Crafting a Sequel for Everyone: The Frank Pearce Interview

How does Blizzard plan to introduce new StarCraft players to the series, while keeping its hardcore fanbase happy?
9/8/2008 5:59 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 4

Crispy Gamer: Are there plans for a training mode and tutorials to bring new people into the fold?

Pearce: Yes, we're definitely talking about tutorials and whatnot. If we need a lot of tutorials, however, then we really haven't made the game accessible.

 

Bob Colayco: We're doing a couple more things in that regard. What a lot of players run into is that they get Zerg-rushed in five minutes online, or whatever. So, teaching people how to build more quickly, using special challenge missions. Build five Marines in four minutes; maybe that will help players get going.

Pearce: The single-player campaign plays a role as an introduction to the experience as well. You're learning about the multiplayer gaming experience through the single-player mode, and in some ways you're not even aware of it because you're immersed in the story that's being told.

Crispy Gamer: I've been playing the Lich King beta for a few weeks now, and I like the introduction of the Achievements system. Are you planning on bringing Achievements across all titles, including this one?

Pearce: Yes, it's definitely something really cool with Wrath of the Lich King, and it's something that we've talked about for StarCraft II, but we haven't made any final decisions on it. It would be really cool, though.

Crispy Gamer: Do you think Achievements are necessary in general for games?

Pearce: I don't think it's a necessary feature. It sort of bridges the gap between the gaming experience and the social networking experience. From that perspective it's kind of cool, and a little bit necessary -- but it's not critical.

Crispy Gamer: Real-time strategy games are, in some ways, turning around on the console. StarCraft mostly worked on the N64, for what it was. What do you think about bringing this to consoles?

Pearce: We don't have any plans to bring StarCraft to the consoles; we're developing it specifically for the PC. I'm sure it's a topic that's going to come up periodically, but there are no plans to do it right now.

Crispy Gamer: You guys are planning on supporting DirectX 10, but what do you think about the DirectX 11 stuff that's been floating around?

Pearce: Yes, we'll support DX 10 -- definitely. That's pretty far out. I haven't had a chance to look at any of the specifics for DX 11. That's more along the lines of what we have our graphics programmers on staff to deal with.

Crispy Gamer: How has StarCraft II been received by the hardcore, and are you bringing in some of the hardcore players from Korea to beta test the game and get feedback?

Pearce: Yes, definitely. We have hosted a number of StarCraft or Warcraft III-focused events over the last six months, but also used those opportunities for PR and media for StarCraft II. We actually had some pro players play StarCraft II, and they really seemed to enjoy it. Obviously they had feedback for us, but they all seemed to think that the game was coming along really well and was fun to play.