[Petition] StarCraft II for Linux

[Janusz11]

After reading this thread (http://www.phoronix.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2858) I thought this might be of interest.

Some of you might have already seen that Blizzard announced StarCraft II (http://www.starcraft2.com) just recently. For me, personally, this means that a wish finally comes true. I'm not much of a computer gamer anymore. But StarCraft is one of the best games I've played ever! And after I've seen the Cinematic trailer and the Gameplay movie I'm pretty sure that I will get this game.

Anyway, there is already a petition online asking for Linux Installers for Blizzard products and therefore for StarCraft II for Linux. You can find it here (http://www.petitiononline.com/ibpfl/petition.html).


P.S.: The trailer and gameplay movie can be found on GamersHell (http://www.gamershell.com).

[niniendowarrior]

I'm sure this petition had more credence if it was people posting on Battle.net.

As far as I remember, isn't Battle.net restricted to purchasers of Blizzard products? Anyway, if it is indeed only to those who have purchased Blizzard products, then they have a much larger say to Blizzard to convince them of a Linux port (or a Linux installer). Then again, this may not work too knowing companies largely ignore Linux.

On the flip side, seeing that Starcraft 2 is already running and it seems like it's going to be a PC only game, the ease of porting will most likely depend on how they designed their game from the ground up.

EDIT:
Noting that Starcraft 2 is heading to PC and Mac, that increases the chances technically speaking on Starcraft 2. It doesn't guarantee a Linux port though.

[Huenengrab]

Already signed. :)

[Janusz11]

I'm sure this petition had more credence if it was people posting on Battle.net.

Yeah, good point. I was thinking along in the same direction already. Besides, I don't like the wording of the petition- sounds kind of demanding and arrogant to me. But I also thought, if we want to get games on Linux, we have to start somewhere and make ourselves get heard. And since this petition is up, I signed it.

[Svartalf]

Yeah, good point. I was thinking along in the same direction already. Besides, I don't like the wording of the petition- sounds kind of demanding and arrogant to me. But I also thought, if we want to get games on Linux, we have to start somewhere and make ourselves get heard. And since this petition is up, I signed it.

Not to be a wet blanket... (Yeah, yeah, I know, anytime you say something like that, you're actually being one...hush... :D)

So far, petitions do pretty much no good in getting their attention, really. A petition does not ensure them getting money in exchange for doing the effort. After all, one should get paid for one's hard work. All a petition does is show that someone claims that they'll buy the game if it's ported to Linux. Now, if they have, say five or ten thousand signatures, they might begin to pay attention because it'd be reasonable to them to assume they would see something like 1-2k purchases from that work at that point in time.

By all means, sign the thing. Just don't expect anything different from the Diablo II, WarCraft, etc. petitions of the past. The only way they will really be convinced is if they see numbers of sales from other publishers and developers that braved the leading edge. Oddlabs is doing us a big favor by releasing their numbers- it's actually helping. I'm hopeful we'll get some adequate sales with Ballistics, Bandits, and Disciples when they come out so that'll be in our favor as well.

[d2kx]

StarCraft is a game which still will be played in years... and in years linux is much more popular! There was a linux client of WoW in the beta, so it can't be much of a problem.

[Synergy6]

Has a petition for a Linux port ever worked?

[Janusz11]

Has a petition for a Linux port ever worked?

Me, personally, I don't care. And I will buy StarCraft II anyway. But if they would make StarCraft II compatible to Linux as well, that would be a blast (and I'd buy the Linux port, of course)!

I think, this is all just about numbers. This petition may not do any good. But there is at least a chance, that if enough people (read l o a d s of people) sign it, we may get Blizzards attention in the end.

Think positive! :D

[niniendowarrior]

So far, petitions do pretty much no good in getting their attention, really.

I agree. Petitions don't do anything as far as Linux ports are concerned. I tend to think though that Battle.net is reserved for Blizzard customers, so I was thinking perhaps it would have a bigger pull there.

That said, the likelihood is not great.

[Xipeos]

Read some more info on StarCraft II, and see that they are discussing whether Direct X 9 or 10 be used, with no mention of OpenGL.

StarCraft II for linux is a lost cause, as it's too late in the development cycle (unless you want to wait a couple extra years?). You should instead hope for good wine/cedega compatibility.

[Huenengrab]

Read some more info on StarCraft II, and see that they are discussing whether Direct X 9 or 10 be used, with no mention of OpenGL.
How do you think they'll get it running on Mac, if they're using DX? :)
StarCraft II for linux is a lost cause, as it's too late in the development cycle (unless you want to wait a couple extra years?).
I don't think that it'll be so hard to be run on Linux, when it's getting ported for the Mac. But first Blizzard needs to make the decision to port it on Linux. I really hope they'll at least consider it, now that Linux is getting widespread due to Ubuntu and the like.

