My thoughts on Starcraft 2 have gone from definite buy at release to punching my way through the line to get the first copy and buying the whole game again for the inevitable Battle Chest version coming out in 2028.

Eh, it certainly seems to be a powerful tool that may result in some very nice user made maps, but I'll wait to see just how Blizzard ends up handling said maps. I guess I've just gotten to the point where I tune out all hype surrounding games prior to their release and end up taking a "wait and see" approach on everything.

Is it bad that the 3rd person game looks more fun than the real game?
I like the style, and this should mean loads of cool user-made maps... but watching the basic gameplay (lots of units standing and shooting each other until one side is reduced to zero) just seems so outdated. (not to mention, not much fun).

I actually didn't find the 3rd person perspective to look that great, it's been done before in an RTS so it's not like something I've never seen before, but the data editor crazy!

Nope, you're right, and the third person animations looked... Let's just say "less than convincing". But then fortunately, it appears to be a possibility in the engine, rather than a feature of the actual game.

My thoughts exactly... it looked very bad, but it was meant to be an extreme case of modding, so it was nice to see.

You'll be buying 50 + games with your wallet, too, since they'll be selling the maps on their marketplace.

As I understand it, it is not a case of "all user made content will be sold", but a case of "users can, if they so choose, and if we deem the quality of their content high enough, be allowed to sell their content through our marketplace, with a markup for us in the process". My guess is that lots of people will make content free of charge.

Blizzard said that the quality of the level would have to be better than DotA for them to consider selling it.

Strategy games have evolved beyond basebuilding/resource collecting . Try the Total War series, or Dawn of War...Blizzard has a lot to compete with now.

I think that keeping with that old style will be a success. Starcraft and Warcraft 3 are being played still a lot, disregarding of their age.

Then nothing will EVER be sold. DotA is unbeatable.

I fail to see how that style of game can even be considared "strategic", since it's just about overwhelming numbers/base rush. Boring. Tactical strategic gamepaly is limiting what you you to fight with, and forcing you to do the best you can with it. Tha'ts why Company of Heroes (And relic titles in general), men of War, and the commandos series trumps SCS IMHO.

I personally find DotA to be absolutely horrendous...