starcraft-2 – Meaning of the Symbol in Starcraft Chat Portrait

Guest pass answer for July 2010

When StarCraft 2 was released in July 2010 this was the correct answer:

The guest pass allows a guest to play StarCraft 2 for 7 hours of game time or 14 days from activation (whichever comes first).

Once over a retail version can be purchased.

Guest pass answer for August 2011

As pointed out by marco-fiset things have changed since that time. Now the guest pass gives you access to a "Starter Edition" of Starcraft 2 which gives you the following restrictions:

• The first four missions of the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty single-player campaign, including Mar Sara 1-3 and the choice to embark on Tychus’s first mission or Dr. Hansen’s first mission.
• The first two Challenges: Tactical Command and Covert Ops.
• Access to the terran race in Custom Games and Single-Player vs. AI.
• Access to the following custom maps (map selection may rotate over time):
  • Xel’Naga Caverns
  • Shattered Temple
  • Discord IV
  • High Orbit
• No map editor.

All campaign progress and earned achievements are saved once you purchase the full edition of the game.

The 7 hour or 14 days time restriction does not apply anymore.

Traditional unit Tiers were based on the Warcraft 2 model where you upgraded your main worker producing structure to get new units. Since both races had 2 possible upgrades, this lead to 3 tiers.

Starcraft 1 mimic'd this with the Zerg race but not all races. However, the terminology had stuck for how to describe various phases of the game. Tiers referred to how deep into the tech tree a player had gone and how much resources/time they had spent on tech. As a result a general terminology emerged, placing most units in a tier.

With the advent of Starcraft 2 and the addition of a number of earlier units, there has been a rise in referring to certain units as tier 1.5. These are units after tier 1, but still before tier 2.

Regular terminology is detailed as follows:

Tier 1

• Zergling
• Marine
• Zealot

Tier 1.5

• Roach, Baneling
• Marauder, Reaper
• Stalker, Sentry

Tier 2

• Hydralisk, Infestor, Mutalisk, Corruptor, Overseer
• Ghost, Hellion, Siege Tanks
• Immortal, Phoenix, Void Ray, Observer, Warp Prism

Tier 2.5 (sometimes referred to as tier 2 or 3)

• Banshee, Raven, Viking, Medivac

Tier 3

• Ultralisk, Broodlord
• Battlecruiser, Thor
• Colossus, Mothership, Carrier, High Templar, Dark Templar

You'll note that tier 2.5 has only terran units, and is often just referred to as tier 2. This is true for all of 2.5 except for the Raven. Because the Raven requires so many upgrades to be effective, its sometimes referred to as Tier 3 and others as Tier 2. Its also worth noting there is some discrepancy around which tier ghosts should belong to.

These naming conventions are not absolute, but are common amongst professional casters (people who comment on professional games).