Blizzard to Rape Your Wallet


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Actually, Starcraft2 is being marketted for E-Sports and its Blizzards sole aim for it to be successful at E-Sports; Its also the one thing which will judge weither Starcraft2 was a hit or not.

So your definition that the majority is playing for multiplayer is correct, your conclusion that the majority will be satisfied is however.. wrong. What expansions do, is to re-design for the game. Every year now, E-sports is going to be shook up and broken.. It also means that at expansion three, there will be three versions of multiplayer online, which again is very bad for E-sports as you've now effectively split up the community.

On your arguement that B.Net is not going to cost money, is half right. It will always be free to play on Battle.Net but they are going to add features which they will charge for (Avatars, Private Ladders, etc).

I agree. Releasing three different versions of the game will effectively split the multiplayer community, which is never a good thing.

As for battle.net, as long as I can still play D3 online with friends for free I don't care what else they add.

Ok if each game is $20 im fine with this, but heres my problem: The campaign i most want to play is Protoss, yet that one comes out who knows how long after terran? weeks? months? what if i want to play multiplayer with my friends at launch? great, i have to shell out money for a different campaign first which might not be worth the money they want for it, and then more money later on for Protoss version.

What if each game is $30? thats almost $35 after tax, do you want to pay almost $100 dollars to play one complete game? and what about people overseas? with the upscaled price they might have to pay almost $200 US to play all 3 starcraft versions, thats lunacy!

The same crap happened with a game called Heroes of Annihilated Empires, and look at what happened to it.. DEAD it didnt sell well as

game was supposed to be split in 3 or so campaigns you had to pay for.

Diablo 3, what do you guys want says bliz guy.

1. We add all classes and take hilariously long (F you guys we want profit.)

2. we sell each class sperately in an EPIC, You heard me EPIC box and make sure you get the most fun out of it (w000 these guys are dumb.)

3. Screw you guys, I'm going home! No Diablo 3 4 j00. (LOL yeah rite.)

Can't wait for the Epic announcement LOL.

Ok if each game is $20 im fine with this, but heres my problem: The campaign i most want to play is Protoss, yet that one comes out who knows how long after terran? weeks? months? what if i want to play multiplayer with my friends at launch? great, i have to shell out money for a different campaign first which might not be worth the money they want for it, and then more money later on for Protoss version.

What if each game is $30? thats almost $35 after tax, do you want to pay almost $100 dollars to play one complete game? and what about people overseas? with the upscaled price they might have to pay almost $200 US to play all 3 starcraft versions, thats lunacy!

For the Protoss Campaign, you're looking at around 2years+ from the release date. As Zerg is the 2nd expansion and they've stated that each expansion will take over a year to make :)

If you want to play multiplayer at launch, then you've got to buy it at launch and then yes shell out on the campaign you want. Then you're friends will have to pay for the Protoss Expansion if you want to play with them on it (with the new units).. as the three versions will be uncompatable.

Each game is going to be priced depending on how Blizzard feels, If they feel its as good as a stand-alone game it will be priced like one.

The same crap happened with a game called Heroes of Annihilated Empires, and look at what happened to it.. DEAD it didnt sell well as

game was supposed to be split in 3 or so campaigns you had to pay for.

Difference is, that people will pay for Starcraft 2. Thats why Blizzard is doing it :)

Diablo 3, what do you guys want says bliz guy.

1. We add all classes and take hilariously long (F you guys we want profit.)

2. we sell each class sperately in an EPIC, You heard me EPIC box and make sure you get the most fun out of it (w000 these guys are dumb.)

3. Screw you guys, I'm going home! No Diablo 3 4 j00. (LOL yeah rite.)

Can't wait for the Epic announcement LOL.

Its expected that if Blizzard want to milk Diablo 3 they'll just add a subscription to battle.net for it :)

Its expected that if Blizzard want to milk Diablo 3 they'll just add a subscription to battle.net for it :)

That's not what they are planing to, according to Rob Pardo.

