In a side note, if you saw some of the early alpha and beta shots of starcraft, it was hideous. The final product was far far far better.
that makes me feel a little better
Blizzard does a fantastic job of adding final polish to their games. You won't be disappointed with the polish and appearance of the final project I'd bet. Hopefully they add some depth to the gameplay. SC always had a good deal of potential but imo it never lived up to what it could have been. If SC2 is just like SC with better graphics then they are in trouble. But if they can do something cool and new and good with the genre then I'd buy it
>.>
I always kinda thought TA sucked and blew...
To be fair SC and Warcraft is RTSfor the people who cant be bothered with 3 tonnes of boring stuff that needs to be learned... and clearly you must be missing something on StarCraft since what other game can claim to be a national sport in a country 
korea ftw
I like having the lots to learn. Part of the fun for me in games is learning everything about it, unit balance, time to do certain things, etc and the more complex to a certain extent then the more fun I have with it.
For me: SC vs TA
1.) The music. SC used midi or some other synthesized music. TA used a full on orchestral with real people playing the instruments. The TA CD can be unloaded and taken along and played in any CD player. I used to love crusing around to the awesome original orchestra pieces on that CD. In fact its probably got in my opinion the best sound track of any game I've ever played to date.
2.) Unit diversity. SC has somewhere around 85 or so units total if you have broodwars, nearly half of which are buildings. TA shipped with 150, and with the expansions was around 250. Some people might not like unit diversity, but I love it. Cavedog also had a promotion where they released a new downloadable unit every week for a long time. In conjunction with user submitted units, there are over 6 thousand units to choose from to customize your experience. These can be arranged easily into "packs" to distribute to friends so you can all play with the same sets of units.
3.) Map size. The largest maps in TA are 4 times as big as the biggest SC maps. This is great for larger multilayer games as well as a way to make one on one games longer and really adds some new dynamics to strategy.
4.) Weapon coolness. The weapons in TA are all animated and projectiles are simulated with a physics simulator. Units can miss targets completely, or hit directly. Damage is calculated based on vicinity from unit to explosion. In SC some things just shoot stuff without the barrels of guns or turrets turning to fire. Projectiles damage are calculated by a probability roll based on a few factors and is not simulated with real physics. In fact in SC projectiles always hit whether they appear to or not. Weapons in SC are really just animations. With 1 or two exceptions SC units can also not fire while moving. All TA units can unless they are stationary guns or mobile anti ICMB stations. SC also does not take into account wind speed, elevation, walls, or mountains. Those can be shot through with impunity as opposed to using the physics engine to calculate trajectory like TA does. Also say you launch a huge nuclear missile in TA. Since its a true projectile it is possible that a bomber, brawler, or some other aircraft flying at the right altitude could feasibly intersect it and collide with it. In SC the super weapons once launched cannot be stopped.
5.) Aircraft movement. In SC the flying things just sort of hover - they are more like hovering ground units, can stop in mid air, etc... The flight paths and air speed in TA is calculated with a physics engine too, and the units weave and bank, and when air speed drops they accelerate to avoid crashing.
6.) Building stuff. In SC each civ gets 1 construction unit. The variety in TA is awesome. Some are flying, some are more advanced and can build more advanced techs, etc. Also construction units in TA can do a fair amount of damage if need be if someone is not paying attention. They can swoop over and start reclaiming materials from someones buildings, eventually destroying them. You can also build airports, land construction buildings, docks, etc...
7.) Terrain diversity. SC doesn't have water. I think there is some lava or something in a few maps but you cannot build there. In TA you can build entire bases under water, launch submarines, etc...
8.) Selections. TA has unlimited selections. SC has a max selection of 12 units (I think... or is it 15? )
9.) Resources. In SC each map has a finite amount of resources. This can be good if its the type of game you want to play. In TA you can select unlimited resources or have a finite limit on a map. Tailor to your preferences
Choice is always good.
10.) All games can suffer from net lag. In SC its dealt with by stopping game play completely and re syncing everything. TA slows down and speeds up time to keep things in line so the interface never becomes unresponsive. Genius
I think to each his own as far as game styles though. It all depends what you like. From a purely technological standpoint though TA is superior in almost every way. As for style, well... we all have to decide for ourselves
