StartCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Info

[chaos5061]

Prepare for the approaching Swarm.... On March 12, 2013, StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ launches around the world, igniting an intergalactic storm of intense strategic combat and opening a savage new chapter in the war between terran, protoss, and zerg. You can pre-purchase the expansion NOW directly through Battle.net® and be ready to play the moment it goes live.
In addition to the Standard Edition and retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition packed with bonus items, you’ll also have the option to upgrade a Standard Edition to the Digital Deluxe Edition, which comes equipped with all the in-game content from the physical Collector’s Edition, including a Torrasque skin for your zerg Ultralisks in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, unique Swarm-infested portraits for your StarCraft II character profile, a Baneling pet for your World of Warcraft® characters, and a set of zerg-ified blade wings for your heroes in Diablo® III.
Whether you plan to tear a path of destruction through the all-new Kerrigan-focused single-player campaign or jump right into the multiplayer action with the devastating new units under your command, it’s never too early to begin preparing for your Heart of the Swarm experience. Simply log in to your Battle.net® account and pre-purchase Heart of the Swarm, and you’ll be flagged to automatically download the expansion content prior to launch.
Learn more about Heart of the Swarm
Learn more about the Digital Deluxe Edition
Learn more about the Collector’s Edition
For more details on the March 12 launch of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, head to the Heart of the Swarm game page to learn more about the expansion and pre-purchase your digital copy.

*When you pre-purchase StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, you will be able to download an encrypted version of the game once it’s available, prior to the game’s release. This content will be unlocked and available for play when the expansion launches on March 12, 2013.

[chaos5061]

Heart of the Swarm Beta Patch 2.0.1 Notes

This update to the beta test includes a number of new systems, art updates, and changes to the look and feel of the game interface.
There are still several features and improvements coming to Heart of the Swarm, and this is not a final pre-release patch. Please read the full patch notes and related articles to learn all about what’s available in the beta test.
General

• New Menu Screens
  • Revamped overall UI layout, art, and graphic style.
  • More detailed information on these changes can be found here.
• Clans Support Added
  • Clan tags are now pre-pended to character names of all players who join a clan.
  • More detailed information on Clan Support can be found here.
• Leveling System
  • Players now earn XP when playing Ranked and Unranked matchmaking games or when playing Custom Games on Blizzard melee maps.
  • As players earn XP they will progress in level, with a maximum level of 20 for each race.
  • Decals and portraits are rewarded through the leveling system.
  • More detailed information on the leveling system can be found here.
• Physics effects on the battlefield have been greatly enhanced.
  • Death animations have been updated for many units.
  • Ragdoll physics now cause units to get blasted away from explosions more naturally.
  • After being killed, units can now fall off cliff edges, into caverns, etc.
• Improved Score Screen and Added Stats
  • Experience Tab: Added a Score Screen tab that tracks XP gains and leveling progress.
  • Performance Tab: Now tracks gameplay performance stats such as Average Float and Combat Efficiency, and displays lifetime averages and values for the current match.
  • Added a “Play Again” button to the post-game Score Screen.
  • Race Report: Added a profile section that tracks performance by race for each matchup.
  • Map Report: Added a profile section that tracks performance on each ladder map.

User Interface

• Custom Games

• Many drop-down filters are now consolidated into side navigation.
• Merged Join Game and Create Game screens into a single page.

• Moved all party displays and controls into the Party Chat window.
• Updated the Profile Summary screen to include progress UI for the new leveling system.
• Updated loading screens with new background images, more clearly displayed player names, and the overhead map.
• New Copy Link buttons have been added, which automatically copy certain pages in-game to the clipboard, allowing players to share them with others via clickable links in chat or on the web. When clicked, these links will navigate to the in-game page.
• In-Game UI Polish

• Moved the Main Menu and Help buttons above the command card.
• Achievements and Message Log menus are now accessible via the Main Menu.
• Added a Select Army Units button next to the Idle Worker button.

• Unit Status bar settings have been added to the Gameplay Options screen.

• Show Unit Status Bars – Damaged: Show only status bars for units that are below max health or energy.
• Team Colored Status Bars: Status bar border frames match each player’s team color.

