Warcraft Blog : Clan oS - Old School

Diablo 3 - Week 2 gameplay stats

2012-05-29T21:51:00.002+08:00

As part of the announcement of the game design updates in the upcoming Diablo III patch, the D3 team released some interesting gameplay statistics, two weeks after the game's release.

Are you one of the 1.9% of players who have unlocked the Inferno difficulty? Or did your female hardcore character die in Act I Normal like 35% of the characters did?

In a long post about the upcoming changes to Diablo 3, Blizzard talked about the patch, the Inferno difficulty, the balancing of skills and the legendary items. They also really released some fun gameplay stats.

On average players have created 3 characters each
80% of characters are between levels 1 and 30
1.9% of characters have unlocked Inferno difficulty
54% of Hardcore players chose a female character
The majority of Hardcore deaths (35%) occur in Act I Normal
The most common level 60 build in the game is only used by 0.7% of level 60 characters of that class (not including Passive diversity) *This means that level 60 characters rarely use the same set of skills
The most used runes for each class at level 60 are:
- Barbarian
  Revenge: Revenge has a 15% chance to become active each time you are hit. Inflict 220% weapon damage to all nearby enemies. You heal 5.0% of your maximum Life for each enemy hit.
  Best Served Cold: After using Revenge, your Critical Hit Chance is increased by 10% for 12 seconds.
- Demon Hunter
  Smoke Screen: Vanish behind a wall of smoke, becoming momentarily invisible for 2 seconds.
  Lingering Fog: Increase the duration of the effect to 3 seconds.
- Wizard
  Diamond Skin: Transform your skin to diamond for 6 seconds, absorbing up to 10853 damage from incoming attacks.
  Mirror Skin: Reflects 50% of damage absorbed back at the attacker.
- Monk
  Serenity: You are enveloped in a protective shield that absorbs all incoming damage for 3 seconds and grants immunity to all control impairing effects.
  Peaceful Repose: When activated, Serenity heals you for 6202 - 7752 Life.
- Witch Doctor
  Poison Dart: Shoot a deadly Poison Dart that deals 100% weapon damage as Poison and an additional 40% weapon damage as Poison over 2 seconds.
  Numbing Dart: Toxins in the Poison Dart reduce the target's movement speed by 60% for 2 seconds.

I wish the D3 team revealed more of these stats for players to look at and compare their progress with. Anyway, I've summarized below the important points in that post:

patch 1.0.2 will come out next week to address service issues
patch 1.0.3 will contain the first game balance changes, outside of hotfixes
Player-versus-player (PVP) will come out in patch 1.1. Before that, a Public Test Realm (PTR)will be opened for players to test the PVP arena first.
the monk's Mantra of Conviction - Overawe skill is "too good" for many players but the D3 team says it's ok
D3 team implies that Inferno is too hard. "..we’re keeping a close eye on Inferno. The intent of incoming damage is that it should be a very consistent drain on your health, and mitigating that drain is a major part of what makes Inferno mode difficult. Right now, there’s a lot more damage 'spikiness' occurring than feels right, and that’s one major area we’re looking to adjust in patch 1.0.3." (Yes, it is)
D3 team says "legendary items are not designed to necessarily be the best items in the game". Still, they are planning to rework the legendaries to make them worth the time of players finding them.
in patch 1.0.3, the item levels (ilvl) of 60+ items will be exposed

Diablo 3 Achievements

2012-05-16T13:52:00.000+08:00

There are tons of achievements to get in Diablo III arranged into different categories that cover all aspects of the Diablo III experience. Some are campaign-specific. Some are related to items and exploration. Some are tied to combat like the number of enemies slain, etc. There are even achievements that can be gained only through cooperative gameplay and PVP.

General
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
Scavenger	Pick up 10,000 gold
Spare Change	Pick up 50,000 gold
Moneybags	Pick up 100,000 gold
Deep Pockets	Pick up 500,000 gold
Staying Gold	Pick up 1,000,000 gold
All That Glitters	Pick up 5,000,000 gold
Spoils of War	Pick up 10,000,000 gold
The One Percent	Pick up 100,000,000 gold
Armed to the Teeth	Equip all Inventory slots with items that have a minimum required level of 25 or higher
Prepared for Battle	Equip all Inventory slots with items that have a minimum required level of 60 or higher
The Comfort of Strangers	Recruit the Templar, Scoundrel and Enchantress
Breaking Not So Bad	Use a merchant to repair an item

Conversations
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
The Art of Conversation	Complete the main character, follower and artisan conversation achievements listed below
Now I've Heard Everything	Complete the main character conversation achievements listed below
Dirty Little Secrets	Complete the follower conversation achievements listed below
Talk Is Cheap, Friends Are Priceless	Complete the artisan conversation achievements listed below
For the Order	Listen to all of the Templar's conversations
To Catch a Thief	Listen to all of the Scoundrel's conversations
Secrets of the Ages	Listen to all of the Enchantress' conversations
Hassling Haedrig	Listen to all of the Blacksmith's conversations
Everybody Loves Shen	Listen to all of the Jeweler's conversations
Stay Awhile and Listen	Listen to all of the Deckard Cain's conversations
More than Stories	Listen to all of the Leah's conversations
It's Just Us	Listen to all of the Tyrael's conversations
Bewithched	Listen to all of the Adria's conversations
Sales and Tales	Listen to all of the town merchant's conversations

Exploration
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
A Guiding Light	Use the Templar as your follower
Me, Myself & Eirena	Use the Enchantress as your follower
Stolen Moments	Use the Scoundrel as your follower
Friends with Benefits	Fully equip one of your followers
Rarely There	Equip a rare (yellow) item
Legends of the Brawl	Equip a legendary (orange) item
Chestmaster 2000	Open 2,000 chests
Born to Dye	Dye an item.
Rainbow Connection	Use the following dyes
Color Coordinated	Equip your head, shoulders, torso, legs, feet and hands slots with items dyed the same color
Made It Work	Equip your head, shoulders, torso, legs, feet and hands slots with items dyed in all different colors
Wirt's Case Scenario	Acquire Wirt's Cowbell
Sets Appeal	Complete one of the level 60 unique item sets
Space! I Love Space!	Buy all stash upgrades
Best Dressed	Equip a socketed item
Socket to Me	Socket a gem in an item
Iced Out	Socket the following gem types
Bless You	Get the following benefits from shrines
Slice of Life	Use 50 health wells.
I Got What You Need	Acquire a Templar relic, an Enchantress focus and a Scoundrel token
Grave Buster	Destroy 50 tombstones
Market Research	Meet the following wandering merchants
Sword for Hire	Earn 50,000 Gold from quest rewards
Haunted	Meet the following ghosts
Shut Up and Take My Money!	Buy each type of item from merchants

