We have a few Karune-related updates today. Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager and our source for all things StarCraft, has posted a couple of new threads on Battle.net and has also answered a few questions in an interview for starcraft-source.com.

Firstly, Karune makes some exciting promises for the year to come:

As the office lights dim here, before we close up shop for the rest of the year, I would like to wish everyone happy holidays, as it has been quite an exciting year with many big announcements!

 

Though of course, 2007 will be nothing compared to 2008, as those announcements will only be getting bigger!

 

To kick off 2008, we will be starting off the first episode of the BlizzCast podcast series, a Battle of the Fan Sites StarCraft Tournament, and we’ll be adding a ‘hands on’ StarCraft II feedback section to the Q&A Batches.

Some more details about the BlizzCast podcasts can be found here:

BlizzCast is a planned Official Podcast created by Blizzard starting with the New Year! The first episode will consist of the following:

 

An interview with Sam Didier (Art Director SCII) about Concept Art for the StarCraft and Warcraft Franchises

An interview with Jeff Kaplan (Lead Designer WoW) with highlights of Sunwell Plateau and Patch 2.4

Sweepstakes/Giveaway and LOTS of SWAG

Next up, Karune gives us two new answers to questions regarding the recently revealed Nomad.

1) Can the Nomad’s auto-turrets attack air units?

 

No, the auto-turrets currently only attack ground. Nonetheless, with their rapid fire rate, they are excellent for worker raids and supporting an engaging battle.

 

2) Will the Nomad build other mechanisms besides the auto-turrets?

 

Yes, the Nomad will be able to build multiple stationary defenses. We are currently testing a few of these, to see which will fit the best for the Nomad.

As we have suspected, the Auto-Turret will not be the only construct available to the Nomad. Is Blizzard creating the perfect Tower Defense unit?

Finally, make sure to check out Starcraft-Source’s interview with the man himself! Here are a few interesting excerpts:

SC-Source: Is the increase to the Firebat’s hitpoints enough to keep it alive and effective in battle?

Karune: Yes, these suckers are quite the beasts on the battlefield, especially against melee.

 

SC-Source: Information about the Protoss has been very stagnant, can you enlighten us on what the development team is testing?

Karune: They are currently testing a new Protoss air unit.

 

SC-Source: In the Nomad description on Starcraft2.com it mentions “a variety of small, semi-permanent defensive structures”, when can we expect to see more of what the Nomad is capable of?

Karune: The Nomad’s abilities are still being tested. When the Development Team is closer to making ‘final’ decisions on those abilities, they will then be announced online.

 

SC-Source: Has the debate over the wings on the Zergling prompted any artistic changes?

Karune: In January, there will be an interview between Samwise and I, in which we do touch upon this subject.

 

SC-Source: Do you have access to play Starcraft 2 on a regular basis, or is it still on extreme lockdown?

Karune: Yup, I have as much access as anyone on the development team. I also take part in their weekly development team meetings where I can also express feedback from the community. Actually, I am debating to add an addition to the Q&A batches talking about some hands-on experiences I have had with the game.

 

That’s all for today’s Karune update. We wish a merry Karune to you all.