[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by ooowowizstev

I was just playing sc2 beta today. Pretty cool, just gotta get use to it.

Friend me up, let's play some, sometime.

[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by matt_335Ci

what are the Apple system reqs for the beta?

Log in here, and upload your system specs. If your system qualifies, you may be selected for beta opt-in.

I've already opt-in for Diablo III. Can't wait!

[mrgoochio]

if you've stopped playing, i would kill to play the beta online :T sharing is caring you know

[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

if you've stopped playing, i would kill to play the beta online :T sharing is caring you know

You're scaring me there a bit, buddy...

I'm not playing it all the time...on and off, but not racking up the number of games I see other players have played already.

The really hard thing to do is switch from Warcraft 3 to Starcraft 2, or Starcraft 2 to Warcraft 3. One is massing units (with some focus fire and move-non-attack commands), the other is really micro'ing few units and focusing fire.

In Warcraft 3 you're either worried about casters and then anti-casters, and then tier 3.
In Starcraft 2 you're thinking about what tier your enemy has reached, and if you'll need static defense yet (if so, where?).

In Warcraft 3, you may need an expansion.
In Starcraft 2, an expansion is provided for you...very near to your initial base.

In Warcraft 3, you have a unit cap before upkeep.
In Starcraft 2, you'll want as many units, as quickly as possible. There's golden colored mineral fields that count as double.

Warcraft 3 has heroes which can compliment, or make-up for, weaknesses in your units: relying on ranged units and lacking a meat shield? Get a strength based hero to make up a tank. Relying on mana-units but don't want to run out? Get an Arch Mage with Brilliance Aura. This kind of restricts you to only going up 1 of 3 possible branches of a races' tech tree.
Starcraft 2 has no heroes, but resources are more abundant and you have no upkeep. You can go crazy on the tech tree, and get all kinds of units.

All Warcraft 3 races have some kind of inherrent static defense, Orc Burrows, Human Militia, Night Elf Ancients, and Undead Blight (regeneration).
Starcraft 2 races do not have inherrent static defenses. You'll have to choose to build them at the expense of resources and slowing tech/mass units.

Warcraft 3 is a little more forgiving if you don't follow a pro's build order.
Starcraft 2 has a lot of set build orders that if you don't follow, you're susceptible to a rush.

Warcraft 3 has set paper-rock-scissors in what race beats what in 1vs1 (can obviously be made up for with skill, but mostly, Orc > UD, NE > HU, etc.), and always the same kinds of units: Human will go sorcs and rifles vs orc, NE will go Bears vs HU.
Since Starcraft 2 allows you to go crazy on the tech tree, it's not for sure what units will go vs what on a set race match up. However, as it stands, the Zealot rush is hard to stand against.

Warcraft 3 buildings are "fortified" and take less damage from all attacks except siege type.
Starcraft 2 buildings seem to get demolished too easily. Take about 16 non-upgraded Hydralisks, and focus fire on a Terran Command Center. It's destroyed in 2 volleys.

[Mega Man]

After logging in today, it seems that the second wave of testers has just joined the mix.

[Makushr1]

Let me ask you a question, Mega Man. If you're a beta tester, do you get the game for free once it comes out?

What exactly does a beta tester do? Just play the game and if there are any glitches, let them know? Other than getting to play it sooner than the rest of the world, is there any other reason to be a tester, if not, why not just wait till the finished product comes out?

[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by Makushr1

Let me ask you a question, Mega Man. If you're a beta tester, do you get the game for free once it comes out?

Previously, games I had tested ended up giving me a copy of the game for free at the end of the test. Sometimes, your name appears in the credits as a tester as well. It's hard to say with this game...the last game I was a beta tester for from Blizzard was WoW. I got it for "free" and several months of free subscription. I say, "free" because you can download it for free anyway. Other than WoW, this is the only other game I've been a beta tester for Blizzard. Sounds like Blizzard has no desire to give testers the game for free (obviously it would cut into their profits).

Originally Posted by Makushr1

What exactly does a beta tester do? Just play the game and if there are any glitches, let them know?

Pretty much play the game and test things out. This test is very unstructrued compared to other tests I've been part of. Other tests had asked us to specifically try things to get the game to glitch. Thus far, the only glitch I've personally found and reported is Protoss Stalkers being able to Blink where they shouldn't be able to by having them mass blink to the same location. If the game can't find a location to place one, it may place it somewhere it shouldn't have been able to reach.

This test however, doesn't have frequent questions, or surveys. They just had their first survey recently, and it was basically asking which race you liked, didn't like, which you felt was over/under powered. Nothing specific though: why is th is race overpowered/underpowered?

Originally Posted by Makushr1

Other than getting to play it sooner than the rest of the world, is there any other reason to be a tester, if not, why not just wait till the finished product comes out?

As said before, sometimes you're given a copy of the game in advance, and your name goes in the credits as a tester. You also get some say in how the finished product comes out. Changes made to units, buildings, balacing, etc. An interesting approach to this game so far has been that rather than spending a lot of time balancing the units of each race, they're modifying the maps to balance out game play. A few units/building build speeds have been modified, but most drastically changed were the maps.

