Starcraft II: Legacy of The Void Pre-Orders Open, Heart of The Swarm Goes Stand-alone

[Steven Bogos]

Starcraft II: Legacy of The Void Pre-Orders Open, Heart of The Swarm Goes Stand-alone

You can pre-purchase Starcraft II: Legacy of The Void right now to get instant access to the "Whispers of Oblivion" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e3-2015/14163-StarCraft-2-Legacy-of-the-Void-Peview-In-the-Beginning] prologue missions.

Good news, Starcraft fans! The long awaited conclusion to the Starcraft II trilogy is right around the corner, and you can go ahead and pre-purchase [https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/starcraft-ii-legacy-of-the-void] the final chapter: Legacy of The Void right now! Like most Blizzard games, Legacy of The Void is available in three different flavors: standard, digital deluxe, and collector's. The digital deluxe edition comes with various in-game goodies that are unlocked across multiple Blizzard games (such as a Hearthstone card back and a World of Warcraft pet), and the retail-exclusive collector's edition includes said goodies alongside a couple of physical extras - a "behind the scenes" DVD and soundtrack.

Additionally, pre-purchasing either the standard or digital deluxe edition of Legacy of The Void grants you instant access to the Whispers of Oblivion [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e3-2015/14163-StarCraft-2-Legacy-of-the-Void-Peview-In-the-Beginning] prequel missions. Hooray!

Next up, Starcraft II's previous expansion, Heart of the Swarm has gone standalone. That means it no longer requires the original Wings of Liberty to play, and will include all of the original Starcraft II units and missions.

There's also some good news for modders. Previously, if modders and game makers only owned Wings of Liberty, they could only publish games to the Arcade using Wings of Liberty assets and were unable to use Heart of the Swarm assets. With this update, the game's asset library will be freed up so that modders only need to own any one of the Starcraft II releases (Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, or the upcoming Legacy of the Void) to publish Arcade games that use assets from all expansions.

It's time to get excited about Starcraft II again!

Source: Blizzard [http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19817454]

Permalink

 

[Zacharious-khan]

~sigh~ i cant even tell if i'm excited for this, its been years and i feel like my enthusiasm has been all used up.

Standard edition only i suppose

 

[wizzy555]

I've complained about the aesthetic before, it seems too warcraft these days while the original starcraft seemed vaguely unique. One thing I noticed that brought it into focus is Zeratul has nipples, why would a species without a mouth have nipples.

Sorry that's my nerd rage moment this month.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Awesome! Now all I have to do is wait for LotV to come out, sales to dwindle, and then for the eventual Starcraft II Battle Chest to come out, and I'll finally get around to playing Starcraft II!

Needless to say, I'm not as huge a fan of Blizzard as I was in the days before World of Warcraft came out.

 

[happyninja42]

I'm sorta miffed that the prologue missions are pre-order only. Locking content behind a pre-order pay wall is kind of shitty in my opinion. I'd like to think that you can gain access to those missions some other way after release, but still, I don't like that kind of behavior.

If you want to offer pre-order goodies, that's fine, but make them be cosmetic stuff, or be extraneous to the game story itself. Don't carve out a chunk of the game story and dangle it in front of me to compel me to pre-order your game.

 

[GeneralChaos]

I'm sorta miffed that the prologue missions are pre-order only. Locking content behind a pre-order pay wall is kind of shitty in my opinion. I'd like to think that you can gain access to those missions some other way after release, but still, I don't like that kind of behavior.

If you want to offer pre-order goodies, that's fine, but make them be cosmetic stuff, or be extraneous to the game story itself. Don't carve out a chunk of the game story and dangle it in front of me to compel me to pre-order your game.

The video explains that anyone who owns either starcraft 2 game will get access to the prologues before LoV comes out, pre ordering just gets you them sooner.

 

[synobal]

I'm so glad I decided not to buy starcraft 2 when they announced each race would have their own campaign sold separately at full price. Turning what should of been one game and maybe an expansion into 3 full priced games. Blizzard has gotten so greedy since they were purchased by activison.

 

[happyninja42]

I'm sorta miffed that the prologue missions are pre-order only. Locking content behind a pre-order pay wall is kind of shitty in my opinion. I'd like to think that you can gain access to those missions some other way after release, but still, I don't like that kind of behavior.

If you want to offer pre-order goodies, that's fine, but make them be cosmetic stuff, or be extraneous to the game story itself. Don't carve out a chunk of the game story and dangle it in front of me to compel me to pre-order your game.

