I don't really like the retcon that they did for the Zealot death animations so I figured I would've liked it more if it went something like this.
When Protoss warriors go to war they fight to the death. When they die however, their suit detects that they're life has ceased, and immediately incinerates the body as well as the suit itself leaving nothing but ashes.

It's like an honour thing.

For the Dark Temps, they're not so headstrong and stubborn so the teleportation devices make sense. For high templars, I guess it could go either way.
 

It'd be better just to go back to assuming that they turn into energy when they die, because the point of the retcon is that warriors need to be warped back since the protoss are so low on manpower.
 

Okay, maybe I take this issue a little too seriously because I know people who are currently fighting in the army and navy and marines - who are even now in the line of fire and risking their lives on a daily basis - but why the FUCK does it bother you people so much to know that Zealots are forced to wear power suits that are equipped with teleportation matrices? How on earth does that make them any less heroic or valiant in their attempts to stave off the extinction of their race - the destruction of their worlds - if there exists the potential of recovering and fighting another day? Is there only honor in death? Do you consider those warriors that are mortally wounded yet alive to be the social equivalent of lepers that should be left to the wolves? A zealot rages and screams as he is taken from the battlefield; and yet there clearly exists the possibility that even that won't save his life. The wounds may be too grievous; the teleportation system may be damaged, as was the case with Fenix; and there may be those sectarians that choose to sabotage there own device so they very well may die in the line of battle. And you know what? THEY are the cowards. Cowards. It is they who fight and die in the name of honor who know nothing beyond their insular bubble of pride. They are selfish enough to choose death over the "humiliation" of suffering injury and being "confined" to automated walkers. THOSE are the cowards who bear no love for anyone or anything but themselves and their own creed of "honor". And those who promulgate this principle as being the highest ideal are fools. That means you.
 

Because a LOT of Protoss culture has to do with the field of battle. Think of them like the Japanese a bit, back in WW2. To run is shameful, to an extreme extent, especially if it's a fair fight, and a Protoss should die with honor on the battlefield, not run in fear of the Khala.

Besides dude, you're arguing the game.
 

I'm pretty sure if the Mitsubishi Zero had a teleportation device, they would have definitely used it before flying their planes into Allied ships. That way, they could fly another plane into the same ship.

Besides, the Protoss still have a chance to die on the field when they wield their Dragoon/Immortal exoskeleton.
 

Yeah, but it creates a whole bunch of problems with the Protoss "code of honour" and, why should it only teleport back when they're in "near death" situations? Why not when they're surrounded, or when they're outnumbered, or simply too wounded to fight properly? Also, I always imagined that they got their dragoons from battles won (and the wounded would be put into dragoons)

Ding ding, here we have a person who doesn't know a thing about the Protoss. Hey, get it through to your head, THE PROTOSS AREN'T HUMANS. THEY HAVE DIFFERENT IDEALS, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON WHAT HONOUR IS. This is a game with a made up alien race, why are you comparing it to the friggen modern day military and lives of the people that fight for our countries?
 

I'm sorry about flying off the handle like that, but I've been annoyed with people's reaction to this whole teleportation thing. Yeah, it's silly, and it's just agame, but I get riled and maybe a little self-righteous whenever I hear people say it's okay for warriors to die. Yeah, it was stupid of me, and I really apologize. Not a couple days ago one of my friends said something incredibly stupid like, "In the final cost-analysis with regard to Iraq, it would be inefficient to equip our soldiers with equipment costing 'X', so it would be acceptable if 'Y' number of troops were killed and still be victorious without it being pyrhic."


From a less political viewpoint, I actually like the concept, as both methods (teleportation and incineration) fuel the fire (so to speak) of myth of many alien civilizations. We, as players, know there is no mystical aspect to the StarCraft universe, but it adds depth to the history for such beliefs to exist among various cultures. Moreover, it just seems more efficient than deploying "Saving Private Ryan" missions to rescue individual soldiers from behind enemy lines (nothing against Ghost Soldiers, of course. Incredible book). And too, the Protoss shouldn't have to put up with hostage situations. "Oh, you have one of our Templar? Mmkay." *click button - templar teleports* "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

As for their ideals, I honestly do not see how the teleportation system flies in the face of established Protoss tradition. It is even said that, while the Templar literally live to fight, that doesn't mean they do not hold life sacred. To this end they created Photon Cannons to preserve colonies. And don't forget the sacrifice of Templar is abhored and seen as only a last-ditch effort in the face of a terrible foe.
 

