Starcraft 2 Mar Sara info up

[Teleros]

For those who haven't seen the SC2 page yet, here's the link: Mar Sara.

Just a few things to consider from having read the page:

1. The surface was incinerated by the Protoss, but from the screenshots there are still large trees and the like there - unless they were planted during re-colonisation and grew rapidly, it seems the Protoss didn't use anywhere near BDZ levels of firepower. The text has the planet being "incinerated".
Note that the artwork in the background does not appear to show any trees, but does show what looks like the remains of a city or large structure in the background.

2. The Protoss weapons used in the bombardment can cause "unique properties" to occur in some minerals.

3. The incineration of Mar Sara was apparently enough to wipe out the Zerg, although they are believed to have returned there after the bombardment.

[Pelranius]

Those guys with the orange faction colors look like they might be Kel Morian combine security guards.

[Shroom Man 777]

I find this Kel-Morian and Dominion dynamic during the post-Confederate period to be interesting, and it's cool that they mentioned it. I'm glad that the StarCraft guys haven't forgotten their old fluff.

Perhaps Mar Sara wasn't entirely incinerated by the Protoss? Only the patches of the planet that had Zerg on it? On one side of the planet, you could have a continent-sized splotch of glassed earth, on the other side, you could have a (relatively) inhabitable area.

[Losonti Tokash]

Maybe in the short term, but I think that the effects of a massive bombardment like that would still fuck the rest of the planet through atmospheric issues alone.

[Darth Ruinus]

Perhaps Mar Sara wasn't entirely incinerated by the Protoss? Only the patches of the planet that had Zerg on it? On one side of the planet, you could have a continent-sized splotch of glassed earth, on the other side, you could have a (relatively) inhabitable area.

Well, the old Starcraft novel Liberty's Crusade says that the whole planet was hit, but I guess that was retconned?

Most of the surface area has been liquified and sterilized. This zone looks to be between twenty and fifty feet deep.

However, most doesn't mean all, so there could have been parts that weren't bombed.

Maybe in the short term, but I think that the effects of a massive bombardment like that would still fuck the rest of the planet through atmospheric issues alone.

Liberty's Crusade says that 80% of the atmosphere was blown off.

[Connor MacLeod]

I'd guess it depends on how long between the bombardment and the planet's re-colonization occurs. crust-melting and atmosphere removal are fairly energy intensive (nevermind sterilization), though I'm not sure how long it would take to "cool" down. I vaguely recall it would take years if not decades though, but that's just offhand recollection.,

There'a slo dust loading and ejecta that would have to clear up, since those will block sunlight and interfere with life growing back

I'm not sure how much atmosphere might need to rmain to support plant life of any kind, however, but I imagine as long as something remains, they could probably figure something out (though again, don' t quote me on that.), given the above already gone.

[Tanasinn]

If I recall correctly, Mar Sara was only marginally inhabitable to begin with, its ecology apparently having been devastated by the Terrans.

This simply seems to be a case of Blizzard ignoring/retconning their fluff.

[Stargate Nerd]

If I recall correctly, Mar Sara was only marginally inhabitable to begin with, its ecology apparently having been devastated by the Terrans.

This simply seems to be a case of Blizzard ignoring/retconning their fluff.

I think Tarsonis was devastated by the Confederation. Mar Sara seemed pretty normal in Starcraft 1.

[Ford Prefect]

As far as I am aware, theo nly planet expressly described as having its shit ruined by the Confederacy was Korhal. Mar Sara was just a backwater planet, and was always a backwater. I always got the sense that the Magistrate getting shoved off to Mar Sara was something of a career dead end, especially seeing as the manual made it quite clear that the similarily named Chau Sara was awesome.

[Connor MacLeod]

Korhal was "glassed" by some 1000 warheads (which reputedly were launched by a score or so of terran battlecruisers, or so I hear). It wasn't a complete "glassing" or extinction event, at least by Liberty's crusade as I recall. There were still places left untouched by the bombardment (contrasting what the Protoss did.)