"We would never do something like say to get the full game experience, you'll have to pay extra."

But still, the game is not finish yet, so the businness plan, who automaticaly comes with it, isn't either.

Anyway, Starcraft 2 separated solo campaigns. This is for me, who only play solo campaigns in Blzzard's games (maybe one online/lan match or two, but that's it) a very cruel annoncement. And one year to wait to get the Zerg story, and again one year for the Protoss final ? Come on Blizzard, that's just mean. But what's the most frustrating thing is, it surely gonna be epic...

The price of each game is not (for me, I don't want to be misunderstood) important, we have one year to save.

I have one thing in my mind concerning the three years plan (more or less, again this is not an official annoncement), what about the graphics ? Now the game looks pretty nice to me, but in three years ? I know Starcraft has more than 10 years and lots of people are still playing it. But the industry has changed, and it's not a sur fact Starcraft II is gonna last 10 years.

Don't you think Blizzard has besome, since the huge success of Wow, maybe too confident ?

That's not what they are planing to, according to Rob Pardo.

"We would never do something like say to get the full game experience, you'll have to pay extra."

But still, the game is not finish yet, so the businness plan, who automaticaly comes with it, isn't either.

Thats just what i meant by most likely if there were going to milk it. Nothings been announced and Blizzard at this stage would always say they arnt going to charge for extra's (its bad PR :p).

Anyway, Starcraft 2 separated solo campaigns. This is for me, who only play solo campaigns in Blzzard's games (maybe one online/lan match or two, but that's it) a very cruel annoncement. And one year to wait to get the Zerg story, and again one year for the Protoss final ? Come on Blizzard, that's just mean.

I duno, its debatable weither its better or not.. Especially if Solo Campaigns are what you love. Now you'll get a Terran Solo Campaign (which is as big as if it Zerg/Protoss/Terran campaign all together) with a bigger (and likely to be more indepth) then after a huge Zerg campaign then after that a huge Protoss campaign. Keeping the game fresh for you, If you only like playing Zerg Campaigns then obviously its cruel :p

Its mainly e-sports/multiplayer and cost its effecting, singleplayer is debatable.

I have one thing in my mind concerning the three years plan (more or less, again this is not an official annoncement), what about the graphics ? Now the game looks pretty nice to me, but in three years ? I know Starcraft has more than 10 years and lots of people are still playing it. But the industry has changed, and it's not a sur fact Starcraft II is gonna last 10 years.

Don't you think Blizzard has besome, since the huge success of Wow, maybe too confident ?

No they wont have graphical updates.

The industry hasnt changed much, Cartoon graphics always hold up well over time. The only type of graphics which fail quickly as the ones which aim to be completly realistic (due to as soon as something more realistic comes along, it shows the flaws).

On the topic of Blizzard becoming too confident, that isnt due to WoW (in regards to starcraft).. its due to the massive success of Starcraft. Ten years after release, it still has multiple e-sports leagues and is still rated as the #1 RTS game ever.

I duno, its debatable weither its better or not.. Especially if Solo Campaigns are what you love. Now you'll get a Terran Solo Campaign (which is as big as if it Zerg/Protoss/Terran campaign all together) with a bigger (and likely to be more indepth) then after a huge Zerg campaign then after that a huge Protoss campaign. Keeping the game fresh for you, If you only like playing Zerg Campaigns then obviously its cruel :p

Its mainly e-sports/multiplayer and cost its effecting, singleplayer is debatable.

I really don't care about e-sport. I loved Starcraft because the story was good, maybe too classic for scifi, but the universe created is good. And I don't like to be rejected because some people make money playing Starcraft, and I really have no problem with E-sport.

No they wont have graphical updates.

The industry hasnt changed much, Cartoon graphics always hold up well over time. The only type of graphics which fail quickly as the ones which aim to be completly realistic (due to as soon as something more realistic comes along, it shows the flaws). On the topic of Blizzard becoming too confident, that isnt due to WoW (in regards to starcraft).. its due to the massive success of Starcraft. Ten years after release, it still has multiple e-sports leagues and is still rated as the #1 RTS game ever.

