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To celebrate the WCS, Blizzard is giving fans a chance to obtain some StarCraft II portraits.
Subscribe on Twitch for World Championship Series Gosu Trophy Portraits
Current active subscribers to the WCS America, WCS Europe, or GSL Twitch channels will be awarded this portrait. If you haven’t subscribed yet, sign up for this League Finals, and contribute to your favorite WCS region.
Portraits will be redeemed via Battle.net codes that will be sent to subscribers through Twitch’s messaging system. We will announce when codes are available through blogs on StarCraft2.com and StarCraft2.com/WCS.
Source:
Battle.net - WCS StarCraft II Portraits Available Soon
The latest patch for StarCraft II includes some bug fixes.
StarCraft II 2.1.5 Patch Notes
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue that could cause the post-game score screen to become stuck while loading.
- Fixed an issue that prevented replays generated in patch 2.1.3 from loading in newer versions of StarCraft II.
- Fixed an issue where Mac clients could freeze when experiencing a game application crash in Full Screen mode.
- Fixed an issue where the Hotkey UI panel would not appear correctly on initial selection.
Source:
Battle.net - StarCraft II 2.1.5 Patch Notes
The World Championship Series for StarCraft II are having the global finals are coming to the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, with tickets going on sale on October 7th. Access to the World Championship Series will be separate from BlizzCon, which is a departure from how the finals were attended previously. There will be 1,000 tickets going on sale starting at 11:00am PDT on October 7th, each ticket costing $25 USD each, and will be purchasable from the Eventbrite ticketing page.
After purchasing the ticket, an e-mail which includes the tickets will be sent to the buyer. To pick up the badges associated with the tickets, bring the tickets and the bar codes that were placed on the e-mail to the Anaheim Convention Center Arena box office on Friday between 9:00am PST to 9:00pm PST or Saturday between 9:00am PST to 6:30pm PST.
More details as well as a short FAQ are included in the original article by Blizzard. To read it, click here.
Source:
Battle.net - Attend the StarCraft® II WCS Global Finals Live in the Arena! Tickets On Sale October 7
A new patch is out, and it includes the WCS Gameheart extension mod!
StarCraft II 2.1.4 Patch Notes
General
- WCS GameHeart
- GameHeart’s popular tournament UI has been reborn in the improved WCS GameHeart extension mod.
- Players can apply the WCS GameHeart extension mod to any melee map from the Custom Games list.
- To create a game using an Extension Mod, enter the Custom Games list, hit the “Browse Maps” button, select any map, and then click “Create with Mod” to choose an Extension Mod from the list.
- The WCS GameHeart overlay can then be enabled by navigating to the Gameplay tab in the Options menu and selecting WCS 2.0 in the Observer Interface menu.
- More information can be found in our WCS GameHeart blog.
- Enhanced Team Colors
- General
- Players can now choose to enhance the color of buildings, units, and spell effects via an in-game UI option.
- Team color intensity can be adjusted by navigating to the Gameplay tab in the Options menu and adjusting the value on the new ‘Team Color Intensity ‘slider.
- Updated Unit/Spell Effects
- EMP, Scanner Sweep, Time Warp, and Mothership Core coloring have been updated to adopt team colors.
- Team colored spell effects can be enabled under the Gameplay tab in the Options menu by selecting ‘Enable Additional Team Color Textures’
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the game display could freeze when using certain video hardware.
- The Map preferences UI will no longer occasionally display placeholder text.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the matchmaking options to become unavailable.
- Fixed an issue where parties could sometimes become split when joining Custom Games.
- The Ultralisk will no longer lose the Frenzied ability when burrowed.
- Fixed an issue where using Abduct or Graviton Beam on a Ghost would sometimes not cancel a nuclear strike.
- Carrier Interceptors will no longer pause when attacking a target under the effects of Mass Recall.
- The in-game UI will no longer disappear when watching a replay after using the Streamlined Observer UI.
- Fixed an issue where music would fail to loop in some Campaign missions.
- The Colossus model will no longer appear larger when killed during warp-in on the Phantoms of the Void mission.
- Fixed an issue where sound offsets could occasionally be ignored.
Source:
Battle.net - StarCraft II 2.1.4 Patch Notes
To encourage more people to test the latest patch, Blizzard has started a giveaway of various items including a pair of BlizzCon 2014 tickets. Starting from 12:00 a.m. PDT on August 26, 2014 to 11:59 p.m. PDT on September 22, 2014, players that reach level 5 on the StarCraft II PTR will be eligible to win one of the following prizes:
Prizes for participation
To all players who reach level 5 on the PTR:
A one month subscription for Twitch Turbo
To 50 random players who reach level 5 on the PTR:
A Twitch subscription for WCS EU/AM
To one random player who reaches level 5 on PTR:
A pair (2) of 2014 BlizzCon tickets
All that's required is to enable PTR access using the Battle.net desktop app, log in, and get to levelling. For more information on how to do so, check out the full post.
Source:
Battle.net - Free Blizzcon Tickets, Twitch Subscriptions and Turbo: Oh My!
July 27th marks the fourth anniversary of StarCraft II's release, and Blizzard is having a small event to celebrate. All worker units will be donning party hats, and there are three new portraits to unlock, one for each race. These portraits can be unlocked by playing a game in StarCraft II, starting from now until the end of next week.
