BlizzCon 2009: Battle.Net, StarCraft II, And You

Blizzard’s multiplayer Battle.Net service has been around for 12 years now, launching in 1997 with Diablo. It now has 12 million players.

With StarCraft II coming out, Rob Pardo, Blizzard’s executive vice president of game design, took the opportunity to show off some of the features of the newly revamped Battle.Net.

Main Features Of StarCraft II’s Battle.Net

The Always Connected Experience

StarCraft II and Battle.Net are linked together. Wherever you are, when you log into your Battle.Net account, your StarCraft II settings will load. When you launch the game, you’ll log in to a World Of Warcraft style screen, which will then give you single player or multiplayer options. Your friends list will be available to view in all modes.

Taking a cue from Xbox Live and PSN, the game will have achievements you can unlock by completing objectives in single and multiplayer play. Unlocking these achievements will unlock avatars for your B.Net account as well as custom decals that will show up on your in game units.

Improved Matchmaking

Some complaints of the existing Battle.Net were problems with finding a good match, a ladder system that wasn’t accessible for casual or newer players, and a lack of multi-tiered competitive play.

The new Battle.Net features different leagues based on your skill level. Winning matches will move you up into the next tier, losing matches will move you down. Within each league, you’ll be matched against 100 other players of the same skill level as you.

There’s also a practice league for new players with anti-rush mechanics to let players get used to the game.

Connecting The Blizzard Community

The chat system has been revamped, using a newer, more up to date IM style format.

The new B.Net also features something called Real ID which will let you communicate with your friends in other games, for example, you can talk to someone playing WoW while you’re playing StarCraft II.

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