2 LE new at game for $30 each today. Gears 2 came out in late 2008.

[McChimp]

Seen the Korean 'face slap' video (http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/04/south-korea-gets-face-slapping-starcraft-commercial/)? Amusing, but what grabbed me is the 'D-Day' date at the end of it: 22/5/10. Possible release date?

[TrinityJayOne]

More likely referring to the tournament that ad is for.

[Sytadel]

Pre-ordered my collectors edition from EB today. Not sure if I was just lucky, but the first store I walked in to was happy to give me one.

Time to start getting hyped. I haven't been following it that closely, anyone know of any good sources to download some beta videos? Videos of 1v1 matches would be especially awesome.

[Slippery]

You can watch live-stream videos of people playing at Teamliquid.net

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I preorded mine yesterday, then I get an email from EB Games saying that everyone that preorders SC2 (either in store or online) will get access to the beta and that they're emailing the codes out on Wednesday.

[TrinityJayOne]

I preorded mine yesterday, then I get an email from EB Games saying that everyone that preorders SC2 (either in store or online) will get access to the beta and that they're emailing the codes out on Wednesday.
Whoa!! I'm getting my arse into the local tomorrow after work to ask/make sure they have my email address.

[Sytadel]

I got that too - making a phone call tomorrow FO SHO. I could be playing SC2 this long weekendHOLY****

[^gR]

oh hey syt :)

[ElPresidente]

Great article by Jeremy Ray (Junglist) about SC2 concerns from the pros.

http://www.gamearena.com.au/news/read.php/5076993?latest=1

[tau]

Wow, that was oh so incredibly boring.

[ElPresidente]

You're incredibly boring!

And for those who have already pre-ordered StarCraft 2 and are worried about their beta codes I have the following from EB Games (via Twitter)


"Starcraft fans, if you have preordered before the beta announce you will DEFINITELY receive a beta key on Wednesday, store or online! Woot!"

[TrinityJayOne]

Just updated my email with them, they confirmed it'll be sent next week. Long weekend woulda been nice but oh well, I don't exactly have a shortage. I look forward to being completely reamed by Syt!

[Sytadel]

I got a call from my EB, how nice of them. Would've been great to have the beta for the long weekend... right now I am STRONGLY considering a sickie on beta day >_>

Trin I haven't played SC or Wc3 or any FPS in years, I'm not likely to be any good. Even when I was playing SC, I mostly fiddled with the map editor. I had a TD game that was very popular for a while.

oh hey syt :)

Ghosty? :O

[TrinityJayOne]

Yeah, can't wait for that damned editor. I'm not horrible at RTS games, just that I like to turtle and most RTS games seem to be against this in MP (superweapons in CnC, for example).

[Sytadel]

Well, there's good turtling and there's bad turtling. There's "I'm anticipating a rush so I'll strategically use my defenses to thwart them, gain the upper hand, then expand and conqueur resources while stopping my opponents expansions", and then there's "Holy shit, what do I do? ****, more turrets, more turrets... OH GOD I can't expand the enemy is everywhere!"

[TrinityJayOne]

We'll see! It's a multiplayer-only beta but hopefully there is at least an option to add bots or something to learn the ropes (very little Starcraft experience here).

Right now I'm hunting for a client download, as it's just occurred to me that I don't want to get the email on Wednesday night after work and spend all night downloading the no doubt massive client.

EDIT: No luck yet but apparently it is 3GB. Definitely pre-downloading!

[Vindik8or]

From what I've read at the moment it seems like whoever rushes the most and fastest wins.

[TrinityJayOne]

Got a torrent for what appears to be the latest build, wasn't very hard at all.

Right click -> save as... (http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/5371903/Starcraft_2_Beta_Client_US_Build_13891.5371903.TPB .torrent)

Mods, please DO NOT delete! This client download is NOT illegal and is hosted on many popular gaming file sites and Blizzard doesn't care, as you still need a valid beta key to play!

Also, that other site was wrong as it's only 1.6GB. Not finished yet but there's 2,000+ seeds so I'm going to take a punt on it's validity.

[ElPresidente]

From what I've read at the moment it seems like whoever rushes the most and fastest wins.

Not really, you can watch some of the team liquid replays to see that isn't the case. However the suggestion of homogonisation of play-styles seems to be correct based on the experiences of top tier players.

Which I'm not obviously. I suck as Starcraft and I suck at Starcraft II :P

[TrinityJayOne]

Well the game runs fine, but it's the first build, not the latest, and you'll need 600+MB of patches. I had troubles with the Blizzard tracker so downloaded them manually from this thread (http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=24401524887&sid=5000). Download and unpack them all before patching.

[T Strife]

It's a multiplayer-only beta but hopefully there is at least an option to add bots or something to learn the ropes (very little Starcraft experience here).

Out of luck there, I'm afraid. The learning curve is made very steep because of this, because you'll constantly be falling to the most basic of tactics while you're still trying to figure out what building leads to what. I honestly don't know why an AI option wasn't included for the beta; it's as if Blizzard want it to be the most hostile place it can be.

[TrinityJayOne]

I see. Well it'll be easy enough for me & Syt to get into a game and not kill each other while things are examined I spose.

[Slippery]

I got a guy on PCPP to send me his key if they are transferrable, so I might be playing with you guys :D

[Ashmaran]

Out of luck there, I'm afraid. The learning curve is made very steep because of this, because you'll constantly be falling to the most basic of tactics while you're still trying to figure out what building leads to what. I honestly don't know why an AI option wasn't included for the beta; it's as if Blizzard want it to be the most hostile place it can be.

I think the whole point is they want to test the multiplayer aspect, new Bnet and the matchmaking etc. However the problem with that is it is incredibly brutal to new players since the player pool right now is mostly hardcore people. This shouldn't be as bad in the full release, because at least most people will have had time with the single player and there will be a greater variety in player skill.

That said they do have Vs AI options, but the AI is set to the lowest possible difficulty.

[Slippery]

I think with the matchmaking how it is, you'll be playing pretty low-tier people after your placement matches if you don't know what's going on, and whilst its possible they'll all just try to rush you (badly, since its low teir), you should get the hang of it with a few games against A.I. and watching a replay or two.

[ElPresidente]

Out of luck there, I'm afraid.