Campaign - General
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
Grand Beastmaster of Sanctuary	Complete the beastiary achievements listed below
A World of Pain	Complete the exploration achievements listed below
Grand Lorekeeper of Sanctuary	Complete the lore book achievements listed below

Campaign - Act 1
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
The Mad King's End	Kill the Skeleton King on Normal difficulty
The Mad King's End (Nightmare)	Kill the Skeleton King on Nightmare difficulty
The Mad King's End (Hell)	Kill the Skeleton King on Hell difficulty
The Mad King's End (Inferno)	Kill the Skeleton King on Inferno difficulty
Butchered!	Kill the Butcher on Normal difficulty
Butchered! (Nightmare)	Kill the Butcher on Nightmare difficulty
Butchered! (Hell)	Kill the Butcher on Hell difficulty
Butchered! (Inferno)	Kill the Butcher on Inferno difficulty
Carrion Farm	Complete the Carrion Farm event
Last Stand of the Ancients	Complete the Last Stand of the Ancients event
Eternal War	Complete the Eternal War event
Revenge of Gharbad	Complete the Revenge of Gharbad event
A Nice Place to Visit	Explore the following areas of New Tristram
Thorough Investigation	Explore the following areas of the Cathedral
Field Work	Explore the following areas of the Fields of Misery
In the Mountains	Explore the following areas of the Highlands
There Will Definitely Be Blood	Explore the following areas of the Halls of Agony
No Stone Unturned	Explore the following dungeons in Act 1
Wanderer of Tristram	Complete the Act 1 exploration achievements listed below
A Quick Study	Read the following People lore books in Act 1
Taking Notes	Read the following Quest lore books in Act 1
Historian of Tristram	Read the following World lore books in Act 1
Beastmaster of Tristram	Read the following Beastiary lore books in Act 1
The Matriarch's Bones	Complete the Matriarch's Bones event
Jar of Souls	Complete the Jar of Souls event
The Last of the Horadrim	Complete all quests in Act 1

Campaign - Act 2
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
The Coven Overthrown	Kill Maghda on Normal difficulty
The Coven Overthrown (Nightmare)	Kill Maghda on Nightmare difficulty
The Coven Overthrown (Hell)	Kill Maghda on Hell difficulty
The Coven Overthrown (Inferno)	Kill Maghda on Inferno difficulty
Murderer. Torturer. Monster.	Kill Zoltun Kulle on Normal difficulty
Murderer. Torturer. Monster. (Nightmare)	Kill Zoltun Kulle on Nightmare difficulty
Murderer. Torturer. Monster. (Hell)	Kill Zoltun Kulle on Hell difficulty
Murderer. Torturer. Monster. (Inferno)	Kill Zoltun Kulle on Inferno difficulty
The Lord of Lies	Kill Belial on Normal difficulty
The Lord of Lies (Nightmare)	Kill Belial on Nightmare difficulty
The Lord of Lies (Hell)	Kill Belial on Hell difficulty
The Lord of Lies (Inferno)	Kill Belial on Inferno difficulty
A Miner's Gold	Complete the A Miner's Gold event
Lair of the Lacuni	Complete the Lair of the Lacuni event
The Rygnar Idol	Complete the Rygnar Idol event
The Restless Sands	Complete the Restless Sands event
Guardian Spirits	Complete the Guardian Spirits event
Crumbling Vault	Complete the Crumbling Vault event
Prisoners of Kamyr	Complete the Prisoners of Kamyr event
Shrine of Rakanishu	Complete the Shrine of Rakanishu event
Lost Treasure of Khan Dakab	Complete the Lost Treasure of Khan Dakab event
The Jewel of the East	Explore the following areas of Caldeum
Just Deserts	Explore the following areas of the Stinging Winds
Unparalleled Splendor	Explore the following areas of the Dahlgur Oasis
The Bone Collector	Explore the following areas of the Desolate Sands
Navigating the Labyrinth	Explore the following areas in the Archives of Zoltun Kulle
Nooks and Crannies	Explore the following dungeons in Act II
Wanderer of Caldeum	Complete the Act II exploration achievements listed below
Judge of Character	Read the following People lore books in Act II
Eavesdropper	Read the following Quest lore books in Act II
Historian of Caldeum	Read the following World lore books in Act II
Beastmaster of Caldeum	Read the following Beastiary lore books in Act II
Wheel of Misfortune	Experience all the possibilities of the Ancient Device in the Desolate Sands
The Black Soulstone	Complete all quests in Act II

Campaign - Act 3
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
The Ravening Beast	Kill Ghom on Normal difficulty
The Ravening Beast (Nightmare)	Kill Ghom on Nightmare difficulty
The Ravening Beast (Hell)	Kill Ghom on Hell difficulty
The Ravening Beast (Inferno)	Kill Ghom on Inferno difficulty
Making a Breakthrough	Kill the Siegebreaker Assault Beast on Normal difficulty
Making a Breakthrough (Nightmare)	Kill the Siegebreaker Assault Beast on Nightmare difficulty
Making a Breakthrough (Hell)	Kill the Siegebreaker Assault Beast on Hell difficulty
Making a Breakthrough (Inferno)	Kill the Siegebreaker Assault Beast on Inferno difficulty
A Question of Lust	Kill Cydaea on Normal difficulty
A Question of Lust (Nightmare)	Kill Cydaea on Nightmare difficulty
A Question of Lust (Hell)	Kill Cydaea on Hell difficulty
A Question of Lust (Inferno)	Kill Cydaea on Inferno difficulty
The Lord of Sin	Kill Azmodan on Normal difficulty
The Lord of Sin (Nightmare)	Kill Azmodan on Nightmare difficulty
The Lord of Sin (Hell)	Kill Azmodan on Hell difficulty
The Lord of Sin (Inferno)	Kill Azmodan on Inferno difficulty
A Smash Hit	Destroy Azmodan's war machines
Blood Ties	Complete the Blood Ties event
Forged in Battle	Complete the Forged in Battle event
Waiting for Reinforcements	Complete the Waiting for Reinforcements event
Triage	Complete the Triage event
Tide of Battle	Complete the Tide of Battle event
Blaze of Glory	Complete the Blaze of Glory event
Crazy Climber	Complete the Crazy Climber event
O'er the Ramparts We Watched	Explore the following areas on the walls of Bastion's Keep
Keep It Safe	Explore the following areas below Bastion's Keep
Slaughter Fields Five	Explore the following areas within the Fields of Slaughter
The Mouth of Hell	Explore the following areas in Arreat Crater
Oh, the Places You'll Go!	Explore the following dungeons in Act III
Wanderer of Arreat	Complete the Act III exploration achievements listed below
Beastmaster of Arreat	Read the following Beastiary lore books in Act III
Primary Sources	Read the following People lore books in Act III
Espionage	Read the following Quest lore books in Act III
Historian of Arreat	Read the following World lore books in Act III
The Wages of Sin	Complete all quests in Act III

