Morning Discussion

After what feels like an eternity of waiting, the release of StarCraft II today feels somehow sudden. If you're looking to chat about Blizzard's real-time strategy sequel, we have a dedicated StarCraft II chat and discussion post for all your talky-talk needs.

While it's obvious what the launch will mean for Blizzard and Activision--buckets of cash--how will it affect smaller developers working in the RTS genre? Hazardous Software, developer of the astounding time-travelling RTS Achron, has produced a jolly interesting blog post touching upon similar issues.

"Every indie developer looking to succeed in the business of making games needs to reflect upon the question, 'why should people play my game instead of a big budget game?'" writes founder Chris Hazard. In the case of Achron, having unique time-travelling multiplayer means the game can excel in one area enough to not be injured by Blizzard's certain sales juggernaut but others might struggle to be noticed.

Built around the economic theory of the 'Pareto frontier,' Hazard's insight makes an for interesting read that certainly rings true for AAA titles of all genres as well as indies.

From The Chatty
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    July 27, 2010 5:12 AM

    woo, Happy Starcraft 2 day!

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      July 27, 2010 5:13 AM

      wanna go home and play now :( pwn some n00bfags

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        July 27, 2010 5:14 AM

        no kidding. my CE should be here in a couple of hours, then I get to stare at it all day until its time to go home :(

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          July 27, 2010 5:18 AM

          mine is waiting for me at home :(

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      July 27, 2010 5:14 AM

      Havent read much about this but the SP is DOW-like? I may have to play this.

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      July 27, 2010 5:18 AM

      I haven't purchased it yet. I feel like I should, and yet after all this time (and I even played the beta) I'm having trouble getting excited about it.

      On the plus side, I'm close to finishing RDR.

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        July 27, 2010 5:22 AM

        you think youre close to finishing it, but then you get to a point where it completely loses momentum and the last 1.5hrs is brutally boring

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          July 27, 2010 5:24 AM

          Scared me there, thought you were talking about SC

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          July 27, 2010 5:26 AM

          I'm in Blackwater, doing missions for the crazy redheaded Doctor. I know I need to finish that up, then some more government missions, but I think I'm reasonably close. Probably a few hours away from done, but I've been distracting myself hunting down buffalo.

          Also, where the fuck do you find two cougars to knife to death? Every time I happen to find one, they turn tail and run away as fast as they possibly can.

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            July 27, 2010 5:52 AM

            Yea you have a bit of time left

        • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          July 27, 2010 6:11 AM

          It's not like they did that by accident, it's a denouement. I think it was a pretty interesting gameplay experiment, although there is a reason most games don't do that.

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            July 27, 2010 6:18 AM

            Oh I know, but it really put a damper on the whole experience for me

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      July 27, 2010 5:24 AM

      Something is wrong with b.net right now. They announced in game that achievements are being disabled and I'm getting a long wait when I try to login.

      Anyway, I got a few hours in with the SP and it's pretty damn awesome.

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      July 27, 2010 5:25 AM

      Our goddamn cable is out at home. They're sending a guy out "between 5:00 and 7:00" to try to fix it. I'm planning on playing single player first anyway but don't you have to connect to the internet for date/time verification in order to install?

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        July 27, 2010 5:26 AM

        Man, I was really hoping there wouldnt be issues

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          July 27, 2010 5:27 AM

          whoops, meant as a reply to big luke

          But to answer your question, yes it requires an internet connection to sign in.

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            July 27, 2010 5:29 AM

            :( I really miss whatever dumbass neighbor we used to have that didn't secure their wireless connection.

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              July 27, 2010 5:31 AM

              [deleted]

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                July 27, 2010 5:34 AM

                I don't know, I don't think I'd give our key out to a random person knocking on our door. The Comcast guy ought to be able to fix it. Then again, who knows what lengths I'll go to in order to get this game installed tonight...

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            July 27, 2010 5:33 AM

            Some people on the forums are saying achievements are back online. I haven't tried playing again.

            Obviously this only matters if you give a shit about achievements, which honestly I would love to say I don't, but deep down I kind of do. It's nice to have your progress on display in the form of an achievement.

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              July 27, 2010 5:41 AM

              well hopefully they will retroactively unlock if you achieved something while the servers are fucked up

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        July 27, 2010 9:30 AM

        Yes. You also don't earn achievements while you're offline.

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      July 27, 2010 6:03 AM

      Amazon has delayed my shipping so won't have mine till tomorrow grrrrrrrrr

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        July 27, 2010 6:04 AM

        I was stressing out most of the day because I didnt get shipping confirmation. It came in at like 8pm est, and now its out for delivery!

        sorry :(

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          July 27, 2010 6:05 AM

          Damn... Yea I woke up this morn and saw an email from amazon hoping it was a delivery confirmation... Instead it was an email telling me my order was delayed

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            July 27, 2010 6:10 AM

            I'll be streaming my SP in the evening.

