Here's some info from the lead designer on the split:
Tracey John of MTV Multiplayer said:
Here are the basics:
[...]
* However, if you want particular units for the multiplayer portion, you’ll need to buy the product that has those units.
Epic. Fail.
In order to compete online, you'll have to shell out an estimated $150 USD? And if you're only interested in multiplayer (and not the single-player campaign), should Blizzard really expect you to pay $50 for a few new units to use in online matches?
And what is that going to do to the competitive community? Will tournaments, leagues, and ladders ban units only available through a second and third purchase? How do they keep the playing field even between those who can afford to shell out 50 bucks for a few more units and those who need that money to pay the bills?
I had read previously that every episode would include the full multiplayer game. Blizzard might be withholding units from players who only purchase one version to combat piracy.
Because let's face it: If you only need to buy one episode to play multiplayer with all units, a
lot of people are just going to pirate the second and third episodes.
I think Blizzard just risked Starcraft II losing the "next big thing in RTS" honor to Dawn of War 2 or Red Alert 3 with this one announcement. People vote by their wallets and SC2, which I had assumed would unite the majority of the slumbering RTS community, might lose this campaign.
The only thing that could save this plan is pricing. If the second and third episodes are sold at a greatly reduced cost (say, $20 each), I think people would be willing to get on board. Paying $90 ($50 + $20 + $20) for a game with tremendous longevity is painful, but not unreasonable. Paying $150, on the other hand, is getting ridiculous.
Valve sold players the Orange Box (Team Fortress 2, Portal, AND Half-Life 2: Episode 2) at $45 on release. Atlus sold Persona 3 FES, which has an estimated
130 hours of gameplay, for the Playstation 2 for $30. Does Blizzard really think people are going to put up with paying $150 for a single game, even if it is the "next big thing in RTS"?
EDIT: It's also going to stink to wait 2 years between episodes. (This is Blizzard we're talking about; I think 2 years to release a new product, even if it's the second or third part of a trilogy, is a fair estimate.) Even if the first episode ends with a wicked cliffhanger, people are going to be less excited about paying $50 to continue the story
2 years later.
Don't get me wrong: I love Blizzard. I love Starcraft. I never cared much for Diablo or World of Warcraft and I wasn't thrilled by Warcraft III's multiplayer, but I recognize they're one of the top developers in the industry. Still, $150 and 2 years between episodes is a lot to ask of fans who've already been waiting 10 years for a sequel.
EDIT: Oh, one more thing: Most player learned how to use each race's units in Starcraft by playing the single-player campaign. I have to believe it will be much more frustrating for the average player to learn Protoss and Zerg by trial and error on Battle.net (read: getting rushed by gosu players over and over and over again) than through a single-player campaign.