Starcraft-Welten: Will the mistake publishing an expansion pack which divides the community be repeated? Or have you already thought about this for a future expansion? (stopping Battle.net support for players without the expansion)
Blizzard: Actually Brood War was one of the most widely adopted and accepted expansion packs ever – hardly anyone stayed with vanilla StarCraft so there is no real division of the community noticeable. Today hardly anyone plays vanilla StarCraft only and all leagues and sites also support StarCraft Brood War. But to answer the question: We are still very early in the development process and it is far too early to discuss any details about an expansion pack.
Starcraft-Welten: Will the Protoss have shields again in the final version?
Blizzard: An important part of the unique Protoss design are the plasma shields that protect their units and this is also planned for the final version.
Starcraft-Welten: Which scale will ladder or league support have (like patch 1.15, for example)? Did these 1.15 features perhaps even originate in the development of SC2? What new community features are planned for the Battle.net and will you be able to add more than 25 people to your friends list?
Blizzard: Currently, we’re not ready to discuss specifics about Battle.net. We can say that the service will evolve in much the same way that it evolved between Diablo and StarCraft, and between StarCraft and Warcraft III. We’re looking to add exciting new features to encourage competitive play and socializing on the service. We’ll have more specific details to discuss about Battle.net in the future.
Starcraft-Welten: Will the story of Broodwar be continued with the same known characters, or is there no connection?
Blizzard: Yes, you will definitely see the old well-known characters return in StarCraft II. In the single player demonstration you already saw the return of Jim Raynor and Zeratul. You will also get to see Kerrigan and other characters that you know from Broodwar. The story of StarCraft II is set four years after Broodwar, so you can expect to see some of that storyline continued and meet your favourite characters again.
Starcraft-Welten: Is the number of units limited to 200 again? And will more units be allowed on the maps?
Blizzard: At the moment the maximum population cap for all 3 races is 200. But this is, just like everything else, subject to change.
Starcraft-Welten: Is the game camera fixed to a certain position, or can it be moved and zoomed?
Blizzard: You have the possibility to zoom into the game but other than that the camera is fixed as it was in the original StarCraft. In the game you will normally have the same zoom level and viewpoint.
Starcraft-Welten: Are there any weather effects? Do they influence gameplay?
Blizzard: This is something that the Development Team has definitely thought about doing, though it has not yet been implemented. If weather effects are to be added, they will not affect gameplay, but will instead be an added visual effect to bring the game even more to life.
Starcraft-Welten: Will it be possible to get a beta key? And, if yes, how?
Blizzard: We are planning on having a beta test. We do not have any details on this yet though. As soon as we draw nearer to the beta phase, we will have more information for you.
Blizzard: Actually Brood War was one of the most widely adopted and accepted expansion packs ever – hardly anyone stayed with vanilla StarCraft so there is no real division of the community noticeable. Today hardly anyone plays vanilla StarCraft only and all leagues and sites also support StarCraft Brood War. But to answer the question: We are still very early in the development process and it is far too early to discuss any details about an expansion pack.
Starcraft-Welten: Will the Protoss have shields again in the final version?
Blizzard: An important part of the unique Protoss design are the plasma shields that protect their units and this is also planned for the final version.
Starcraft-Welten: Which scale will ladder or league support have (like patch 1.15, for example)? Did these 1.15 features perhaps even originate in the development of SC2? What new community features are planned for the Battle.net and will you be able to add more than 25 people to your friends list?
Blizzard: Currently, we’re not ready to discuss specifics about Battle.net. We can say that the service will evolve in much the same way that it evolved between Diablo and StarCraft, and between StarCraft and Warcraft III. We’re looking to add exciting new features to encourage competitive play and socializing on the service. We’ll have more specific details to discuss about Battle.net in the future.
Starcraft-Welten: Will the story of Broodwar be continued with the same known characters, or is there no connection?
Blizzard: Yes, you will definitely see the old well-known characters return in StarCraft II. In the single player demonstration you already saw the return of Jim Raynor and Zeratul. You will also get to see Kerrigan and other characters that you know from Broodwar. The story of StarCraft II is set four years after Broodwar, so you can expect to see some of that storyline continued and meet your favourite characters again.
Starcraft-Welten: Is the number of units limited to 200 again? And will more units be allowed on the maps?
Blizzard: At the moment the maximum population cap for all 3 races is 200. But this is, just like everything else, subject to change.
Starcraft-Welten: Is the game camera fixed to a certain position, or can it be moved and zoomed?
Blizzard: You have the possibility to zoom into the game but other than that the camera is fixed as it was in the original StarCraft. In the game you will normally have the same zoom level and viewpoint.
Starcraft-Welten: Are there any weather effects? Do they influence gameplay?
Blizzard: This is something that the Development Team has definitely thought about doing, though it has not yet been implemented. If weather effects are to be added, they will not affect gameplay, but will instead be an added visual effect to bring the game even more to life.
Starcraft-Welten: Will it be possible to get a beta key? And, if yes, how?
Blizzard: We are planning on having a beta test. We do not have any details on this yet though. As soon as we draw nearer to the beta phase, we will have more information for you.
