StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm coming March 12

The Zerg will rush onto PC and Mac in StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm on March 13, 2013, publisher Activision announced this morning. The expansion will come in three editions, ranging from $40 to $80 depending on how much extra gubbins you want with your sci-fi RTS.

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The Zerg will rush onto PC and Mac in StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm on March 12, 2013, Blizzard announced this morning. The expansion will come in three editions, ranging from $40 to $80 depending on how much extra gubbins you want with your sci-fi RTS.

$40 gets you the bog standard regular edition, which simply contains the video game you'd like to play. $60 bags you the download-only Digital Deluxe version, which includes a Baneling pet for World of Warcraft, the 'Torrasque' skin for your Ultralisks, Zergy Battle.net portraits and decals, plus Kerrigan's wings and a Zerg sigil for Diablo 3 characters.

Or for $80, the physical Collector's Edition packs all that stuff plus a 144-page hardcover art book, Zerg mouse mat, soundtrack CD and a "behind-the-scenes" DVD.

The second part of the StarCraft 2 trilogy focuses on those naughty Zerg and the newly de-Zergified ghost Sarah Kerrigan's attempts to control them. Along with a new single-player campaign, it adds new units for every faction in multiplayer, and buffs up Battle.net multiplayer with jazz like a leveling system.

Pre-orders for the regular digital and Digital Deluxe editions are due to open today.

From The Chatty
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    November 13, 2012 6:40 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm coming March 12.

    The Zerg will rush onto PC and Mac in StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm on March 13, 2013, publisher Activision announced this morning. The expansion will come in three editions, ranging from $40 to $80 depending on how much extra gubbins you want with your sci-fi RTS.

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      November 13, 2012 7:04 AM

      I wonder how many people will be picking this up. I know I won't be :(

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        November 13, 2012 7:07 AM

        I'll pickup a CE like I do with most Blizzard games - I'll play through the SP for the story and that's about it.

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          November 13, 2012 7:31 AM

          And here I thought I was the only one doing that for SC

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        November 13, 2012 7:17 AM

        I will be. They didn't screw SC up like they did Diablo.

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          November 13, 2012 8:03 AM

          Debatable.. depends which area you're looking at. (no chatrooms on launch? seriously?)

          Although I'll argue they fixed a lot of their mistakes better than they have with Diablo.

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            November 13, 2012 9:42 AM

            The SC2 team has been great about applying feedback. I've just lost my interest in the series :(
            I think I burned out and like team games like DoTA and LoL more (especially to watch).

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        November 13, 2012 8:48 AM

        I'll buy it--I want to play through the single player campaign.

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      November 13, 2012 7:09 AM

      I'll pick it iup. Love me some SC2

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      November 13, 2012 7:12 AM

      So when I preordered it from Amazon.com for $40 and thought I was getting a deal, I was wrong.

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        November 13, 2012 7:17 AM

        You'll probably get a credit from amazon or a reduced price, they tend to undercut the msrp prior to shipping.

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      November 13, 2012 7:28 AM

      Cool! Enjoyed the single player, very creative and varied missions. Keep meaning to get in multi but a) time b) learning curve. :/

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        November 13, 2012 7:29 AM

        you should give it a go, the match maker really does to a pretty good job. I mean I'm terrible and have found a lot of enjoyment in multiplayer.

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          November 13, 2012 7:45 AM

          Even basic stuff like build order and shoving down choke points and shit does my head in. :(

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            November 13, 2012 7:49 AM

            thats why the matchmaking is great, it will pair you against people who are similarly challenged at least 50% of the time.

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            November 13, 2012 10:21 AM

            And it will continue to do just that until you get some games under your belt.