I know, and that's why the game isn't such a beauty (technicaly speaking) like Supreme Commander or the futur Dawn Of War. Cause everyone with a middle range pc can play it.

Blizzard is now orientated in making a type of game that is not anymore the type I want to play. They want you to spend so much time on their games. I like 200 hours games, I'm a huge fan of rpg. Maybe I'm not a competition guy. :D

I'm gonna play it anyway, and I also want to play Diablo III, cause I grown up with those games. But I want to hear a story, a good story, I don't care if this unit is more effectiv against that one, but weak against that other...

I really don't care about e-sport. I loved Starcraft because the story was good, maybe too classic for scifi, but the universe created is good. And I don't like to be rejected because some people make money playing Starcraft, and I really have no problem with E-sport.

and the Starcraft Story will still be good in Starcraft 2. Its just split into 3 parts (big parts).. i dont really see the problem with this if your a single-player person.

I know, and that's why the game isn't such a beauty (technicaly speaking) like Supreme Commander or the futur Dawn Of War. Cause everyone with a middle range pc can play it.

Its much better to create a nice looking game which still looks good 3-5years from now, than a game which only the high-end users can play and will look poor in 3-5years. This is extremly good for Multiplayer but also good for single player, as it keeps the replay value high (I recently played Warcraft 3 Campaign again, and due to the cartoony graphics.. it didnt look vastly outdated or blocky).

Blizzard is now orientated in making a type of game that is not anymore the type I want to play. They want you to spend so much time on their games. I like 200 hours games, I'm a huge fan of rpg. Maybe I'm not a competition guy. :D

I'm gonna play it anyway, and I also want to play Diablo III, cause I grown up with those games. But I want to hear a story, a good story, I don't care if this unit is more effectiv against that one, but weak against that other...

Blizzard is like that, due to the players wanting that (for Starcraft 2 anywayz).

Well.. your going to get a good story in Starcraft 2, nothings changed on that front except for, for each faction your going to get a much bigger (and possibly better/more indepth) story which is a plus). Only downside is that if you want to play the 3 factions storys, then you'll have to buy the expansions (but you said money doesnt matter :p).

What i do not like is that you are also paying for the multiplayer version 3 times. The game has two aspects, single and multi. If i have the multi i should have to pay full price for just a different single campaign. Possible that this could be downloadable content bought at a reduced price?

Crompee> The only problem I saw is the wait. Of course the story will be good and the new features in the campaigns will add some depth in the gameplay.

I'm just disapointed because the Blizzard policy (other than simply make a real cool and fun game) has become more about a certain type of player, really focuse on them (who loved playing that type of game, like my brother, who is a huge Blizzard fan, playing thousands hours online with Diablo and Stracraft, so I can easily understand why. The game are really goods, no doubt about it) and I'm not that type of player. I still love their games, but I don't feel the need to go farming and go for some better loot after killing Diablo, or Baal in the extension. And the same after the Zerg campaign in Brood War.

I'm french, so maybe I have some issues being clear. :D

Anyway, I put it simple: of course I'm gonna enjoy it, three times, and with a year waiting between. It's just because I want to play it so much that I'm disapointed I'm gonna wait another year or two to finally know what happended with the Xel Naga and the "Duran Experiment".

Good news is, I can wait playing Fallout 3 and Dragon Age. :D

There's one problem I see with releasing each campaign in their own release. How will new players to StarCraft even get into the game? Campaign is a MAJOR part of learning how to play each race. The campaign allows you to go at your own pace without having to jump into a multiplayer game and get creamed because you aren't familiar with the units and structure of that race. There are a lot of tutorials that usually go along with playing through the campaign.

I just love how people never stop defending Blizzard. If any other gamecompany would've pulled this today the flamewars would burn a hole in the fabric of space-time, but because Blizzard does it there needs to be something positive about it, right?

