Blizzard Fans Fuse StarCraft 2 and WoW Into Whole New Game

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Blizzard Fans Fuse StarCraft 2 and WoW Into Whole New Game


Blizzard doesn't seem to be in any hurry to make a StarCraft MMO, so a group of players are taking matters into their own hands.

To the layman, the Galaxy Editor that comes with StarCraft 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Starcraft-II-Wings-Liberty-Pc/dp/B000ZKA0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1295369891&sr=1-1] might look like nothing more than a map maker, but in actual fact, it's a lot more robust than that. Even before the game's release, beta testers were using it to make kart racing games, and since then, people have used it to make survival horror games, and even rebuilt parts of World of Warcraft [http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Pc/dp/B000067FDW/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1295369924&sr=1-3].

This latest project is similar to the WoW recreation, but a touch more ambitious at the same time. Dubbed "World of StarCraft," it takes the heroes - and the enemies - from StarCraft 2 and recasts them as characters in game that's rather reminiscent of the the biggest MMO on the block. World of StarCraft won't ape WoW too closely, however, as "RyanWin," the project lead, wants people to be able to dive in and have fun without having to invest a lot of time in levelling and getting equipment. Put together by three talented StarCraft fans, World of StarCraft is currently in a "pre-alpha" stage. RyanWin plans to include ten classes in all, five each for the Human and Protoss factions, but is currently still working on the human "Ghost" class, a covert operative with psychic powers and the ability to become invisible.

It'll be some time before the game is ready to play, but if you're interested in helping out, either as a designer or as a playtester, you can apply [http://www.worldofstarcraft.proboards.com/index.cgi] on the official project forums. You can also read about the project in more depth, including some of the ideas that the team hopes to implement, and what they've achieved so far.

Source: Evil Avatar [http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1968426#post1968426]




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airrazor7

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Nov 8, 2010
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Not a starcraft fan myself but the effort of these guys is pretty awesome. Fan-made game FTW!
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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SaintWaldo said:
Gonna get sued. That is all.
I'm not sure why you'd think that. This is precisely the sort of thing that the SC2 galaxy editor is supposed to be used for, and it isn't like it isn't going to be used in custom games on Battle.net... which you need a copy of SC2 to access.

I *am* curious how they plan on handling the defining feature of an MMO - character and world persistence. Given that it'll be custom games on SC2, the latter is infeasible. I'm wondering if they could find some way of tying the character progression to your Bnet account somehow?
 

Lt. Vinciti

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Nov 5, 2009
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Dont worry kids...

We all recall that leaked Blizzard sales chart...

Rather then let go the beloved franchise that makes you billions...

2015... Universe of Starcraft...

OT:
I do like how this works looks pretty cool
 

NooNameLeft

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Sep 15, 2009
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John Funk said:
SaintWaldo said:
Gonna get sued. That is all.
I *am* curious how they plan on handling the defining feature of an MMO - character and world persistence. Given that it'll be custom games on SC2, the latter is infeasible. I'm wondering if they could find some way of tying the character progression to your Bnet account somehow?
I'm not sure how they did it but many Warcraft 3 custom maps allowed the players to save their character by giving them a special code they needed to type every time they enter the map.
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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John Funk said:
SaintWaldo said:
Gonna get sued. That is all.
I'm not sure why you'd think that. This is precisely the sort of thing that the SC2 galaxy editor is supposed to be used for, and it isn't like it isn't going to be used in custom games on Battle.net... which you need a copy of SC2 to access.

I *am* curious how they plan on handling the defining feature of an MMO - character and world persistence. Given that it'll be custom games on SC2, the latter is infeasible. I'm wondering if they could find some way of tying the character progression to your Bnet account somehow?
You say it right there in your second paragraph. They won't get sued by ActiBlizzard for using the SC2 editor to do anything. They will get sued by ActiBlizzard if they try to add persistence that replaces or builds on the armory or bnet accounts or significantly competes with WoW or SC2 without proceeds (how does this pay for hosting hmm?) going to ActiBlizzard for the IP. If they are building an MMO, they will have to tackle that. If they tackle that, they will get sued, IMO.

It's not a value judgment on what they are doing BTW. Just thought you might like to know that.
 

solidstatemind

Digital Oracle
Nov 9, 2008
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Lt. Vinciti said:
Dont worry kids...