Ummm... guys... you can add computer AI to a private match so you can learn the ropes.

Just create your own game, switch off 'open to public' and fill the remaining slots with AI.

[TrinityJayOne]

Been having some fun playing as Protoss today, easily the coolest race imo. Before Syt murders me I don't have my key just yet, rather I managed to stumble upon a "practise mode" of sorts. You need to use the (incredible) editor, which is tucked away in the game's root directory. I don't believe it's final yet as a lot of graphics are missing and some files give you errors, but it's good enough to have some fun with. Anyways, here's what you do!

-Start new map.
-You'll be in the terrain layer by default, so have a play around with the tileset, add some hills etc. Ignore resources for now.
-From the "Map" menu, choose "player properties" I think it is. Select player 1, make sure that control is set to "user" then choose your color and faction. You can set up some AI by setting other player/s to "computer", but this AI is not too great. It will build units from the buildings you give it, but won't construct any of it's own or actually do anything with the units, apart from harvest materials. It will retaliate if you get close, but apart from that it's only ever actively found me once. Note that the faction you choose on this screen is purely cosmetic ("spawn more Overlords" etc and the UI theme), as you will be hand-picking your units in a minute.
-Down the bottom there is a "hostile" option, which is just for putting in non-controlled units (but again this is pretty much identical to the braindead "computer" AI).
-Once out of that screen, it's time to place some units. From the "Layer" menu, choose "units".
-Before you do anything, set the option that says "player 1" to "neutral" and plant down some resources.
-Now change it back to "player 1" (or whatever you set yourself to) and plant down AT LEAST a Nexus and a Probe (or their equivalents) in whatever location you wish to start.
-Change the player to any other teams you set up and repeat (although they may not stay there, the Terran team I set up kept moving its base to a different corner for no apparent reason).
-Note that if you feel like being sneaky, the editor overrides the ingame rules to start with, so you can begin with an army well over your supply limit, or with 10 Motherships, or full tech with no vespene gas.
-When you're ready to rock, look for the green buttons up near the menu and hit the one on the far right. OMG! :D

Also of interest is the Help screen (F12). You can see the different stats on each of the factions' units, as well as a handy-dandy tech tree.

Enjoy!

[tau]

or you can just get a beta loader and go for gold? been playing it for ages through one, lol~`

[Sytadel]

Yeah I've heard some people have "cracked" it successfully. This late in the beta cycle, I doubt Blizzard minds too much.

I've been watching a few replays today and am trying to get the basics of Zerg down. I'd like to play random eventually, but I'll try and get good at Zerg first. It's amazing how quickly it's achieved this pro-gamer status -- something Warcraft could never do. Although it has its niggling balance issues, it seems the pro gaming community has been very receptive on the whole.

Trin, grab me on MSN and we'll sort out a time. The only issue is the time difference, and I'm a working man now so I usually won't be on until 6-7pm WA time.

[TrinityJayOne]

or you can just get a beta loader and go for gold? been playing it for ages through one, lol~`
Yeah, I tried to get it running too but too much effort and results seem to vary wildly. Happy enough to wait til Wednesday!

Syt- I should be home around 6pm-ish every night this week, so that works out ok for me.

[tau]

not sucking helps.

Download loader > download map pack (usually through loader) > set up the usual starcraft options like difficulty > ??? > profit!

[AranchineD]

Just postin' to say

http://www.game.com.au/stores/starcraft2

Beta code with pre-order at GAME too, and $20 than EB if you do it online

[TrinityJayOne]

not sucking helps.

Download loader > download map pack (usually through loader) > set up the usual starcraft options like difficulty > ??? > profit!
It was a billion times more complex in every process I found, and required a specific patch version blah blah doesn't matter.

ANYWAYS THE EDITOR IS FUN brb seeing what 100 Ultralisks vs 100 Thors looks like

[FrozenSoul80]

Just postin' to say

http://www.game.com.au/stores/starcraft2

Beta code with pre-order at GAME too, and $20 than EB if you do it online

That is really tempting. How long does the beta run for?

[tau]

I'd imagine till the game is released, as per usual for the blizzard betas.

[FrozenSoul80]

Pre-ordered from GAME. This better kick arse.

[TrinityJayOne]

Excellent. Let's make a date to noob it up tomorrow eve. DIBS PROTOSS.

Also, beta still has some life yet because it's closed. I could be wrong, but I daresay Blizz will open it up completely once the game is polished so they can stress test.

[ElPresidente]

The Beta will be around for a long time yet. The most recent patch added a whole heap of new features that have only just entered testing. Panic not.

I may have spoken too soon - It would appear (according to EB Games twitter anyway - not that I will call them a specifically well informed source) that the beta ends 17th of May.

[FrozenSoul80]

How many computers can I install the beta on? I understand I'd probably only be allowed to run one copy at a time, but it would be sweet if I could use it on my parents better computer from time to time.

[ElPresidente]

Not sure but to be honest the game is far from a system hog.

[AranchineD]

Well these AI hacks aren't very good at all. Oh well. Still fun blowing a base up with 25 Carriers at once

[TrinityJayOne]

Not sure but to be honest the game is far from a system hog.
Agreed, my aging 8600GT runs it fine at 1920x1200 with medium effects and a ****LOAD of large units onscreen. With everything on max it is gorgeous, but smooth > pretty. May even drop it down to 720p if I can learn to tolerate the jaggies (probably not).

Also the key is bound to your Battle.net account, so like WoW you would be able to take it anywhere. The full release will be different I'm sure.

[TrinityJayOne]

If anyone was wondering, the Thors won by a fair margin. Then they all lost to my super Zealot with insta-gibbing, triple-range Mothership lasers and 100,000 shield points. >_>

If I found a way to spawn enemies on a timer I'm fairly confident I'd be able to create a crude version of DotA.

[AranchineD]

Well after about 3 hours I'm bored of skirmish.

Oh well.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

Got my key. Now to just download the game itself, which seems to be flicking between taking 4 and 5 hours for only 1.6GB. Must be a lot of people downloading it right now.

[ElPresidente]

If you are having slow downloads try turning off peer to peer downloading. It sped up my downloads considerably.