Observer Mode

• Leader Panel

• Added Structure tab and Upgrades tab.
• Observers can now click Leader Panel icons to center the game camera on a unit or structure.
• Clicking multiple times cycles through units of the same type.

• Minimap

• Attacked units now flash white for the observer.
• Nuclear Launch and Nydus Canals now create pings on the minimap for observers.

• Versus Mode Side Toggle

• Added a hotkey (Control-X) that flips the side on which players appear in various parts of the UI when watching a 1v1 Versus Mode game.
• By default, the player with the leftmost start location will appear on the left in the user interface.

Balance

• The latest balance changes can be found in our Balance Update threads in the Beta Discussion forum.

Bug Fixes

• A full list of documented game and service bugs can be found in our Known Issues sticky in the Beta Bug Report forum.

[chaos5061]

BALANCE UPDATE #7 [10/26/2012]

We will be bringing the beta down this afternoon to make the following balance changes. Thanks again for all the great feedback you've provided while testing Heart of the Swarm. We hope to see you testing these changes and sharing your input soon!

Protoss

• Oracle
• The Void Siphon and Entomb abilities have been removed.
• This unit has a new ability called Pulsar Beam.
  • The Oracle channels a beam at an enemy structure that deals 25 damage every second.
  • 2 mana is drained per second from the Oracle while this ability is channeled.
  • This ability has a range of 5.
• This unit has a new ability called Time Warp.
  • The Oracle creates a temporal field that slows all ground units’ movement speed within a 3.5 radius by 50%.
  • This ability costs 75 energy to cast
  • This ability can be cast from 9 range.
• Oracle build time has decreased from 60 to 35 seconds.
  Tempest
• Damage has been increased from 25 to 30.
• The +massive damage bonus no longer requires an upgrade at the Fleet Beacon.
• +Massive damage has been decreased from 35 to 30.
  Mothership Core
• This unit has a new ability called Envision.
  • This ability grants the Mothership Core detection for 30 seconds.
  • This ability costs 50 energy to cast.
  • This ability grants detection within the Mothership Core’s sight range (14).
• The Purify ability no longer grants detection to the Nexus.
• The Purify ability has been renamed to “Photon Overcharge”.

Zerg

• Ultralisk
• The speed of Burrow Charge has been increased from 2.25 to 3.75.
  Viper
• The duration of Blinding Cloud has been increased from 10 to 14 seconds.
  Spine Crawler
• This unit now completely blocks pathing when placed next to other structures, including other Spine Crawlers.
  • Zerglings and other small units can no longer squeeze in between Spine Crawlers.
• The scale of this unit has been increased from 0.85 to 0.95.

Terran

• Hellion
• Transformation to Hellbat no longer requires an upgrade and is enabled once an Armory is built.

[chaos5061]

KNOWN ISSUES SWARM BETA [UPDATE: 11/12/12]

General
• The Region button appears on the login screen.
This is only a cosmetic issue as the beta client is hard wired to only log into the beta environment regardless of the selection chosen via the region button. Additionally localhost appears in the Select Regions dialog and over your name when you attempt to log in. We are working towards a solution.

Gameplay
• It is possible to exploit Pulsar Beam when the Oracle is low on energy.
We are investigating this issue.
• Users can issue commands to their units while the game is paused.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and should be applying a fix in a future update.
• The Barracks has a Kills counter on its Info Panel.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and should be applying a fix in a future update.
• The game client interprets the Control+Shift+Left Mouse Button macro as Forward Mouse Button.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and should be applying a fix in a future update.
• Widow Mine attacks can be manually controlled.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and should be applying a fix in a future update.
• The animation for the Oracle's Revelation ability appears to "pop" when used.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• The Reaper ability Battlefield Awareness is using the wrong icon.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• The Oracle's Phase Shield icon is appearing as the Preordain icon.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Mass Recall is using a Nexus icon.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• The animation for Purify is showing a Mothership during its teleport.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Attacking an Oracle as it is warped in will cause error messages to be displayed.
The error messages being displayed should have no impact on gameplay. We are currently investigating the underlying cause and are working towards a solution.
• Collapsible Rock Debris will "pop" when it spawns.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• There is an animation "pop" when an Oracle dies.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Time Warp is displaying a graphical oddity along its edge.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Time Warp lingers for longer than intended as it dissipates.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Photon Overcharge does not have a sound.
We have identified the cause of this issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• Placeholder spheres are displayed as units move through water.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• When units die they do not fully "settle" while they disappear.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• The icon for Air Weapons Level 1 does not update properly on Void Rays and on the Mothership Core.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• Decloak is missing from the command card of Ghosts when cloaked and decloaked Ghosts are in the same selection group.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.
• The Oracle's attack beam is not consistently sized at all angles.
This graphical issue is currently being investigated.
• Oracles do not properly prioritize Pulsar Beam targets in regards to structures that can return fire.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.

