New Battle.net Details, Real ID & Starcraft 2 Map/Mod Marketplace
August 22, 2009 by Ruibo
Blizzard revealed many new details on Battle.net and StarCraft 2 at BlizzCon today. Some features includes the “Real ID” system, achievements, avatars and a StarCraft 2 Marketplace.
“Battle.net has actually got more players on it than World of Warcraft,” said Blizzard’s Rob Pardo. Battle.net currently has 12 million players compared to WoW’s 11.5 million.
The new Battle.net features will include many similar features you will find on Xbox Live and Steam. News, profiles/avatars and achievements. The “Real ID” system will allow players to communicate between all Blizzard’s games. Achievements will also be linked from each character to another through Real ID. They even plan on allowing players to unlock decals that can be applied to units in StarCraft 2, giving a unique look for each player.
Custom map support will be a major feature of StarCraft 2, much more than the original Starcraft. A new system currently known as the “StarCraft 2 Marketplace” will allow players to browse through maps, rate and comment. Map developers can publish their work and sell their maps for a fee or distribute it for free.
Blizzard’s Rob Pardo states:
“We want to make sure that the best amateur game designers out there are making maps for StarCraft 2, and not for Kongregate or Steam or anything like that.”
“Think about it like this: something like Defense of the Ancients, I think, would be something like a free map because it doesn’t have a lot of original content,” he added, while noting that Blizzard made the announcement today in order to give map makers time to start thinking about ideas.
“We totally intend for there to be a lot of free content.”
The new Battle.net features will allow you to store your settings and saved games on their server allowing you to access them from any computer with your single login.
A custom game search option will allow players to filter by genre, map and game modes. This has been one of the biggest flaws in the original StarCraft. There has been times where I’ve spent more waiting for players than actually playing the game itself. I certainly hope this new system will be a remedy to the previous dilemma.
Addintionally, after spending countless time finding players within your level range, you end up getting stomped by more advanced players with a new account. Well, Pardo has also mentioned some initiatives to prevent measures of this abuse. Let’s hope this fixes some of the “noob bashing”.
Blizzard plans to launch several competition leagues for StarCraft II, each with their own level of play. (they have names like practice, copper, bronze, silver ,gold, platinum and at the top the Pro League). Within your league you are ranked against 100 other gamers on your same skill level. Blizzard plans for end of season tournaments for these leagues.
The internal chat system will also be revamped and will resemble a simple instant messanger system. The new Battle.net will be released along side of Starcraft 2 while the marketplace will be released soon after.
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All stuff I don’t want or need. Give us back LAN playability!
Did I read that right?
They should’ve added:
“Custom content can be downloaded if the user has enough points to spend. Through this system, map makers will be encouraged to create more original content.”
And then:
“Points can be accumulated through the StarCraft 2 Marketplace as well. A mere $10 gives you half a point.”
No Lan = Boycott
give Bobby 15 Million Fingers! (how much does Pardo earn?)
17,421 on one petition – 177,884 on the other and this after Pardo said “I think LAN will be a great footnote in our history, just like DOS was,”
Footnote… or Eulogy on Activision’s / Blizzards tombstone…
without the fans you have nothing, I look forward to hearing that Starcraft 2 losses outstrip Spore!
(personally I am so passionate about this I would prefer to pay hackers to remove the DRM and no LAN than for Blizzard/Activison to see a cent of my money)
The total lack of respect that Blizzard/Activision shows it’s customers is probably reflects the way it treats is shareholders too.