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              July 27, 2010 6:29 AM

              I will be watching your steam and palying the game and wearing my starcraft 2 t-shirt and watching pro replays all at the same time. While eating a slice of my starcraft cake and wearing my zergling slippers.

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      July 27, 2010 6:11 AM

      i'm happy that we'll be seeing more quality pro replays, it got boring when there were no new ones when the beta was down.

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      July 27, 2010 6:13 AM

      SC II acquired. I set one of the boys to Wal-Mart to pick up a copy for me last night at 2300.

      Sometimes it's good to be Dad. :)

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      July 27, 2010 6:24 AM

      "On vehicle for delivery" =) So long as it arrives by the time I get home from work, I'll be happy. (I'd be happier if I could've taken the day off, of course)

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      July 27, 2010 6:24 AM

      I never liked Starcraft :-(

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        July 27, 2010 6:29 AM

        your loss, it's amazing.

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        July 27, 2010 6:31 AM

        Even if you do not like it, for the story or gameplay, i think its one of those games that you should get down the line. It's just that good, and you'll grow to love it.

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        July 27, 2010 6:37 AM

        I've never played a RTS.

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      July 27, 2010 6:28 AM

      Downloader isn't even close to done and wont be by 1:00 :(. Looks like I'm driving somewhere to get a box copy.

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        July 27, 2010 6:30 AM

        I started mine last night and it's installed this morning. yay!

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          July 27, 2010 6:42 AM

          The internet where I'm at until the end of the week is so bad. I didn't think it was going to work, but worth a shot!

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            July 27, 2010 6:51 AM

            dang :( bad internet is worse than no internet!

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      July 27, 2010 6:44 AM

      [deleted]

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        July 27, 2010 6:46 AM

        I so should have taken off today and stayed home. I've come into work and have F5'ed SC2 threads only.

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      July 27, 2010 6:53 AM

      :) My friend bought me the Collectors Edition since they were in stock where he picked it up last night at midnight and he traded me for my Regular Edition since he knew I wanted the CE (plus the difference in money) (My Reg edition is in the mail)

      :( Now I have the unopened Collectors edition at work staring at me.

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      July 27, 2010 7:05 AM

      Does anyone have an image of the visually unique Thor unit for the collectors edition? (not the WoW Thor pet)

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      July 27, 2010 7:23 AM

      Anyone left waiting for the digital copy to unlock so we can buy it? It's only 7am here :(

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        July 27, 2010 7:25 AM

        Yea my power went out at midnight last night, tried to stay up till it went back on to restart the dl but failed. It's at 78% now saying 'About 30 mins' so hopefully it'll make it before then!

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      July 27, 2010 7:23 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 27, 2010 7:33 AM

      Oh god, why did I stay up until 4:30a playing this game (and losing every one in the process). Today is going to be a long day at work.

      Who's with me here?

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      July 27, 2010 7:40 AM

      I am so pumped for 1pm EST to unlock this bad boy!

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        July 27, 2010 8:01 AM

        I'm trying not to think about it. That is not going well so far.

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          July 27, 2010 8:37 AM

          the box is sitting on my desk and calling my name :(

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      July 27, 2010 8:46 AM

      Okay, there has to be a way to do this. I want to get the digital copy of Starcraft 2 because I believe in digital distribution and want to support it (and don't want to pay tax). However, the OSX-run downloader only downloads the OSX version of the game, and the Windows-run downloader only downloads the windows game, right?

      So how do I obtain the Windows version without sitting in Boot Camp twiddling my thumbs for damn near 2 days while it downloads?

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        July 27, 2010 9:05 AM

        Download the parallels trial?

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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        July 27, 2010 9:15 AM

        So wait why do you want the Windows version if you don't like to use Windows?

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          July 27, 2010 9:19 AM

          He wants the Windows version because he wants to run it in Bootcamp I guess. >_>

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          July 27, 2010 9:20 AM

          probably because it runs like 10x better in boot camp than osx

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      July 27, 2010 8:48 AM

      Waiting for the god damn FedEx truck is killing me.

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      July 27, 2010 8:54 AM

      Fuck me, I won't be able to play this until about 6:30 EST.

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      July 27, 2010 9:13 AM

      amazon just shipped my copy

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      July 27, 2010 9:15 AM

      How are Blizzard's servers handling the load? I'm half-expecting issues seeing that even Steam still runs into occasional problems during big launches.

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        July 27, 2010 9:23 AM

        perfectly fine

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          July 27, 2010 10:46 AM

          Fine = "achievements disabled until further notice"? I was on sea multiplayer and about fifteen people confirmed they're disabled.

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      July 27, 2010 9:23 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 27, 2010 9:23 AM

      What are the chances Fry's will have extra copies of the CE? I would think low, but Fry's sometimes over-orders Collector's Editions.