Battle.net
• Nexuses created after the game starts use the Akilae Tribe decal regardless of what decal the player has chosen.
We are currently investigating this issue.
• Some racial level reward decals are not displaying in game.
We are currently investigating this issue.
• No matter what zerg decal is chosen, The Brood is always displayed in game.
We are currently investigating this issue.
• The APM value reported on the Score Screen does not match the APM value reported during a match.
We have identified the cause of this issue and have a solution which should be applied in a future update.
• The Random icon for Team 1 on the map loading screen can be incorrect.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• Chat channels are not creating additional instances.
We are investigating the cause of this issue but in the mean time have increased the player maximum per channel.
• Mousing over a player's name in the Members tab of the clan window causes their status icons to disappear.
This display issue is currently being investigated.
• Mousing over a member's name in the members list causes the highlight to fade instead of intensify.
This display issue is currently being investigated.
• The clan chat member counter text is faded and difficult to read.
This display issue is currently being investigated.
• Locking your computer while waiting in queue can cause the results screen after the match to load forever.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.
• Screen names on the Load Screen can be cut off at certain aspect ratios.
We believe we have identified the cause of this graphical issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.

Hotkeys
• Units whose morphs include an intermediate transition cocoon cannot have their Cancel command remapped to a new hotkey.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• There are a variety of issues that occur when binding grid layout hotkeys to non-standard keyboards.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.
• There are hotkey options for "AI Communication" even though the functionality they reference is not present.
This is a purely cosmetic issue and should have no impact on game play. We are working towards a solution.

Localization
• There is a typo in the French version of the client when mousing over the menu button.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.
• There is a typo in the Korean version of the client in the tooltip for Point Defense Drone.
We believe we have identified the cause of this issue and have a solution that should be applied in a future update.
• The Haywire Salvo ability is displaying internal information in non-English clients.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.

Editor
• Path nodes are listed twice in the Add Node menu in the Galaxy Editor.
We are currently investigating the cause of this issue and are working towards a solution.
• Errors are sometimes generated when attempting to publish mod data in the beta.
This issue can be worked around by using the option to disable campaign sources in the Galaxy Editor before publishing the map. We are working towards a solution.

[silverhawk11]

Want early access to the beta? You can purchase from Amazon and receive a code within 4 business days. Alternatively, you can pre-order through GameStop (even just put $5 down) and receive your code on the receipt immediately. These keys are limited, so if you're interested, you had better hurry!

[chaos5061]

Well maybe I'll get a code. I preordered from Amazon yesterday the CE.

[chaos5061]

Battle.net World Championship (BWC)

[chaos5061]

And have my beta key and installing now.

[chaos5061]

Over the past seven months, StarCraft II players around the world have battled it out for the honor of representing their countries at the Battle.net World Championship in Shanghai, China. Players from more than 30 different countries competed in qualifier, national, and continental events in order to earn their spots at the BWC. Now, 32 of the world’s best StarCraft II players are traveling to China to compete for both country and a share of the $250,000 prize pool. The winner of the event will be taking home the trophy, the prestigious title of StarCraft II World Champion, and a $100,000 cash prize.
The Format
For the event, we’ve picked a tournament format that allows for thrilling games and epic battles. The 2012 World Championship Series Global Finals will feature a double elimination group stage and a single elimination playoff bracket. In the group stage, there will be eight groups with four players each. The seeding for the groups will be conditional, random selection. In order to ensure a variety of players in each group, a maximum of two players from the same continent can be in each group, and every group must have players from at least three continents. In order to achieve this group composition, we will be using the following method:
The first three players from each group will be drawn at random, but players will be redrawn if there has already been a player drawn from that continent for that group. For example, if there is a player from Asia in Group C and the third player drawn for Group C is also from Asia, there will be a redraw. When all eight groups have their first three players selected, the remaining player from each group will be drawn at random. This will ensure that there will be a maximum of two players from the same continent in one group and will ensure that there are no groups with players from only two continents.

