StarCraft II
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BlizzCon 2013 schedule app now available for Android, iPhone
Wondering how to keep all of the events and panels at Blizzcon 2013 straight? Or just how to get around that incredibly large convention center? There's an app for that -- the BlizzCon schedule app, first released for BlizzCon 2011, has been updated for this year's festivities. Both the iPhone and Android versions have received snazzy new updates with an all new map of the convention center as well as this year's schedule of events and panels. But that's not all! This year's update has also added new features and social media integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so you can share your experience as you experience it. In addition, the mobile app will also have access to all the free BlizzCon video streams, so you can watch all the action, even if you're not present for it in person. And the best part? The app is completely free. The app for BlizzCon 2011 was tremendously handy to have while wandering the convention center -- if you're attending BlizzCon 2013, I highly recommend picking up the updated version for easy access to maps and schedules while you're on the go.
StarCraft Universe hits funding goal
In the midst of all the excitement over patch 5.4's release, you could be forgiven if you've forgotten about StarCraft Universe, the Upheaval Arts fan project to create an MMO-type game for StarCraft II. The plot of the game revolves around an alternate ending to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, where Kerrigan couldn't stop the hybrid's assault and the Protoss were defeated. StarCraft Universe tells the story of the aftermath. If that sounds intriguing to you, know that the project has hit its Kickstarter funding goal, so StarCraft Universe is on its way to fruition. For those of you who still want to contribute and earn some extra perks, there are a few hours remaining on the campaign, but don't delay, time is quickly running out. If you've been clamoring for a StarCraft-themed MMO, this is a project you'll definitely want to check out!
StarCraft Universe reaches its funding goal on Kickstarter
There are a lot of people who would very much like to see an MMO in the StarCraft universe. StarCraft Universe isn't quite the same thing, but it manages to turn StarCraft II into something very close to an MMO. And with just one day left to go on its Kickstarter project, it has hit its funding goal, ensuring that StarCraft II players can turn the real-time strategy game into a third-person MMO-style game at will. So how much does the mod actually contain? Eight classes, vehicle gameplay, customized models, a variety of boss encounters tuned for various difficulties, in-game strategy databases, a fully voiced plotline, and crafting mechanics. There are also single-player and multiplayer components for anyone who wants to experience the game solo, and the entire project can be experienced for free without a need to buy StarCraft II. If you're interested, there's still some time left to toss money into the Kickstarter and pick up a few extra rewards.
The Queue: BlizzCon, daily quests, gnome heads, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Let's go right to the questions! mikkelsdk asked: Considering Blizzard has a lot of things on the table currently (Heartstone, Blizzard All-Stars, Titan, Next WoW Expansion, Diablo 3 xpac and probably SC2 xpac) which of these aren't we going to hear about at Blizzcon? Titan is a given but have Blizzard talking about Heartstone, All-stars, WoW xpac, Diablo 3 xpac and SC2 xpac is kinda of a long shot.
StarCraft Universe appeals to Kickstarter audience for help
Remember StarCraft Universe, the fan-made mod that turned the RTS into an MMO? The project is still going strong after two years, but its development team is in dire need of funds to push it over the hill and into open beta testing. The solution? Kickstarter, of course. Upheaval Arts hopes to raise $80,000 or more to finish the first act of the game and get it into public testing. Currently there are two races in the game (Terran and Protoss), although with stretch goals the Zerg are a possibility. The team has some respectable names attached to the project, including Composer David Orr and voice actors Danielle McRae and Eric Dieter. StarCraft Universe will require Battle.net to play and will be completely free to all. If you're concerned about Blizzard finally lowering the boom on this mod, well, don't. The team says that it's gotten the studio's approval: "While Blizzard is not directly affiliated with this project's production, we do communicate with them to submit bug reports and make technical requests. They have given their blessing/permission for us to launch this Kickstarter, and they are supporting our efforts by featuring SCU as an arcade highlight."
