* Potential Spoilers* Is Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void the ending to the Starcraft saga?

[chozo_hybrid]

Expect spoilers in the thread, it is talking about the last part of the SC2 trilogy.

Do you think it will be? I'm wondering with the cinematic they released, it gives me the impression it is about taking back Auir, which is cool, but what about dealing with Amon? Will they squash that into the game too?

I just hope they give the stuff to do with Amon the right amount of buildup and it's a great finale. Note, this isn't me saying I want them to make another game after this, it's just me wanting this one to give the remaining things they have to tackle enough time in game without underplaying either.

What do you think?

 

[Xeorm]

From what I heard during the reveal, it does seem that this is their plan. The story they've got going will end with Starcraft 2. It does fit though, as there's not too many threads still going on, and the game itself doesn't seem popular enough to spawn more games in the series. Mostly not popular due to mishandling with Starcraft 2, but eh, I'm sure we'll see some more RTS games pop up later when Starcraft isn't hogging the spotlight.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

From what I heard during the reveal, it does seem that this is their plan. The story they've got going will end with Starcraft 2. It does fit though, as there's not too many threads still going on, and the game itself doesn't seem popular enough to spawn more games in the series. Mostly not popular due to mishandling with Starcraft 2, but eh, I'm sure we'll see some more RTS games pop up later when Starcraft isn't hogging the spotlight.

I'm just saying though...even though it's been more than 10 years or so, I'd still buy Starcraft: Ghost in a heartbeat if Blizzard ever decided to actually make it.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I have a feeling this is the end. With them establishing in the last two entries that the Zerg aren't the evil monsters everyone thought they were, it seems pretty clear that the series is heading towards a final, titanic battle of all 3 of the races vs. Amon and the hybrids.

Then again, I sort of thought Diablo would end after "Lord of Destruction", but obviously they went for round 3 on that one.

But I'd be fine with it ending after Legacy of the Void, and following that I'd be interested to see a new IP from Blizzard, or maybe even "Warcraft 4" and returning the series to its RTS roots.

 

[BaronVH]

There should be a law against ending any media with a cliffhanger when you know it will be over five years before the continuation: Yes, I am looking at you Valve and George R.R. Martin.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Probably. And with it I fear you probably won't see another big-budget RTS for a generation. SC2 is the only real big player left.

A lot of the classics are gone. Warcraft? Became an MMO. C&C? Dead and buried, especially given what a horrendous mess they made of C&C 4. AoE? As far as I'm aware the latest iteration of it was last year when it was released as a free to play, microtransaction laden, MMO tower defence, Windows 8 app [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires:_Castle_Siege].

Quick google tells me there's apparently a new Homeworld in the works. And they're making a new version of Halo Wars. So there's more niche and smaller scale ones at least. But the real big names just aren't around anymore.

Its not that there are NO new RTS games being produced. Its that they're more niche now than they ever were before. And frankly most of the new IPs coming out just aren't capturing people; they're average, competent affairs that do 'okay' but mildly disappoint for the most part. Planetary Annihilation? Anyone remember that? How about Grey Goo? One I personally found fascinating was a game called Achron which was a four-dimensional RTS (in addition to normal RTS gameplay you had time manipulation mechanics) but the actual RTS component of it was fairly weak. Nice concept though.

If they can't keep SC2 going for quite a while the gaming community is going to be completely out of luck for a big-name competitive RTS. Which is frankly a huge shame.

 

[Selucia]

I feel starcraft might survive for a while longer simply because of the ESports scene. In terms of future installments very doubtful since like warcraft the stories practically been told although they could reintroduce the earth faction from broodwars if they ever wanted another major enemy to face since they are supposed to be more advanced than the terrans.

Mostly i see blizzard making more new IP games targeted at a larger audience since Hearthstone has been very successful. I hope to see a warcraft 4 but i doubt that will be made even after WoW finally ends since it has resolved most of the story.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I can't see Blizzard letting StarCraft die. They'll let it rest for a few years, then they'll make a big deal about it coming back and sell millions on day 1 (see: Diablo).

It's pretty easy to see how it'll likely go down. After the events of StarCraft: Brood War the tattered remains of the United Earth Directorate that managed to escape Kerrigan's wrath return home to report the horrors they'd encountered. Enraged at the near-complete destruction of their expeditionary fleet and worried that the Zerg might eventually spread far enough to reach Earth, the United Earth Directorate begins rebuilding and recruiting for a much larger invasion, this time truly prepared for the war ahead.