We all recall that leaked Blizzard sales chart...

Rather then let go the beloved franchise that makes you billions...

2015... Universe of Starcraft...

OT:
I do like how this works looks pretty cool
Actually, Blizzard has said that their 'Next Gen MMO' is an entirely new Intellectual Property, so the 'Titan' that is referred to on the leaked release schedule isn't WoS.

If these guys get it right, however, I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard experimented with publishing their work...
 

Lt. Vinciti

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Nov 5, 2009
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solidstatemind said:
Lt. Vinciti said:
Dont worry kids...

We all recall that leaked Blizzard sales chart...

Rather then let go the beloved franchise that makes you billions...

2015... Universe of Starcraft...

OT:
I do like how this works looks pretty cool
Actually, Blizzard has said that their 'Next Gen MMO' is an entirely new Intellectual Property, so the 'Titan' that is referred to on the leaked release schedule isn't WoS.

If these guys get it right, however, I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard experimented with publishing their work...
Or thru court...

Do you really think Blizzard is going to fumble the billion dollar machine they have now to try and "keep it real with the kids yo"<--- aka try it new and lose a throne
 

Torrasque

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Aug 6, 2010
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And now I have boner ._.
I've joked about this for a while with my friends, but when I saw some of the custom games coming out, I knew this would only be a matter of time.
Signing up for testing NAO
 

Scizophrenic Llama

Is in space!
Dec 5, 2007
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John Funk said:
SaintWaldo said:
Gonna get sued. That is all.
I'm not sure why you'd think that. This is precisely the sort of thing that the SC2 galaxy editor is supposed to be used for, and it isn't like it isn't going to be used in custom games on Battle.net... which you need a copy of SC2 to access.

I *am* curious how they plan on handling the defining feature of an MMO - character and world persistence. Given that it'll be custom games on SC2, the latter is infeasible. I'm wondering if they could find some way of tying the character progression to your Bnet account somehow?
Depending on how picky they want to be about this, I could see a cease and desist coming to this project.

I see this as very similar to the Morrowind project for Oblivion that Bethesda slapped down. That still required a copy of Oblivion to play, but it still got killed.

It would be neat to see how this pans out though.
 

Danpascooch

Zombie Specialist
Apr 16, 2009
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John Funk said:
SaintWaldo said:
Gonna get sued. That is all.
I'm not sure why you'd think that. This is precisely the sort of thing that the SC2 galaxy editor is supposed to be used for, and it isn't like it isn't going to be used in custom games on Battle.net... which you need a copy of SC2 to access.

I *am* curious how they plan on handling the defining feature of an MMO - character and world persistence. Given that it'll be custom games on SC2, the latter is infeasible. I'm wondering if they could find some way of tying the character progression to your Bnet account somehow?
What I'm curious about is if there is any protection afforded to them in the EULA of the maker. Does it say they hold creative rights to anything they make?

Because Blizzard can't sue them, but they probably can shut the project down if it becomes too popular and they get scared.
 

Sinspiration

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Mar 7, 2010
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canadamus_prime said:
I foresee a C&D letter in their future.
I agree.

I know its a different company but Bethesda did the same for the 'Morroblivion' mod that made a Morrowind equivalent in Oblivion. Bethesda found out and weren't too chipper 'bout it.

Unless Blizzard really is as careless as I imagine it to be sometimes lol
 

solidstatemind

Digital Oracle
Nov 9, 2008
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Lt. Vinciti said:
Or thru court...

Do you really think Blizzard is going to fumble the billion dollar machine they have now to try and "keep it real with the kids yo"<--- aka try it new and lose a throne
Honestly? I bet Blizzard did their research on whether a Starcraft MMO was viable or not, and decided against making it. Remember, they're a billion-dollar company for a reason: they're not only good at making games, they're good at the business aspect of the industry as well.

But regardless of our opinions, this [http://www.totalvideogames.com/Blizzard-Titan-MMO-Unannounced/news/Unannounced-Blizzard-MMO-Is-New-IP-Confirms-Kotick-15525.html] pretty much quashes the idea of a Starcraft MMO. I also have an inside source that corroborates that.