Assuming this retcon never happened, why is your suggestion better than having them just disintegrate into energy like we always assumed?

That's why this retcon is better - it's more efficient for them to get the protoss from their own hospitals than off a battlefield where they could still die from wounds.
 

Ah I understand. That's okay.

Yeah, I suppose you have a point with the holding life sacred thing. That's also why I said Templar could go both ways, since they're really aged and experienced so losing one would cause more grief than honour probably.

Well, disintegrating into energy was never really an official explanation, I suppose if they were to retcon the retcon, them disintegrating into energy would work. But it's a preference I suppose. I like the incineration idea because it doesn't allow anyone to just pick up their suit of armour and reverse engineer it to figure out how the technology works. Also, the body is probably considered sacred and it'd be like a final honour thing to just have it incinerated (or turn into energy works but like I said, it's just a preference thing, I think turning into energy upon death seems a little weird).

Yeah, but this retcon makes more problems than it solves as I stated earlier. Why wouldn't a Zealot teleport out everytime he's surrounded? I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel any better about warping out when he's mortally wounded and has to sit in an exo-skeleton to fight.
 

I wrote a massive editorial about this subject, but SC:L is down.

Disintegrating into energy would be better IMO because it also solves the problem of the Bengalaas's death.

I'm thinking it's either an automatic mechanism or they do in fact warp out when surrounded.

The main problem with the original way of doing it is that if the protoss disintegrates into energy or his suit burns him up, then there is no way to get bodies for dragoons/immortals. The original dragoon bodies came from protoss who have been "crippled or mortally wounded", but not actually dead. This retcon just gives the Protoss a bigger pool to draw bodies from, and it makes each individual protoss look more important IMO, where if one actually dies it's a very big deal.
 

Actually yes....if you fight knowing that you're not gonna die then it is very much "less heroic." Is cagefighting "heroic?" Because thats essentially what you are saying here.

Fighting is noble but usually heroes have to die. Like Dax. He was a true hero. Or Fenix.
 

So, firefighters and soldiers can't be heroes till they die?

They don't go in there automatically knowing they will survive every time. Fenix was just the greatest example of one. I'm sure there are several others with failed suits. Not to mention they don't go in there like a video game and come out unscathed. They come back normally without an arm, leg, and maybe several organs. They don't merely get into dragoons because they feel tired.
 

I'm just saying if there is almost near-certainty that you won't die then it really takes a lot away from the whole "heroic" thing. Firefighters can be heros but they are also risking their lives. They are a different kind of hero. A rich man who feeds the homeless is a hero too, but his life was never in danger. I'm talking about that specific kind of "hero" that we are talking about here. The act of fighting alone (and knowing you will survive) is not as heroic as risking your life.
 

I'm gonna QFT on this. People kind of skipped over it, but it's a huge and totally valid point. Kamikaze pilots didn't choose to die for the sake of dying, the whole point was that death was the only way to do what was necessary. If the option not to die EXISTED, especially combined with the option to inflict more damage on the enemy, there is absolutely no way they would not have taken it, period.

It's the same as saying that if the Japanese invented some way to remote control planes into ships from afar they would still choose not to do it -- ie, nonsensical. They wanted to preserve lives, but the mission was more important; if they could have preserved lives while accomplishing the mission AND continued to fight for the mission, that is obviously the superior choice.

The Protoss are in the same situation.

Easiest solution imaginable -- Zealots don't control the teleportation device, it is hardwired to act on its own. Why? Well, maybe it's the only way to prevent the device from malfunctioning and teleporting people too early when the suit gets damaged in battle. Problem solved!

As Gradius mentioned, if this solution isn't in place, where do the Dragoons come from exactly? If there's no bodies to recover, there can be no Dragoons.

Yeah, except you conveniently left out the part where they fight knowing that they're gonna lose most of their limbs and be stuck in a giant metallic suit for the rest of their 'lives' just to go out and get hurt again (for good this time).

That's pretty fucking heroic, I think.

That said, do we even know for a fact that the teleportation device is certain to save the warrior's life? The device doesn't click on once he gets scratched a few times, it clicks on once he can no longer function, ie. he is just about dead. It's likely that a lot of Protoss warriors are lost in the seconds it takes to teleport them into a hospital-esque facility and attempt to stabilize their condition. So even the "safety net," such as it is, is far from certain.