Also, as suspected, EBGames cocked up on their twitter feed. The offer is only open until May 17 the Beta does not end on that date.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

The only other program I've got open at the moment is Firfox, so unless that's hogging a lot of my internet at the moment (which I doubt), I think it's more to do with lots of people downloading the beta at the same time.

Edit: Ah, you meant in the downloading program itself. Running a lot quicker now.

[ElPresidente]

Yeah... sorry, I should have made that clearer.

[FrozenSoul80]

Dear GAME,

Where is my code? This makes me sad :(

Love, Frozen.

[TrinityJayOne]

I can't check my email as it doesn't seem to work on my phone anymore for some reason and https is blocked on the work internet, but I'll just assume everything went according to plan.

Found a launcher lastnight, so easy. **** you, overly complicated hacks! Had a quick game against AI and did well. Loving the late-game teleport abilities of Protoss.

[FrozenSoul80]

Still no code from GAME. I'm dying a little inside.

[Saxby]

Did anyone else get their GAME beta key yet?

[TrinityJayOne]

Gah, got my beta key but the Battle.net servers are apparently flooded and I can't log in to add it. Gay.

EDIT: Disregard, I was refreshing the warning page that it redirects too, not the log in page. All good now, time to get my beta on!

EDIT2: Shaanky.trinityjay

[FrozenSoul80]

I'm still waiting for mine. I keep getting excited when I notice I have an email, but it usually turns out to be shit. Knew I should have stayed in bed today. **** you, GAME.

[Slippery]

My beta key fell through

:'(

Do the e-mails say the keys are non-transferable?

[TrinityJayOne]

Man...gotta get used to fighting off rushes! First match I lost hopelessly, as my opponent built about 10+ Stalkers then pwned me while I only had a handful of Zealots and a bunch of (completely woeful) proton cannons. Second match I decided to do a 2v2, Protoss (me)/Protoss vs. Protoss/Zerg. They sent a few Zealots & Zerglings early but we fought them off (barely). My ally extended his base to a nearby resource area and built a mix & match army, while I focused on tech and a decent army of Stalkers (lots of ledges on this map). Opponents harrassed a few times but never took out much. As soon as I got the Mothership I gave an all-out the green light and ambled along the map, both of us keeping our respective land army in the cloak field. We get there to find a combination Zerg/Protoss base with a massive army but woefully insufficient air defense. They start firing at my Mothership then BAM, half of Aiur comes rushing out. :D I ran my Stalkers around the side of the plateau then ported them up and assaulted the hive & queen while they were concentrating on the main force. After a short while I was down to just the Mothership and my ally wasn't much better off, but the enemy Protoss player had a 2nd base we didn't see with a large army sitting at the bottleneck.

BAM! Vortex on the bottleneck!



BAM! Mass Recall in three Carriers!



Opponent- "oh GG :("

Would have totally saved the replay as my trophy if I knew how. :(

[AranchineD]

Man Trin, you're playing Protoss completely wrong, you're supposed to rush to Dark Templars and then absolutely destroy everyone while they still don't have any detectors out!

[FrozenSoul80]

Man Trin, you're playing Protoss completely wrong, you're supposed to rush to Dark Templars and then absolutely destroy everyone while they still don't have any detectors out!

Spawn more overlords!

Also, still no beta key. So much for playing this on my night off :(

[TrinityJayOne]

Man Trin, you're playing Protoss completely wrong, you're supposed to rush to Dark Templars and then absolutely destroy everyone while they still don't have any detectors out!
Mayhap I am a retard, but I don't see the appeal in the the Templar/Archon units (ok so the stealth one is cool I guess). They take an awful lot of resources to build for what feels like mediocre firepower. Again, may be retarded.

[Slippery]

You aren't meant to mass them, but if you can get two DT's in a Zerg's mineral line and he has no detection, he can lose a lot of econ.

[AranchineD]

You aren't meant to mass them, but if you can get two DT's in a Zerg's mineral line and he has no detection, he can lose a lot of econ.

****en


You aren't meant to mass them, but if you can get two Dark Templars in a Zerg's mineral gathering area and he has no detector units, the growth of his economy can be greatly slowed.

[FrozenSoul80]

****en


You aren't meant to mass them, but if you can get two Dark Templars in a Zerg's mineral gathering area and he has no detector units, the growth of his economy can be greatly slowed.

Why would you not have an Overlord near your mining units? What the **** is this?!

[TrinityJayOne]

Syt, where the jesus are you!

[Sytadel]

Sytadel.sytadel

can't talk logging in

[Slippery]

Why would you not have an Overlord near your mining units? What the **** is this?!

Overlords don't detect any more.

Queens do (edit: actually maybe they don't? Can't remember, if they don't then since you need a lair to get overseers DT would be pretty good, but still a pretty big investment since their building does nothing except let you build them and costs a lot of gas, you'd likely be better off buying some Immortals or Collossi) so its still risky and not really as viable as it was in SC1 as far as I can tell.

I haven't seen many people do it, since Terran can scan and Toss used to be able to get out observers pretty quickly before they patched it. I haven't watched much for a while so I've no idea how viable DT's are at the moment, I do know they made the DT building more expensive but observers a bit slower to come out.

[AranchineD]

SAY PROTOSS YOU C***l

[FrozenSoul80]

Overlords don't detect any more.

Worst game ever. Calling it now.

[AranchineD]

Frozen they do detect when you upgrade them though

[FrozenSoul80]

Oh thank god, there is still hope for the game.

Now if only I had that ****ing beta key >_<

[TrinityJayOne]

Well, Syt > me! Gotta learn some better strats I think.

[ChalkFacedGoon]

Are the beta keys region specific, and locked after they get used once? Is there any risk that they might not work if I buy one off ebay (aside from the seller intentionally ripping me off of course)?

[Sytadel]

Well, Syt > me! Gotta learn some better strats I think.

The most devestating thing you did in any game was your (largely accidental) Overlord sniping with that ray-shooting air thing. The game where you charged dragoons in to my base could've also been won with a bit better micro, but you let my sunken colonies (spire crawler?) own you.

My single biggest weakpoint at the moment is resource consumption. Every game I've ended with far too much left over. I'm fine for the first few minutes but by 7-8 my resources have usually bloated. I'm wondering if a second hatchery/queen at my main is a good idea.