The maps have also been named to reflect these changes, for example: Burning Sands (Novice) and Burning Sands v1, v2, v3. There've been 3 changes to the Burning Sands map, hence v1, v2, v3. The Novice map has a destructible barrier into your base. This makes you safe from being rushed.

[Makushr1]

Any early signup for Diablo 3 beta tester ? I'm waiting for SC2 to come out before I build my pc, but I'll have the pc by the time D3 comes.

[Mega Man]

I'm eagerly awaiting Diablo 3. I got to play the first stage at BlizzCon 2008 with 3 of my friends(they had multiplayer set up for four players at a time). The game is looking really good. In the stage I was playing, you were escaping from this crumbling building. In the background, there was occasionally a really large monster that was knocking stuff over, which would affect you: walls would crumble, or pillars would fall over to where you were. I was told by my friend who works for Blizzard and got me into BlizzCon 2008 that you would be fighting that monster later in the game.

There were some changes to Diablo 3 from Diablo 2 that might take some getting used to, or just may have been for this point during its development. At BlizzCon'08, you weren't allocating points into your stats at level up, but you were choosing a point into your skills at level up. Maybe this was to make classes more specific (no more tanking Sorcs, or Blessed Hammer Pallys)? It may have also just been at this point in development they hadn't set up points/levels yet.

In any case, Diablo 3 looks awesome, and played really well. They only had 3 playable classes, Wizard, Witch Doctor, and Barbarian at that time. I understand they've made Monk since then. I'm looking forward to this game much more than SC2.

[Prissy]

damn 2nd wave started? I have to log in to battle.net to see then... since i didn't get an email... good luck to me! I need a key baddd! but I just got FF13 yesterday!! so... I guess i am all good...

SC was a fun game, i used to play it sooooo much (low $ maps)gosu!

[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by Prissy

SC was a fun game, i used to play it sooooo much (low $ maps)gosu!

+1

Unfortunately, as it stands atm, all the SC2 maps are high $ maps, starting with 2 Vespene Gas Geysers. Each expo, and there's always one right next to your initial base, has about 3/4 mineral fields as your starting one, and also 2 gas geysers. A few maps have your nearest expo with 100% the same number of mineral fields, and 2 gas geysers. Only expos further away have fewer mineral fields.

There's also some "gold/orange" colored fields which count as double collection rate.

So, all the games are pretty much rush, rush, rush, and mass, mass, mass while you tech. Many games are won/lost because of backdoors, drop ships, or Void Rays.

Void Rays are Protoss Units that gain attack power as they stay focused on a unit/building.

[Mega Man]

TERRAN
Engineering Bay
Infantry Armor: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.
Infantry Weapons: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.
Armory
Vehicle Plating: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.
Vehicle Weapons: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.
Ship Plating: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.
Ship Weapons: The time required for each upgrade has been reduced by 30 seconds, decreasing each upgrade time from 190/220/250 seconds to 160/190/220 seconds.


PROTOSS
Zealot
The maximum shield capacity of this unit has been decreased from 60 to 50.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where the Infestor's Neural Parasite ability could cause Reapers to lose the ability to move.
Fixed an issue that could use an incorrect HDR format on some ATI cards.
Fixed a crash that could happen on some ATI cards.

[Mega Man]

Got into Platinum League today...just do the same broke thing every game and u win!

[Mega Man]

I'm Rank 17 in Platinum League...not too shabby, eh?

[Mega Man]

*gasp!* There's already a map hack that players are using for Starcraft 2. I can't believe it...

...that said, I hope Blizzard really steps up on their hack prevention. I for one really hope that they do what Steam/VAC did for most of their first person shooters: Cheating results in a Permanent Ban!

Starcraft 2, as it stands now only allows you to have one account. This is good/bad. It's good because a good player can't abuse the ladder with multiple accounts, just to win easy matches and feel good. It's bad because if you're pro with say Terran, but are kind of bored and want to learn to usee Zerg, you'll be playing high level players with a race you don't really know.

Once again, it's good because it won't let players abuse the Arranged Match Making System as easily (I guess they could delete their account and make a new one), but it's bad because what if you have a friend over who wants to try it. He's going to be playing on your account.

[burberry]

ah it gets more and more complicated...

[Mega Man]

It's not complicated at all for the moment. Each race has a broken strategy that everyone follows to a T. The only changes/tweaks made to the strategies are for which races you are playing against. For example, although rushing with mass Zealots usually works for Protoss vs Protoss, or vs Zerg, it doesn't work vs Terran if they wall themselves in.

If you are playing as Protoss,you can still rush the walled in base with Zealots, but you will need a couple of Sentries. Sentries make that shield increasing your units resistance to ranged damage. It makes your Zealots beefy enough to break the Terran wall and kill their Marines.

[burberry]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

It's not complicated at all for the moment. Each race has a broken strategy that everyone follows to a T. The only changes/tweaks made to the strategies are for which races you are playing against. For example, although rushing with mass Zealots usually works for Protoss vs Protoss, or vs Zerg, it doesn't work vs Terran if they wall themselves in.