In the group stage, the 4 players of each group are split into two pairs and will play each other in best of 3 matches. The order of players will be determined in the group selection draw. The first player drawn will be Player 1 and will play Player 2, who will be the second player drawn. Player 3 in the group will play Player 4. The winners of these two matches will then face each other in the Winner’s match. The victor places first in the group and will advance to the single elimination bracket. The losers of the initial matches will then face each other in the Loser’s match. The loser of that match places fourth in the group and will drop out of the tournament. The loser of the Winner’s match and the winner of the Loser’s match will face each other in a fifth match. The winner gets second place in the group and advances to the next round. The loser places third in the group and will drop out of the tournament.
After the round of 32 is complete, the sixteen remaining players will be put in a single elimination bracket. Seeding will be determined by the group stage. The matches are best of 5 until the finals, which will be a best of 7. The winner of Group A will play the runner up in Group H in the first half of the bracket. The winner of Group H will play the runner up in Group A in the second half of the bracket. See below.

Additional details on the group selection and tournament prize pool will be announced soon. For more information about the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals, head to the Battle.net World Championshipsite.

[chaos5061]

After eight months of qualifiers, national championships, and unique continental tournaments, the Blizzard World Championship Series began its epic conclusion tonight at 6:00 p.m. PST with the opening ceremony for the 2012 Battle.net World Championship at the Shanghai Expo-Mart in Shanghai, China.
Opening Ceremony VOD
All 32 finalists in the StarCraft II Global finals were introduced to thunderous applause, and play got underway with eight groups of four players – each group including players from three different continents – facing off in best-of-three , double-elimination group play, with two players advancing from each group.
The following VODs and links contain no spoilers. We will continue to post no spoilers in this Day 1 compilation:
Group A
Illusion (USA) vs. Fenix (Peru)
PartinG (South Korea) vs. Socke (Germany)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group B
ViBE (USA) vs. VortiX (Spain)
Comm (China) vs. Suppy (USA) Part 1, Part 2
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group C
Sen (Taiwan) vs. KiLLeR (Chile)
HuK (Canada) vs. Grubby (Netherlands)
1st Group Deciding Match, Part 2
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group D
State (USA) vs. BabyKnight (Denmark)
Rain (South Korea) vs. MaFia (Australia)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match, Part 2, Part 3
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group E
Stephano (France) vs. HerO (South Korea)
IdrA (USA) vs. RorO (South Korea)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group F
Curious (South Korea) vs. TitaN (Russian Federation)
MajOr (Mexico) vs. herO (South Korea)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match
Group G
Insur (USA) vs. LoWely (Belarus)
Levin (Brazil) vs. LucifroN (Spain)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match, Part 2
2nd Group Deciding Match, Part 2
Group H
mOOnGLaDe (Australia) vs. Scarlett (Canada)
Nerchio (Poland) vs. Creator (South Korea)
1st Group Deciding Match
Group Elimination Match
2nd Group Deciding Match, Part 2

[chaos5061]

As Day 2 of the Blizzard World Championship kicked off, 16 of the best players in the world - five South Koreans, five Europeans, and six finalists from Taiwan and the Americas remain in an amazing single elimination tournament. 15 matches will determine who is world champion.
Spoiler-free Day 1 Group Play
The following VODs and links contain no spoilers. We will continue to post no spoilers in this Day 2 compilation:
Round of 16
Match 1 - Best of 5
Match 2 - Best of 5, Part 2
Match 3 - Best of 5
Match 4 - Best of 5
Match 5 - Best of 5
Match 6 - Best of 5
Match 7 - Best of 5
Match 8 - Best of 5
Round of 8
Quarterfinal 1 (Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner) - Best of 5
Quarterfinal 2 (Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner) - Best of 5
Quarterfinal 3 (Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner) - Best of 5
Quarterfinal 4 (Match 7 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner) - Best of 5
The Final Four
Semi-final 1 (Quarterfinal 1 Winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 Winner) - Best of 5
Semi-final 2 (Quarterfinal 3 Winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 Winner) - Best of 5
Third Place Final
Consolation Match (Semi-final 1 Loser vs. Semi-final 2 Loser) - Best of 5
The BWC Grand Final
Grand Final VOD - Best of 7 - Casters: Tasteless and Artosis
Grand Final VOD - Best of 7 - Casters: Day[9] and Apollo, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

