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Kickstarter: Starcraft Universe

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dmr87

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What is Starcraft Universe?
StarCraft Universe tells a story set in an alternate reality, where the ending of StarCraft II:Wings of Liberty has a grim conclusion for Kerrigan. Without the Queen of Blades to stop the hybrid’s assault, the protoss are overwhelmed and defeated. In this reality, what would the survivors of these shattered worlds do? StarCraft Universe tells this story.

StarCraft Universe (SCU) is a game mod (Note: it is not a standalone game) for StarCraft II. Originally named World of StarCraft, SCU focuses on telling an epic story and intense combat action, as well as multi-player raiding experiences. StarCraft Universe will be released as a series of custom games published through Battle.net.

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What is the objective of this game?
The objective of this game is to experience the universe of Starcraft from a third person view and master challenges and missions. The focus of the game is to have a team of players/friends creating/customizing their own hero character which they use to battle together through enemy forces and powerful bosses.

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How do you play this game?
Players already familiar with the MMO genre of gaming will pick up StarCraft Universe quickly, as the core game-play elements are very similar. For those who are not familiar with MMOs, we've developed an extensive user guide for players new to the game!

- You must have an internet connection and a gaming PC/Laptop.
- You must have a Battle.net Account. A Battle.net Account is the gaming membership required to play StarCraft II. You can sign-up at Battle.Net by clicking on "Create An Account". Sign-up is FREE and requires a valid e-mail address.
- If you don't own StarCraft II, you will need to download a FREE copy of the StarCraft II: Starter Edition here. Since the file size is very big, downloading may be paused and resumed at your own discretion.
- Downloading the project through the Arcade and start playing!

We must emphasize that all acts and expansions of SCU will be completely FREE to play through the StarCraft II: Starter Edition. You don't need to buy StarCraft II to play!

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Is Blizzard Entertainment affiliated with the production of this project?
While Blizzard is not directly affiliated with this project's production, we do communicate with them to submit bug reports and make technical requests. They have given their blessing/permission for us to launch this Kickstarter, and they are supporting our efforts by featuring SCU as an Arcade Highlight.

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Not terribly surprising that Blizz would be behind this given that this is a mod for SC2, and you need to own StarCraft II (and maybe its expansion? I didn't look) to play it.

EDIT: Oh, you can play via the free Starter Edition. Pretty cool. Still a good thing for Blizz, though.
 
Miker said:
Not terribly surprising that Blizz would be behind this given that this is a mod for SC2, and you need to own StarCraft II (and maybe its expansion? I didn't look) to play it.
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Looks like you just need a battle.net account.

- If you don't own StarCraft II, you will need to download a FREE copy of the StarCraft II: Starter Edition here. Since the file size is very big, downloading may be paused and resumed at your own discretion.
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BTW, just wanted to be Captain Obvious in saying that this means Blizzard decided to never actually make an official SC MMO of their own.
 
Grief.exe said:
Looks like you just need a battle.net account.
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Yeah. I meant that it's not very surprising given that you need to enter into Blizz's ecosystem to play it. It's like Valve allowing a kickstarted Half Life 2 fan campaign onto Steam or something.
 
I'd be interested to know if Blizzard actually gave their blessing on this, or if some dude working at the customer service line responded to an email with "yeah sure whatever".
I won't be entirely surprised if they get a C&D.
 
Kyari said:
I'd be interested to know if Blizzard actually gave their blessing on this, or if some dude working at the customer service line responded to an email with "yeah sure whatever".
I won't be entirely surprised if they get a C&D.
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It's being featured in the SC2 arcade in-game.
 
Nevermind, turns out it was the beta that got released a few months ago. And Blizzard gave their blessing back then, they definitely didn't have an intern tell them they could do it and launched the Kickstarter.
 
Darkmakaimura said:
BTW, just wanted to be Captain Obvious in saying that this means Blizzard decided to never actually make an official SC MMO of their own.
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Or they are allowing this to test the waters to see how many people are actually interested in a Starcraft MMO.

It's a win/win. They get good publicity by allowing this and get to see just how much people actually want a Starcraft mmo.
 
