Dear all,
This is my first time posting on a blizzard forum with a serious request. For I believe we may have accidently excluded a loyal group of gamers over time.
Yesterday I had an odd request towards Blizzard. Blizzard couldn’t help me directly and directed me towards the forums. So the following text is not the full story, but a sum up.
There is some text because I believe if you’re a youngster you might not understand…
- Some informational /emotional fluff
- The odd request
1 Some Fluff
The request was for my father who is 70+. He is a gamer, and one of the best in strategy games I have ever met.
As a little boy I sat next to him as my father slew virtual AI opponent’s after another. Games like space crusade, doom, dark omen, dark forces, warcraft, starcraft, etc. it was grand, and it was the way we bonded. we beat halo on legendary countless of times, it was the best.
But in 2010 when SC2 WoL came out, it became apparent that my father was getting older. His set of strategy exceeded mine but he could not keep up with the ‘normal’ pace of the game… and he never was the hotkey user. (also i believe SC2 had minimal -to- none hotkey editing in those day’s).
But playing on easy was and still is, just a mockery towards him. (he’s a teacher of the accurate studies and makes frosthaven and gloomhaven look easy).
I moved out the house. And my father never got to play SC2 HoS and LoV and therefore will never truly know how the story from 1998 resolves. Yes CGI cut-scenes. But on their own it does not fulfill the experience of being in a gargantuan as the queen of blades, or restoring honor to Aiur first hand.
- The odd request
The request was/is:
To buy/make a custom made copy of SC2 that was scalable in game speed (very slow, slow, normal, fast, faster) on any difficulty setting.
Now that would obviously piss of all achievement hunters globe wide, therefore I requested that all online options and achievement should be skimmed. (my dad could not care less about fancy ribbons or points you can’t spend).
The reply the game master gifted, was very wholesome. And also stated the following: ‘’ We are unable to provide customized copies of our games. All players have access to the same versions of our titles and we strive to maintain a consistent experience for everyone ‘’. And I agree with this. This is awesome.
Still. I would like to gift my dad and all the other oldies who already play life on 2X speed… the possibility to enjoy a hardcore SC2 on a ‘observable’ game pace.
Thank you for your time.
…
edit
I do not know if i’m allowed to share the ticket i sent yesterday, but i am. For i really think this is somewhat important. At least, it is to me.
Thank you for your time.
…
w*****
Dear employee of Blizzard, The following has no urgency and may take a lot of time to read and to resolve and may not even be addressed to the right helpdesk.
There is a lot of text and no moving pictures. Please take this in mind as you may need to forward this to someone else. Please do not discard. It is a serious request.
The 1st part is informational/emotional fluff .
The 2nd part holds the request + info.
The 3rd parts holds ‘a’ bargain\trade off. (i’m leaving this out in this forum as it may have impact on Blizzard due to a possible flaw).
Why via customer support?
I don’t know how else to go with this request.
Again, this request has no urgency and I will sign for it if it takes months to achieve, if even possible. Thank you for your time.
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Dear employee of Blizzard,
I’ve come with a odd request. And I do not know where else to go to.
My father was born on the 1st of December in 1954. His parents were poor. He was raised in a family with 3 other children. He became a teacher of the precise studies (math, science, biology and physics) and one of the best strategy gamers I have ever met (he can make gloomhaven/frosthaven look easy).
As a little boy I sat next to him when he played games on the PC. Space Crusade, Battle Isle, Dark Omen, Dark Forces, Starcraft, Warcraft. And took me on adventures in way to expensive boardgames.
I remembered ‘Warcraft Beyond the Portal’ and ‘Starcraft Broodwars’ somewhat vividly, due to it’s spiked difficulty. Which my dad was into.
Around 2009 my Parents divorced horribly because of my mother cheating for a long period of time and divides the family. My sister leaves the house almost instantly, and it’s just me and my father. I was barely a support to him for I was quite devastated.