Then of course the UED will launch their attack shortly after the events of SC2 so that Blizzard can justify all three factions starting out from a weakened position, be it from the fighting in SC2 or the potential relative peace (maybe?) following the game's outcome resulting in a gradual disarmament.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Oh I doubt it. This is Blizzard we're talking about! They couldn't end a story that was only one sentence long.
It'll end on a post-credit after Hardcore mode scene of Kerrigan or Jim opening their eyes in a rubble strewn battlefield, gasping once and black screen.

'because this is Starcraft we're talking about. Blizzard isn't allowed to write anything that can't be easily reversed with a single "We didn't mean it!" line of dialogue. Pretty sure that's in the Geneva Convention.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

There should be a law against ending any media with a cliffhanger when you know it will be over five years before the continuation: Yes, I am looking at you Valve and George R.R. Martin.

To be fair to GRRM, he probably has no clue how long it will take him to write the end of GOT. Valve on the other hand promised an Ep3 and did not deliver which is infinitely worse than taking extra time on a project that is confirmed to actually be worked on (GRRM is still writing GOT books just has no timeframe for if/when they'll be done).

 

[Fat Hippo]

Until they actually come up with some new ideas on where to take the plot, I kind of hope it is. Kerrigan's arc in particular has just been silly. Oh, now she's evil, oh wait she's not anymore, oh wait she's evil again, or is she? The story has gone nowhere fast in general though, and the writing has gotten ever more cringe-worthy.

As for the gameplay, I assume they will continue supporting Legacy of the Void for some time to come with patches. After that, I wonder where they will take it. To be honest, I think it behooves Blizzard to make SC2 free-to-play, or to release a free-to-play multiplayer only version of LotV, in the long run, if they still want SC2 to maintain its status as an E-Sport. Otherwise, it will just continue slowly fading away, due to lack of people actually playing the game and learning to understand it in a way merely spectating doesn't allow. At least so far, no game has been able to attract a large viewership without also maintaining a strong playerbase, at least to my knowledge.

 

[Sonicron]

Probably. And with it I fear you probably won't see another big-budget RTS for a generation. SC2 is the only real big player left.

Well, from what I read a while ago it would appear Sega are in talks with Relic Entertainment to revive Dawn of War. And as much as I enjoy StarCraft, I liked that series better than all other RTS games I'd ever played combined.

 

[Dr. Thrax]

Probably. And with it I fear you probably won't see another big-budget RTS for a generation. SC2 is the only real big player left.

A lot of the classics are gone. Warcraft? Became an MMO. C&C? Dead and buried, especially given what a horrendous mess they made of C&C 4. AoE? As far as I'm aware the latest iteration of it was last year when it was released as a free to play, microtransaction laden, MMO tower defence, Windows 8 app [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires:_Castle_Siege].

Quick google tells me there's apparently a new Homeworld in the works. And they're making a new version of Halo Wars. So there's more niche and smaller scale ones at least. But the real big names just aren't around anymore.

Its not that there are NO new RTS games being produced. Its that they're more niche now than they ever were before. And frankly most of the new IPs coming out just aren't capturing people; they're average, competent affairs that do 'okay' but mildly disappoint for the most part. Planetary Annihilation? Anyone remember that? How about Grey Goo? One I personally found fascinating was a game called Achron which was a four-dimensional RTS (in addition to normal RTS gameplay you had time manipulation mechanics) but the actual RTS component of it was fairly weak. Nice concept though.

If they can't keep SC2 going for quite a while the gaming community is going to be completely out of luck for a big-name competitive RTS. Which is frankly a huge shame.

Don't remind me about the state of RTS games. -Sobs solemnly-

Act of Aggression is a newly released RTS out on Steam, and it doesn't look half-bad, but I haven't been able to get my hands on it to actually play it. The current Steam Reviews are Mixed, with 69% in approval.

I'm just so saddened that my favorite genre is dying out.
My first was Generals: Zero Hour and I was hooked ever since, and between some of the CnC games and SupCom:FA, I've got a solid RTS line, but I want more.
What I really want is a proper fucking sequel to Forged Alliance fucking dammit!
And to re-do the abomination that was CnC4.
Wait, what's CnC4? Surely I must be imagining things, the last CnC game released was Kane's Wrath! Yeah...

I mean, I like SC2, don't get me wrong, but for me it's not the pinnacle of RTS games like it is for a lot of other people.
For me, that's Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.

 

[Frankster]

If they don't wrap up the story with Amon I'd be very disappointed tbh.
I just don't feel there's much more you can do with the existing story arcs without weakening them even further (i'm still butthurt over kerrigan..goddamnit she was gonna be the queen ***** of the universe and it was gonna be glorious).
If you're gonna do a sc3 (fingers crossed), then start a new story, don't drag out this one.

snip

I find it so weird you completely failed to mention Relic's other titles like Dawn of War or Company of Heroes, especially as a new Dawn of War is apparently in the talks and that would make it the only remaining big budget rts we have left to look forward to.

