Starcraft 2: Mothership Connection

Oh thank god, the worst character is dead. Now if only the awful, awful science officer would be next. Everything about him offends me on some deep, primal level- not just the writing and voice actor, but the grotesque character model with his giant piano-key teeth and the little bit of toilet paper stuck over a shaving cut (ew, Blizzard. Just EW).

As of halfway through the campaign, I'm loving the RPG-like elements (persistent research and upgrades, unique units, mercenaries, etc), and while I'm still terrible, it's different enough from proper Starcraft that I'm able to actually enjoy it.

Does anyone know if you can start a new SP campaign on an existing battle.net profile, or if you're stuck replaying missions from the Mission Archive? For my Normal playthrough (yes, I'm on Casual, I suck that badly) I'd like to try some of the other research options, plot branches, etc, and it would be a shame if my profile (which I plan to take online eventually) is locked to one SP playthrough with no reset button.

Another question for SP people- what research paths are you taking, both on the Spectre/Ghost decision and the Protoss and Zerg tech trees? There are a couple of choices on the Zerg tree that are so useful they seem almost mandatory. Perdition Turrets (for the zombie mission in particular- it's either these or raising/lowering supply depots to make a gate, and I don't like the idea of suddenly losing population cap if they get destroyed) and the dropship (Hellions, iirc- no idea how I would have done the Protoss mothership mission without them). I forget what the other choice for Perdition Turrets slot was (more bunker armor, maybe?), but the alternative to Hellions seems both bizarre and borderline useless- this weird robot cat thing with an AoE stomp against light infantry. It seems like it's an extra unit that just doubles up on what Firebats (AoE vs light armor) and Marauders (slowing effect) can do, except it has to get into melee to do it. Unless they're crazy fucking cheap, I don't het the appeal...

I havent played much of SP but had a bitch of a time deciding on whether to upgrade bunker armor or get a free gun on top. Went with the armor increase because a marine dont cost much to throw in there and I figured the gun you get with the upgrade probably sucks.

Like what the tree adds to the game. Good work blizzard.

Unfortunately I can't really play this on my computer. Too many hiccups. Hope they figure a way to console it.

Xpost That sounds about right- maybe the other option was some kind of upgraded missile turret?

I went with the bunker gun. It's surprisingly powerful against light infantry and let's you free up Marines for more proactive manshoot duty.

I liked how they figured out a way to put a zombie mission in this.

got the key - thanks!!

My work situation cleared up yet Ive only played like 1/2 of a mission since. My priorities are all rong.

this game is great but the singleplayer missions are stressing me out something fierce. Im bad enough with issuing commands and keeping things straight when theres no time limit for impending doom but seems like half the campaign missions are timed. =\

My brother bought this for me for my birthday. Awesome. So, let's set up some matches, shall we? Who's who on battlenet? My email here is the same as my login there.

kingfish, sent you a connect

done and done

I have been playing some random FFA games for fun and have twice won because two guys each decided the other was the only threat, spent all their time countering just that one person, and then ignored me while I gathered a bajillion resources and made a magically refreshing army.

Nothing like having someone say "I scouted you and you were a noob!" as you stomp them

Finally made it into Silver League 1v1 after languishing forever in Bronze

Done with this...multiplayer is so frustrating

How so? The auto matching multiplayer seems to do a reasonable job, skills-wise.

what 'bout we just set up our own thing? there's maybe 5-10 of us spread across the planet, of course, but still...

i dig 1v1, 2v2 is pretty fun, but more than that i just get destroyed by two or more people rushing me (i play zerg, btw)

my b.net email is also the same as my email here, btw, if anyone wants to add me. i usually play with some irl friends and none of us are all that good, so its pretty fun.

i basically prefer this as a spectator sport (all the youtube channels of high level players) than playing myself. I get waaaay to stressed out playing 1v1.

hahah I went through a few days of watching nothing but high level replays on youtube

i know! they can be really entertaining, some of the casters are really good, too. best one's i know of are day9, who casted the recent MLG tourney in Dallas, and then Husky and HD who have youtube channels. day9 is the most prolific and does really great instructional casts, he seems to be able to articulate how to play the game better than anyone else i've seen.

i used to get too stressed out playing 1v1, but if you just get used to losing and just try to get the basics down you get over that. i also think sticking to one race to get the basics down is key.