Anyway, I'll be on tomorrow at a similar time. Are you still on MSN much? Keep me added in case I'm not around.

Would have totally saved the replay as my trophy if I knew how. :(

They autosave. I'm not sure where, but they do.

[FrozenSoul80]

Am I the only one who still doesn't have a beta key from GAME? :(

[tau]

The most devestating thing you did in any game was your (largely accidental) Overlord sniping with that ray-shooting air thing. The game where you charged dragoons in to my base could've also been won with a bit better micro, but you let my sunken colonies (spire crawler?) own you.

My single biggest weakpoint at the moment is resource consumption. Every game I've ended with far too much left over. I'm fine for the first few minutes but by 7-8 my resources have usually bloated. I'm wondering if a second hatchery/queen at my main is a good idea.

Anyway, I'll be on tomorrow at a similar time. Are you still on MSN much? Keep me added in case I'm not around.



They autosave. I'm not sure where, but they do.

If it's a good idea? If?

it's your only way of spawning stuff, of course it's a good idea :P

I'd imagine it'd be more efficient just building another hatchery rather than repeatedly using the queen's mana, but i might be wrong. At least in SC1 i'd usually have at least 3 hatcheries in my main base. I've mainly been messing with terran in sc2 so far, so haven't tested the difference.

also, where is my key? D:< guess I have to call EB and ask!

[Sytadel]

If it's a good idea? If?

it's your only way of spawning stuff, of course it's a good idea :P

Well, upgrading to lair and using queen's ability every CD gives you a pretty good flow of larvae -- enough for the pros, provided you use it most cooldowns. You also can't "stack" queens as the hatchery can only be effected by 1-2 queen abilities at a time.

Gonna hop on in 30 mins or so if anyone is on. Sytadel.sytadel.

[TrinityJayOne]

You weren't on before so I went and did some more modding. >_> Took me a while to get all the code worked out, but I managed to create a Mothership with 3x as many lasers! It possibly also launches out Interceptors like the Carrier does, only twice as many. And they may or may not have the same laser as your standard Mothership. Oddly enough the stealth field won't affect their own Interceptors, but it will affect those belonging to another Mothership, making two of these babies hilarious to watch. Other oddities-

-One Mothership can't put another in its stealth field. I assume there is a "stealthable" flag set to false somewhere, otherwise they would be able to self-stealth. Not a problem in the main game because you can only build one.
-It's not a good idea to drop a Vortex near your Mothership fleet. The one that cast it is immune to the effects, the others are not. :(

Next step- finding that stealth flag and deactivating it!

[Sytadel]

By the time I get home from work (6:30-7:00 perth time), have dinner, do the dishes, play piano and have a shower its 9pm or so.

I got in my first 5 ranked matches today - won the first 3, lost the next two. I'm in the "bronze league".

Starting to get the hang of spending cash, but I still don't really know what counters what. I've just been getting a mixed early ground force and attacking in the mid-game.

[FrozenSoul80]

Beta key finally arrived, it's downloading now.

Sorry for whinging like a little girl >_>

[TrinityJayOne]

Well I'll be on late tonight so we'll rumble then! Be sure to post your ID.

I had a good match lastnight where i almost wiped out both teams. Rushed to Carriers and had 5 by the time I copped a ranged scan from someone. They woulda seen my armada, but by the time they reached me with AA I had snuck up along the map edge into the rear of the base. Took out the Terran's ability to rebuild then moved to the Zerg base. Took out workers, Queen and main structures, but by then the player was churning out 3 Corrupters at a time and I couldn't keep up my assault. Had I got the graviton cannon upgrade I woulda been fine. Both bases were crippled but the Zerg player had an army of Ultralisks for my ally and we ended up losing.

[ElPresidente]

Be sure to add ElPrezAU.elpresidente

Even when the ladders wipe I keep that ID.

Going to miss access to this over the next week while I'm in the US on a work trip. SC2 has become a regular part of my gaming diet over the past few months - even though I still suck hard. :P

[tau]

tau.tau

i think.

[tau]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/tau/Screenshot.jpg

I like how my resource graph actually looks like it's raping his resource graph.

[FrozenSoul80]

FrozenSoul.frozensoul

Kinda shit there are no numbers. Feel free to add me, I should be on later tonight after work.

[tau]

Probably because numbers in usernames always look tacky.

[Vindik8or]

Always.

[Lemontime]

Still devastated I haven't got a beta key.
Starcraft 1 occupied almost my entire childhood.

[FrozenSoul80]

**** I am bad at this game. Surely there is a trick to harvesting resources really quickly, other than build lots of grunts.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I have the same problem. I like to set up defenses too, which I know is a probably because I just hunker down and don't actually attack. I've played on game against a human (which I don't think I ever did with the first SC, I just played campaigns) and got absolutely raped. I think I might have to play a few more missions against hard AI before another match against a real person.

[Vindik8or]

If you spend all your time setting up defences, and the other guy spends that time building an attack force and expanding... HMMMMMMMMMMMM

[AranchineD]

I think I build about 5 defence structures every game, and they're just there to function as detectors.

Although 20 siege tanks makes a much better defence than any turret or photon cannon ever could.

[FrozenSoul80]

Just had an ally build ****ing creep spawn shit all over my base. A surgical strike wiping out my pylons quickly rendered everything I had build useless. **** I hate playing online, I miss local networking with AI :(

[FrozenSoul80]

Void Rays are the best thing ever. Seriously.

How exactly would you counter a (very) large group?

[AranchineD]

With dozens of Marines.

[FrozenSoul80]

With dozens of Marines.

What Protoss unit would counter Marines? Carriers?

[AranchineD]

Charging Zealots would **** them up pretty quickly.

[TrinityJayOne]

Be sure to add ElPrezAU.elpresidente

Even when the ladders wipe I keep that ID.
You sure? Previously you said it was ElPrezAU.nathan and that worked, but this new one says "friend not found".

[TrinityJayOne]

Making a minigame in the editor, stay tuned for posting tonight hopefully!

[Araenel]

Tower Defence!!

[TrinityJayOne]

I...could totally turn it into one! But for now it is a maze which will require use of skills to complete.

[Araenel]

I don't even have the beta!

[TrinityJayOne]

You can still download it and play with the editor though!

