He's not from around here.
In the last few days, several posted interviews with Blizzard executives including their “Entertainment VP for product development” and “Global manager for community development” have been giving out details on whether or not some of the most-desired functionalities of Battle.net will be included when the game finally goes live.
No word on if the VP in charge of VP management for the entertainment community of global products had anything to say. Probably he was busy trying to fit his title onto a business card, or fullsize sheet of paper.
In any case, several web-based Interviewers got to ask these two Veeps a number of questions that had been coming to a slow boil inside the minds of Starcraft fans everywhere.
The first was about chat channels, with a focus on the highly important “looking for group” channel. Admittedly, the current friends system leaves much to be desired, but if World of Warcraft has taught us anything, it’s that universal chat channels are a haven for perverts, idiots, and a brand of gamer you thought was merely a carciature found in the movies. Sure, 1 percent of all people on the servers will use the channels for their true intent, and the rest will talk about vieled sexual references and yell about how great they are, n00bs.
Fortunately, Blizzard has confirmed that at this time that there are no chat channels in the works. They may come along when the clan system is released, but no guarantees. Frankly, we’re grateful for the anoymity the ‘web provides, and we wouldn’t bother with the channels in any case, so this is moot point for us. For many gamers, however, we can understand the concern. In theory, the matchmaking service that is already in place is supposed to take care of this problem of finding groups, without the need for chatting, but that just sounds a whole lot like an Internet dating site that only speciailizes in “intimate encounters”. No talking necessary.
Despite the chat channel issues, the real trouble started when the questions about inter-region play and using a LAN connection came up. First off, Blizzard will require you to purchase a seperate, region-spefic version of the game if you want to play with friends in Europe or Australia. In theory, this is because of high server latency and EULA-type issues, but what it really means is more money to shell out if you’re in Britain and want to play with your American friends, or you live in Australia but don’t want to be relegated to the Southeast Asian seaboard group.
As well, players wanted to know about LAN parties. Apparently not only do these still happen, but players want to be able to do their thing sans Internet. Blizz says that while it is possible to play offline, it only happen with the single player game and will require an intial “check-in” with Battle.net to get your freak on. This is the company’s current solution to DRM and pirating, and hopes that forcing the Battle.net version to be validiated each time players log in will help to limit the amount of games stolen.
Maybe.
At the end of the day, this means that although you’ll be required to have an Internet connection to play with your friends, even if you LAN, and that same Internet and copy of the game won’t be enough to let you play with any and all of your friends, if they happen to live outside of your “local Battle.net area”.
Bearing at least some good news, the company also confirmed that the Beta will be extended until June 7th, giving players a chance to continue reviling the limited skills of their enemy, and giving us a chance to try out some of the Terran rush techniques we’ve been so diligently studying.
We sense a schoolin’ coming on.
Of us, more than likely, by a superior and well-put-together force.
At least we’re not getting pwned on a global scale. The North American availability makes our lack of skill far more bearable.