Edit: Found it

Finally Mike came up with a question he thought they could answer. “What did this? Nukes?”
The word seemed to reak Duke from his steady stream of information. He looked at the reporter. “Atomic delivery systems leave blackened glass and burning forests. Even Korhal had some surviving pockets of clear terrain, for a while at least. Chau Sara has been burned down to the liquid core in
places. This is much more deadly than even Apocalypse bombs.”

That suggests an incomplete bombardment (no more than 10-100 TT, possibly less, depending on the scope of firestorms and such.) Mind you, "burning down to the core" ought to trigger some pretty hefty firestorms and a ton of ejecta as well... so that makes me wonder where all the mass to "burrow" down towards the core went.

[Shroom Man 777]

I'm totally unsure of the acceptability of these StarCraft novelizations. I mean, didn't one novel had a battlecruiser downed by a squad of Marines?

[Covenant]

I'm totally unsure of the acceptability of these StarCraft novelizations. I mean, didn't one novel had a battlecruiser downed by a squad of Marines?

That's just ridiculous. Unless they had stimpacks you might need a dozen and a half marines to take down a Battlecruiser! Game mechanics ahoy!

No, but seriously, if you look at the stats as stated in the book--just like the stats in the Halo games--they're suprisingly weak all around. I've done everything I can in past debates to bring some kind of objectivity to the discussion, but the fact is that Starcraft stuff lives in one of those strange altered states where someone with an AK-47 would honestly and legitimately be a step up from an armored, minigun wielding soldier.

At one point someone actually attacks Space Marines with muskets and... I think... a blunderbuss? Or something?

I think we need to assume that the suits and ship hulls are actually painted-up copper and bronze, with a lot of plastic, rather than iron or steel or advanced materials.

[Sea Skimmer]

Korhal was "glassed" by some 1000 warheads (which reputedly were launched by a score or so of terran battlecruisers, or so I hear). It wasn't a complete "glassing" or extinction event, at least by Liberty's crusade as I recall. There were still places left untouched by the bombardment (contrasting what the Protoss did.)

It was hit by 1000 Apocalypse class nuclear missiles launched directly from Tarsonis according to the original manual, killing 4 million people. Each missile probably had multiple warheads each for maximum area of effect. The planet is described as having been transformed into a desert by this, but it seems more likely that it was simply always very arid and just got worse.

[Peptuck]

At one point someone actually attacks Space Marines with muskets and... I think... a blunderbuss? Or something?

And in one of the novels, a group of humans hold off an invading army of Zerg with farm equipment.

[Balrog]

IIRC it was Hydralisks that shot down the Battlecruiser. Granted it had taken a hit from Psi Storm, but still pretty poor showing.

From what I recall, Blizz has made statements that their novels are canon, but the whole thing is still pretty messed up: you get Terran ships that have energy shields, Siege Tanks that can fire both of their weapons at the same time, and a Ghost agent more powerful than any Protoss or even Kerrigan.

[Covenant]

At one point someone actually attacks Space Marines with muskets and... I think... a blunderbuss? Or something?

And in one of the novels, a group of humans hold off an invading army of Zerg with farm equipment.

That is Awesome.

That perfectly sums up the problem with Starcraft in a versus, really, the fact that while these monsters and aliens and powersuits all look big and scary and powerful, none of them are in the slightest. I still hope the game is a lot of fun, but Starcraft is really low-end on the versus scale, down near The Road Warrior. I was about to say Fallout, but I think that the Brotherhood of Steel circa Fallout 2 would be able to manhandle the Colonial Marines of Starcraft pretty handily.

[Balrog]

But wait, it gets even better:
[quote=Shadow of the Xel'Naga]Kiernan and Kirsten Warner - he a young stonemason, she a teacher and amateur engineer - fought side by side with the granite-chopping implements Kiernan used in his work. He swung the long tool from one side to the other, hacking sharp limbs off the creatures, splitting their thick leathery hides, and leaving a pile of twitching, mindless alien bodies around him. Kirsten fought just as hard, as if trying to keep up with the number of victims Kiernan scattered on the ground.[/quote]
That's right, Ma and Pa from Planet Bumfuck, Koprulu Sector, are kicking Zerg ass in hand-to-hand combat. I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry, or do both.