[tau]

What a twist!

[Sytadel]

I think I build about 5 defence structures every game, and they're just there to function as detectors.

Although 20 siege tanks makes a much better defence than any turret or photon cannon ever could.

Unless your army attacks you with an entire mutalisk!

I'm going to be hitting the game hard after dinner, if anyone's around for a game. Also, add me as a "real" friend - Sytadel@gmail.com

[TrinityJayOne]

Likeliness of maze tonight - slim. Building it took longer than expected! Currently have the AI pathing through it, taking them a while even when cheating. :D Pathing will of course be disabled for the real version. Now to add a "time limit" and some traps etc~

[FrozenSoul80]

Shit, just got owned by a rush of Zerglings and whatever replaced Dragoons in a 2v2 game, very early on (say 5 mins in?). How do you counter that when playing Protoss? Turrets?

[TrinityJayOne]

Well the maze idea is on the back burner for now. :( Some of the things that I counted on being easy to change I haven't been able to figure out, so for now it is a plain ol' maze and nothing more.

[FrozenSoul80]

Are we only limited to playing against "very easy" AI? I'm trying to practice stuff but my opponent doesn't really do much, which isn't really helping me learn.

[Ashmaran]

Yeah it's a multiplayer beta, you gotta get reamed oldschool I'm afraid ;)

[TrinityJayOne]

Are we only limited to playing against "very easy" AI? I'm trying to practice stuff but my opponent doesn't really do much, which isn't really helping me learn.
Let me know when you're on and we'll have a round or two, I'm fairly average at it.

[AranchineD]

Yeah it's a multiplayer beta, you gotta get reamed oldschool I'm afraid ;)

Well you don't HAVE to.


If you download an offline game loader, you can also download some more difficult custom made AI hacks to use with it.

[TrinityJayOne]

Critique my gameplay! (http://members.iinet.net.au/~trinityjayone/SC2/Airpwn.SC2Replay)

We dominated a bit, don't think the teal guy really knew WTF he was doing (although shuffling all his drones out while the base went down was nice, completely missed that). I had a few noob moments such as going back to attack the Probe out front my base, but purple was too slow to see my force anyway. Forgetting to put autocast on my Carriers was some pretty spectactular fail as well. >_> On the upside, I've realised that I can group multiple Nexii together and smartcast Chrono Boost. Two questions-

-When I got to purple's base they waypointed a buttload of turrets. What's the command for waypointing, and is there a way to make units "hold" the order so you can synchronize multiple groups on different paths like in CnC games?
-How is my initial build order? Pylons/Assimilators too quickly? Expanding too slowly?

FS80, hurry up and be online when I am so we can test strategies! Also, is everyone else having to approve the ToS/EULA on every login? D:

[Saxby]

Shit, just got owned by a rush of Zerglings and whatever replaced Dragoons in a 2v2 game, very early on (say 5 mins in?). How do you counter that when playing Protoss? Turrets?

NO WAY!

Photon cannons are NOT to be used at any time for absolute defense, just to protect the mineral line or detect enemies. You need zealots, with minimum upgrades as soon as possible - also with your friends help if they can help.

Units are the most flexible and can chase the enemies. You need to protect your drones at all costs to ensure you continue making enough minerals to keep up.


From the sounds of things, everyone is getting rushed because they aren't building units for defense soon enough. Need to get them out. Watch a few pro games and try and pick up their build lists/orders.

I've had a really good run with 2v2, won 5 out of 6 with my mate and am ranked 27th in silver division. I don't even play it that much, I just use good strategy.

[TrinityJayOne]

Ya, worked out myself that the towers are pretty shithouse. Well Protoss ones anyway, I'd say because unlike the other races you're getting ground and AA defence in one package.

[FrozenSoul80]

Still getting owned by people rushing me. I hate playing against people higher than my skill level :(

[Saxby]

Currently ranked 8th in Silver league! I have been using cannons a little bit more to act as detectors and provide my probes with basic protection on the odd occasion.

[FrozenSoul80]

Nearly pulled off an awesome Void Ray rush (which is really difficult to time correctly). Ended up being pushed back pretty quickly, though. I need more practice. Games are fun when they last longer than 10 minutes :)

[Slippery]

Void Ray rush is pretty easy to counter I would've thought?

[FrozenSoul80]

Void Ray rush is pretty easy to counter I would've thought?

It is, unless you time it really well. Like any rush, an unprepared opponent will get raped by it. My mistake was pulling back and dicking around for too long, giving them time to prepare for a second attack.

[Saxby]

Void rays are almost unstoppaple unless playing a really good player with a combination of air units and anti-air ground units. They are pretty much a game winner when massed in numbers above ten. Quite OP.

Forgot to mention that you need really good macro (base building and maintenance skills) to maintain mass void ray production.

[FrozenSoul80]

Void rays are almost unstoppaple unless playing a really good player with a combination of air units and anti-air ground units. They are pretty much a game winner when massed in numbers above ten. Quite OP.

The trick is surviving that long. It's very easy to be overrun by grunts very early in the game, which is something I am still trying to learn to fight off.

[Saxby]

3/4 games are big macro games for me.

Just get units as soon as you can to help you survive and protect your mineral line!

[TrinityJayOne]

Arg, damn this editor! I keep meaning to actually play the ****ing game but get caught up in teaching myself things instead. :( Tonight I created a battle sequence with some custom units! I'm gonna put it on youtube tomorrow, and then I'm gonna try my hand at a short RPG as I have some ideas on how to tackle it!

[Shin_Battousai]

Seems like the news is that it'll be out on the 27th of July.

http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=466030

[TrinityJayOne]

Movie! (http://members.iinet.net.au/~trinityjayone/SC2/TrinBattle.SC2Replay) The output file was faaaaaaaaaaaar too huge for me to bother compressing and youtubing, so here is the 20KB replay file instead. Make sure it's set to player 1's camera and just watch. Note that the replay doesn't have the intended gamespeed option which is a bit lame, also the game doesn't seem to like rendering sounds when you use a very high custom camera. *shrug*

Now for my RPG. :D

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I played another game tonight and got raped again. I need to work on collecting resources quicker and getting some units out there. I take too long and get annihilated because of it.

