I ain’t never going back to school. That’s what I told myself when the gates closed behind me for the last time, and that’s why I wrestle anybody who tries to give me a 2B pencil to the ground.
Studies show that plenty of humans insist on returning to school time and time again, however. In an apparent effort to stop them, Blizzard have chosen this time of freezing bus stop waits in new uniforms to incentivise ever more hours playing StarCraft 2, for players both relapsed and new.
“The long days of summer are fading away and students around the world have dusted off their backpacks, gathered supplies, and marched back to the classroom for a new school year,” write the developers, apparently unaware that UK schools reopened nearly a month ago. “Whether you’ve begun another middle school term, kicked off your last year of collegiate study, or anything in between, we’re about to give you all of the tools you’ll need to have a blast playing StarCraft II (AFTER your studies are done) this Fall semester.”
From today until next Monday, September 30, all players will harvest under the influence of an 100% boost to XP gain, “so you can hit the books and still earn those levels”. Three exclusive character portraits have been introduced to the game, as well as a new Feat of Strength achievement.
That’s the stuff for current players. Newcomers to StarCraft II’s Starter Edition will also find that they have access to all three races for the duration of the week – and if they take a liking to the game, they’ll note the “considerable” discount on copies of both Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm.
So that’s quite nice. You may not be returning to school, but do you fancy another go at splitting your mind between scores of tiny units in StarCraft?