Blizzard’s StarCraft 2 team has been busy lately, with both community managers and web content creators unleashing updates simultaneously. StarCraft 2’s official StarCraft2.com wesbsite has not undergone any major changes since its launch two and a half years ago. Indeed, this update brings some freshness to the familiar.

The site’s front page has received the most noticeable update. It now features a massive top Flash “cover” with a glowing, pulsating logo and a smoking Jim Raynor standing between the Queen of Blades and Zeratul. The cover, however, is the least interesting part of this book; the site’s updates include multiple detailed pages with new screenshots, short videos and artwork by Blizzard’s art and development teams.

The site now offers great information for StarCraft fans who have not been following StarCraft 2’s progress since its announcement and need some catching up to do. The new site portions include:

• SinglePlayer Storytelling – a highly detailed article about StarCraft’s lore, characters, and the importance of the StarCraft universe and plot.
• Legacy of War - an article about StarCraft 2’s 1v1 multiplayer map design with insight into the process of creating a competitive map from scratch.
• Tychus Findlay – dedicated to the character who had the honor of introducing StarCraft 2 to the world in South Korea two and a half years ago.
• Jim Raynor – detailed Jim Raynor bio.
• Zeratul - detailed Zeratul bio.
• Changeling - a short fiction story.

The new “Single Player Storytelling” page is extremely informative and caters straightforwardly to people interested in or considering buying StarCraft 2 when it comes out. Now that Blizzard has already unveiled its plans for the trilogy and the epic scale of the single player campaign, this article provides a much welcome summary.

Rather than offering a strictly linear campaign, StarCraft II lets players get involved more directly in the game’s story with branching, non-linear missions. Sometimes, players will face major decisions that could change the fate of certain characters or worlds. Other times, players can set aside specific missions for a while in favor of other jobs.

The screenshot collection has been updated with several gameplay shots, as well as stunning single-player cinematic frames. Here are some interesting new shots from this update:

The second part of the update focuses on the 55th Q&A batch, spanning 7 questions in total, most dealing with advanced, meta-games questions such as DirectX 11 support, Battle.net 2.0 stat tracking and StarCraft/StarCraft 2 map conversions.

1. Not all potential players of StarCraft II have played the original StarCraft before, thus they might encounter problems with the understanding of the story. Is it possible to play the campaign of StarCraft II without knowing anything? Will you come up with some things that happened in the original StarCraft and Brood War again – just so that people not familiar to the story get more information?

We plan on having story elements that will bring players up to speed on the most recent plot developments and prepare them for the StarCraft II storyline. We also plan on having a plot summary of what transpired in the original StarCraft and Brood War during the installation process. However we feel that regardless of your familiarity with the original story, all players will be able to enjoy the story developments in StarCraft II.

2. You have already announced that you are going to record various stats when playing StarCraft II with the new Battle.net 2.0 – but how detailed will those statistics be? Will one be able to see how many units of a certain kind (for example Marines) one have build or even killed so far?

We will be recording a large amount of stats for StarCraft II, but we are still in discussion as to which stats will ultimately be tracked. We will determine how detailed the stat-tracking will be based on what information we think will benefit our players the most to help improve their game.

Be it E-Sports considerations, the search for self improvement, or just the human “ooh-shiny!” attitude towards self-inflicted statistics, Battle.net 2.0 will likely statisfy the aforementioned needs for detailed game statistics for all.

3. You have already stated that you will support DirectX 10, but what about DirectX 11?

We currently do not have any plans on supporting DirectX11-specific features, but the game will be compatible with DirectX11.

4. How many stats will a Hero unit be able to take? Three like in Warcraft 3 or is there even a limit?

If you create a user-map with heroes, you can outfit them with a large number of stats. However, currently only three stats will be able to be displayed on the UI due to limited space.

Despite Blizzard’s character stats UI limitations, map modders are certain to come up with plenty of workarounds to a bump as small as “limited space”. The tools showcased during BlizzCon (if you’ve missed it, watch the next video) allow developers to break, customize and bend virtually every aspect of StarCraft 2’s capable engine.

5. In lore Protoss warp in their units and buildings from some far planet. Will there be any mechanic that reflects this such as a “warp out” that could act as a refund?

We do not have any plans to include a “warp out” game mechanic. We have discussed the possibility of this in the past, but it felt too similar to the Terran mechanics of being able to salvage the structures.


6. Will there be a converter to convert our favorite original StarCraft maps to StarCraft II maps? I don’t want to lose all of my favorite maps from the original StarCraft when I get StarCraft II.

There will not be a map converter for StarCraft II. Map-makers will have to manually rebuild any of their maps using the new StarCraft II map editor.


7. I’m just going to assume that you will have some sort of window mode in StarCraft II. But I was wondering if you’re going to implement a windowed mode like the one that World of Warcraft has? You know where you can maximize the window, removing the borders and enabling fullscreen mode yet providing easy access to the desktop.

You will be able to select both windowed and full-screen windowed modes from the options menu.

The new site update represents a turning point for StarCraft 2’s development. It clearly targets the mainstream audience, much more so than the updates we’ve been used to, which deal with more specific things that us dedicated fans care about. This is a good sign that Blizzard feels that the game is mature enough to be presented as a product rather than an unfinished project.

Several news pieces and events, none of which can be traced back to Blizzard, have surfaced over the weekend. Considering that fact that April fools draws near and that Blizzard’s recent behavior did not suggest any immediate announcements, anything you may encounter in the next 2 days should be taken with a grain of salt.