[TrinityJayOne]

CLICK AND WATCH (http://members.iinet.net.au/~trinityjayone/SC2/iwinatlife.SC2Replay)

The in-replay commentary explains everything. Seriously, watch it. It's barely 2mins long, and satisfaction is guaranteed or your money back.

Knocked it up in about 2 hours, including a break for dinner. :D Still no idea why the sound isn't working...I tried jacking the levels up and nothing.

[VanAce]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179143

Just another way to spam your friends?

[Sytadel]

3/4 games are big macro games for me.

Just get units as soon as you can to help you survive and protect your mineral line!

Macro is definitely my weakness at the moment. My micro's probably above my ranking, but my macro is well below. I just can't seem to spend fast enough as zerg, for two major reasons;
1) I forget to use Larvae spawn every cooldown, so fall behind on production.
2) Beyond the initial Roach push, I'm never sure where to go next. Part of this is just knowledge, but it's also a lack of scouting.

That said, my early-mid game is quite strong and if I can do a good Roach/Roach + Hydra push early on then I can make some opponents collapse in the early game. Beyond that though, I'm sick of losing to opponents when I have over 2,000 unspent minerals or something ridiculous like that.

Still really enjoying the game, but lots of practice to do!

[Vindik8or]

I think that there might be a bit of a misunderstanding of what constitutes macromanagement. Build orders and babysitting unit creation is definitely micromanagement.

[Zan]

I think that there might be a bit of a misunderstanding of what constitutes macromanagement. Build orders and babysitting unit creation is definitely micromanagement.
I don't think so. Micro really comes down to fine unit control and position. Macro is about overall army, economic management. The ability to siege tank push while keeping your other units in front to defend them is good micro. The ability to do that while keeping units pumping out and expanding is good macro. I think the misunderstanding is actually that macro doesn't require the same physical dexterity that micro does.

[Saxby]

Macro is definitely my weakness at the moment. My micro's probably above my ranking, but my macro is well below. I just can't seem to spend fast enough as zerg, for two major reasons;
1) I forget to use Larvae spawn every cooldown, so fall behind on production.
2) Beyond the initial Roach push, I'm never sure where to go next. Part of this is just knowledge, but it's also a lack of scouting.

That said, my early-mid game is quite strong and if I can do a good Roach/Roach + Hydra push early on then I can make some opponents collapse in the early game. Beyond that though, I'm sick of losing to opponents when I have over 2,000 unspent minerals or something ridiculous like that.

Still really enjoying the game, but lots of practice to do!

Yeah, I found that whenever I had up to 600 minerals to spare, I would make sure I had all possible upgrades going or expand IMMEDIATELY (if eveything is running smoothly). Jump on the nearest gold expansion or upgrade shields/weapons. Tends to put it to good use.

[Vindik8or]

I don't think so. Micro really comes down to fine unit control and position. Macro is about overall army, economic management. The ability to siege tank push while keeping your other units in front to defend them is good micro. The ability to do that while keeping units pumping out and expanding is good macro. I think the misunderstanding is actually that macro doesn't require the same physical dexterity that micro does.

In that case, I think there's a different subset of what macro/micro management constitutes to Starcraft players. The truth is that there isn't much macromanagement to the game (note I said "much" not "none"). Macromanagement comes down to grand strategy - relying on automation and the effects of large forces to accomplish multiple complex things. Micromanagement is eschewing automation and focusing on lots of individually simple tasks to accomplish a complex result. Things like unit assignments, patrol and waypoint pathing, AI routines, and large build queues promote macromanagement; things like individual troop abilities, unique characters, troop experience and levelling and individual targeting promote micromanagement. In Starcraft macromanagement pretty much comes down to how you balance your attention between resource collection, base building and expansion, and army building and combat. Actually using your attention on these things is fairly intense micromanagement.

[Zan]

In that case, I think there's a different subset of what macro/micro management constitutes to Starcraft players. The truth is that there isn't much macromanagement to the game (note I said "much" not "none"). Macromanagement comes down to grand strategy - relying on automation and the effects of large forces to accomplish multiple complex things. Micromanagement is eschewing automation and focusing on lots of individually simple tasks to accomplish a complex result. Things like unit assignments, patrol and waypoint pathing, AI routines, and large build queues promote macromanagement; things like individual troop abilities, unique characters, troop experience and levelling and individual targeting promote micromanagement. In Starcraft macromanagement pretty much comes down to how you balance your attention between resource collection, base building and expansion, and army building and combat. Actually using your attention on these things is fairly intense micromanagement.

I get what you're saying, and I do agree, macro has definately come to mean something else in competitive Starcraft. Take pro players like the American 'Idra' who will often be refered to as a 'macro' player, which actually implies more focus on expanding and army building rather than early timing pushes and cheese. The act of being a good macro player however, is really no less intense with micromanagement (in a traditional sense) than other styles of play.

I suppose you could argue that better micro makes you better directly at macro, but the reverse is not true.

Anyway, it's all symantics. I've never really given it much thought, I just watch too much SC2 shoutcasts. :)

[AranchineD]

Anyway, it's all symantics.

Oh, Vin is going to have fun with this.

[Vindik8or]

I get what you're saying, and I do agree, macro has definately come to mean something else in competitive Starcraft. Take pro players like the American 'Idra' who will often be refered to as a 'macro' player, which actually implies more focus on expanding and army building rather than early timing pushes and cheese. The act of being a good macro player however, is really no less intense with micromanagement (in a traditional sense) than other styles of play.

I suppose you could argue that better micro makes you better directly at macro, but the reverse is not true.

Anyway, it's all symantics. I've never really given it much thought, I just watch too much SC2 shoutcasts. :)

Yes, it is all semantics. I'm talking about the definitions of macro and micromanagement, and you're talking about antivirus software (or something equally irrelevant).

[Sytadel]

Macromanagement in a StarCraft thread is whatever Macromanagement is as defined by StarCraft players. In StarCraft, macromanagement is effectively managing tasks related to your base (resource collection, unit production, expansion, buildings, etc.). This mightn't be what macromanagement is in other games, but that's how its always been defined in StarCraft.

Strictly speaking though what I have trouble with is Macro as Vin defined it. It's not so much that I can't manage my base, its that I don't devote enough attention to it.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

Finally won a game tonight (yes I do suck). Getting better at getting units out quickly. Now I just need to attack a bit sooner.

