New Battle.Net Info and Screens

August 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 am -

According to Kotaku, the newly redesigned Battle.Net launching alongside Starcraft II’s release will be very much like Xbox Live and Steam. Borrowing ideas and improving on them has always been a strong suit of Blizzard, and it seems like it will be no different when this new service rolls out “when it’s done”. Much like both of the other services, a cross game chat system and buddy lists will always be available, whether in single or multiplayer.

Speaking of multiplayer, making Battle.Net more competitive for everyone was also discussed. One of the main reasons I’ve never even wanted to try to compete in Starcraft online after years of not playing is the simple fact that I would get destroyed. Blizzard’s solution for this kind of thing is to implement ladder play in their matchmaking. After playing online, you’ll begin competing in leagues that are color coded. Each player will compete against 100 others within this league. For players like myself, who play this type of game online casually, there is a practice league. This league has a slower pace and uses anti-rush maps to help these players get use to online competition.

All achievements will also become connected to your Battle.Net ID as well. So, if you get achievements with one character in WoW, you won’t need to get it again with a brand new one.

A final feature found in Xbox Live and Steam that Battle.Net will have a marketplace. Starcraft II’s marketplace will feature both free and premium user-made maps, allowing the best made maps to earn the creator money. Blizzard hopes monetary compensation will lead to more creative content.

I can definitely see why this service has taken them so long to build up. Below are the screens that were shown during the panel.