[chaos5061]

We’ve just published a new custom version of Antiga Shipyard, called "Antiga Shipyard (1.5.3 Balance)," in which we’re testing small balance changes to StarCraft II. This map has different balance adjustments than the previous version we published on November 20. With this test, we’re continuing to consider the meta-game around Zerg. Here’s the situation:
1. After testing the previous adjustment that made Psionic units immune to Fungal Growth, we found it to be too big of a change. We've reverted that change for now.
2. Global statistics don’t give us the impression that Zerg players have a general advantage, especially at the highest levels of play.
3. We do agree with the community that everyone could possibly benefit from some attention to Infestors.
Here’s what we’re testing now:
Raven Seeker Missile no longer requires an upgrade.
As before, this should slightly promote Raven usage without completely altering the Terran late game.
Egg health reduced to 80 (was 100).
In this test, we’re looking at bringing down the impact of Infested Terrans. When players have a dozen or more Infestors, they aren’t using 20 Fungals at once. Rather, they’re relying on Infested Terrans. The question we hope to answer is: Will the Zerg’s opponents kill some of the eggs before Infested Terrans spawn?
We’d like to see how this plays out on the test map. These aren’t final changes, and we’re looking for feedback that is based on playtesting. After you’ve thoroughly tested it, please join us in this discussion thread.

[chaos5061]

In part seven of our continuing series, Brian Kindregan, co-lead writer of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and lead writer of Heart of the Swarm, answers more of the community’s most burning lore questions.

Question: Are the Protoss and Zerg aware of the Earth Terrans and their location?
Answer: Really good question. The Protoss are certainly aware that there is a Terran birth-world out there somewhere, but they're not interested in finding it. They hold themselves above all others and really don't want to get involved. If they ever set out to find the world that spawned the Terrans, I'm sure it would be easy for them… but their minds simply don't work that way.
I'd say the Zerg must be aware. A fair number of UED brains were exposed to the Swarm, not the least of which was Stukov when he was infested. However, the Swarm has more than enough going on in the Koprulu sector. I'm sure they've marked the location for future growth… but that's about it for now.

Question: Are Tassadar and the Overmind one now?
Answer: Not now, no. But something like the Overmind does not die instantly. Some synapses may fire for a time as it fades away. And at the moment of impact for both of these organisms, they were one, for a brief instant. Their bodies certainly collided, but their higher-level functions, on a psionic scale, also merged. There is precedent for this: recall that Zeratul's mind touched the Overmind briefly when he killed Zasz.
Was Zeratul seeing Tassadar? Or a memory of Tassadar? Or the Overmind seeking to communicate as Tassadar? Or some melding of the two? Lots of possibilities – what do you all think?
Question: Why did the Queen of Blades make broodmothers (the ones that will appear in HotS)? If she earlier destroyed a ton of cerebrates so she could have unquestioned control of the Swarm, why did she make highly intelligent individuals to rule with her? Was controlling the entire Swarm so much work that she needed help? Do the Zerg wire information from one planet to another? Did she need generals who could make decisions for her when she was busy someplace else? Or was she planning to have someone take over after her if she died? And if so, why did she make multiple broodmothers and not just one? Any ideas?
Answer: Quite a few ideas, yes. The Queen of Blades, with her demigoddess levels of psionic power, was capable of controlling literally billions of organisms in multiple locations at once. But having sapient lieutenants extended her control even further. Additionally, she had learned the inherent flaw in the Zerg hivemind when the Overmind was destroyed. For the Swarm to thrive, it needed a fallback if its leader was killed. In BW, the Queen of Blades used the Zerg as a tool and didn't really care what would happen to them if she fell. But in the intervening years, she began to build a Swarm that would outlast her. Was it a change of heart? A change of tactics? What do all of you think?
She killed all the cerebrates because they would have inevitably tried to form a new Overmind if no Overmind existed. So she could never trust them. Broodmothers, on the other hand, were designed from the ground up by the Queen of Blades.