Campaign - Act 4
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
Angel's Bane	Kill Rakanoth on Normal difficulty
Angel's Bane (Nightmare)	Kill Rakanoth on Nightmare difficulty
Angel's Bane (Hell)	Kill Rakanoth on Hell difficulty
Angel's Bane (Inferno)	Kill Rakanoth on Inferno difficulty
The Prime Evil	Kill Diablo on Normal difficulty
The Prime Evil (Nightmare)	Kill Diablo on Nightmare difficulty
The Prime Evil (Hell)	Kill Diablo on Hell difficulty
The Prime Evil (Inferno)	Kill Diablo on Inferno difficulty
The Garden of Heavenly Delights	Explore the following areas in the Gardens of Hope
The Crown of Heaven	Explore the following areas of the Silver Spire
Such Great Heights	Explore the following dungeons in Act IV
Wanderer of the High Heavens	Complete the Act IV exploration achievements listed below
Know It All	Read the following People lore books in Act IV
Archival Studies	Read the following Quest lore books in Act IV
Historian of the High Heavens	Read the following World lore books in Act IV
Beastmaster of the High Heavens	Read the following Beastiary lore books in Act IV
Victory and Sacrifice	Complete all quests in Act IV

Cooperative - General
ACHIEVEMENT	DESCRIPTION
Bloodletting	Kill 25 elite (champion, rare or unique) enemies in cooperative games
Slaughterhouse	Kill 50 elite (champion, rare or unique) enemies in cooperative games
Due Decimation	Kill 100 elite (champion, rare or unique) enemies in cooperative games
Massacre of the Damned	Kill 500 elite (champion, rare or unique) enemies in cooperative games
The Culling of Hell	Kill 1000 elite (champion, rare or unique) enemies in cooperative games
Heroes of the Ages	Join a cooperative game
Gotta Catch Them All	Play cooperative games with the following hero classes
The Great Revival	Resurrect a player of each class in cooperative games
Life Is Beautiful	Heal other players for 500,000 Life by picking up health globes in cooperative games
Follow Me Around	Teleport to another player by clicking on his or her banner
Warriors of Sanctuary	Join a 4-player cooperative game where everyone is a different class
Heroes of Circumstance	Join a public cooperative game
Not Dead Yet	Resurrect another player in a cooperative game
Breath of Life	Resurrect other players 25 times in cooperative games
Savior of the Fallen	Resurrect other players 50 times in cooperative gams

Diablo III release date - May 15

2012-03-16T01:14:00.000+08:00

This is official. The release date for Diablo III has just been announced. As the official announcement goes...

...The End of Days approaches…. Diablo III will be unleashed from the Burning Hells on May 15, 2012...

FKN FINALLY!!!

After months and months of waiting, Diablo III finally gets an official release date.

Diablo III has been largely delayed. It was first announced on June 28, 2008 at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational.

Then came Blizzard's vague announcements on the game's release. Last year, Blizzard announced that they were pushing for a year-end release date. Then another one that estimated an "early 2012" release date. None of them were true of course.

During the early months of 2012, Diablo III underwent many system changes. Apparently, Blizzard was still tweaking the game, removing and adding in some features based on feedback from beta testers.

Well, they can delay the game as long as they want as long as the final product is well polished and of top-notch quality.

2 Months To Go!!!

Happy Holidays 2011!

2011-12-25T10:04:00.000+08:00

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays from Blizzard and Blizzard Gamers (Clan Old School).

In celebration of the festive holiday today, Blizzard released a Diablo III card featuring the Witch Doctor from Diablo III in a Santa outfit, snowsledding with his summon at the back. Look at all those gifts, candies and candy canes wasted.

I therefore conclude that Witch Doctors don't make good Santas.

Diablo III Opening Cinematic

2011-12-12T15:11:00.001+08:00

This is the Diablo III opening cinematic first shown at Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2011 on Dec 10.

There is the cake-icing Blizzard logo, animated concept art, armies of angels and demons, Leah and of course hellfire. But the highlight is Deckard Cain rendered in full 3D. Just look at all the beard!

raven posing for the camera

so many angels with their wings/tentacles

army of demons

demon vs angel

angel overpowering

demon overpowering

angel >>> demon

can you tell if I'm Tyrael or not?

Diablo(???)

Leah cutey

Stay awhile and listen, Leah.

Look 'ma, my beard

more Deckard Cain's beard exposure

an infernal about to hit Tristram cathedral

something tells me you have to enter this hole

crying Leah still a cutie

burning Diablo III logo

Blizzard at the Video Game Awards 2011

2011-12-06T22:05:00.001+08:00

Blizzard founders to receive "Gamer God" Award, World Premiere of Diablo III's full opening cinematic and Vote Diablo III for the Most Anticipated Game of 2012.

Tune in to Video Game Awards 2011 on Spike TV, MTV2 or Spike.com on Saturday, Dec 10 at PM ET / 5:00 PM PT.