Age of Conan composer joins PlanetSide 2 and Starcraft II nominees for music award
Say what you will about the rest of the game, there's little argument that Age of Conan has impressive music. And now, soundtrack composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen joins the list of nominees for the Best Score in a Video Game at the 2013 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. His nomination comes for his work heard in AoC's latest content update, Dragon's Spine, which can be heard in the trailer. Other nominees include Jeff Broadbent (Planetside 2) and Russel Bower, Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, and Neal Acree (Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm), nominated in January and March, respectively. The winner for best score will be selected at the HMMA ceremony at Hollywood's Fonda Theatre November 21st. Interested in listening to these impressive soundtracks for yourself? You'll find selections for both AoC and PS2 (and many more) in our own Jukebox Heroes feature.
IGN Pro League technology purchased by Blizzard
Do you like eSports? Blizzard Entertainment clearly does, as the company has just purchased the technology and assets of IGN Pro League. Several employees came along with the acquisition, including former IPL general manager David Ting. The hard assets will be used to promote various events centering around Blizzard's online games, while the staff members are joining Blizzard's internal eSports teams according to initial reports. Needless to say, this marks the end of IPL's competitive gaming coverage, which has in the past included games such as League of Legends and StarCraft II. The brand does not go with these employees or assets, meaning that last weekend's $100,000 Shootmania launch event was the final broadcast for the IPL. It remains to be seen what will be launched from the expanded Blizzard team, but representatives from the company were quite clear in stating that this is a move meant to promote the company's online and eSports presence.
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm launch schedule
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm officially launches, as the image suggests, on March 12, but, with the game launching at midnight tonight, launch events have kicked off all over the world. The evening of March 11 is when celebrations began in Sydney, Australia, where, at the time of writing, the game has been available for purchase for a full eight hours. Events are currently taking place in Europe, with activities underway and being broadcast live on Blizzard's official twitch channel right now. The European events include a tournament featuring well-known players such as Stephano, LucifroN, Grubby and White-Ra, who are competing live on stage, mixed in with developer interviews, exclusive content and more! If you're too late to check out the European streams, which finish at 8pm EST, fear not, because the US events kick off at 9pm PST, with Day9 and Husky kicking off proceedings. There will be live show matches, displaying the new "take command" feature, and new custom games, and two attendees will have the opportunity to play with Suppy and ViBE in a 2v2 pro/am match. Mike Morhaime, Chris Metzen, Chris Sigaty and Sam Didier will be in attendance at the US event, taking part in developer presentations, custom games and much more. Again, if you weren't able to make it to Irvine to attend the event, this will all be broadcast live via the official Twitch channel. Do check out Blizzard's launch pages for further information on any of the events.
StarCraft Universe prologue goes live on Battle.net
It's been quite a while since we heard anything about ambitious StarCraft II mod StarCraft Universe, which endeavored to turn the real-time-strategy titan into a full-fledged MMO. Well, it turns out that today the creators of the mod have launched the game's single-player prologue, which has been designed to introduce players to the story and teach them how to play. For those of you wondering why a mod aiming to recreate the MMO experience is launching with only single-player content, the devs state in the YouTube description of the game's trailer that they "need to release this project slowly to ensure all of [the] core systems work properly." So in a way, this could be thought of StarCraft Universe's open beta where players can play around and help the developers iron out the kinks before the multiplayer content launches. To get a look at this ambitious mod in action, skip on past the cut to check out the game's latest trailer. If you wanna go straight to playing it yourself, though, all you have to do is search for "Universe" in StarCraft II's arcade.
Project Blackstone site goes live, password discovered
Back in November, Blizzard registered a few domain names, including the mysterious projectblackstone.com. As it remain untouched, we were left wondering if it could signal a new game on the horizon -- perhaps something to do with Titan. Well, today Project Blackstone is live and has been redirected to a battle.net site. It looks to be a viral advertising campaign for Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and it's an impressive follow-up to the game's recently revealed opening cinematic. You'll need to log in to the Project Blackstone page, and lucky for you we have the access code! Y7_$0>0k_3<$m Seems like a few clever folks on Reddit discovered the password in the source code of the Project Blackstone page, within an encrypted chunk of text. Head over to the site to read your messages from Dr. Helek Branamoor and the rest of the Blackstone Research staff. We're guessing that new ones will be posted every week, so keep a close eye on the site! It also appears that Dr. Branamoor is on Twitter, and he doesn't look like someone I'd want to work for. What do you think about Project Blackstone so far?