This is just a rip-off of the gaming community and not to mention it helps piracy. I bet everyone will torrent this and keygen it. And then Blizzard can cry about piracy afterwards.

Tbh they are doing the same with WoW. The game is just a shadow of what it once was. It's obvious they are only cashing in on it as long as people are stupid enough to keep giving money for it without putting any effort in it. Now they're pulling this method over to their single player games also. Create 1 game, divide it by 3 and sell them separately.

I just love how people never stop defending Blizzard. If any other gamecompany would've pulled this today the flamewars would burn a hole in the fabric of space-time, but because Blizzard does it there needs to be something positive about it, right?

This is just a rip-off of the gaming community and not to mention it helps piracy. I bet everyone will torrent this and keygen it. And then Blizzard can cry about piracy afterwards.

Tbh they are doing the same with WoW. The game is just a shadow of what it once was. It's obvious they are only cashing in on it as long as people are stupid enough to keep giving money for it without putting any effort in it. Now they're pulling this method over to their single player games also. Create 1 game, divide it by 3 and sell them separately.

I'm not defending Blizzard directly as i personally think its a stupid decision and really messes me over (I'm mainly a multiplayer person, so now i need to buy all 3 expansions just for the up to date version of multiplayer i.e. the most used one).

but i am defending against issues or problems people see which really arnt true :p

I'm not defending Blizzard directly as i personally think its a stupid decision and really messes me over (I'm mainly a multiplayer person, so now i need to buy all 3 expansions just for the up to date version of multiplayer i.e. the most used one).

but i am defending against issues or problems people see which really arnt true :p

You will not be able to buy all three from the start. Only the Terrain campaign will be released. The Zerg will come a year after and the Protoss another year after the Zerg one.

You will not be able to buy all three from the start. Only the Terrain campaign will be released. The Zerg will come a year after and the Protoss another year after the Zerg one.

Yes, so if i want to play multiplayer (for more than a year) i need to buy all 3.

As each expansion is a full expansion with new units and incompatable with the previous. So the previous game/expansion will fade out of the multiplayer scene.

I think this is actually a good idea. IF the campaign is actually as long as Blizzard is saying it is.

well as they said, they rather put more material than take out any. 'Go Big or Go Home' But yeah I'm not sure if I like this idea or not.. I"m in the middle. Cause you can say when you buy Wings of Liberty , it's practically SCII but without the other two Campagins. Unless Blizzard makes the other 2 kind of like expansion packs and sold to be cheaper than WOL. I doubt that though.

I think this is actually a good idea. IF the campaign is actually as long as Blizzard is saying it is.

In one way its probably abit better, as you're going to get a much better campaign for each race (hopefully) but its also extremly bad news for Zerg/Protoss players who are left with no campaign for years.