That's right, the three Blizzard founders (who are already gods in the Warcaft, Starcraft and Diablo universes) Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce will rise to god status in the gaming community on December 10, 2011 with the "Gamer God" Award from Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2011. The Award is such a prestigious title that only one person was bestowed this honor in the past: Will Wright, creator of the Sims series, in 2008. The award is a recognition of Blizzard's contribution to the gaming industry through their topnotch games.

Blizzard will also reveal the full opening cinematic of Diablo III at VGA 2011. Judging from the quality and awesomeness of the Black Soulstone Trailer, we can expect to see more cinematic eyecandy animation from the Blizzard team. What's more, we'll get to see hints into the game's plot.

Lastly, Diablo III is nominated for the Most Anticipated Game of 2012. Vote for Diablo III by clicking the image below.

The other nominees are BioShock: Infinite, Halo 4, Mass Effect 3 and The Last Guardian.

World of Warcraft Patch 4.3 - Hour of Twilight

2011-12-01T22:14:00.001+08:00

World of Warcraft Patch 4.3 - Hour of Twilight is finally here. That means players would now be able to kill Deathwing, that dragon thing which is the mascot of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Huzzah!

Hour of Twilight is the biggest content patch since the release of the expansion Cataclysm and will feature the new Dragon Soul raid, new dungeons, a legendary rogue quest line, new items, major story developments, the Transmogrification and Void Storage features, and much more...

The Hour of Twilight is the fulfillment of a chain of events instigated by the Old Gods many aeons ago. It is the third and last five-player heroic dungeon focused on the final push against Deathwing.

In the wake of the Cataclysm, Azeroth's champions rose up to thwart the forces of the maddened black Dragon Aspect, Deathwing. Thus far the world's defenders have shattered the power base of the Twilight's Hammer cult and defeated the raging elemental lords Al'Akir and Ragnaros. Yet despite these victories, as long as Deathwing is free to pursue his twisted goals, Azeroth will remain under threat.

No one is more aware of this fact than the great Dragon Aspects Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Ysera, and Kalecgos. Together with the wise shaman Thrall, they have devised a plan to vanquish Deathwing with a weapon of his own design: the infamous Dragon Soul.

In patch 4.3, Thrall and the noble Aspects will call upon the Horde and the Alliance to help them retrieve the artifact--no longer in existence--from the distant past. Those brave enough to face the challenge will embark on a perilous journey from Azeroth's apocalyptic End Time to the Dragon Soul's point of origin during the catastrophic War of the Ancients. If the heroes succeed, an even more harrowing battle awaits them in the present....

World of Warcraft Patch 4.3 - Hour of Twilight official wallpaper:

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Tyrael Statue at BlizzCon 2011

2011-11-09T01:44:00.000+08:00

In case you missed the biggest Blizzard event of the year, BlizzCon 2011, here is the statue of Archangel Tyrael from the Diablo universe.

HOLY TYRAEL!!!

This goes to say that Diablo III is the next big Blizzard game.

For those who are ignorant of Diablo lore, Archangel Tyrael is the one who destroyed the corrupted WorldStone in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction causing chaos in the mortal world. We all have him to thank for Diablo 3. The video below is the final cinematic shown when you finish the last Diablo game released ten years ago.

Destruction's End

More pics of the Tyrael statue in BlizzCon 2011:

Hi-Res Image, 2.3 MB

Diablo II: LOD patch 1.13d

2011-10-28T04:15:00.000+08:00

Patch 1.13d for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction just came out a few minutes ago. Read the patch notes, changes, download links and more info here.

Download Diablo II: Lord of Destruction patch 1.13d

Connect to Battle.Net from the game to download the latest patches as soon as they become available.
Official Diablo II patches page - contains links to patches for both the original game and the expansion, for both Windows and Mac
Download Diablo 2: LOD patch 1.13d stand-alone, official download links: Original game; Lord of Destruction

Diablo II: LOD patch notes/changelog:

New Features

Ignoring players is now saved between sessions of the game. All ignores are now written out to disk (file: 'ignorelist'). This feature can be toggled by issuing the command '/ignorepersist'.
Users can now filter messages based on content by issuing the command '/filtermsg '. To unfilter content issue the command '/unfiltermsg '. (The maximum length of a filter pattern is 128 characters)
Users can now set their home channel by issuing a new Battle.net chat command '/home ' while in the Battle.net chat interface.
Users can return to their home channel at any time by issuing the command '/home' while in the Battle.net chat interface.

Major Bugs

Fixed a known dupe method.
Fixed another issue where players were able to stack auras in an unintended way.

Minor Bugs

Fixed a bug where Mercenaries wouldn't have multiple auras active when they should have.
Fixed an issue where players could create games prefixed with color codes.
Potentially fixed an issue where players would be disconnected when watching the cinematics when in a Battle.net game.
Fixed an issue where the game would crash when running in windowed mode with sound disabled and the game tried to play a cinematic.

Battle.net Chat Reminder

Battle.net provides a number of ways to manage in-game spam and communication from
other players. Some of these commands are:

/options ignorepublic (/o igpub)
- Ignores messages in public chat channels from anyone who isn't on your friends list.

/options unignorepublic (/o uigpub)
- Reallows messages in public chat channels from anyone who isn't in your friends list.

/options ignoreprivate (/o igpriv)
- While in private chat channels you will not receive messages from anyone who isn't in your friends list.

/options unignoreprivate (/o uigpriv)
- Re-allows messages in private chat channels from anyone who isn't in your friends list.

/options ignorewhispers (/o igw)
- Ignore whispers from anyone who isn't in your friends list.

/options unignorewhispers (/o unigw)
- Reallows whispers from all users.

More info:

The previous Diablo 2 patch, 1.13c was released on March 23, 2010.
This is not a content patch, unlike the last one which added many features to the game including the Pandemonium Event.
More BNet chat features added to combat bots and spammers. The Battle.Net Chat Reminders aren't new though. They're just included in the patch notes to remind players of the existing ways to ignore messages from unwanted sources.

Clan oS Summer Replay Spotlight

2011-06-18T12:17:00.017+08:00

spiritaco3(HU)/2QuicK(OC) vs 4sMaster(OC)/oCE.FIGHTO(UD)
By Des

Spotlight #1 will feature a game between 2Quick with his partner, the silent but deadly spiritaco3 against 4smaster with the veteran player fighto (Ravin.d). The game starts off with 4sMaster harassing spiritaco's farms, which turns out to have done nothing as a few peasants are sent to repair it.