[Connor MacLeod]

He's a stonemason though, which would imply he's a pretty strong man, and any sort of instrument designed to cut through stone is bound to impart a fair bit of forcee to the target (something like hitting a guy with a sledgehammer, or a very heavy axe I imagine.) It wouldnt neccesarily be very ACCURATE or balanced properly for melee, but it would still be quite destructive when it did hit.

It also depends on the Zerg in question. Zerglings never struck me as particularily adept combatants, or particularily well armored (we know from Liberty's Crusade a reporter blasted one with a double barreled shotgun, after all ) And lets be blunt we don't always have good examples to compare them against as far as combat abilitiy goes. (that cutscene where the TErran Marines are drinking on duty is the most immediate example that comes to mind.)

What tends to bug me more are the subset of the fandom who keep insisting that Gauss rifles shoot out an Antimaterial rifle grade projectile by the dozens and have the firepower of a 20mm vulcan cannon/30mm avenger cannon.

Mind you, I wouldn't call all their equipment crap. Those marine suits are acqually quite a useful thing, ,even if they are a bit bulky and probably have a massive thermal signature. (some unquantified level of protection against most weapons, NBC protection and a self-sealed suit- even against airless enviroments, its got limited sensor/detection gear, it can boost strength, etc.)

[SAMAS]

Don't forget a rather impressive strength boost. Ghost was gonna have Marines busting though walls.

[Balrog]

It also depends on the Zerg in question. Zerglings never struck me as particularily adept combatants, or particularily well armored (we know from Liberty's Crusade a reporter blasted one with a double barreled shotgun, after all ) And lets be blunt we don't always have good examples to compare them against as far as combat abilitiy goes. (that cutscene where the TErran Marines are drinking on duty is the most immediate example that comes to mind.)

Bah, perhaps, though you're right about them not being well armored, if this quote is anything to go by:

Octavia didn't have time to worry about it. She hurled her empty, useless pellet gun at the closest lizardlike alien with such force that it smashed open the thing's head. Ooze splattered, but that didn't seem to bother the creature a bit.

Don't forget a rather impressive strength boost. Ghost was gonna have Marines busting though walls.

Once again, Blizzard's novels leave much to be desired:

Ardo had no time to think as he ran across the floor. When he reached Jans, he simply drew back his combat suit fist and launched it at the engineer's head.

The power-enhanced, armored glove did its job well. Jans fell unconscious to the floor.

A few hours later, he's up and about just fine and dandy, running around in an SCV fixing stuff.

[Andrew_Fireborn]

So... bad sci-fi is having bad semi-cannon novels written about it contributing to the clusterfuck that is attempting to figure out how powerful -anything- in the series is?

Not terribly surprising, given Blizzards willingness to upright everything in the name of the new cannonical direction.

[Guardsman Bass]

Why, why, why did they have to go and make the novels canon? I like Liberty's Crusade, but many of the other ones seems to have drunken down a big dose of stupid.

In any case, I guess that means that we either scale down Protoss power, or assume that the Terrans did some terraforming on Mar Sara after it cooled down.

[pieman3141]

The sector map in the artwork section has a planet labelled "Azeroth." There's also a minotaur in there with a rifle and glowy axe-bayonet. What the hell?

[Guardsman Bass]

The sector map in the artwork section has a planet labelled "Azeroth." There's also a minotaur in there with a rifle and glowy axe-bayonet. What the hell?

They're probably just screwing with people. Remember when they released the joke Tauren Marine?

[Ender]

The sector map in the artwork section has a planet labelled "Azeroth." There's also a minotaur in there with a rifle and glowy axe-bayonet. What the hell?

April fools joke still up. They announced Tauren Marines as a unit on April 1st.