It doesn't seem like strategy is your thing but I must say if you've never played the strategy games blizzard has produced such as Warcraft, Starcraft, etc, I think you're missing a bit of history.
 

fantasy use mostly melee weapons with a dash of magic / ranged weapon..

how do that mapped into modern setting ? will STARCRAFT MMO resemble tabula rasa ? focus on ranged weapons ? i hope its not going to be huxley (mmofps)..

with no other good template to copy from ( except tabula rasa and SWG) i dont think blizzard have enough brain to innovate fun into SCMMO. remember, blizzard's skill is copying other people's innovation and then finetune / polish it to the max.

Warcraft lore (no matter how weak they are) are still stronger than Starcraft Lore (non existent). Warcraft already gone thru 3 iteration before their MMO, the back story, the places, the unique areas all already in the lore.. but there is nothing special in Starcraft, nothing to connect ppl to the lore.

SCMMO if they really want to make it, should have
- spanning multiple planets and make each planet fun / unique
- massive pvp, maybe a special battleground planet
- space battles
- fun ranged combat as its core gameplay.
- crafting , alt-ing , AH , economy must exist and fun
- vehicle combat like auto assault
- stealth missions / quest like THIEF / GHOST / Splinter Cell type
- no gore and nudity, all age welcome
 

It's always fun to talk about possibilities but I think that writeup is written with too much WoW mindset as well as emphasis on the original SC and BW.

First off, who says there are only 3 races? I strongly believe we'll see a 4th with the release of SC2 and even if we don't, there is always the chance of a 4th or more in a Starcraft Online.

And who says SC Online would have to follow previous "class" systems? What if you start as a Terran Marine and either continue along the grunt path or spec into Medic training, Firebat training, Reaver training, psychic training (Ghost) or even vehicle training (goliaths, vultures, or the new vehicles)? As a zerg you could begin as a zergling and morph or evolve into the class you wanted. You could go defiler or queen for support, crackling for speed and high dmg or ultralisk for tank. Of course you couldn't upgrade to every class (it'd be crazy to have individuals running around in BC's) but I think it's worth the thought. Why not a game where you decide your class as you go?

Also, I think ignoring space battle is a big mistake. Maybe at a certain poitn every class was able to obtain a space "mount" (zerg could morph on demand into a mutalisk, terran could load up into their wraith, protoss could hop in their scout) and fly around from planet to planet of course doing epic battle. It would give you something new to gear out (aside from just your character) and add a whole new dimension to the game.

But that's just my babbling, wish I had more time to think it out more and be less rant. I just think that whole writeup is way too WoW minded =/ It's the orcs in space argument all over again.
 

You seem to be selling Starcraft a bit short. Starcraft never had actual space ship combat like EVE Online but instead had many flying units that would support ground troops. If Blizzard does make a Starcraft MMO we'll probably see the smaller aeriel units from the RTS game making an appearance in some form.

Also I know I've mention this before but its really 99% certain Blizzard's next MMO is based on Starcraft. Look at how they used Warcraft 3 to jump start World of Warcraft with lore and new races. Most likely Blizzard will use Starcraft 2 in much the same manner.
 

It doesn't seem like strategy is your thing but I must say if you've never played the strategy games blizzard has produced such as Warcraft, Starcraft, etc, I think you're missing a bit of history.

Hey, I never said I didn't play Warcraft! I did play Warcraft 3. And I'm very much a fan of strategy games, I just don't think Starcraft is one. The so called Real Time Strategy genre is often more about speed clicking than strategy. And "zerg rush" is an expression in the general gamer's dictionary that was born in Starcraft.
 

Horny: In all honesty the lore in starcraft is not as rich as warcraft because Starcraft has only had ONE game released. Whereas the game is old it has not had any sequels yet because of the popularity of the original Starcraft. Topping something that big is a daunting task to be sure. I say that Starcraft 2 will expound upon the lore and that possibly there may even be an additional starcraft game before the MMO is released. Though they canceled Ghost there is still a possiblity they MAY release it at some point.

Matt: That's what I was trying to get at with the skill-based explanation but it didn't come out that way. Oh well.

Tobold: True, very true!
 

Actually SC has lots of lore, Blizzard just has to 'sample' WAR40k a bit more. They did a great job with WC when they 'sampled' Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

As for the SCMMO itself, I doubt it will stray too far from the WoW formula, given Blizzard's track record. Until someone else makes a huge hit MMO not using the same formula EQ/WoW use, Blizzard has nothing to copy. If EVE or some other MMO hits 1 million+ subs, only then will Blizzard make a more 'polished' version.
 