If anybody wants to add me my id is darren.hammerzeit.

[TrinityJayOne]

Someone give an opinion of my work amagad D:

[Slippery]

I gave you pep because I couldn't. Isn't that enough!?

[TrinityJayOne]

Hmmm...I tried to watch it just now and it said that the map data has changed and it wouldn't load it (was working on it lastnight). Basically it is a rip-off of The Legend of Zelda in which you play as a lone Zealot fighting off various Terran & Zerg forces, complete with top-down camera and page-flipping map tile action. In the revision I did lastnight, you gradually get stronger and stronger the more enemies you kill, buying skills along the way (like Charge), and eventually you turn into a Dark Templar. :D

[Sytadel]

Well, I did got a virus, removed the virus, restored my internet, started a few work projects, went out to get a mother's day present, came home, did the washing, did the ironing, finished my work projects, did the dish washing, cleaned up my room, sat down, logged in... and found out my account had been compromised.

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object3/419/125/n57498971581_5153.jpg

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

That's a bugger.

I'm getting into this more. Now that I've finished the ranking matches I find I'm winning more games. I don't know whether that's because I faced particularly hard opposition in the ranking matches and now it's balancing out or if I'm improving, but either way I'm happy. I've only really been playing with Terran, though. I know I should play the other races too, but I just can't be bothered at the moment.

[Silverwolf]

Well, I did got a virus, removed the virus, restored my internet, started a few work projects, went out to get a mother's day present, came home, did the washing, did the ironing, finished my work projects, did the dish washing, cleaned up my room, sat down, logged in... and found out my account had been compromised.

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object3/419/125/n57498971581_5153.jpg

Yeah someone is logging on your WoW toons right now.

You seem to be good at it!

[TrinityJayOne]

Jesus. You and Brad, I'm buying you both authenticators one day.

[Silverwolf]

Just buy them a copy of Common Sense '11

[Sytadel]

I THOUGHT I LEGITIMATELY NEEDED A JAVA UPDATE OKcaps

In all honesty I'm not sure how I managed to get that virus. It seemed to happen during the night when I was just browsing my regular sites. I'm usually smart enough not to download thinly veiled .exe files or anything dumb like that.

[Silverwolf]

I guess some people are just vulnerable to the internet by nature, like a racial attribute.

[Saxby]

Did you download battleping? I got asked for a java update too after battleping was messing with my system. I figured I would do it later and denied it. LUCKY!

Edit - Kaspersky picked up on battleping trying to rape my PC.

[tau]

I guess it's just me being shit at it, but all day I've been rushed in the first few minutes. weeeeeeee

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I played a game today where the dude had a zealot out before I even had a barracks. He then proceeded to rape my supply line with more zealots. That game was over pretty damn quick.

Had an hour long game myself tonight. There was a couple of times when I thought I was done for, but I kept plodding along trying to do something (I hate it when people drop out because they think they're going to lose) and my opponent just never seemed to press his advantage. In the end I chose a mineral field near his base, built a shit load of Banshees and Vikings and took on his base, which wasn't a well defended as I thought it was with the units he got out (He produced and I killed 3 Motherships). I love the Banshee/Viking combination, though.

[tau]

So had a few awesome games over the last day or two. Just now had to surrender a match because... my breakfast was burning on the stove. fml lmayo~

[Antwandemarco]

So this is out soon yeah? Someone said the 27th... Is that right?

[AranchineD]

So this is out soon yeah? Someone said the 27th... Is that right?

Yes.


Of July.

[Sytadel]

I had the best game last night - I won, even though at one point in time my only buildings were an Extractor and a Hatchery that had only just started building.

[Sytadel]

wtf that was my old account. awesome. Nov 2002 represent!

[Sytadel]

After much toil and trouble, made rank 1 in Bronze division today! Bring on silver! (or rank reset >_>).

[ElPresidente]

Copper is where it is at beeeatch! :P

(Rank 13)

[Sytadel]

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o246/Sytadel/diamondbaby.jpg

**** yeah.

Not bad for only 40-50 odd games over a month!

[tau]

i can't even play, I just keep getting downloading content errors :/

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I jumped on again tonight and started the placement matches again (I'm going random now to practice with Protoss and Zerg since I've gotten alright with Terran now), but I kept getting dumped from matches. I must have started about 6 matches and got dumped from three. Very frustrating, especially in the last one when I'd developed a sizable Zerg force, expanded pretty quickly and was just about to launch an assault. Annoyed the shit out of me.

[Saxby]

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o246/Sytadel/diamondbaby.jpg

**** yeah.

Not bad for only 40-50 odd games over a month!

THAT IS RIDICULOUS! We should team up! 2v2!

PS - Just had the most satisfying WIN EVER!

Our Archons/Void ray 2v2 combo was countered by carriers/corruptors. It looked as though it was certain defeat, but I used dark templar to destroy his mineral income and then wittled away all the enemies buildings and continue to rebuild bases until they had nothing LEFT! Me and my mate literally yelled out "YES!" When they gg's out.

So good...

http://bit.ly/93wCLE

[Sytadel]

I read about the "dumping" but haven't had it happen over 8-9 games tonight - what's the deal?

--

I managed to win my first Diamond match with a cheesy 6 pool - Rank 38, baby!

Sadly, I've been creamed every game since. I don't think I'm diamond material, just got lucky with 5-0 on my placement matches. I'm confident I'm mid-gold to low-platinum, though. Unfortunately I'm moving down way slower than I moved up though, so it'll probably be a brutal process moving back down to wherever it is I actually belong.

Saxby, add me and we'll do some games if I'm on. I can only really play mondays, thursdays, and weekends from about 8pm Perth time though.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I read about the "dumping" but haven't had it happen over 8-9 games tonight - what's the deal?

Wish I knew. I had to install 2 patches before I could play and I had never had any problems with being dumped before.

Playing Protoss isn't much different than I remember, but it took me a while as the Zerg to work out how to create more creep. I kept looking for creep colonies or something similar. Eventually I realised that Overlords give you more creep, but it took me a while to find that out.