I cannot stand husky and HD! tried watching a Day9 vid but mostly he just talks about build orders? haven't seen any livecasting yet.

I would so get this game but remembering my SC days I know I would just spend all my time memorizing build orders. :(

they are definitely all dorks, so you have to get over that. but day9 is actually not at all focused on specific build orders, he talks about strategy a lot, though. memorizing build orders isn't as important as just understanding the basic technique of how to be time/resource efficient. he doesn't seem to do just normal casts of replays that much, but when he casted the MLG Dallas tournament it was live and it was really fun to watch.

I'm back...can't stay away.

Day9 is my favorite caster. You can watch and d/l archives here: http://day9tv.blip.tv/posts?view=archive&nsfw=dc

Recently been going 3-4 rax with stim, combat shields, concussive shells, single factory and port. Seems pretty effective. Ebay for quick upgrades and to enable PF on expansions.

Uh, is it just me or does this day9 guy spend 2/3 of his video talking into the camera instead of showing gameplay? Maybe I just picked the wrong videos?

most of his videos are set up like a lecturer talking to you about how to play SC2, so yeah, a lot of it is just his face while he talks to you. from what i've seen at least half of it is him talking over gameplay, though.

As expressive as he is, and as great as his points are, his camera presence does not convince me that this technique is one he has mastered.

lol

hahah I went through a few days of watching nothing but high level replays on youtube

i am never going to play this game, but have watched several hours of high level replays. what the hell is wrong with me??

It's a pro sport in uh, korea, y'know. I'm kind of amused by how much this stuff resembles sports call-in shows and fan analysis.

have the koreans taken to this one as much as they did with the original?

I think they're still doing Brood War tournaments constantly, but yeah, the adoption rate is definitely fairly high.

man I am glad I didn't get this game, I don't need to renew yet another addiction to a Blizzard franchise

HD really annoys me because of the constant malapropisms and whatever it is you call it when people mix up two different cliches.

Husky is kinda endearing in a nerdy way, but that mute button is handy too.

yeah, that is kind of annoying, i find it pretty easy to forgive, though. i don't really know of any other good casters. there are two guys that cast Korean tournaments that are okay, Artosis and Tasteless, one of them is Day9's brother iirc.

I read a thing about the pro circuit in Korea not taking to SC2 because theyre fighting tooth and nail with Blizzard over rights issues and whatnot. So everything thats televised is still sc1.

They're also having issues where Blizzard is trying to shut down some of those broadcasts since they're unlicensed. It's kind of a clusterfuck.

finally got into this game after months of not being able to cos of work. completed the single player last night and started doing some multiplayer today. jesus christ it's stressful my heart feels like it's about to explode.

That's why I play!

you totally need to slam a 4loko before your next match

whenever i'm drunk i always wanna play cause i feel like i can kick tons of ass but that is never what happens

have played while loko btw, it gets cuh-rayzyyy

anyone keeping up with GSL? LiquidJinro playing in the semi-finals in an hour. so exciting to see a westerner getting so far. i've really grown to like Artosis and Tasteless as casters, they're good dudes. you can watch it as gomtv.net... if you pay twenty bucks :/

on gomtv.net*

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/for-the-swarm-inside-the-world-of-professional-starcraft-players.ars/1

cool article. i saw the Boxer vs Rain match he talks about...it was well over an hour long i think.

anyone else still playing this? i've worked my way up from bronze to diamond and i play teams pretty regularly with friends while on skype, fun times. its easily the most difficult and gratifying game i've ever played--referring to multiplayer, btw, i never played the campaign.

i saw that Boxer-Rain match, too, pretty crazy