[Xipeos]

How do you think they'll get it running on Mac, if they're using DX? :)

I don't think that it'll be so hard to be run on Linux, when it's getting ported for the Mac. But first Blizzard needs to make the decision to port it on Linux. I really hope they'll at least consider it, now that Linux is getting widespread due to Ubuntu and the like.

Guess I'm the one who should have read more, as I completely ignored the Mac part (must be a case of Somebody Else's Problem...).

What's more is that even Havok works on linux, so they'd have even less technical problems in porting it. Perhaps there are other problems that they don't want to spend the money on fixing (...network or game protection maybe?).

Or....wait a second. What the hell is linux?! I thought there were only PCs and Macs...
(linux isn't that widespread, even with Ubuntu)

[Svartalf]

(linux isn't that widespread, even with Ubuntu)

When will people QUIT propagating that particular meme?

Novell pinned it down at over 30 Million. Did it PUBLICLY.

30 Million users translates into about 10% of the global computer userbase. That means about the same numbers as MacOS, in all honesty. It's very probably larger than that at this point.

It's a lot more widespread than you'd think.

[Xipeos]

When will people QUIT propagating that particular meme?

Novell pinned it down at over 30 Million. Did it PUBLICLY.

30 Million users translates into about 10% of the global computer userbase. That means about the same numbers as MacOS, in all honesty. It's very probably larger than that at this point.

It's a lot more widespread than you'd think.

Yes, probably, but most of that is represented by servers.
Linux isn't spread wide enough on desktops.

[ap90033]

Not to be a wet blanket... (Yeah, yeah, I know, anytime you say something like that, you're actually being one...hush... :D)

So far, petitions do pretty much no good in getting their attention, really. A petition does not ensure them getting money in exchange for doing the effort. After all, one should get paid for one's hard work. All a petition does is show that someone claims that they'll buy the game if it's ported to Linux. Now, if they have, say five or ten thousand signatures, they might begin to pay attention because it'd be reasonable to them to assume they would see something like 1-2k purchases from that work at that point in time.

By all means, sign the thing. Just don't expect anything different from the Diablo II, WarCraft, etc. petitions of the past. The only way they will really be convinced is if they see numbers of sales from other publishers and developers that braved the leading edge. Oddlabs is doing us a big favor by releasing their numbers- it's actually helping. I'm hopeful we'll get some adequate sales with Ballistics, Bandits, and Disciples when they come out so that'll be in our favor as well.


Well Currently There Are 12758 sig's!!! so more than 10k maybe that will get their attention...

[Thetargos]

Wholly thread resurrection!!

Back in May and June there was quite a stir about this issue, and many of us still anxiously wait for the release of this game. Just like d2kx commented, I also heard about a WoW Linux client (didn't know it was during beta) which was (supposedly) held back by Vivendi, rather than Blizzard, so I have to wonder: Who has the last word about a given port? The publisher or the studio? Support may not be an issue as a Linux subforum on SCII Battle.net site should be enough, just like BioWare has done with NWN, and which apparently worked out pretty well... just wondering...


PS: misspelled "holy" with "wholly" on purpose.

[Svartalf]

Well Currently There Are 12758 sig's!!! so more than 10k maybe that will get their attention...

I'll re-iterate... Over 10k signatories signing a petition doesn't translate into the same thing as over 10k people BUYING titles and showing that there's enough people to merit considering at least a small production run of at least 2-5k units or allowing a small publisher to do the same.

I'm impressed all the same. Wow.

[Svartalf]

Wholly thread resurrection!!
Who has the last word about a given port? The publisher or the studio?

It depends on the publishing deal they cut. In the case of BioWare, NWN had the port mostly done when they cut the deal with their new publisher, so it was something of a fete accompli at that point and it just simply got released as an "unsupported mode of use" for the game. In the case of most games, unless the studio reserved rights to the title on platforms not published by the original publisher, the publisher typically has final say- and they're the ones that typically want silly royalty arrangements that preclude someone doing a Linux port because they want royalties commensurate with the console or Windows game market space.

[Thetargos]

It depends on the publishing deal they cut. In the case of BioWare, NWN had the port mostly done when they cut the deal with their new publisher, so it was something of a fete accompli at that point and it just simply got released as an "unsupported mode of use" for the game. In the case of most games, unless the studio reserved rights to the title on platforms not published by the original publisher, the publisher typically has final say- and they're the ones that typically want silly royalty arrangements that preclude someone doing a Linux port because they want royalties commensurate with the console or Windows game market space.

Ooook, didn't know that (then again, I'm not an industry's insider like yourself :))... Vivendi (now owners of Blizzard, last I heard and formerly Sierra) must be one greedy publisher. AFAIK, they forsaken the WoW port and forbid Valve to have port of the client for HL2[1]


as usual, only rumors, so take them with the mount Rushomre of salt grains!! I have no means to corroborate that, though I wouldn't think it would be too far fetched either