That's crap. Blizz has become almost predatory of late and this latest move to split up SCIII is straight from the George Lucas playbook.

Beloved IP? Check.

Huge fanbase? Check.

No qualms about screwing over customers? Check.

I will not pay $60 per xpac for a game that is universally understood as the same fucking thing, but with a facelift.

I will most certainly purchase the Terran pack, but I will just as certainly pirate the other two.

That's the spirit Wade!

lullz

In the spirit of Cpt. Wade Blackbeard, how long do you think it will take for SCII to get pirated?

Bets please.

I say a week to two weeks after street. WHAT SAY YOU?!

I got a chance to talk to SC2 staff at Blizzcon (including Bob Colayco), and people really need to get over their tendency to jump to conclusions.

Nobody's said each xpack is going to cost 60 bucks - there's no pricing scheme set in stone, and from what I heard straight from the mouth of the game's lead designer is that they're going to price the xpacks at xpack prices. Furthermore the Zerg and Protoss chapters aren't going to be "facelifts" - they'll have distinct gameplay angles different from the Terran chapters...

I've played the origional. I've played SCII at PAX.

It's a facelift.

And for the record, just because you met with one of the dev's doesn't imbue them with saintly qualities. Wankers are still wankers, even if you shook their hand. Which could lead to health issues.

Easy there Justin.

I'm not saying the dudes were saints - I'm saying that there's a difference between what you hear from that guy on whatever forum and what you hear from the person who's actually working on the game. And nobody who actually knows what the games will be priced has said that they'll cost. That's all I'm saying.

That being said I'm not saying all game developers are exactly candid - but these folks to me came off as pretty genuine and not all that wanker-like. The implication that I got was that they won't be charging you 60 bux per title.

And I've played SC2. It's not a facelift. It's the same core game with some genuine significant tweaks (especially in the campaign), and it's still pretty fun. I didn't get your original meaning right, though - I thought you were talking about the expansions being rehashes of each other.

I also played it at PAX and I must agree. It's starcraft with better graphics and new units. Which is to say, Its a great sequel to a great game, as far as my limited (15 minutes) play is concerned. I guess I'll have to see how they're pricing it, but 50-60 for all three is the most I will pay. I love you blizzard, but I've already given you hundreds of my dollars (along with millions of other people) and I really feel that making SCII cost more than it would if it were a single package seems silly.

Before I start, heres my premise: "Starcraft is a complete game when 3 races are represented and playable to the same extent in multiplayer AND singleplayer"

SCII therefore is NOT a standalone game. They've used this word " standalone" to trick us in thinking that we're getting a complete game.
Although its milking, but personally thats not why I'm pissed; I don't have problem with $. (I'll explain later why it ABSOLUTELY IS milking later...)
More importantly, if you consider my premise above, I'm pissed because I won't be able to EXPERIENCE STARCRAFT. PERIOD. I'm simply against the idea of waiting for 2nd and 3rd campaign to come out.
They said they've "always" thought of having expansions to SC2. I smell bullshit. I think they just came up with that sentence when preparing for this announcement. 2nd and 3rd so called "expansions" are really pieces of ONE puzzle. Broodwar WAS an expansion. If it was never announced to be released, if it never existed, no one would be complaining because we won't be waiting for something;
Now, however, we WILL be waiting for the 2nd and 3rd part because ONLY THEN will we have experiences STARCRAFT.
Now the milking part: some say "oh its not milking! multiplayer will feature all 3 races!" Actually, they said that 2nd and 3rd releases will have some changes (new units etc) to the multiplayer and people with the first release WON'T be able to play with people with 2nd release. Now....they know that everyone will be like "but but...I dont wanna sit around and play with losers! I wanna play the new multiplayer!!" So therefore, its not just the campaigns, it's the multiplayer aspect that they'll use to get $$.

Bottom line: Release everything at once, no matter how long it takes. For me personally, it's not the $$ that bothers me, it's the insult to the fans by suggesting that the first 2nd and 3rd release is "standalone" when its REALLY 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3.

And just for the fun of, and because I'm pissed, I hope those torrent guys get busy when 2nd and 3rd come out. Actually, since I don't play multiplayer, i'll probably be downloading the first too, and encouraging others to do so as well.

I'm totally with James' points here.

When I think StarCraft I think all three races on the front cover. I see the ups and the downs of what Blizzard is doing here, but that's my main gripe with the trilogy - that, no matter how many missions you cram into a single package, it's not really "Starcraft" unless you have all three races - that dynamic is really essential to what the game means.