 

[Hawki]

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_storyline#Future

It's been stated that SC2 will conclude the overall saga that began in the original game, but won't end the universe, and that any future installments will effectively begin a new story with new characters. We also know that LotV will have three epilogue missions (one for each race) as well, so all indications are that the conclusion will be definitive.

Personally, under the proviso that SC2 deals with Amon and the hybrids are dealt with, I don't think there's anything in the series that screams out for continuation (not even the UED, IMO). That said, we know that Team 1 will look at the possibility of SC3, WC4, or a new IP after LotV. So while I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new StarCraft game in the future, I wouldn't count on an SC3 anytime soon.

Now gimmie Ghost.

 

[Lightspeaker]

I find it so weird you completely failed to mention Relic's other titles like Dawn of War or Company of Heroes, especially as a new Dawn of War is apparently in the talks and that would make it the only remaining big budget rts we have left to look forward to.

To be fair for that I literally just looked at one of the many stacks of games by my desk and picked out some of the most notable ones as examples (I used to buy a LOT of RTS games). Although it really is rather remiss of me to neglect mentioning Dawn of War and I honestly didn't know they were making a new one, that's some good news (Dark Crusade style campaign, please).

Company of Heroes I somewhat left out deliberately given that I felt it went really downhill for CoH2. In fact I still don't own the sequel myself, I didn't buy it at launch because I had (and still have) a huge backlog and having later tried it on a free weekend it just...didn't work for me. It felt very different and subtly wrong somehow.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Snip

Thanks for all that information, sounds like they may not be dragging it out then. Cool. I'm not opposed to a new game, I just want to see the story end before it gets dragged through the mud and completely ruined by being too long.

 

[sonofliber]

After how bad they screw up the story with sc2 and its expansion i hope so, blizzard doenst have any good writters any more (case and point diablo 3 "story")

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

Probably. And with it I fear you probably won't see another big-budget RTS for a generation. SC2 is the only real big player left.

A lot of the classics are gone. Warcraft? Became an MMO. C&C? Dead and buried, especially given what a horrendous mess they made of C&C 4. AoE? As far as I'm aware the latest iteration of it was last year when it was released as a free to play, microtransaction laden, MMO tower defence, Windows 8 app [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires:_Castle_Siege].

Quick google tells me there's apparently a new Homeworld in the works. And they're making a new version of Halo Wars. So there's more niche and smaller scale ones at least. But the real big names just aren't around anymore.

Its not that there are NO new RTS games being produced. Its that they're more niche now than they ever were before. And frankly most of the new IPs coming out just aren't capturing people; they're average, competent affairs that do 'okay' but mildly disappoint for the most part. Planetary Annihilation? Anyone remember that? How about Grey Goo? One I personally found fascinating was a game called Achron which was a four-dimensional RTS (in addition to normal RTS gameplay you had time manipulation mechanics) but the actual RTS component of it was fairly weak. Nice concept though.

If they can't keep SC2 going for quite a while the gaming community is going to be completely out of luck for a big-name competitive RTS. Which is frankly a huge shame.

Don't remind me about the state of RTS games. -Sobs solemnly-

Act of Aggression is a newly released RTS out on Steam, and it doesn't look half-bad, but I haven't been able to get my hands on it to actually play it. The current Steam Reviews are Mixed, with 69% in approval.

I'm just so saddened that my favorite genre is dying out.
My first was Generals: Zero Hour and I was hooked ever since, and between some of the CnC games and SupCom:FA, I've got a solid RTS line, but I want more.
What I really want is a proper fucking sequel to Forged Alliance fucking dammit!
And to re-do the abomination that was CnC4.
Wait, what's CnC4? Surely I must be imagining things, the last CnC game released was Kane's Wrath! Yeah...

I mean, I like SC2, don't get me wrong, but for me it's not the pinnacle of RTS games like it is for a lot of other people.
For me, that's Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.

Esports killed the appeal of indepth RTS. If your RTS doesmt have more than 200 apm it isnt worth playing. Think about League and its fluff. Now its all Crunch for the Esports scene with skillshots for every champ

 

[Dr. Thrax]

Esports killed the appeal of indepth RTS. If your RTS doesmt have more than 200 apm it isnt worth playing. Think about League and its fluff. Now its all Crunch for the Esports scene with skillshots for every champ

I apparently just have an objection to everything "sports", because I dislike regular sports, but now eSports are creeping in and ruinin' muh gaems! YOU DAMN KIDS WITH YER ESPORTS AND YER DOTERS AND LEAGUES. -Shakes cane-