Three years and two months ago, I was pretty stoked about the prospect of a Starcraft sequel:

Blizzard Entertainment has finally caved in to the inevitable, and in a bid to preempt military action by a rabid South Korean fanbase have announce that Starcraft II is far enough into development for a web launch.

Back in the stone age when the original Starcraft came out, my coworkers and I would stay late after work for multiplayer games, eschewing Battlenet and its uber-teenagers. I never cared for the Protoss and their rather impressive end-game abilities, preferring to get the fight started relatively early on. Sometimes this resulted in accusations of “Zerg Rush” cheapness, but really it’s just part of the game; I could never mount a credible defense against a well-built carrier force.

I look forward to seeing what they’re doing with the Terran and Zerg units. Blizzard apparently wants to trickle new information out on a per-faction basis, starting with my least favorite. I can wait, though.

I understand the need to dial things in. I understand that balancing accessibility and depth in gameplay was a key factor in the staying-power of the original Starcraft title. I certainly understand what a joy it can be to deny a friend or coworker that last deposit of precious Vespene gas and pulverize his bases with artillery fire. What I don’t understand is how people could still have any excitement for Blizzard’s new opus a full three years after seeing it demonstrated. Basically everything I’ve heard folks raving about regarding new units and game features were already on the table in 2007.

There’s an old saying that the worst thing a political candidate can do is to peak too soon. This should apply to pre-release hype as well. I said I could wait, and I did. Now that I’ve waited, I’m pretty sure I’ve got better uses for my $59.99. Maybe I’ll report back in three more years when the price has come down. It is truly a testament to Blizzard’s strength as a brand name that Starcraft II isn’t the Daikatana of 2010.