If you are playing as Protoss,you can still rush the walled in base with Zealots, but you will need a couple of Sentries. Sentries make that shield increasing your units resistance to ranged damage. It makes your Zealots beefy enough to break the Terran wall and kill their Marines.

ah i see. well, i have no idea. lol and hearing what my cousin has told me so far, i was like "huh?! that doesn't sound anything like the original SC & broodwar".

thanks for the extra info. i still can't wait.

[mrgoochio]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

*gasp!* There's already a map hack that players are using for Starcraft 2. I can't believe it...

...that said, I hope Blizzard really steps up on their hack prevention. I for one really hope that they do what Steam/VAC did for most of their first person shooters: Cheating results in a Permanent Ban!

Starcraft 2, as it stands now only allows you to have one account. This is good/bad. It's good because a good player can't abuse the ladder with multiple accounts, just to win easy matches and feel good. It's bad because if you're pro with say Terran, but are kind of bored and want to learn to usee Zerg, you'll be playing high level players with a race you don't really know.

Once again, it's good because it won't let players abuse the Arranged Match Making System as easily (I guess they could delete their account and make a new one), but it's bad because what if you have a friend over who wants to try it. He's going to be playing on your account.

except i hope they step up and continue to update their anti cheat software.. FPS's are filled with cheaters even with VAC. leagues all require 3rd party AC clients (and even then there are cheaters =/)

they don't have different ratings for different race selections?

play unranked custom melee game. although this may not be an option in beta, it should be implemented by the time sc2 goes live

[burberry]

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

except i hope they step up and continue to update their anti cheat software.. FPS's are filled with cheaters even with VAC. leagues all require 3rd party AC clients (and even then there are cheaters =/)

they don't have different ratings for different race selections?

play unranked custom melee game. although this may not be an option in beta, it should be implemented by the time sc2 goes live

should be fine, since they already have a way for anti-third party programs on WC3 (i believe)

[Mega Man]

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

they don't have different ratings for different race selections?

No, it's not like Warcraft 3. I'll post up a screen shot of what "Your Profile" looks like now. I don't have to be at work today until 5pm! w00t! I just woke up! Haha!

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

play unranked custom melee game. although this may not be an option in beta, it should be implemented by the time sc2 goes live

Some people are doing this already...but it's usually just griefers. "Oh man, I've lost so many games in a row...this game sucks...everyone just does...blah blah...I never even get to tier 3..." I have made some friends on BNET 2.0, and we play some custom games when our pool is low (points awarded when you win).

Originally Posted by burberry

should be fine, since they already have a way for anti-third party programs on WC3 (i believe)

Yeah, it's when a player sends a replay to Blizzard and complains that a hack was used. It's not a very effiecient system.

[Mega Man]

This is "Your Profile." It's also what someone else's profile looks like if you were to open it up and look at it.

The distorted portion is my "real name." It's whatever name you have on file with Blizzard: your WoW account, etc. It won't be displayed when looking up someone else's name, but it will be displayed to anyone who you have listed as a "Real Friend." Real Friends can chat with eachother intergame: you can be playing Starcraft 2, they can be playing Warcraft 3, or WoW and you can chat. The downside is they get your "real name."
Note the id has a name.name now. I really don't understand why they did this: their reasoning was so that say the name John was really popular. Now you can be John, you just have to have another name after it. So there could be John.x, John.y, John.z, etc. Really, it just makes it a pain in the @$$ to add friends, since the .xxxx part isn't shown. You have to ask. You can also add by right clicking and then Add Friend, but it can only be done after a game by right clicking their name on the score tally screen.

This is my highest ranked league: 2vs2 Platinum Arranged Team. The losses can mostly be attributed to me, since I play Random most of the time (beta after all). Then we developed a strategy and haven't really lost since.

The Leagues are (in order) Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze. I've never dipped into Bronze, but from what I understand, Bronze is composed of people completely new to Starcraft. I've played against a Bronze Leaguer (when I was getting "placed"), and sure enough, he didn't even build any other SCV's.
Placement matches are your first 10 matches of any kind (1v1, 2v2, FFA, etc). They do count towards your record, but you aren't in a league, so you'll randomly be placed against Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. This helps you get placed.
The leagues seem to work better than the AMM on Warcraft 3, and will probably result in less ladder abuse.

This is my "friends" rankings.

This is the 2vs2 Arranged Team Panel. Obviously, some of my friends haven't played 2vs2 Arranged yet, or aren't yet placed.

In all of the pictures, the bottom right shows how many friends you have online. If you click it, a pane pops up with their names. It also displays your real name, and you have the option of broadcasting it to all your "real friends."

Showing how much "rested" makes a difference. It's like WoW XP. If you're rested, you gain extra points on victory and lose less when you lose.

Note my ranking, total games played, and my win/loss record compared to other players in this bracket. "Rested" status changes for each type of game, so 2vs2 and 1vs1 are different. You can be, "rested" 1vs1, but not 2vs2 if you've been playing a lot of 2vs2.

The little icons next to people's names are the race they play as (mostly). The Sergeant Insignia design being Terran, the Sprial with the spines is Zerg, and the Flame-looking icon being Protoss. Dice is Random.