Blizzard 'actively working' on All-Stars MOBA
Last spring there was a brouhaha over the name DotA that was ultimately settled with Valve keeping the four-letter moniker and Blizzard changing its upcoming MOBA to Blizzard All-Stars. But after that, the newly rechristened game seemingly fell off the radar. Even the official website only offers the tease "coming soonish." Despite the lack of information, however, the game is still being developed. A recent statement by StarCraft II's production director Chris Sigaty notes that the studio hasn't forgotten about Blizzard All-Stars, but is focusing on its free-to-play business model. "We're actively working on it," Sigaty said. "That I can confirm. A lot of the stuff that's remaining right now that we need to focus on are the systems necessary to pull off a game with a different business model than StarCraft II."
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm cinematic revealed
Blizzard revealed the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic late last night. Sure, it isn't Warcraft material, but it's fair to say we all enjoy the work that comes from the team that made the Mists of Pandaria cinematic. And don't lie -- you pet collectors are going to be picking up the Collector's Edition of Heart of the Swarm for its Baneling pet anyway. The cinematic, which you can view behind the cut below along with its accompanying blue post, depicts a Zerg siege of the Terran Dominion as Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, seeks vengeance against Arcturus Mengsk. We really could have done without the Wilhelm Scream at 1:43 in the cinematic, but to be entirely fair, StarCraft has a long history of using it and other cliché stock sound effects.
Mike Morhaime talks about eSports, pro-gaming
If for some reason you didn't recognize this year's Battle.net World Championship as a move towards cementing Blizzard's role in the pro-gaming world, Mike Morhaime is making the subtext into text. Clearly, with the release of Starcraft II's Heart of the Swarm expansion coming on in March 2013, Mister Morhaime's been thinking about how eSports are going to evolve, and whether or not there's a role for them in the US market. There's a lot of room for improvement in that area. It's really going to take mainstream news publications to start treating eSports like sports, and when events like this happen, report on them. Give them the recognition that they deserve. These guys are very good, and I think that the people that follow eSports recognize them as at the same level as pro athletes, but I think the mainstream press really needs to start covering it that way as well. So to take a look at Mike's thoughts about how piracy affected Warcraft, how Starcraft II functions as an eSport, about what he calls 'so-called free to play games', about the lack of respect for pro gamers and a lot more, head on over to Forbes and read what the man has to say. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Dreamhack, now with more Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard has announced that they'll be present at this year's Dreamhack Winter 2012 in Jonkoping, Sweden, from Novermber 22nd to the 25th. In addition to Starcraft Academy, where lucky people will learn how to play SCII from professional SCII players, there will be a Jade Serpent Challenge Mode contest (you can use your own computer), as well as round table discussions about World of Warcraft, Starcraft II and Diablo III. The round tables will be on November 23rd and 24th, and if you're interested in participating, send an email to community-EN@blizzard.com with [DHW12] in the subject line. (If you use that link, it should be included for you.) The World of Warcraft round tables are scheduled for Friday at 12:30 CET – 14:00 CET and Saturday at 16:30 CET – 18:00 CET. Your email should include your name and what panels you're interested in participating in. So if you're going to Dreamhack, definitely go chat with the fine folks at Blizzard. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Blizzard looking at F2P for StarCraft 2 multiplayer
Blizzard is "looking at free-to-play as an option" for the game's multiplayer mode, StarCraft 2 Lead Designer Dustin Browder said at the Valencia eSports Congress panel.The free-to-play model brought its share of concerns for Browder as well. "We don't know how we would monetize it," he said. "While it might be good fun for me to play against someone with only half the units available to them, that's not going to be an enjoyable experience for them."Blizzard began rolling out beta invites for StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm earlier this month.