Peasant: Your attempts are futile!

After a series of engagements between footmen, fiends, and grunts in 2QuicK's base, the Undead/Orc team is forced to retreat. 4sMaster; however, is a greedy man and decides to go for the archmage kill. Things don't go too well.

Pew Pew

Blademaster: ARgggh!

The game eventually draws itself out with hero exchange at 4sMaster's base, and hit and runs from the undead player while the human/orc team creeps in attempts to get their secondary heroes to level 3.

Peons: REPAIRRR!

Eventually, 4sMaster is able to build up his army and join with his undead partner's forces to launch an attack on 2QuicK's base. But at this point, spiritaco has realized that water elementals would not be good against destroyers. A quick retrain tome into blizzard allows it to be combo'd with Thunder Clap, bringing fiends down to low health really fast.

run for your lives!

Knowing he can not engage the powerful human/orc army, Fighto continues harassing 2Quick's burrows, TP's are forced, but every time the Undead player is forced to teleport back, resulting in even trades.

Eventually, the Undead/Orc team is able to rebuild their forces and gather again for a large confrontation, they score an early Mountain King kill due to bad positioning, but Blizzard is still able to tear through their army, allowing 2QuicK's force to go on a right clicking spree.

The Fight ends with the Undead heroes escaping, which leads to a series of hit and runs. Eventually the human/orc team regroups and is able to take out the opposing orc base. The Orc manages to TP out with both his heroes before the base falls. The Undead expansion is scouted and the acolytes are dismantled by 2QuicK's Blademaster

HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN UP?

2QuicK and spiritaco then move up to Fighto's base to finish the game. The Undead player TPs in, fiends quickly being dismantled by rifle fire with the combination of blizzard and thunder clap. In the end it came down to a desperate attempt to score hero kills, but 4sMaster's blademaster is gunned down by the 2-2 Riflemen.

BWHAHAHAHAH I'M ON A HORSE.

The Undead heroes fall shortly after and Fighto is forced to gg out.

Replay is now up: http://www.demonreps.com/os/details-57568/

Look for more replay spotlights in the future!

StarCraft II Motion Overdrive

2011-04-02T20:45:00.001+08:00

StarCraft II is coming to consoles. This marks the first step in Blizzard's plan to return to the consoles scene. Named the StarCraft Motion Overdrive, it is said to be the future of the StarCraft franchise.

StarCraft: Motion Overdrive. The way real-time strategy is meant to be played.

Ever since its inception, the real-time strategy genre has been missing one crucial gameplay element: You. Generations of players have commanded their forces from afar, making tactical decisions and planning their strategies at a safe distance from the front lines. But now, we finally have the technology to put you at the center of the battlefield. Welcome to StarCraft: Motion Overdrive!

Fusion at the end to beat Veggie Smuggler.

Combining advanced body tracking hardware of modern consoles with the exciting strategy gameplay of StarCraft II, StarCraft: Motion Overdrive will allow you to experience StarCraft like never before. Use gesture-based controls to direct your forces and out-move your enemies. Challenge your friends in intense multi-actor matches either locally via split screen or online. Wave your arms in the air like you do, in fact, care.

Visit the official StarCraft Motion Overdrive page for more info.

The full page screenshot in case Blizzard takes off the webpage.

New Horadric Cube app from Blizzard

2011-04-01T19:16:00.003+08:00

Blizzard just released a new application for smartphones. Named after the famed item in Diablo II, the Horadric Cube app has the same power as the original item, all at your fingertips!

This is a one-time exclusive offer from Blizzard available only today.

After years of fevered development and tireless research into the mysteries of the Horadrim, we've finally succeeded in capturing the power of one of Sanctuary's most enigmatic artifacts in a portable, downloadable form…. Behold, the Horadric Cube app for your smartphone or supported mobile device! But beware: great power often comes at a terrible price.

Diablo III - Horadric Cube application for smartphones

The Horadric Cube app has two main features.

Transmutation - Maximize your smartphone's potential and create brand-new apps from scratch by combining and transforming your existing apps!
Translocation - Open demonic portals to dimensions of nameless horror using your Horadric Cube!

Transmutation has the same power as the original item. By combining at least 2 apps, you can create more powerful apps with more features. Translocation on the hand is currently unavailable but its power is said to open portals to the Burning Hells by consuming sacred runes.

Because the Horadric Cube is such a powerful artifact, using it can have unimaginable bad side effects. People who wish to use this application on their smartphones are advised to heed the warning written under the Disclaimer at the bottom of the page. You don't wanna go to Hellforge do you?

Okay, enough with the silly talk.

The Horadric Cube is actually a mini-game where you combine at least 2 apps (with strikingly familar names that is) to unlock new apps. These new apps can then be recombined with others in the same process. The Horadrapp says there are 40 combinations but the image below shows 45 icons.

Horadrapp Combinations:

Visagebook + Catch Dotcom = Soulmatch
|_Soulmatch + Angry Imps = Plenty of Imps
   |_Plenty of Imps + Agro Town = Prismatic Tome
|_Soulmatch + Agro Town = Fruitbook
   |_Fruitbook + Angry Town = Yawp
|_Soulmatch + Angry Imps + Agro Town = Kitchen Sink v2.0

Visagebook + Angry Imps = Wirt's Leg
|_Wirt's Leg + Catch Dotcom = Plenty of Imps
   |_Plenty of Imps + Agro Town = Curse Village
|_Wirt's Leg + Agro Town = Tome of Town Portal
   |_Tome of Town Portal + Catch Dotcom = Angry Imps
|_Wirt's Leg + Catch Dotcom + Agro Town = Quiver of Arrows

Visagebook + Agro Town = Fallenville
|_Fallenville + Catch Dotcom = Fruitbook
   |_Fruitbook + Angry Imps = Angry Fruit
|_Fallenville + Angry Imps = MeSpout
   |_MeSpout + Catch Dotcom = Chatter
|_Fallenville + Catch Dotcom + Angry Imps = Kitchen Sink v2.0