Happy anniversary!
Source:
Battle.net - It's the Fourth Anniversary for StarCraft II!
It's a big moment right now among Blizzard fans because of some sudden news. Rob Pardo, Chief Creative Officer of Blizzard Entertainment, has resigned today. After a long, nearly two-decade period, he's leaving to pursue other opportunities. The following is the full post by Rob Pardo, talking about his resignation.
Every ending is a beginning and today marks a new beginning for me.
After 17 years at Blizzard, with long and careful contemplation, I have made a difficult and bittersweet but ultimately exciting decision to pursue the next chapter in my life and career.
Before I even joined Blizzard, I was already a huge fan of the company and its games. In particular, I was extremely passionate about the emerging genre of real-time strategy games. It was a dream come true when I was given the opportunity to work on StarCraft, which at the time was being created by a very small team by today’s standards. It was tremendously fulfilling to get to know everyone on the team personally and to contribute our energies toward a shared goal in such a creative and engaging environment.
Blizzard Entertainment has been simply the best place in the world to be a game designer. The best aspect of designing games at Blizzard is that the entire company is passionate about the gameplay within each and every product. From the executive team to customer service to our global offices, every single person is a player and contributes to making the best possible games. It’s for very good reason that the first credit on every Blizzard game is “Game Design by Blizzard Entertainment.”
I’m really proud of the contributions I was able to make to Blizzard’s accomplishments. From building lasting games, to supporting the growth of eSports, to extending the Warcraft world into a feature film, and of course to being able to celebrate our shared passions with the Blizzard community online and at BlizzCon.
The Blizzard community is ultimately the reason why we come to work every day and pour our souls into every world and experience we create. Blizzard’s players are the most passionate in the world and your commitment and dedication are truly awesome to behold. Creating entertainment for you has been an incredible opportunity, and I know that you will continue to grow and become even stronger as a community over the years to come. It has been so meaningful on a personal level to help create joy for all of you.
I’m looking forward to new challenges in my career, but I will always cherish the time I spent with you all and the amazing and collaborative teams at Blizzard. It was both satisfying and humbling, and it made me a better developer and a better person. I look forward to playing Blizzard games as a player for many years to come. Most important, now I have plenty of time to learn how to build a competitive Hearthstone deck.
As to what I will be doing next, I don’t have an answer for you yet . . . but I will “when it’s ready.” My priorities are to enjoy the summer with my family, play plenty of games, and think about what’s next. The game industry is such an exciting place right now with PC gaming thriving, the new consoles, mobile games, and virtual reality becoming an actual reality. It’s like having an empty quest log and going into a new zone for the first time.
In the past, I haven’t been the most avid Twitter user, but I’ll strive to do better and keep you updated there—@Rob_Pardo. Please stay in touch!
Rob
Fond farewells. We'll miss you.
Source:
Battle.net - Message from Rob Pardo
For those who have not heard of it, GameHeart is a widely popular overlay for StarCraft II that allows observers to place team and tournament logos, draw analysis on the map, zoom out much further, and more, a video of which can be seen here. Gameheart has been used in multiple tournaments for quite some time, but never in a WCS event. That is about to change with the recent announcement of a collaboration between Blizzard Entertainment and the creator of GameHeart, Ryan Schutter, that aims to create a new version of GameHeart that will serve as the official WCS tournament overlay for all of the WCS events. Furthermore, this official WCS GameHeart Overlay will be available for anyone to use on any broadcast, even ones not related to the WCS.
This collaboration, announced by Blizzard on the StarCraft II home page, seems to be fairly new, as there was no information provided about new features, functionality, or design of the new GameHeart. Details are promised to come as the project nears completion, which will most likely mark a milestone for StarCraft II eSports broadcasting.
For anyone that wants to learn about the latest version of GameHeart, click here.
Source:
Battle.net - GameHeart at Blizzard
There is a small bug patch that has been released for StarCraft II, which you can see below.
StarCraft 2.1.3 Patch Notes
Bug Fixes
- Workers will now only consider visible resources when choosing among harvest locations.
Source:
Battle.net App
Lately there's been a lot of talk about the recent changes to Hellbats that allows Terran players to severely pressure Zerg players and hinder their economy. A few blue posts have popped up around the Battle.net forums, written by community manager Psione.
Our intention with this change was to allow Terran to apply more pressure against Zerg in the mid-game. So far it seems to be working out well, but it's still early and we'll have to see how Zerg players adapt. We'll continue to keep an eye on how this change is affecting the TvZ match-up.
With the recent update, we've been gathering feedback on the Hellbat change and observing how it's affecting the different match-ups. From what we've seen thus far, it's helped Terran pressure Zerg in the mid-game and slow down the their economy.
While we feel this has helped the match-up overall, it's still early and we'll need to see how strategies are altered to account for increased Hellbat usage. Often when a new balance update is applied we see a period of time where players adapt to the changes by creating new strategies and eventually counter strategies. It's important that we allow time for these kind of shifts before considering if further changes are needed.
It seems like the changes will remain in place for a while longer, just to make sure that Zerg can or can't adopt new strategies in response. Here's to hoping a conclusion is reached soon.
Sources:
Battle.net - Hellbats...
Battle.net - Hellbat buff needs to be reverted.
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