Actually, I thought that WoW-TBC introducing 'flying' was a test-case of functionality needed for a Starcraft MMO...

In a sense, using WoW's money-making to parallel develop MMO technology.
 

Hm.. Take Tabula Rasa, mix in a bit Star Wars Online and spice it up with the typical "Blizzard-Polish". I don't see a "Softcore-Eve" coming, simply can't imagine something like that from Blizzard.
A race like the Zerg wasn't playable since that old offline game Alien vs. Predator, so that would be something very special that could attrakt some people and make SC Online stand out from the crowd. And playing a Protoss Zealot would surely rock!
I don't think missing lore would be a problem. Starcraft1 gave them something to build on, they surely gathered ideas for expanded lore in Starcraft2 and even the cancelled Starcraft Ghost could provide something. Thinking about it.. using Starcraft Ghosts lore and getting some value out of a former loss sounds somehow..elegant?
 

No one says they can't use already-developed content from Ghost to start the foundation of Starcraft Online. I was really looking forward to it to tell you the truth. I love stealth-based games too, the ones that require a bit of patience and guile.
 

What about Blizzard's third franchise... Diablo?

IMO medieval fantasy themed games seem like a better match for the MMO genre. I've tried SWG, Eve, and Tabula Rasa - it just doesn't feel right to me. But if anyone could pull it off, Blizzard could.

I know it will never happen but I'm still hoping someone makes a Dune MMO... Fremen FTW =P

But really, what are everyone's thoughts of a Diablo MMO?
 

Honestly I have harbored the thought. Maybe even blogged it but I'm not sure but it's too close to world of warcraft. Though the spells, classes, and other lore does differ it would be just a 'WoW clone'. Though I cannot dismiss the possibility.
 

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My thoughts on a Diablo 2 MMO.
 

"What about Blizzard's third franchise... Diablo?"
Diablo is medieval/fantasy as well as Warcraft. That makes them dangerously equal. In addition Diablo offers classes but other races than humans seem unlikely. I for myself prefer some variety so just one race would disappoint me. Also the Diablo lore can be summarized in one sentence: "There is this medival village and suddenly demons appear in the cellar and slaugther everyone".

It would be nice if they would develope a new universe. One that isn't copied from Games Workshop. But then they would lose the ridiculous kick from the korean masses that alone could catapult them on a chart position. Not to mention that Starcraft has fans otherwhere too ;)
 

i dont think blizz have the capabilities to create a scifi MMO. scifi is not for everyone, tabula rasa's flop is a bad sign for scifi mmo.

limiting a scifi MMO to a ground based fight with no vehicle / air combat is silly. not everyone should be infantry branch, there is armor and aviation branch in modern warfare, not to mention space combat in scifi.

lot of ppl want space based combat like EVE but with lesser penalties and easier entry. maybe blizz can copy + polish EVE online space combat and copy + polish SWG's or TR's ground combat.
 

Also I know I've mention this before but its really 99% certain Blizzard's next MMO is based on Starcraft. Look at how they used Warcraft 3 to jump start World of Warcraft with lore and new races. Most likely Blizzard will use Starcraft 2 in much the same manner.


They have been no reputable public rumors concerning what type of mmorpg that Blizzard is developing. Universe of Star Craft makes sense, but I'd hardly call it a given - unless you know some inside information that the public doesn't.
 

I used to be a HUGE fan of starcraft, it's probably my favourite RTS game (tied with Red Alert and Total Annihilation). Here's how I see an MMO game being played out. Players can either play Terran (humans) or Protoss (robots?)... Zerg will be completely NPC. I like a previous poster's idea of choosing a race and then training to be the class you want to be (marine, nurse, pilot, etc...). I would go one step further and add gear into the equation. In theory you could play a human character and collect nurse gear, marine gear, firebot gear and so on. You could store this gear in your bunker and train up as many skillsets as you want. If you wanted to heal you would have to be wearing your nurse gear, if you want to shoot a gun you need your marine gear. This way you could switch roles based on your needs in a group. Early quests could have you scouting areas for zerglins while later quests would have you "raiding" other faction bases or defending your bases against a raid. A nice addition would be to have a general (as in five star general) role that could oversea the whole battlefield and give out orders. To make raiding easier it could be built like WoW battlegrounds where you wander over to an NPC and sign up for battle.

Crafting would be a totally different animal since each faction has different needs. You could become an exoskeleton builder who builds armour for the Protoss melee class as well as dragoons. You could be a weapon smith who makes rifles and pistols for the various human classes. You would even be able to build spacecrafts and land vehicles.