            Watching a lot of GSL helps too :)

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        November 13, 2012 7:32 AM

        WTF, only Play.com have this listed so far in the UK. I think I'll have to get the collector's edition again to get the set. :/

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        November 13, 2012 8:06 AM

        if the learning curve is an issue, and it's way to easy to get matched against someone who spends 8+ hrs playing the game every. single. day, then you should give the Arcade a try. Lots of varied play styles that don't require rush & anti-rush tactics. Tug-of-war, tower defense, RPG, co-op objective based, survival horror, etc., etc. Good stuff. It's kept me interested in SC2 long after the campaign and multiplayer wore off.

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          November 13, 2012 8:12 AM

          Unless you're actually good, it's not "way too easy" to get matched against someone who spends that much time playing the game. The matchmaking will keep those player bases fairly separated.

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            November 13, 2012 8:41 AM

            Sometimes I think I run into people who reset their profiles just to play noobs and grief them. At least, that's what it's felt like in the past.

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              November 13, 2012 8:45 AM

              They have to throw as many games as they win in order to sustain that beyond five to ten games. This isn't like WC3 where you have to win your way up the ladder -- the match making will shift your hidden rating very quickly if you're winning more than you lose with your current ranking.

              People like to default to the sinister to explain these sorts of things, but more likely your opponents simply built a few more probes than you did.

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                November 13, 2012 9:13 AM

                Maybe it's like WC3 in that if you throw your first 10 games, your rating is so abysmal that you'll never play anyone decent (except the other smurfs.) Blizzard has probably learned since then though.

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                  November 13, 2012 9:21 AM

                  It's not.

                  You'll get lumped into Bronze, but if you start winning it'll throw you against higher level opponents within 5-10 games (even if it's not reflected with a visual promotion).

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              November 13, 2012 8:48 AM

              theres no such thing as resetting profiles. they could potentially tank their rank and get to bronze, but as soon as they start winning games again it moves them back up.

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                November 13, 2012 10:36 AM

                yah, but its easy to keep a 1:1 record by throwing games (just leave at the start), so if someone really wanted to grief, it would be pretty trivial to stay in bronze/silver

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                  November 13, 2012 11:53 AM

                  that person would have to be losing more than half of their games. there arent that many shitty people out there to say that its a big problem in sc2

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              November 13, 2012 11:55 AM

              If you're unsure then watch the replay. Losing a game is different than running into someone that tanked their account.

              See if they get supply blocked, their APM, etc etc. Fact of the matter is that they probably just straight up beat you, simply because it isn't very probable that you'll run into someone who deliberately tanked their account or is playing a smurf.

              The matchmaker does a good job at keeping people at a 1:1 ratio, and losing games is part of the deal.

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      November 13, 2012 7:43 AM

      I'm super pumped. been feeling the itch to go back to SC2 but I haven't gotten into the HotS beta yet

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        November 13, 2012 8:06 AM

        man I'd love to get into that beta, or hell just have a friend get in so I can play a little on his account

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      November 13, 2012 7:55 AM

      Excited for the multiplayer

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      November 13, 2012 8:12 AM

      From Amazon: Beta Access for Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
      Pre-order Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and get beta access. We will email your code within 4 business days after you place your pre-order for Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm Standard or Collector’s Edition. Offers are valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. This offer will be extended to all existing pre-orders. Limit one per customer. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time.

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        November 13, 2012 11:05 AM

        Doesn't look like Amazon.co.uk is doing this yet. I'll probably just wait and buy from Blizz.

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      November 13, 2012 8:32 AM

      Preorders are up at amazon.com.

      Snagged a CE. Woo.

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      November 13, 2012 8:46 AM

      I'll buy but it, but I won't play hardly as much as Wings of Liberty.

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      November 13, 2012 9:26 AM

      Bah, took 'em too long. Should've been out for Christmas. Grrr... :(

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        November 13, 2012 9:37 AM

        Naa. Too many games are released in the winter as is.

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          November 13, 2012 9:09 PM

          None that I'm interested in this year (at least). :(

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      November 13, 2012 10:10 AM

      [deleted]

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      November 13, 2012 10:33 AM

      nice gonna preorder CE on amazon

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