1) The mysterious email.

Allegedly received by multiple people who have opted-in to the Beta, this email announces the imminent availability of it:

Welcome to the beta test of Starcraft II!

We’re excited to have reached the beta-testing stage for Starcraft II and our upgraded Battle.net service, and we’d be grateful to have you join us during the next few months of fine tuning.

Getting started:
Along with the beta of Starcraft II, we are rolling out our new Battle.net delivery system which will serve as the primary channel for downloading the game and its updates. In order to participate, you will need to use the Battle.net account associated with this email address.

In an effort to test our distribution system in a high load environment, we are giving a few days lead so that a large number of beta testers have the opportunity to read this email first. Our planned activation is Tuesday, March 31st at 6 PM PDT.

To see what time it is in your time zone, please check here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/

After that time, you will be able to login to your Battle.net account at http://us.battle.net and download the “Battle.net Client (Beta)” which adds a host of new features to Battle.net including:

* A global friends list between all Blizzard games
* The ability to quickly join or observe your friends’ games
* Detailed statistics and rankings for each game
* Track the global achievements of you and your friends
* And much, much more!

In addition, it will serve as the launch pad for Starcraft II and will automatically begin downloading your authenticated copy once you run it for the first time. Once the game is installed, you will be able to access the Battle.net Client from within the game or as a standalone desktop application.

Sending us feedback:
In the bottom left corner of the Battle.net Client (CTRL-SHIFT-B from within Starcraft II) there is a button called ‘Feedback’ which will bring up a place for you to report any bugs or suggestions. We also welcome feedback on the official Starcraft II forums at http://forums.battle.net/board.html?forumId=12009&sid=3000

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience any technical issues getting started or while playing, please email support at SC2Support@blizzard.com.

We look forward to seeing you online soon!

The email is highly unlikely to be real. Up until now, every single Blizzard announcement of such magnitude was made through official channels, and certainly not via an email to thousands of random users three days ahead of time.Despite making it to IncGamers, this email is obviously fabricated.

2) The 3 Counters.

The counters can be seen on three StarCraft fansites: SCLegacy, SC2Forums.org and StarCraft.org. Having decompiled all three, it has become obvious that the counters are of the same origin, with SCLegacy standing out due to the additional counter and most significant changes to its site.

While we won’t rule out the possibility of something significant happening, chances are that this is an April fools joke initiated by SCLegacy.

3) Counters redirecting to www.starcraft2.com/beta

Considering the epic trolling history of the person who has started the rumor, we should have known better. However, having decompiled the counters, we can assure you that the .SWF file itself has no such function. The fake code screenshot of the redirect, “released” by Blazur, can be found here:

…and here’s a screenshot the actual code, which contains no such redirect:

Blizzard hasn’t shown any sign of an upcoming beta.
The second installment of the Battle Report Series has been announced and is still talked about by Blizzard officials; requests for questions for the official Q&A sessions are still here; competitions with beta keys given as prizes are still ongoing. This isn’t Blizzard’s way of doing things, and even without mentioning our thoughts regarding the state of development, it’s easy to conclude that this is nothing more than an April fools joke.

Blizzard has published a very specific request for feedback on StarCraft2.com. Having designed two different yet equally suitable Dark Templar unit models, Blizzard is leaving it up to the fans to decide which one should appear in StarCraft 2 Multiplayer matches.

Different clans take great pains to distinguish themselves through variations in weapons, armor, markings, and dress. For example, the famed hunters of the Zer’atai dress in the bones of slain zerg; the Boros are known for their blank-faced helms and heavy armor; and the Lenassa wear distinctive cloth wrappings and bear wickedly curved warp blades.

The first option represents the Lenassa tribe of dark templar, which made its debut in the original StarCraft. This unit carries a single warp blade, and a cloth shroud covers its face.

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The second option represents the Zer’atai tribe of dark templar, who wield dual scythes and wear an ensemble of heavy armor and the bones of slain zerg.

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The third and final option is to have both tribes represented: When you build a dark templar, either the Lenassa or Zer’atai dark templar would spawn randomly.

The dilemma is not complex; it is one which most companies solve behind the corporate curtains, often ending up picking the wrong model due to simply not having the tradition of crowdsourcing certain design decisions. That’s not the case with Blizzard, who often seeks direct feedback from their fans. This is another one of these occasions, so get out there and make your voice heard.

* Click for big

The SC2Blog, devout proponents of democracy, will also be hosting a poll on the subject.

We have our winners, and Blizzard has their names. It took just 22 hours and a surprising amount of wrong answers to finally reach our quota. Four readers got all five answers correctly and ironically, so did one that didn’t need the badge at all.

Without further ado, here are the answers:

1) Chances are, you are facing 1_COOL_GUY, also known as legato. A controversial player that actually had his account reset at the time.

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2) At some point, the IN Clan was so successful that Theinclan.com was ranked #4 in Google for “clan”.

Members included INcinerate, INAgent911, INTillerman, INmogkupo, INMojo, INBob and many others… Some were there from the beginning, some were there towards the end.

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3) The legendary service was Kali, whose logo adorned the competition’s post.

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4) The League was called PGL, Professional Gamers League. Tillerman’s trading card is still being used in advanced shock therapy.

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5) Tom Cadwell, aka Zileas. His economy-based analytical approach to RTS got him the BW Beta Championship title, as well as a job in Blizzard later down the road.

Congratulations to the winners. Hopefully, we will get to see you all on October 10th at Blizzcon!