In 2010 ‘Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty’ comes out in europe. The tables have turned. I now rule a fat booty desktop brute where I hide my feelings in. Where my dad still rocks it’s ‘old school dungus’, that he cannot upgrade due to payments towards my mother. His pc ‘barely’ runs SC2. So, he sits next to me. He gives tactical advice while I try to keep up with the games speed. And sometimes we switched around. It was a nice escape of reality and felt like old times.
I remember the cutscene where Tychus Findlay goes sniffing into the hyperion video archives and Matt Horner caught’s him red handed. They talk about Kerrigan and how ‘Jimmy feels responsible’. The cutscene ends with Tychus extinguishing his cigar in the forehead of onscreen Kerrigan, saying:
‘woman like that, there’s only one thing to do.’
My father quoted that line every time we watched it. And at the time, I agreed with him.
But I had a student life with friends and party’s. So our game sessions of SC2 came to an end. And I was still no actual support towards my father.
So, he too went on and met someone. She came to live in our house. And in 2013 I moved out.
I moved into my house in 2013 on the 13th of Friday…
I become an addict to cnnb*s due to work stress and personal issues coming to bare that were difficult to prognose in earlier times (ADD,dislectia). In 2014 I become depressed and In 2017 I crash and have been recovering ever since. My dad always being there for me.
My dad turned 70 last year. On the 1st of December 2024 a huge party was thrown. My sister prepped the location, invited all his besties, arranged beamer with a presentation and an upcoming vacation to his family roots, Czech Republic.
I wanted to make my request earlier. But I couldn’t do it. And came empty handed.
My dad has become too old to play the trilogy of SC2 on normal speed. And too stubborn to learn hotkey’s (I don’t even know if he acknowledges attack move). Thou he is a master of the strategy games.
I wish for him to know first-hand, how the adventure resolves that he got to enjoy in 1998. The CGI cut scenes alone from the 2 sequels after WoL are not justifying it enough, if you haven’t played the missions and felt the thrill of being in the Spear of Adun or a gargantuan Zerg itself.
So therefore I have an odd request.
…
#2 : The odd request
- A copy of the SC2 trilogy that is scaled down/up to play all difficulty’s on any game speed.
This will go against all online achievements.
Therefor…. the option to achieve online achievements should possibly be removed in order to achieve this. (including most likely all other online capabilities).
MY DAD COULD NOT CARE LESS 
and neither do I. Nor should you.
As I believe a lot of tactical loyal oldy gamer’s struggle with the speed and hotkey’s but still want the grittiness of something barreling on top of their defences with 3/3 upgrades… and not a handful of halved healthed tier 1 units…. Late game.
I’m fully aware that this request may require:
- Full-on customized software copies of SC2 trilogy.
- Entire hardware system that overrides the built in online features.
- The approval of all CEO’s due to a modified copy of SC2 which may be a hazardous spin-off to a (well) controlled online service. (could be, I don’t know).
I really hope it’s not as hardcore as I imaging it is. I don’t know the cost of this, but I’m only able to pay the price of the 3 games in full and additional for the programming cost/customer service.
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15 hours ago
This ticket has been marked as Answered.
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15 hours ago
R*****
Hello W*****.
Game Master R*****.
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your heartfelt story with us.
It’s clear how much your memories of playing StarCraft with your father mean to you, especially during such a challenging time in both of your lives. The bond you’ve formed through gaming is truly special, and it’s wonderful to hear how you’ve cherished those moments together.
I understand that your father has faced significant challenges, and it’s touching to see your desire to bring joy back into his life through a customized copy of StarCraft II. However, I must inform you that we are unable to provide customized copies of our games.
All players have access to the same versions of our titles, and we strive to maintain a consistent experience for everyone. If you’d like to share your ideas or your story further, I encourage you to visit our forums.
The forums are a great place to connect with other players and share your thoughts, and there’s always a possibility that our developers may take a look at the feedback shared there. Your voice matters, and it could inspire future developments! You can find the StarCraft II forums here:
(somewhat the one your looking at but different)
Thank you once again for sharing your story with us. If you have any other questions or need assistance with anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Game Master R*****.
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13 hours ago
You marked this ticket as Resolved.