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      July 27, 2010 9:28 AM

      Today, Kim Jong Ill is sitting in his throne, his finger hovering over the button to attack.

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      July 27, 2010 9:51 AM

      *sob*.... waited 10 years for this but not buying it. Starting a business so I really can't be tempted to put any time on it.

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      July 27, 2010 9:56 AM

      Just want to make sure I have this right: if I buy the game today, I won't have access to all three racial single-player campaigns (Zerg, Protoss, Human). Is that correct?

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        July 27, 2010 9:57 AM

        They split the campaigns up into 3 separate expansions. This one is the Human campaign, and it has over 30 levels (more than all the lvls of SC1 combined).

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        July 27, 2010 10:25 AM

        once you get into the SP you will realize why they did that. it's pretty huge.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        July 27, 2010 11:26 AM

        Yes and no. SC2 is a video game with a fully featured singleplayer campaign that just so happens to focus on a single race, instead of being divided into three parts like other similar video games have done in the past.

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      July 27, 2010 10:06 AM

      FUCK

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      July 27, 2010 10:16 AM

      Jesus who writes this cheezy shit? Man, Raynor's the worst-written character I've had to deal with in quite some time.

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        July 27, 2010 10:26 AM

        I disagree. I thought everything was great. Sure it has this cheesy western space feel, but it's supposed to! The voice acting is super drama bomb over the top and I like it. :(

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        July 27, 2010 10:31 AM

        haha he's supposed to be over the top what are you smoking? were you looking for a golden globe performance out of him?

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      July 27, 2010 10:19 AM

      WOO! Picked mine up at Target this morning. First person to pick one up, they hadn't even put them on the shelves when I walked in. :)

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      July 27, 2010 10:21 AM

      :D I'm really liking it. I can't wait to see what fan-made campaigns or what the next DotA will be.

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      July 27, 2010 10:22 AM

      The single player is awesome so far, great graphics, story, its like an adventure game!

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      July 27, 2010 10:25 AM

      NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PADME!!!!! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37208/Clipboard01%20%282%29.jpg

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      July 27, 2010 10:29 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 27, 2010 10:33 AM

      [deleted]

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        July 27, 2010 10:39 AM

        refresh it once, itll drop to 20 minutes and then 4 minutes later you're in

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      July 27, 2010 10:47 AM

      I am just playing the game for the first time never played star craft 1 but... I enjoy World Shift and Dawn of War 2, what is so special about this RTS.

      Playing the SP game so far I don't know, nothing special so far....

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        July 27, 2010 10:55 AM

        I can't believe that you of all people have never played Starcraft.

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          July 27, 2010 11:00 AM

          :) Up until maybe a 3-5 years ago I didn't even bothered with RTS and strategy games I hated them and could not get into them since all I could think of was ARPGs fast action loot and shit loads of spells.

          Recently I tried them out again and turns out I really enjoy them now or they got better, this is why I try out almost every game since you never know it could be awesome. Almost all game deserver a chance.

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      July 27, 2010 10:51 AM

      I don't think the servers will even allow me to purchase it now. Says there's some kind of error.

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        July 27, 2010 10:53 AM

        Also, can I purchase the license/key on a different computer than the one I'm installing it on? I'm at work. I'm remote connecting to my home PC to try and buy it but I'm getting an error. If I use the work PC to buy it off battle.net, can I take the key/serial number home and use it there?

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      July 27, 2010 10:54 AM

      Are the movies in the digital download compressed more than the retail box?

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      July 27, 2010 11:01 AM

      fucking faggot ups WHERE IS MY GOD DAMN COPY

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      July 27, 2010 11:03 AM

      I was considering getting a copy just to ragequit in multiplayer, while enjoying single player

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      July 27, 2010 11:05 AM

      Death to Activision-Blizzard!

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      July 27, 2010 11:06 AM

      Oh god, i hope UPS guy made it through the lobby doors!

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      July 27, 2010 11:08 AM

      Its fun, but I gotta be at work at 3. so i regrettful have to stop playing... for now.

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      July 27, 2010 11:16 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 27, 2010 11:26 AM

      is character code unique to your own account?

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      July 27, 2010 11:45 AM

      how hard will it be to get the collectors edition?

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        July 27, 2010 11:50 AM

        I walked into Best Buy a few minutes ago to buy my copy and there were a a shit ton of CEs. Maybe it's because it was a Best Buy in the ghetto.

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        July 27, 2010 11:55 AM

        [deleted]

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        July 27, 2010 12:00 PM

        might cancel my preorder on amazon and just walk into best buy tonight to get one. They have tons.