Holy fuck a $1,000,000 for a mod?!?!?!
EDIT: Why the hell are they using the starcraft 2 engine for a 3rd person mmo?
 
Kyari said:
I'd be interested to know if Blizzard actually gave their blessing on this, or if some dude working at the customer service line responded to an email with "yeah sure whatever".
I won't be entirely surprised if they get a C&D.
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This project was previously known as World of Starcraft. Blizzard already C&D'd it once, thinking that it was someone making a ripoff game using their IP. When they realized it was all done using the editor, they actually contacted the guy and invited him to visit Blizzard's offices. So yes, I think that they are actually totally cool with this. It's a really interesting story.
 
Damn this sounds awesome, it looks like he's got a lot of design and stuff done already. I hope this KS takes off. Is $8000 decent for a couple days or a bad sign?
 
I had a friend tell me one that he would quit his entire life if a StarCraft version of world of Warcraft ever came out.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised at the slightly tepid response this seems to be getting!
 
duckroll said:
This project was previously known as World of Starcraft. Blizzard already C&D'd it once, thinking that it was someone making a ripoff game using their IP. When they realized it was all done using the editor, they actually contacted the guy and invited him to visit Blizzard's offices. So yes, I think that they are actually totally cool with this. It's a really interesting story.
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They may be cool with their trademark being used in a free map for Starcraft 2 but the moment they start taking money for it, it becomes a whole new ball game. I expect this to go the same way as that FF7 Kickstarter. If they really did have permission from Blizzard to do this Kickstarter then you would think they would put up more evidence of it rather than a single line saying "we asked them and they said yes, just trust us on this".
 
Xanathus said:
They may be cool with their trademark being used in a free map for Starcraft 2 but the moment they start taking money for it, it becomes a whole new ball game. I expect this to go the same way as that FF7 Kickstarter. If they really did have permission from Blizzard to do this Kickstarter then you would think they would put up more evidence of it rather than a single line saying "we asked them and they said yes, just trust us on this".
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Yeah, just like these guys right?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waysidecreations/fallout-nuka-break-season-2-0
 
Xanathus said:
Different companies treat their IP differently, I could just as easily point out to dozens of Kickstarters that used another companies' IP and got shut down instead of being supported.
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Yes, and I would point out that this guy has actually been in contact with Blizzard development staff, just like the Nuka Break guys were in contact with Bethesda. Not community managers, not "they didn't answer my emails so it should be okay". There's a known relationship, so there's less reason to suspect there's anything unusual here.

Keep in mind that no one is paying for the mod here, it's free and will always be free, and you need Starcraft II and Battle.net to play it. He's basically asking for donations to finish it up.
 
Xanathus said:
They may be cool with their trademark being used in a free map for Starcraft 2 but the moment they start taking money for it, it becomes a whole new ball game. I expect this to go the same way as that FF7 Kickstarter. If they really did have permission from Blizzard to do this Kickstarter then you would think they would put up more evidence of it rather than a single line saying "we asked them and they said yes, just trust us on this".
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You realize that Blizzard is currently developing an online store that will help mod-makers sell or otherwise monetize the mods they write?
 
duckroll said:
Yes, and I would point out that this guy has actually been in contact with Blizzard development staff, just like the Nuka Break guys were in contact with Bethesda. Not community managers, not "they didn't answer my emails so it should be okay". There's a known relationship, so there's less reason to suspect there's anything unusual here.

Keep in mind that no one is paying for the mod here, it's free and will always be free, and you need Starcraft II and Battle.net to play it. He's basically asking for donations to finish it up.
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I'm aware that they had a known relationship and were given permission to use the Starcraft trademark prior to this Kickstarter because I've heard about this about a year+ ago, but what I'm wondering is whether or not they actually received permission to run the Kickstarter. You don't think it's odd that they aren't providing some sort of proof that they actually have the legal OK from Blizzard's legal department for doing this? Though to be honest I'm having a tough time thinking up what proof they could provide that isn't a straight up legal document. Also even if they had the blessing from the dev team, that's irrelevant compared to getting blessing from the higher ups in Blizz.
 
