There's Starcraft, there's starcraft 2 and there's RTS, in that order. Three different things, and although the first two are somehow related, don't put them on the same table.

Strategy and balance are the appeal. SC2 isn't quite as polished as SCBW, but the gameplay since the beta down time has improved quite a bit.

haven't played since beta went down mid-june, could you please explain what's improved since then?

Timing/abilities/etc. - you'll have to look for patch notes

What didn't you play starcraft?!?!

Ummm, just play it. It's going to be awesome. 45 minutes till I can get home and install it!

Never played the original nope, never found RTS games that interesting.. I guess with all the hype i'll give this one a go, but i cant seem myself playing it for any longer than 20mins..

forget the hype, start watching sc matches with english commentary to understand the awesomeness.

i'd start with gomtv if i were you, others may disagree on the choice.

that's because bw is an interesting game, sc2 is not an interesting game

and why is that?

I've watched hundreds of SC1 games, and quite a lot of SC2 games and I find both very interesting. However SC2>SC coz it's fresh and awesome.

:>

I'm not sure if only CE gets it, but SC2 comes with a "guest pass" to give to a friend. 7 hours of game time (not sure if it's just SP or MP).

The story is going to be really good though... but still if you could never get into it, it might not be for you.

its like Quake, vs bots its ok, vs average player you get owned hard if you new in sc.. Quake fun with same level players, same in sc..

I found myself getting drawn into the mini games like tower defense and shit more then playing the actual game by the end of the beta :D

IM GOING IN

its starcraft ofc its good

not gonna bother
was given beta invite but ignored it

The game is great, it'll rule the universe of esports for years!

Best RTS ever, period.

i has ordered starcraft 2

woot

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Fucking no.

^ raging copper league'er

Platinum actually, I'm pretty inexperienced in RTS games though. Brood War is superior in every way and actually has a functional battle.net!

It seems all they've done in the last ten years with battle.net is remove features. Excellent. Where do I send my 60EUR?

~40 euros, but yeah battle.net 2.0 isnt upto par yet, but im sure itl get patched many many times :>

also, ur playing sc2, not bnet2 ;>

The game itself I am also not a fan of. New gameplay mechanics like MBS, bigger control groups, better AI all make the game a little easier, and to compensate for that they've added more odd cast-able abilities try and make micro harder and the chronoboost/mule/queen to try and add more to the macro. Microing in SC2 just doesn't seem worth it at all. I find it more fun to try and micro in BW and fuckup (because it's a challenge and can pay off) than micro in SC2.

I mostly play SC with people I already know, and most people I know aren't purchasing SC2 so I doubt I'll be purchasing. Will probably watch the occasional game no doubt.

i bought it because of all the great times the original sc and sc bw gave me. I owe it to my childhood so to speak :D

I am just worried about the 3 different releases for the campaign. I am not really a rts multiplayer guy so I want the story side more, but 3 purchases? bleh

To be fair, each game campaign is as long as 3+ campaigns from SCBW, so it's basically like when you went from SC to BW, but with a third expansion.

I hope that will be indeed the case.

Dunno how the campaign is yet, as my wife is making me wait so her mother can buy it for my birthday in a week. =(

It sucks. Two hours in and I'm already bored to death.

Also, it has too many cutscenes, it's annoying in a MGS4 kind of way.

MSG4 wasn't a game - it was a cut scene for PS3

also, problem with puting only one race out of 3 in sp (which is basically a fun tutorial) : there will be 80% terran in mp in low up to mid skilled games

true but it should balance out over time?

next extension should do half of the job

I wonder if there is still a lot of Ken in sf4 online, should ask aquashark

I'm one of a whole lot of ppl who can't even install this stupid piece of shit... followed all steps at blizz-support but it just doesnt connect ('connection failed' before installation, if I use the provided link which works in any browser and obv also connects to the inet, I can install but the game instantly fails when trying to patch).

6 months of beta testing and they cant even get a stupid installer to work properly - this is probably the most disappointing experience I ever discovered with a game (and yes, I played Q4)...

giving up on sc2 for today, fuck blizzard. less TV ADs, more fucking installer testing please. now: BEER!

if anyone else encounters these problems: disable all proxy settings in IE (including LAN stuff...)!
funny that this is the only solution which is not mentioned at blizzards support site :p

edit: oh yeah now the patch failes, missing file/corruption/broken HD bullshit errors. but if you consider buying a new frisbee and are willing to spend 40€, go for SCII, the DVD is flying pretty well!

So... the problem was that you are using IE. No surprise there.

bullshit, I never used it.
you need to change fucking proxies in IE settings, changing that stuff in firefox has absolutely no effect on windows. idiot, stfu plz thx.

Control Panel -> Turn off windows features -> Uninstall IE

You're talking about you general networking settings, which have NOTHING to do with IE.

problem solved.. 4th install was finally valid and patched successful. now bnet seems to be down for maintenance, I hope it's back on when I'm out of the office.. I just want to play now, damn work ;)

Enjoying it so far.

Don't have to game yet, and i'm not sure if i'll buy it, but still, i'm definitely confident about the answer : yes, it's worth playing. I did play the beta tho, even ended up in diamond league LOL, yes, i'm that good.

Anyway, if you buy/play it, don't forget quakelive pls :).

Started playing, so far... awesome. The game play is like starcraft, the story is much more developed.

well tbh one of the cool things about sc2 is that it is still an oldschool rts game, polished to modern standards. but if you dont like classic rts gameplay, then the core of what sc2 is, wont appeal to you. still the story, cinematics, esports aspect and hype make it interesting enough imho :D

I played like 200 mp games with friend in all my life @ scbw , I don't know much about game, but still I watched lot of vods @ korean pros playing, I don't understand lot, but it still fun to watch. After sc2 came, I'll learn a bit this game JUST FOR UNDERSTAND WHAT PROS ARE DOING IN VODS , not for playing :)

hehe, but i know what you mean, the more you know about a game, the more you can enjoy watching it

yep, true, thats why i want to learn it, becoz I enjoy watching esport in highest level, scbw is what im talking about. and sc2 have same bright future and not for 1-2 years imo.

Installed it last night, the campaign is super awesome so far, looking forward to the weekend where I can play more :D

Ye the campaign is mainly what i'm interested in mostly.. I'll be download it tonight and hopefully getting a chance to play it over the weekend.

there is something I don't get about sc2 mp : why when a spectator lags/disconnect, is the game waiting for him, ausing the game ? annoying useless feature
also not being able to reconnect is lame

not so polished after all

Disconnect shouldn't be an issue (unless they were already lagging), but the game is in sync with all players - just like BW.

i don't get it
"Disconnect shouldn't be an issue (unless they were already lagging)"
it is (a minor one)

"the game is in sync with all players"
blabling
it sucks
not a programing problem

Haven't played an RTS in quite a long time but might give it a shot for the sp campaign.

Will it run on a GF 9500 GT?

Tried the beta for about 5mins on an 8800 GTS (386mb) and it worked fine.. You should be ok..

I don't know much about GFX Cards but isn't a 8800 GTS quite a bit better than a 9500 GT?

I searched on Google and seems I should be able to play it fine on low or mid settings.
What settings did you play on?

Ah, I don't know much about the 9500 GT, i just assumed it was the model above, so should be alright.. i was wrong it seems.

Ye i played on pretty high settings.. Can't remember exactly.

Download it and test, if it works and you like it.. buy it :)

On lowest settings, you could probably get away with a 6800. (hell, maybe even less)

blizzard always manages stuff like that. i mean, sure, its not an fps. but it still looks awesome and runs on almost all machines.

Works fine on a 8600gt which is probably about the same level