She made broodmothers powerful and independent because she had also seen that the Zerg were strongest when they continually strove against something, when they had to adapt and change and grow. And she made multiples for the same reason. She wasn't grooming a successor that she would deem worthy. She was creating many cunning, vicious beings, knowing that only one could claw her way to the top if the Queen disappeared.

[chaos5061]

Question: I've been wondering about the Protoss' mental status. According to what I've seen so far, the Protoss are mentally advanced, meaning they have psionic powers. That could also mean they are unintellectual, as mental advancement is not always logical advancement. (Even though both reference the mind, one is a physical manifestation, such as psionic links, while the other is purely thought capacity/development, etc.) It seems to me that the Protoss are actually less mentally developed for logic than humans are. From what I've seen, the crystals that the Protoss use create all their technology for them. They seem to commit acts of "honor" and "heroism" that are reminiscent of the Dark Ages, and the values of that era came from an incredibly limited knowledge of the world.
Answer: Another great question. The Protoss are devastatingly intelligent. Their crystals are incredible, as are their motherships and colossi. The Protoss developed these technologies. They maintain them, and they can create even greater technology if they wish.
The fact is the Protoss are not developed for human logic at all. They think very differently than we do. They have very different priorities and reasoning protocols. And there is no way around it: many of the things they do seem strange and wrong to Terrans. Guess how the Protoss view Terran actions? As silly and wrong. Their shared consciousness, their long memories, and the age of their race all combine to make them a prouder, more cautious, and fundamentally more mysterious race than Terrans.
Question: Why do the Zerg have so few planets under their control? For this very expansionist race, you'd think their empire would be greater. Zerg and Protoss airspaces are also seemingly distant enough for the Zerg to expand without much Protoss interference. Same question for Protoss. At least the Protoss have a lot more planets mentioned in books than Aiur and Shakuras, yet only Aiur is listed on the Protoss game guide. Also, why are Char and Aiur owned by two races? Especially Char. I imagine the Terrans would not want to occupy the volatile planet for long.
Answer: The Queen of Blades pulled the Swarm back to Char and held it there. No one knows why… yet. But if she had continued to expand, there is little doubt that the Zerg would have carved out a huge swath of planets. However, there is a limit to how far the Swarm can expand; the Zerg are well suited for storming planets, but not as good at keeping planets.

The Protoss do indeed have more planets than just Aiur and Shakuras. As to why the Terrans would want to own Char… well, why do those greedy Terrans do anything? There are some super-rich mineral resources in those lava flows!

[chaos5061]

When we first discussed the Clans feature coming in Heart of the Swarm, we also revealed that we were working on support for Groups, a feature similar to Clans. The Groups feature is for players who want to associate casually and in larger numbers. We’re pleased to announce that this feature is now ready for testing and will be introduced soon, in Beta Patch 2.0.2. Here’s a first look.

Like Clans, each Group has a designated chat channel, a News tab where stories can be posted, an Info tab where officers can post a brief description of the Group, and a Members roster. While you are only able to join a single Clan, you can join many different Groups. Additionally, a nearly unlimited number of players can join a Group. The table below illustrates the similarities and differences between Clans and Groups.

Chat Channel	Y	Y
News	Y	Y
Info	Y	Y
Roster	Y	Y
Tag	Y	N
Max Members	50	Near Limitless
Max per Character	1	20
Can be Public	N	Y

The Groups feature is a way for you to meet and interact with other StarCraft II players who share common interests. Accordingly, when you create a Group, you'll select a category that best describes the type of Group you are creating. These categories include topics such as BarCraft for Groups that are interested in finding and keeping in touch with friends they’ve made at BarCraft events, Strategy and Coaching for Groups that are looking to share their favorite strategies and helping others improve their play, and many more. Once the Group is created, others will then be able to search for the Group by name or browse through the Groups by category.
When a Group is created, you will also be able to designate whether you want the group to be open to the public or private, requiring an invitation to join. Private Groups won’t appear in search results.