Catch Dotcom + Angry Imps = Imp Finder
|_Imp Finder + Visagebook = ChirpStack
   |_ChirpStack + Agro Town = Impville
|_Imp Finder + Agro Town = Fetish
   |_Fetish + Visagebook = Cheaply
|_Imp Finder + Visagebook + Agro Town = Kitchen Sink v2.0

Catch Dotcom + Agro Town = Tome of Town Portal
|_Tome of Town Portal + Visagebook = Khalim's Will
   |_Khalim's Will + Angry Imps = Kindling
|_Tome of Town Portal + Angry Imps = Imps vs Tomes
   |_Imps vs Tomes + Visagebook = Imps vs Visages
|_Tome of Town Portal + Visagebook + Angry Imps = Secret Cow Level

Angry Imps + Agro Town = Angrytown
|_Angrytown + Visagebook = Cut the Hope
   |_Cut the Hope + Catch Dotcom = OK...
|_Angrytown + Catch Dotcom = Double Hell
   |_Double Hell + Visagebook = Scarytown
|_Angrytown + Visagebook + Catch Dotcom = Hellpe

Visagebook + Catch Dotcom + Angry Imps = B'gemmed
|_B'gemmed + Agro Town = Chat Gem

Visagebook + Catch Dotcom + Agro Town = Goatspace
|_Goatspace + Angry Imps = Angry Goats

Visagebook + Angry Imps + Agro Town = Angry Imps
|_Angry Imps + Angry Imps

Catch Dotcom + Angry Imps + Agro Town = Imps vs Goatmen
|_Imps vs Goatmen + Visagebook = Hooks-up

Soulmatch + Angrytown = Full Rejuvenation Potion
Wirt's Leg + Tome of Town Portal = Secret Cow Level
Fallenville + Imp Finder = Jade Ring

Visagebook + Catch Dotcom + Angry Imps + Agro Town = Kitchen Sink

Full page screenshot

2011 March Mayhem: Developer's Showdown - VOTE for BLIZZARD

2011-03-31T02:48:00.072+08:00

The Escapist is holding a tournament, the 2011 March Mayhem: Developer's Showdown. It's a contest wherein players vote for their favorite game developers. It's currently down to Round 5 and Blizzard is among the top 4.

VOTE for BLIZZARD now! You might even win some cool prizes.

March Mayhem: Developers' Showdown is an exclusive event on The Escapist where the top 64 game developers go head-to-head in an elimination style tournament to see who comes out on top.

To vote, you need to register an account. Click the Vote Now red button at the upper right of the screen to see the latest match-ups.

There are prizes to be won sponsored by Alienware. The contest uses a point system encouraging users to do certain tasks like voting, tweeting, Liking their Facebook page so they could earn points. Each point increases the chances of winning. The winners will be selected randomly from this pool of points on April 5, 2011. Read the Rules for the complete list of terms and conditions.

Blizzard has made its way into round 5 beating other popular game developers along the way. At round 5, it is up against BioWare, last year's winner. Let us show that Blizzard has the best community of gamers by VOTING NOW.

Warcraft III 1.26 patch

2011-03-28T23:19:00.002+08:00

Warcraft III 1.26a patch is out, just two weeks after the release of 1.25.

Looks like Blizzard is hard at work in fixing and patching Warcraft III. Well, don't get excited because WC3 1.26 is nothing special.

A major change in the version number suggests that this is a major update, yet it includes only 3 changes (and maybe some undocumented ones). No balance changes, no new maps, no additions.

Download Warcraft 3 1.26 patch

Warcraft III 1.26 Changelog and Patch Notes:

FIXES

Hex will no longer provide a speed boost to a Hero if cast at the end of Metamorphosis or Chemical Rage effects.
Reverted the fix "Hex will no longer extend the duration of Metamorphosis."
Fixed an issue where some Mac patches could lead to disconnections during Battle.net games.

At only three changes, this is one of the shortest patch notes for Warcraft 3. At least, it's good to know that Blizzard still cares for this game and they are still willing to make a patch.

Remarks

1.25 replays are not compatible with 1.26
they should have called this 1.25c considering there are only 3 changes
official forum post says Warcraft III patch 1.26a so expect a "b" or a "c"
please Blizzard, separate the Windows patches from the Mac ones

StarCraft II Maps and Mods page

2011-03-24T21:45:00.001+08:00

Blizzard opens Maps and Mods page on the StarCraft II official website.

StarCraft II Maps and Mods

This page will showcase the best SC2 maps. Looking at a similar section in WarCraft III, we can expect that these StarCraft 2 maps will be of high quality. We're not sure yet if this will contain only maps made by Blizzard though.

For now, there are only 2 available content, both under Map Making tutorials: Terrain Module and Publishing.

The Official Mods section lists SC2 maps made by Blizzard. There are 3 entries so far, all released on BattleNet.

STARJEWELED - Puzzle Strategy

Pit your puzzle-solving talents against your opponent's. Match jewels to generate resources - and spend them to attack with StarCraft II units, countering your adversary's forces and destroying their base.

AIUR CHEF - Collection/Cooking

Gather and mix exotic ingredients in a cooking race against your opponents. Choose your recipes carefully to achieve culinary dominance and be counted among the most hallowed chefs of Aiur!

LEFT 2 DIE - Survival and Siege

Working together with a partner, defend your base from onrushing zerg infested. Protect yourself from the relentless hordes during the night, and build up your forces to strike back during the daytime. Cooperate, or measure your survival in seconds.

StarCraft 2 Hyperion Commemorative Facebook Wallpaper

2011-03-19T05:06:00.000+08:00

The official Facebook page of StarCraft 2 reached 1,000,000 Likes a week ago so they released a wallpaper to commemorate the milestone -- a sparkling new Hyperion wallpaper.

If you StarCraft 2, you'll this battlecruiser gracing your desktop.

Download this Hyperion wallpaper now
Resolutions: 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1680x1050

And if you haven't already, StarCraft on Facebook.

Blizzard's 20th Anniversary Video Contest

2011-03-16T21:45:00.003+08:00

Blizzard is holding a video contest in celebration of their 20th anniversary.

It's easy to join. Just make a video showing your favorite Blizzard game-related memories.

"Memories of Blizzard" video contest is part of the year-long celebration of Blizzard's two decades in the games industry.

The video can be live action, machinima, animation or anything that shows your favorite moment with any of the Blizzard games. The video must be at most 3 minutes long and less than 100 MB big. The deadline of submission of entries is on April 19, 2011.