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This mainly affects apps that create a Start menu folder with multiple shortcuts. [Taskbar] This update improves notification badge display across your apps. Notification counts and badge visuals now update correctly, helping you stay up to date with new activity. Up next we have build 28000.2333: Gradual rollout Windows 11 PC experiences This section highlights some new features and enhancements for Windows 11 PCs, including AI-powered capabilities, continuous innovation, and performance improvements. [Magnifier in Windows] New! Magnifier now provides clearer and more consistent announcements when working with a screen reader. You'll hear helpful announcements when you zoom in or out, switch views, turn color inversion on or off, or turn Magnifier On or Off. This makes it easy to stay oriented while you work. New! Magnifier now supports magnification of permitted protected content. This update improves smoothness when moving Magnifier in lens mode. [Task Manager] New! Task Manager now offers improved visibility into NPU usage on PCs with an NPU. New optional NPU and NPU Engine columns are available on the Processes, Users, and Details pages, along with NPU Dedicated Memory and NPU Shared Memory optional columns on the Details page. Neural engines that are part of a GPU now appear on the Performance page, providing a more complete view of AI-related activity. A new optional Isolation column on the Processes and Details pages shows which apps are running in an AppContainer. You can add any of the new columns by right-clicking a column header in Task Manager and selecting them from the menu. This update improves CPU speed display on the Performance page of Task Manager for VMs, so it doesn't show higher than unexpected numbers after resuming from hibernate. [Camera] New! Windows 11's Multi-App Camera feature allows multiple applications to access your camera stream at the same time. Basic Camera mode in Windows 11 enables simplified camera functionality, useful for troubleshooting or improving stability when your camera is not working correctly. Enterprise admin can now set Multi-App Camera mode or Basic Camera mode through Group Policy, under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Camera > Configure Camera Options. [Windows Setup] New! You can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page during Windows setup. The updated experience makes it easier to select a custom name during setup only. If this step is skipped, Windows uses the default folder name and continues setup as usual. User folder names must follow standard Windows naming requirements. [General Performance] This update accelerates app launch and core shell experiences such as Start menu, Search, and Action Center. [Personalization] This update improves: Color selection accuracy when adjusting your accent color to match your wallpaper when the automatic accent color selection is enabled in Personalization settings. Wallpaper persistence reliability across restarts and upgrades, including better support for large-resolution wallpapers and other scenarios to prevent solid color wallpaper fallback. [Windows Hello] This update improves: This update optimizes the Windows Biometric service (WinBio) to help improve performance when your device resumes from Modern Standby. This update reduces unexpected authentication blocks in Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security by resolving missing secure enrollment metadata. This update improves sign-in behavior on the lock screen and sign-in screen. When Windows Hello face or fingerprint is set up and available, it is now the default sign-in method every time you sign in, even if you used a different method previously. If you need to use your Windows PIN instead and use it three times in a row, Windows will stay with PIN until you switch to another sign-in method. [Windows Search Box] Windows Search will now find and prioritize files with as few as two characters. [Storage] The dialog box for creating a Dev Drive now supports specifying the size in gigabytes (GB) instead of only megabytes (MB). This option is also available when resizing volumes in Settings > System > Storage. In Settings > System > Storage, you now see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt only when you choose to view temporary files, instead of immediately when opening the page. [USB] This update improves reliability for displays attached to USB4 docks and hubs. These displays now light up more consistently, particularly when coming out of standby. The USB3 stack is updated to have additional resiliency and recovery measures in place against certain unexpected hardware faults and conditions. Users will experience higher reliability with USB devices. [Sensors] This update improves resiliency against apps that could keep the sensor hub powered on and drain power, impacting battery life. [Human Interface Device (HID)] This update improves battery life related to the HID and Input stack for failed HID devices. Power hygiene is also improved against applications that might initiate HID transfers during standby. [Input] The update improves: Reliability of the touch keyboard on the sign-in screen, including when entering or changing a password. Reliability of explorer.exe when closing the input switcher. Performance when opening or navigating to clipboard history. [Fonts] The Times New Roman font family is updated to improve the rendering of combining diacritical marks across Greek and Cyrillic scripts. This update provides more accurate and visually consistent text by addressing mark positioning issues. These changes improve readability, reduce rendering inconsistencies, and better support global language users working with Greek and Cyrillic content. [Task Scheduler] Task Scheduler now saves column width adjustments in task list view across sessions. [Desktop icons] This update improves reliability of loading desktop app shortcuts. [Microsoft Store] This update includes underlying changes that improve download performance and bandwidth usage. This update improves error reporting when downloads fail due to Windows Update group policy settings being enabled. [Reliability] This update improves Windows reliability on the sign-in and lock screens, in File Explorer, when using touch gestures on touchscreen devices, and when changing themes in Settings. Normal rollout This non-security update includes quality improvements. The following summary outlines key issues addressed by the KB update after you install it. Also, included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change. [Authentication] This update improves Netlogon secure channel connections between domain controllers, enabling successful connections from member servers to domain controllers set up before 2025. [BitLocker] This update improves BitLocker testing reliability by ensuring the required files are available for the BitLocker Drive Encryption USB BIOS Logo Test. You can find the blog post for builds 26100.8728/26200.8728 here and build 28000.2333 here.
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