Edit: Ha! I was just reading through some of the comments on the SC2 forums. It's amazing how many people think that 'Beta' means 'fully working game'. I mean, it's annoying that I keep getting dropped, but the whole point of participating in a Beta is so they can test things out. So many people are getting dropped because Blizzard changed something and wanted to see how it would work. Not really a big problem in the whole scheme of things. If this was happening after the 27th June (or July, I forget when SC2 is actually getting released), then I'd be worried.

[Saxby]

Saxby, add me and we'll do some games if I'm on. I can only really play mondays, thursdays, and weekends from about 8pm Perth time though.

Sounds good. I'm at rank 1 on silver and should really be in Gold League but finish playing before earning enough to qualify. Then again, me and my friend have over double the points of the next person below us, so we shouldn't have to work to hard to get to gold.

We would have placed higher but we had about 4 drop-outs to our 7 wins and 2 losses. Not sure if they counted though, but it seems like it affected our placement.

[ElPresidente]

For a bit of a laugh you can watch me throw a victory right out the window in the following match:

ElPrez vs Junglist (http://members.iinet.net.au/~elpresidente/PrezVsJunglist.SC2Replay)

So close and then I forgot I'd run out of harvesters. :P

[Saxby]

Is that the junglist that kicked up a fuss about the good game business a while back?

[ElPresidente]

Aye, that's Jung, previously of Good Game fame.

[Saxby]

Ohhhhh REALLY? Looking for some extra views eh? That's a lucky match-up! Or maybe it's no coincidence and you two are friends? It will be interesting to see how he plays anyway :P

[ElPresidente]

Games journos are a horribly incestuous group, everyone knows most everyone - furthermore, Jung now writes for PC Powerplay.

[tau]

fml, the game won't work due to download errors or some such bs.

At least it quits when I go exit game, rather than having to force a quit through task manager!

[Sytadel]

Oh man, Diamond is brutal. Two main things seem to distinguish me from the pros:

- APM. They're harassing, and I'm holding them off. Problem? They managed to keep building their army and teching, while I have 600 minerals lying around and no units to counter the second force.

- Responsiveness of strategies. I need time to ponder, tech to, and counter an enemy. They seem to just sight what I have, and know immediately the timing and path to an appropriate counter.

I don't really mind losing if I learn something, but most games the enemy has been leagues ahead and I haven't stood a chance. The shit part is I'm winning just enough (2-6 or something) that I'm not busted down to Platinum/Gold yet.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

Had a pretty good game tonight. Played as Zerg against the Terran. Got out some zerlings and hydralisks pretty early on and marched on his base. Destroyed the one command centre I found and went searching for the remainer of his structures. What I hadn't released was that the first thing this guy did was take his first command centre and land it on a piece of land that you couldn't get to without flying to it. He almost wiped out my one Hatchery. Luckily I had a some minerals built up so I sent a drone to a yellow mineral field and spawned a Hatchery there and occupied a couple of different mineral fields as well. I dug in with lots of spore towers and the thing that replaced the sunken colony and prepared for a big counter attack. Fortunately for me it never came. For some reason this player seems to like just building armies and took long enough to do it that I grew a mutalisk army about 40 or 50 strong, upgraded them to max and sent them on a search and destroy mission. It was awesome to watch them rip through all the defenses he has set up. The Swarm prevailed!

Also, was my first win as the Zerg.

[*InFiNiTe*]

How are you guys playing it? I was a long time Starcraft player (2003-2007) just checking are you guys playing a demo or beta testing or is there a version out for online play already? Sorry, but there are 24 pages to go through, I don't have enough time to look through it all haha

Also a question for you guys because I'm out of the loop (I only get on Starcraft to keep my account alive, same with Warcraft 3. Play Wow though) since there will be a copy of the game each for the 3 races campaign modes, does that mean there will be 3 versions of the game online (ala Starcraft and Starcraft Brood Wars) or can you just pick up the Terran copy and have the full version ready to go for online play? Blizzard are likely in the top few most successful games developers in the world an they are just ruthless when it comes to ripping off consumers.. Sheesh.

[TrinityJayOne]

You get Terran campaign + all races for skirmish with the initial release. Blues have confirmed that the next releases (Zerg then Protoss campaigns) will effectively be expansions, not a full release, and will add units as well as missions for the prior campaigns.

As for what we're playing, it's a beta. I haven't really touched it in ages and would happily donate my login if it wasn't tied to everything else. :P

[*InFiNiTe*]

Ahhh bugger, would love to get my hands on a key hahaha. Cheers for the info mate, I've been pretty confused about the process for a while now.

Good to see it's finally coming out, finally something to get me away from WoW. I still remember thinking SC Ghost was going to be epic :(

[tau]

Just preorder sc2 from EB (as well as GAME and others? dunno), give them your email and they just send you one :P

[Slippery]

Dunno when they stop giving out keys with pre-orders, might want to check that out.

[Saxby]

Seeing as how the Beta is almost over you might as well just focus on buying the full game. Should be out soon.

[TrinityJayOne]

July 27th.

Anyways, is anyone else having issues with friends lists? I just patched and logged in to find everything reset. Fine, whatever, but now I can't seem to add anyone. I can type in the fields, but as soon as I click elsewhere the text just disappears. Can't click "send request" or anything either. I've been playing with the RealID chatting by dual-clienting on the PTR and it's cool, but I wanted to try it WoW <-> SC2. :(

[Sytadel]

Gonna hop on tonight for probably my last few games before the beta disappears, if anyone is keen. I haven't played since I got my ass handed to me in diamond league. Speaking of which...

Improved the system that handles initial placement and promotion/relegation between Leagues & Ladders.

Praise Jesus.

[*InFiNiTe*]

Seeing as how the Beta is almost over you might as well just focus on buying the full game. Should be out soon.

I've missed the boat by a long way then :(

But that's ok I'll brush up on Brood Wars and The Frozen Throne before it comes out and get back into the swing of it. 4 days before my birthday, praise Allah! (jk)

[sidochrome]

This one aired a couple of nights ago during the NBA finals - must have cost Blizz a pretty penny.

pmBtanGjziM

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

For some reason I thought this came out on the 27th of this month, but it's not until next month. I feel sad now.

[Slippery]

:(

5char

[ElPresidente]

C'mon next round of beta!

[TrinityJayOne]

Why would they do another beta with release just around the corner?