The video explains that anyone who owns either starcraft 2 game will get access to the prologues before LoV comes out, pre ordering just gets you them sooner.

Oh, well sweet then. I didn't watch the video 'cause I'm at work, just saw their mentions of it in adverts and stuff. Giving someone access to something earlier than others if they pre-order is fine by me. I'm patient and can wait. xD As long as I get all the same missions, I don't have a problem with others playing them before me.

 

[ecoho]

Ok got to ask were can I preoder the physical collector's edition?

 

[Objectable]

I'm so glad I decided not to buy starcraft 2 when they announced each race would have their own campaign sold separately at full price. Turning what should of been one game and maybe an expansion into 3 full priced games. Blizzard has gotten so greedy since they were purchased by activison.

So, $60 for a base game and $30 for two expansions is "Full Price?"

 

[silver wolf009]

July 27th, 2010. That was when Wings of Liberty launched. 5 years, give or take 17 some odd days. Between then and now:

-The Mass Effect 3 Debacle happened.
-The Nintendo 3DS launched.
-Duke Nukem Forever released to a chorus of "Meh."
-A whole new console generation began.
-The Elder Scrolls became an MMO.
-Anita Sarkeesian started her Tropes vs Women Kickstarter.
-THQ went under.​

Children born on the day that came out are getting ready to go into Kindergarten. People who bought that their freshman year of college are working their new careers right now.

5 years+ is time to develop a loving fondness for a game that you look back at, not the kind of time which you'll be ready to look forward to another expansion for it.

If this boat hasn't sailed, I don't know when it was planning to.

 

[shrekfan246]

5 years+ is time to develop a loving fondness for a game that you look back at, not the kind of time which you'll be ready to look forward to another expansion for it.

If this boat hasn't sailed, I don't know when it was planning to.

Not everybody bought and/or played the game five years ago?

Especially considering the pricing scheme Blizzard adopts.

Besides, it's not like Starcraft II isn't still a popular game, even if it's not necessarily popular for its single-player campaigns.

 

[babinro]

Pre-ordered the standard edition without knowing a thing about this game and barely even seeing a screenshot beyond the one on the Blizzard launcher!

I now plan to stay fully in the dark about this until it launches before finding out of I got burned for my decision.

Buying and enjoying SC2: Wings of Liberty made these subsequent purchases for the campaign a must. I really didn't enjoy the story of the zerg campaign but the game play and level design was fantastic. I really can't see Legacy of the Void dropping the ball any worse than the Zerg so this will be the one game I pre-order in 2015.

 

[AstaresPanda]

I'm so glad I decided not to buy starcraft 2 when they announced each race would have their own campaign sold separately at full price. Turning what should of been one game and maybe an expansion into 3 full priced games. Blizzard has gotten so greedy since they were purchased by activison.

THIS lol. Its pretty much my thought at the time also. So I held off and played the demo, just does not interest me. Wa SC1 with new engine. They clearly just wanted to milk the shit out of it 10+ years and it gets split over 3 full price games over5 years ? the fuck.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

Many people share this sentiment.

As a whole, starcraft 2 did not manage to live up to brood war.

Although the wings of liberty is one of the best rts campaigns I've ever played, the storytelling was lacking and timid, the retcons devastating and the multiplayer lacklustre.

Heart of the swarm was even less impressive on all these counts, also having both a shorter and less interesting campaign.

Maybe blizzard saved the best for last and maybe this'lk be the nail in blizzard's coffin. I always liked bkizzard though, so I will buy.

SC2:WoL was bigger than BW to me but the huge wait times between expansions, the lack of a full story and widow mines i just completely lost interest. I was super into HotS but all my buddies stopped playing and multi lost its fun. IDK...

also I doubt it will nail their coffin Blizz is still stupidly profitable

 

[Sinister Minister]

Edit: Bleh, wrong post.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

My bad. I meant the nail in starcraft's coffin.

Most probably. How do you feel about the incoming reboot?

 

[Saulkar]

I am not sure how I am feeling right now. 5 years and my interest has wained but I have thus far enjoyed all of the campaigns. I hope this final one gives me at least what the other two gave.

One thing I noticed that brought it into focus is Zeratul has nipples, why would a species without a mouth have nipples.

Increased sex appeal for xenophiles? ^^;

P.S. I accidentally auto-corrected xenophiles as necrophilia, that would have sounded much more wrong!