Criticism of RTS Storytelling

SC1 opens with a cinematic where the protoss incinerate Chau Sara. Throughout episode 1 the protoss pose an ever-present danger of planetary incineration. Several planets including Mar Sara and Antiga Prime are incinerated. After episode 1, however, the protoss seemed to forget they had planet glassing  lasers . They never use the lasers in later episodes where they would be convenient. Tassadar never tries to laser zerg positions on Char. The protoss never laser zerg positions on Aiur in the middle of an invasion. Tassadar kamikazes his carrier into Overmind rather than using the laser. They never explain why they cannot, either. Altho the lasers are used for destroying whole planets, we usually see this being done by dozens of carriers at a time. It is reasonable to deduce that the damage is proportional to the duration of the firing and the number of lasers used. So it could work as an orbital canon to strike strategically viable positions. The starcraft story was  develope...

Most of the obvious bad writing in the first StarCraft is concentrated in the Brood War expansion, but that does not mean the original game is devoid of bad writing. It has no shortage of its own. In the plot of  Episode 1 , a key plot device is the psi-emitter . Its purpose is to lure zerg, which it does very well: countless zerg from light years away will converge on it when you turn it on. Those who are familiar with the replicators from Stargate SG-1 may recognize this plot device, as a similar one was used to lure the replicators into a trap. The psi-emitter is never used against the zerg to lure them into traps, despite the fact that they seem compelled to follow it even if that interferes with their own plans. The idea is just never brought up even once, even though it is blindingly obvious. It is just used to lure the zerg so they can kill Mengsk's enemies for him. Considering that the plot is already about a civil war between the terran colonies while two simultaneous ...