The top 10 will be chosen from all the participants and will be displayed on Blizzard's website for viewers to vote on. The voting period will be from April 26 to May 10, 2011. The top three videos with the most number of votes at the end of the voting period will receive various prizes.

The prize pool is impressive. The grand prize winner gets a free trip to BlizzCon 2011 in addition to other Blizzard merchandise from sponsors Razer, Steelseries, Creative Labs, Taverncraft, DC Direct and Heroic Prints. All in all, the 1st-placer wins a total of $2,954.85 in goodies.

1st-Place prizes:

an expenses-paid trip to BlizzCon 2011
4 different Taverncraft mugs
Creative Labs World of Warcraft Headset
Creative Lab's "Foot Tap"
PrintWarcraft Gift certificate
SteelSeries World of Warcraft Mouse
3 SteelSeries Mousepads (Goblin, Worgen, Deathwing)
Razer Spectre Gaming Mouse
Razer Marauder Gaming Keyboard
Razer Banshee Gaming Headset
DCDirect: Deluxe Arthas Action Figure

The 2nd-placer gets a similar set of merchandise totaling $754.85, the 3rd-placer $79.9.

Check out the link below to join and read the complete list of rules and terms and conditions.
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/contests/b20-contest/rules.html

PonyCraft 2

2011-03-13T12:29:00.002+08:00

Forget the serious storyline of StarCraft 2 and replace its characters with cute little ponies. What do you get? An equally entertaining, if not too cute and funny a video PonyCraft 2.

Or maybe it is the other way around? My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic patched with StarCraft 2 audio. It doesn't matter... in the name of fun.

The video is made from clips of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, episodes 1-17 mixed with the sound from StarCraft 2 cinematic launch trailer.

If PonyCraft 2 was a real game, would you play it?

Warcraft III 1.25 patch now live!

2011-03-10T03:14:00.004+08:00

Oh yes, the much-awaited WC3 1.25 patch has come out! And it comes with balance changes.

Warcraft 3 1.25 is a major patch that includes not just fixes but also balance changes. The last patches were disappointing because they included only fixes to existing exploits, glitches and hacks at the time (we are still grateful anyway because they got rid of annoying hacks on BNet, even for just a few days). Balance changes in the game alter some gameplay mechanics making players rethink and revise their strategies. Let's all hope that this patch will win some players back into this old, dying game.

Download the Warcraft 3 1.25b patch

Warcraft 3 1.25b Changelog:

Balance Changes:

Humans
- Improved Masonry Upgrade health boost decreased from 20% to 10% for all 3 levels
- Siege Engine Level increased from 2 to 3
- Rifleman HP increased from 505 to 535
Night Elves
- Warden Shadow Strike mana cost increased from 65 to 75
- Druid of the Talon Faerie Fire duration decreased from 120 to 90
Orcs
- Blade master Wind Walk duration reduced from 20/40/60 to 20/35/50
- Raider Ensnare Cooldown increased from 12 to 16
- Spirit Wolf Rank 1 Wolf Level decreased from 3 to 2
Items
- Ivory Tower gold cost increased from 30 to 40
- Tome of Experience now gives Heroes 100 experience points, down from 150
- Orb of Venom poison duration decreased from 8 to 6

Fixes:

Warcraft III will now write its registry keys on launch.
Widescreen (stretched) resolutions should now be available in the Video options.
You can now purchase items from shops while Hexed.
Scroll of Town Portal will no longer be consumed when casting fails when used at the same time that your Hero is Hexed.
Hex will no longer extend the duration of Metamorphosis.
Hex will no longer disable mana or health regeneration of Heroes.
Wisps Detonate ability will no longer drain mana from Heroes while under the effects of Potion of Invulnerability.
Fixed an issue where players were able to ally with opponents when alliances were locked ("share hack").
A gold exploit with buildings has been fixed.

Blizzard employee Bashiok posted these patch notes as "Warcraft PTR Patch 1.25b" or a Public Test Realm release so this may not be the final 1.25 patch. Also, there's NO LADDER RESET as of this writing and old replays are incompatible with this new patch.

Some remarks from a veteran player (that's me) :

Human Castle with lvl-3 Improved Masonry Upgrade HP nerfed from 4000 to 3250
Siege Engines now give more experience points mainly to penalize humans "creeping" off NE bases
Rifleman HP started out at 520, nerfed to 505 in 1.16 and buffed to 535 now.
More nerfs to NE and never a buff.
Heavy nerfs on Orc, mainly to weaken the one-man army BM
No changes to Undead
Hacks fixed (for a few days)
I'd like to note that in the original Warcraft III 1.25 beta patch that came out in Westfall (beta server), this line is present on the balance fixes for Human: "Guard Tower Armor type changed to Fortified."

Blizzard celebrates 20th anniversary

2011-03-09T10:56:00.002+08:00

Blizzard turned 20 two days ago. From their humble beginnings in 1991 to their great games enjoyed by millions of people today, Blizzard has surely made its mark as one of the best video game developers.

And Blizzard wants to celebrate the event with the supportive community. One day of celebration just isn't enough to fit the company's 20-year history, so expect an all-year round celebration.

And what a better way to start than with a message from the gods themselves... I mean the founders of Blizzard Mark Morhaime and Frank Pearce

Blizzard Entertainment 20-year Anniversary

Banelings

2010-11-24T05:32:00.001+08:00

This blog has been inactive for months!

So let me treat you to a StarCraft II video that has gone viral recently. The video is entitled "Banelings" and is a parody of the song "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

[+]Show/Hide "Banelings" lyrics

Official Youtube video: official video
iTunes: download from iTunes
Husky: Youtube
Lyrics by: Kurt Hugo Schneider
Shot by: Layne Pavoggi

Banelings has received more than a million views since its release three days ago. Husky and Kurt are so thankful to the StarCraft II community for the video's popularity that they decided to donate all the revenues(Youtube ads and iTunes) to charity.

The Lamborghini seen in the video is from Justin.tv.

Husky is a popular StarCraft shoutcaster/commentator. His Youtube videos get hundreds of thousands of views within days of release.