SRK contest produces a 26-button Starcraft II arcade controller, probably won't stop Zerg rushes (video)
Almost as a dare, Shoryuken (SRK) challenged its fans to produce a fighting game-style controller for Starcraft II. Mauricio Romano took them up on that contest and won with a surprisingly polished arcade stick of his own. Its cornerstone is a heavily modified Ultrastik joystick that's turned into an on-controller, two-button mouse. You didn't think a PC gamer would cling to a plain joystick, did you? In the process, the usual 101 keys of a typical keyboard have been pared down to a set of 26 buttons most relevant for Blizzard's real-time strategy epic. Packaged up in a single, polished USB peripheral, the one-off prototype's design is good enough to imagine a Major League Gaming pro taking it out on the road. We'd put that idea on ice for now, though: as Mauricio shows in the video below, the learning curve is steep enough that most players won't be fending off diamond-league marine and zergling blitzes anytime soon.
Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic will premiere at Gamescom 2012
Folks attending Gamescom 2012 in Cologne, Germany, will be the first to feast their eyes on the opening cinematic for World of Warcraft's next expansion, Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard will also be showcasing the game itself as well as Diablo III and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Players can check out the games and also meet members of the development team. If you happen to be at the convention, be sure to check out the company's booth in Halle 6.1 (B21) at the Koelnmesse.
South Korea forces Blizzard to give Diablo III refunds
After investigating numerous complaints that Blizzard wasn't granting refunds to dissatisfied South Korean Diablo III players, the government there demanded that the studio do so anyway. The South Korean consumer protection law ensures a refund if there's a problem with the product that isn't related to the customer. Many South Korean players were angered due to massive server crashes and high latency while playing Diablo III. The Wall Street Journal reports that 66% of Diablo III online traffic in Asia comes from the country. As for the refund itself, there are a few stipulations. It currently extends to players who haven't reached level 40. If eligible, the customer has to file for a refund between June 25th and July 3rd. Past that date, Blizzard said that it will offer refunds for any players under level 20 within 14 days of their purchasing the game. The studio is also extending an olive branch to upset gamers by handing out 30-day trials to StarCraft II.
Play Diablo 1 with World of Warcraft models in StarCraft 2
The StarCraft II Arcade feature, a tool intended to help the community highlight quality custom maps and game modes created with the StarCraft modding tools, has recently gone into beta. Coinciding with that beta, Blizzard has launched a contest that requires you to play, rate, and review an Arcade game for a chance to win a Heart of the Swarm beta key. One of the delightful custom game modes that has become an Arcade chart-topper is an incestuous mix of all of Blizzard's major franchises: It's the first Diablo game ported into StarCraft II using World of Warcraft art assets for the 3D models. The gameplay doesn't match the original Diablo click-for-click, but the core mechanics and all of the sound files have been carried from one game to the next, including Deckard Cain's signature stay awhile and listen. StarCraft II shoutcaster Husky recently featured the game mode on his YouTube channel, and you can watch his 18+ minute preview/review embedded above.
Blizzard introduces universal BattleTags to its titles
When Blizzard first rolled out Battle.net's Real ID feature, many players were timid (read: incensed) about using it due to the fact that it revealed players' real-life names to fellow gamers they added. These worries can be easily laid to rest with Blizzard's latest announcement: the addition of BattleTags. What's a BattleTag, you ask? Well, simply put, it's a screen name by which you are identifiable across all Blizzard games, only without the privacy concerns of Real ID. Real ID, however, will continue to exist along with BattleTags, so players can use whichever method they so desire. BattleTags are currently being tested in the Diablo III beta, and the feature will be available to Diablo III players when the game launches. The feature will also be rolled into World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, but the studio isn't ready to give solid dates on when that may take place. For the full details on BattleTags, including instructions on how to claim your own, head on over to WoW Insider and have a read.
