"We're not trying to be innovative," StarCraft II design director Dustin Browder admitted when faced by the fans complaints that the anticipated RTS multiplayer gameplay is not that different from its 12 years old predecessor.
"We're not trying to change for change's sake," Browder explained. "We're just trying to make quality, and we definitely felt there were some things in the previous game that were high quality, that we weren't super confident we could do much better."
Browder then explained that they chose make small iterative improvements to the game's multiplayer gameplay in a manner similar to the way Team Fortress and Civilization design teams enhance their series.
But that doesn't mean that StarCraft 2 is completely devoid of innovation. "For the guys who say, 'I just need something new,' we've created a whole solo play experience which we feel really scratches that itch," Browder said. "It's a brand-new experience. ... We have a very high-quality version of a non-linear experience in an RTS game, and we think that's an area where players who are bored of [traditional] RTS will have a lot of fun."