Kurt is a music producer and filmmaker. Together with his singing partner Sam Tsui, he was featured in several TV programs including Oprah

Starcraft II: The 4Gate

2010-08-23T08:55:00.007+08:00

Fast 4gate build order guide.

There are more variations to the 4gate build. You are likely to be delayed by an early attack, so you might have to build units for defense early on. This build focuses on getting four gateways up as soon as possible. However, the majority of battle.net uses the same build in a slower variation. This short guide will show you a better, faster way to go about playing protoss using the 4gate.

9/10 -> Probe -> Pylon (Use Probe to scout)

10/18 -> After pylon finishes, drop gateway down immediately.

12/18 -> Assimilator, 3 probes on it right after it finishes.

15/18 -> Cybernetics Core (supply count could be off, the idea is to drop it right after gateway finishes) As soon as core finishes, start researching warpgate and chronoboosting it as many times as possible

16/18 -> Pylon

20/26 -> Save 450, drop 3 gateways.

After that, get your 2nd assimilator and keep pumping probes until you have 24 on minerals and 6 on gas. Your next 2 pylons after you finish the build should be used as proxy pylons placed in intelligent locations.

The reason this build is better than your standard 4gate is because beginners tend to pump probes non-stop, which delays their gateways. This breaks the unison of warpgate research finishing around the same time as the gateways. The delayed second assimilator also prevents assimilator blocks from hurting your economy.

If you start mining gas right after your assimilator finishes, you will have enough for at least 2 stalkers and a sentry before you start having gas issues. If you cannot warp in stalkers, warp in zealots. Stalkers were designed to be a "support unit" anyways. However, your second assimilator will be done before your gates finish. This should get you in the position to push as soon as possible.

The Tauren Chieftain: HARASSING and STOMPING

2010-06-06T07:40:00.017+08:00

By Des

"No more Babymaster"
- Nedbone

The masters of Warcraft III have yet to realize what the pinnacle of power truly is. People complain that the blademaster is imbalanced, but in fact, it is the great Tauren Chieftain who is. Many newbs will soon come to realize that there is nothing you can do against this beast. This badass hero is terror that people have yet to soon realize.

"RUN ***** RUN"
Because that's all your ever going to be able to do against Durn Harpyslayer.

The TC's endurance aura was nerfed from having critical strike. Originally, blizzard engineers had given the Tauren Chieftain the innate ability to critical strike. But soon realizing the imbalance due to hours of in-depth beta testing, they had to remove it. You must unleash his powerful abilities early game through a harass. This way, opponents will learn to save time and leave now. Remember, when choosing the TC, you must be aware that there is no room for any other hero.

"Get off my screen"
The TC works alone. There are no sidekicks.

"Keep em coming, boss"
It's only a matter of time before they run out of forces.

As you may have noticed from games you have played, the Tauren Chieftain levels up very fast. He does not share XP with those weaker than him.

"Get out of my house"
A tower rush is singe-handedly thwarted by the amazing Tauren Chieftain.

Remember: the Tauren Chieftain has 5 activated abilities. 2 of which are "Roar of fear" and "Scream of Terror". Both can be activated by players simply by shouting "For my ancestors!" or "None shall pass!". His activated ones are shown here:

1. Shockwave

The Chieftain slams his giant axe thing (which, by the way, is the most awesome ****** weapon in the entire game.) The shockwave either heavily damages or completely kills units or structures. As shown in the picture, the full HP huntress has taken a hit from the shockwave, bringing it down to 1% health. The other hunt however, will not be as lucky. The allied hunts quickly move out of the way to prevent themselves from getting hit by the ferocious attack.

2. Warstomp

Stomping your opponents is a literal term when you use the Tauren Chieftain. Simply by clicking on the ground repeatedly, the TC unleashes a devastating slam on the ground that stuns and kills nearby units, heroes, and structures (As you can see, the moon well has taken a significant amount of damage just from one stomp)

3. Starfall

The Tauren Chieftain utilizes his command over the stars and planets to unleash lightning balls of death upon opposing units and structures. The ability is not channeled.

"Out of my way; I'm buying stuff."

The TC can utilize items. As you can see in the image, the Chieftain has purchased boots of speed. Every goblin merchant has special boots made just for the Tauren Chieftain. He has now gained the ability to walk on water, float, shoot lasers, and call down nuclear strikes.

"Get Back Here I Hungreh"

The TC harass allows you to take out over 80% of a targets health without taking any damage. Even Superman has nothing to do but run.

Kill the TC? Impossible; he always comes back.

As you can see, the TC is an obvious beast. This powerhouse of terror can be controlled by your fingertips. Simply train a Tauren Chieftain, and unleash hell on your opponents.

Credit for title art goes to ~control01

Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen

2010-06-02T01:55:00.005+08:00

About three weeks ago, Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen not only celebrated his 24th birthday but also his wedding to Cassandra "PPG" Ng. The marriage didn't receive much publicity, evading major e-sports and gaming sites. The only source of the news is a tweet from Grubby.

This is a good time to make a progamer profile for Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen.This is where I collect links to interesting articles on the web about the featured player.

Name: Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen
From: Netherlands
Birthdate: May 11, 1986

Links:

Videos

Unlike other professional gamers, Grubby has a good command of the English language and is an eloquent writer. This means that not only would we see "good games" from him but also "good reads".

The following are links to articles written by Grubby himself. I found most of them by browsing through his personal blog and his blog at myEG.

StarCraft II release date: July 27, 2010

2010-05-07T14:38:00.000+08:00

Straight to the point: StarCraft II will be released on July 27, 2010.

The first in the trilogy, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty will be coming to stores three months from now. The release date is sooner than expected. It has just been three months since the closed beta testing began. Now we have a date to look forward to. Thanks to player feedback and suggestions, Blizzard is finally adding the finishing touches to the masterpiece.

"Gathering concentrated feedback from our players is an important step for us as we head into the final stretch of development for StarCraft II and the new Battle.net service. We look forward to having our players' help in polishing the overall experience and preparing for launch."
-Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment

To prepare for the launch of the highly anticipated sequel, Blizzard added a splash page to its official StarCraft II page, www.starcraft2.com. It has the title "Nuclear Launch detected", a popular line from the original StarCraft game. Here's a screenshot in case it gets taken down after the release:

Are you excited? Are you going to switch to StarCraft II right away?