Xanathus said:
I'm aware that they had a known relationship and were given permission to use the Starcraft trademark prior to this Kickstarter because I've heard about this about a year+ ago, but what I'm wondering is whether or not they actually received permission to run the Kickstarter. You don't think it's odd that they aren't providing some sort of proof that they actually have the legal OK from Blizzard's legal department for doing this? Though to be honest I'm having a tough time thinking up what proof they could provide that isn't a straight up legal document. Also even if they had the blessing from the dev team, that's irrelevant compared to getting blessing from the higher ups in Blizz.
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Has the project been yanked from KS? No? Then that's basically the proof.
 
Xanathus said:
I'm aware that they had a known relationship and were given permission to use the Starcraft trademark prior to this Kickstarter because I've heard about this about a year+ ago, but what I'm wondering is whether or not they actually received permission to run the Kickstarter. You don't think it's odd that they aren't providing some sort of proof that they actually have the legal OK from Blizzard's legal department for doing this? Though to be honest I'm having a tough time thinking up what proof they could provide that isn't a straight up legal document. Also even if they had the blessing from the dev team, that's irrelevant compared to getting blessing from the higher ups in Blizz.
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If Blizzard is making a marketplace to let users sell user made Starcraft mods I don't see the issue.
 
The 500000 goal is kinda dumb. "Updated player models and animations"? Like "Yeah with 80000 we will do bad animations and with 500000 really good ones". Whatever. I guess you have to have some bullet points.


Cool that Blizzard is okay with this.
 
I applaud them for what they're doing, but I can't really say I'd actually want to play this. It looks very dark and hard to see. At least it'll be free and I might be able to support it when (or IF) it comes out. I'm not a WoW or a big Star Craft II player, so I'll sit this one out.
 
Doesn't look too bad, but I've never been a big StarCraft fan. I'll stick with WoW and wish them the best.
 
I've played a little bit of what they have already put up.

There's no doubt in my mind that these guys are putting some serious effort into this mod. I don't think I've seen a single other SC2 mod that could have possible required as many man-hours into it. But when I actually starting playing it was not... great. The SC2 engine is seriously just not built to be a third-person MMO, no matter how flexible the editor technically is.
 
Just woke up and read this... Wow. Talk about a no-brainer that I'll support this.
 
This thing is really struggling. I'm pretty surprised, I thought people would be on board for this.

I guess most SC players just want it to stick to being an RTS.
 
PetriP-TNT said:
The 500000 goal is kinda dumb. "Updated player models and animations"? Like "Yeah with 80000 we will do bad animations and with 500000 really good ones". Whatever. I guess you have to have some bullet points.
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Just a guess, but they're probably using the built-in SC2 models otherwise, since this is a mod.
 
I came here expecting that Blizzard's lawyers had already sent cease-and-desist letters. For one I'm shocked that they are ok with this.
 
Last day to kicstart. They just released a raid boss!

Still can't believe this hasn't taken off. >.> I thought people were hungry for a starcraft MMO.
 
I have no idea why this thing isn't getting funded. Starcraft is obvioulsy a multi-million dollar IP, and they get to use it pretty much for free.
 
GoofsterStud said:
Last day to kicstart. They just released a raid boss!

Still can't believe this hasn't taken off. >.> I thought people were hungry for a starcraft MMO.
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I think the general decline of SCII in terms of mindshare and player base (DAMN YOU MOBAS) has played a role. Everyone use to talk so much about wanting a StarCraft MMO when WoW was out and before SCII.

Blizzard kind of fucked up the lore with SCII, so that's understandable.

Still these guys are doing good job and their raid boss looks good.
 
It's probably mostly due to it being a mod.
No matter how flexible the engine is, this is eventually a mod for a RTS game.
I'm sure that a separate game would make much more money (and probably wouldn't ever get approved).
 
I had no idea StarCraft Universe is on Kickstarter now! :O Very cool of Blizzard to be ok with this.

Although I'm not really interested into this mod, I wish all the best for this project and that it gets funded.
 
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