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      July 27, 2010 11:46 AM

      anyone got a 7 day pass they wanna share? I won't get my copy till probably next tuesday :(

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      July 27, 2010 11:52 AM

      Oh man, the Blizzard sense of humor is in full swing and I love it.

      iPistol ads on the TV in the bar - hilarious (I also liked the billboard with the ad for an iCruiser).
      Jukebox with such classics as Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird!
      Marines making Duke Nukem references!

      This is just hilariously awesome.

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        July 27, 2010 12:06 PM

        Plus, great re-playability for the SP campaign (from BlizzCast Episode 14):

        Dustin Browder: I think the player choice is really, really key, and I think what's really fun about it—you know, I've obviously played it way too many times at this point—but what's really fun about it, still for us now, is that I can still play through it in a different way. I'll get to a mission with different technology. I'll get to a mission with different research I've never had before, and I'm suddenly presented with a new tactical challenge that I have not yet seen, and I've played through this game so many times. So, I know that many players will play through it once, and that's great, but I think for those players who do want to play through it multiple times, they will find that the order they play the missions in, the types of technology choices they make, the types of research choices they make, the types of mercenaries they choose to hire fundamentally sort of alters some of the basic challenges you're facing and keeps the game very fresh after many, many play-throughs.

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      July 27, 2010 12:34 PM

      Is there any chance they'll patch in LAN play? Because no LAN play is fucking bullshit.

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      July 27, 2010 12:44 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 27, 2010 12:45 PM

      holy shit i love what they did with the campaign. it's like wing commander style, love the jukebox and stuff you can interact with

      PRO - TOAS - PICKUP - SHOVEL - BUCKET - SOCKS - SALSA - WHISKEY - CANDY - FLOWERS - HEAD STONE - GRAVE

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        July 27, 2010 12:48 PM

        haha there are some great lyrics

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      July 27, 2010 2:54 PM

      can you play this offline? its like sc1 so far, but much more shiny!

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        July 27, 2010 2:58 PM

        when was the last time you played sc1? O.o

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      July 27, 2010 2:58 PM

      Does the guest pass let you play single player?

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      July 27, 2010 3:05 PM

      can't login on bnet :( did I get "authenticator-hacked"? or is battlenet overloaded ? all my login attempts have failed and now it's telling me "too many attempts" :(:(

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        July 27, 2010 3:07 PM

        btw it didnt tell me "wrong authenticator number" but only "login failed"

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      July 27, 2010 3:08 PM

      oh my god finally installing

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        July 27, 2010 3:24 PM

        maaaaaaaaaullllaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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        July 27, 2010 3:30 PM

        bet you wish you had something to read while you waited for it to install >:(

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      July 27, 2010 3:15 PM

      What the hell, UPS delivered it to my apt building at 2pm, front desk can't find the package! AAAHHHH

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        July 27, 2010 3:31 PM

        Meanwhile, the chick in the front office is raping face on bnet....

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      July 27, 2010 3:45 PM

      How the fuck is it that this is the first package that i have not received on time in the last 3 years. GG UPS.

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        July 27, 2010 3:57 PM

        Seriously, I've ordered like 20 things from Amazon, and THIS is the first package that gets lost in my building

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      July 27, 2010 4:05 PM

      played half a dozen SP levels last night on hard and a couple this morning. This is the pinnacle of the genre. The achievements being offline sucked though.

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        July 27, 2010 4:08 PM

        I played the first 3 or 4 missions on Normal just now. They were way, way too easy. I think it's time to ramp up to Hard.

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        July 27, 2010 4:09 PM

        some of the achievements on hard are a pain in the ass. i tried to do mission 3's "destroy all 4 hatcheries" achievement but kept getting overrun because they fucking pour out units so goddamn fast. :(

        that and i suck.

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          July 27, 2010 4:13 PM

          i noticed you can replay missions, do you return to them with all your upgrades and new units?

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            July 27, 2010 4:15 PM

            I believe so, and that may be pretty crucial for some of the higher achievements. Didn't go back and try once I had done a couple upgrades.

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        July 27, 2010 4:35 PM

        I agree. I'm getting a huge War3 vibe (no surprise) in the sense that the world is really well detailed and I'm really looking forward to going through more of the game. War3 was previously my favorite SP RTS experience, and I have a feeling that this may contend when I'm finished.

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      July 27, 2010 4:15 PM

      Anyone noticed that the sub-grouping of buildings based upon addons is not there for single player? Is this an option that can be turned on? Please tell me they didn't remove this from multiplayer.

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      July 27, 2010 4:22 PM

      How does one get a guest pass I would like to try this out.

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      July 27, 2010 5:19 PM

      I've been playing the game in Traditional Chinese :(
      First Blizzard game I've been stuck without the ability to select a language for in 10 years... Fucking bullshit. Whoever they hired to do voice acting for the Chinese version needs to be shot, its so so bad.

      It also seems a bit too easy, on the first timed mission with ZERG!!! I managed to wipe everything out instead of just waiting for the timer to end.

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