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Producer striving to make Starcraft II playable by his mother

7:29 PM on 11.03.2008, Brad Nicholson 17 comments

Producer striving to make Starcraft II playable by his mother photo
     Blizzard

When we think of StarCraft’s player composition we imagine highly efficient gamers anxiously pounding on the mouse, navigating hot keys like a NASA pilot preparing for liftoff, sweating as he wades the initial Zerg rush from an opponent. We don’t think about our mothers or the casual audience’s inability to grasp StarCraft’s various components. One Blizzard producer is doing just that, and his goal is to not only create a highly complex RTS, but to break it down to where his mother can pick it up and play.

In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, producer Chris Sigaty revealed his goal to get his mother into StarCraft. From the interview:

It’s definitely a very challenging tight rope walk. We’ve trying to make sure that it’s perfectly balanced for e-sport, but look — I’m going to try to get my mom to play this game. I mean, I know she can’t [micromanage] at the level that these pro gamers can, so we’re actually experimenting back in the opposite direction… so that even the layman can come in and get a grasp of these cool things in the game.
That is a very lofty goal, and honestly, anything Blizzard can do to make a layman like myself (or my mother to some degree) have the slightest chance of success within StarCraft II is more than welcome. I have high hopes for the next three titles, but also the realization that I’m going to suck at it – especially competitively.

 

[via 1UP]


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lic05's Avatar
lic05 at 11/03/2008 19:54
@ n0brein

I think they prefer to be called koreans.
rhk's Avatar
rhk at 11/03/2008 20:06
@ lic05

Amazing O_O
lic05's Avatar
lic05 at 11/03/2008 20:08
those guys are deadly in every game they play and you know it
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 11/03/2008 20:16
Maybe we can play against each other, Brad. I'll suck alongside you.
MotoRobo's Avatar
MotoRobo at 11/03/2008 21:24
I can't dis/favor this design w/out specifics. How is this goal being reached? What is in the game to allow n00bs to play?
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 11/03/2008 21:54
Is his mother South Korean, by any chance?
benjaxez's Avatar
benjaxez at 11/03/2008 21:56
Starcraft was already simple enough, you just had to put a fair bit of time into training, of course you can't be as good as the 'koreans' that you mention, but that's a whole different story as they strive and train constantly everyday. I guess me being an RTS lover, I'm scared that making things more simple will kill the game for people like me who want something that is complex. >_<"
ajaxender's Avatar
ajaxender at 11/03/2008 22:40
While this is Blizzard talking, im still not sure about this. I think RTS games are getting dumbed down enough as it is, with a few exceptions (stuff like Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander). I mean, come on, these games are pretty simple at the lowest level - build stuff, send it to fight stuff, build more stuff. It only takes a good, not-totally-confusing interface to allow new people to play well.

Accessibility != Simplicity. I really hope Blizzard can pull this off.
Beryl 96's Avatar
Beryl 96 at 11/04/2008 02:10
I'm not too worried, a big part of SCI's success was that it was pretty simple, from what I've seen in the early videos, they seemed to have complicate it a bit, not much, but a bit; they probably realized this and went back to make sure they're keeping things somewhat easy. Blizzion(my personal name for activision blizzard) has always put out top quality stuff, even if I don't like some of it(damn you Warcraft) its still extremely well made after all there is a reason as to why they're the best.

P.S. Bring back Stukov!!!
Kaza's Avatar
Kaza at 11/04/2008 02:15
To be honest, getting zerged by your mother would be a real shame
exodus1925's Avatar
exodus1925 at 11/04/2008 05:34
Your mother plays games... literally. On a more serious note I simply cannot imagine casual gamers actually caring about Starcraft 2, let alone being able to play it.
boatorious's Avatar
boatorious at 11/04/2008 05:52
I hope they do something to make multiplayer more noob-friendly. I play shooters online all the time and I'm fine with other people. I love PvP in MMORPG's. But I'm terrified of RTS multiplayer.

It usually goes something like this : I play the single-player campaign, play a bunch of multiplayer against my brother, and then log on to battle.net and am murdered for ten matches in a row by other "level 1" players, and have no idea what I did wrong.
Narishma's Avatar
Narishma at 11/04/2008 06:19
boatorious: In that case you should look at the replays to see what you did wrong, or what your opponent did right.
Char Aznable's Avatar
Char Aznable at 11/04/2008 08:32
@boatorious

First off, McGuirk rules.

I usually stick to the campaign for just that reason. There is also a whole world of "Use Map Settings" games in Starcraft, where the scenarios are totally different and often require teamwork against a computer or something.

I feel far more comfortable playing those types of games, because I just cannot compete with some of the lunatics on b.net.
nademagnet's Avatar
nademagnet at 11/04/2008 13:27
It will be worth it just to hear dear old mom bitch about a Zerg Rush and how she requires more Vespin Gas...
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