Getting Ready for Heart of the Swarm

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Kerrigan HotSI knew Heart of the Swarm was coming out relatively soon, but a week ago I realized that HotS was actually coming out in a matter of weeks.  Now the long-awaited StarCraft 2 expansion is only 10 days away, and my excitement is growing.  I might be one of the few people looking forward to playing the campaign more than the multiplayer.

Back in the days of the original StarCraft and subsequent Brood Wars expansion, my skills weren’t bad.  I actually won plenty more than I lost, but now’days I get schooled when I try to play vs. other people.  When SC2 launched, and I jumped into the multiplayer thinking I’d be decent, I somehow managed to make my way into the Diamond League.  Not bad, but after a while I barely won a game.  I think it has a lot to do with what has transcended a hobby or even a game and become a culture, a sport, and dare I say it an art.  Some people really do watch Day9 to learn how to play rather than for enjoyment like I do, and those people practice and improve.  I never had the patience.

Then there’s the custom game scene, which I think as a total failure on Blizzard’s part.  Battle.net 2.0, in theory, works great.  Originally I thought quite highly of it, but that’s partially because I expected them to do great things with it instead of staying mostly stagnant.  The custom games haven’t taken off or become as addictive or interesting as they were in SC1 and WC3.  There’s something to be said for the previous custom map deployment — crude, but effective.

Maybe I’m alone, but I thought the SC2 campaign was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed the story, despite what Blizzard did to Kerrigan.  The campaign for Heart of the Swarm is actually my only reason for deciding to get the game.  I’m going to play through the SC2 campaign again real quick for a refresher.

Anyone else picking up SC2 HotS?  I’m curious to know if any of you are like me and prefer the campaign over the multiplayer.

  • I played some 1v1 in SC2, I did okay in the beginning, but as the new RTS people stopped, it seemed like only veterans remained. Anyway, at some point I began to lose, alot. So I mostly look forward to play the campaign, maybe a little bit of multiplayer. Maybe i’ll play some 2v2 next time

  • I plan to play HotS for the campaign, just like with Wings of Liberty. I’ve never even played a single PvP match in SC2. Much like you, I am simply don’t care enough about the multiplayer to devote the hours of practice and research that it requires.

  • I did like the starcraft 2 campaign.

    The multiplayer seemed fun, but was to much about macro and micro, instead of tactics.
    You know compared to something like company of heroes.

    I’m looking out to company of heroes 2. The graphics might not have changed a lot, but I’ll be there for the multiplayer gameplay.

  • I love starcraft and the campaign
    Multiplayer is fun, but it is too twitchy for me to be able to play. Just get too nervous by playing it till it just gets annoying

  • I think it would be fun to be able to set up a competition open only to friends.

    I also don’t like to play against professional gamers, which I suppose is a L2P argument taken to the extreme, but much like a PUG playing against a pre-made, the bottom-line is that it just isn’t fun.

    On that note, some of the most fun I have had has been in PUG versus PUG matches as the unpredictable nature lends to unique survivalist battles as no one has your back. Running in pre-mades is inevitably a boring assured victory against a PUG.

    I think learning occurs preferentially when someone is incrementally better at the game than you are. If there is a large gap then a hand of GOD victory ensues and just teaches one how best to flinch.

  • nope not getting it.. not worth it if your not a competitive player. Single player is short and meh, custom games dont hold the longevity like they used too, bnet interface is meh.. its missing that entire social thing.. its an online hub but you feel your connecting to a single player game. Chat rooms need to be forced upon us like the old times.

    Anyways i like watching the pro’s play , its a great e-sport and that’s about it for my involvement with sc2.

  • Considering the first part: not interested at all. And that from somebody who spent ages in the first part of SC, but the second one just is not cutting it.

    Single player campaing is meh. With actually like a dozen of “e”s. Almost every mission you got a new unit, and that unit was the one which was best, if not the only one, which you should use for the mission. Using something else was stupid.

    And on multiplayer, designed for 200 “actions per minute”. The one clicking most wins, not strategy is cutting it, minimal scale tactics and lots of clicking seems to win the game. If i want a speedy game, i play a shooter, not something which claims to be a strategy game. Lucky me the game failed like that, not just for me but also my friends, else the lack of LAN support would’ve been an issue.

    Might be a nice game, but it’s not designed for me.

  • I am not getting this either. I’ve decided I enjoy watching the high quality promo videos more than actually playing StarCraft. I think I have outgrown RTS games. Or maybe I simply can’t keep up anymore with the fast clickfest requirements at my age. Competitive online RTS is a young persons game now. 🙂

  • Just an update: I really, really like what they’ve done with the custom maps. This new arcade (which I hadn’t seen b/c I haven’t played in a few months). It’s much easier to find and make games — like it was back in the day.

  • The one thing that I hated about SC2 multiplayer was the fact that unless you have a testing team it’s pretty much impossible to pick up a new race once you get bored with the one you are good with. I got myself up into mid-diamond with Zerg and got kinda bored with them, but I couldn’t really play terran or protoss at that level. It took me a while to refine my zerg skills to that level, and playing with a new race I was just hopelessly outmatched.

  • I, to, am eagerly anticipating the Heart of the Swarm for it’s multi-player; you’re not alone! I tried my damnedest to conjure a love for the multi-player aspect of the game, but I continually failed. The stress and intimidation for the ladder mode just halts me every time. However, the new additions seem promising for Custom-Map’s and the single-player will continue the story I am eager to hear. The book was fantastic, and I want to see where it goes from there!

  • Sorry for the double-post, but I mean’t “Single-player” in the first sentence, not “multi-player.”