Battle.net overhaul/fix?

[CyberPitz]

So, looking at the upcoming Starcraft 2 and the hopefully soon to be made Diablo 3, I'm curious. Do you guys think Bnet should go through an overhaul to give it more features/bug fixes/etc? When playing it, it just feels like an old system. Albeit it does work wonderfully, there are some things lacking. Voice chat one way or another, better stats holding system, etc. Thoughts?

 

[Seppo]

why the hell can't Diablo players enter another games channels, but basically everyone else from Warcraft 1 to Diablo 2 can join the Diablo channel. So that's one thing they should change, or should've actually done it years ago.

As for a voice chat, I don't know. I know I would never use it anyway, but a lot of people probably would.

 

[CyberPitz]

why the hell can't Diablo players enter another games channels, but basically everyone else from Warcraft 1 to Diablo 2 can join the Diablo channel. So that's one thing they should change, or should've actually done it years ago.

As for a voice chat, I don't know. I know I would never use it anyway, but a lot of people probably would.

I mean especially IN game. Think of playing Diablo with voice chat. Instead of saying something like "HELP GUYS OMG I FOUND *insert hard unique monster here* HEEELLLPP!" You just say it, and the location your at for speed. It's just more convenient. Now in RTS, that would be different, but having voice chat could be a little fun...though I don't know. In Bnet mainly, is where it would be pretty nifty.

 

[Stigmata]

Voice chat in RTS would be great for strategizing.

 

[Cole]

why the hell can't Diablo players enter another games channels, but basically everyone else from Warcraft 1 to Diablo 2 can join the Diablo channel. So that's one thing they should change, or should've actually done it years ago.

As for a voice chat, I don't know. I know I would never use it anyway, but a lot of people probably would.

Think to yourself why Blizzard would restrict Diablo 1 players in what channels they can go to.

Whats one thing all other online Blizzard games have that Diablo 1 doesn't have? CD Keys. It would be impossible for you to ban someone from a channel, because bans are via cd key.



Battle.net could use a few improvements. But Wc3's battle.net isn't that bad, it has a very nice auto match making system. Blizzard should incorporate Wc3's ladder system as Sc2's ladder system then regular Sc1's melee/TvB as normal. Then of course UMS wouldn't count towards stats.

Voice Chat wouldn't be a bad addition, but keep in mind RTS games have to be in sync and games(besides closed D2 and WoW) are not actually ran on battle.net servers(as you can disconnect from battle.net while in a game joined via battle.net). Blizzard is known for there outstounding quality and attention to the net code. They wont add new features if it wont add much, but vastly increase bandwidth. I can play Sc, Wc3, and D2 all on a 56k modem smoothly. Voice Chat... what would it really add? You can coordinate attacks already really easy via ping and text. Text isn't that hard to do. It isn't like a FPS game where if you take the time to stop and type you are wasting valuable time, theres always a little time to stop and type things in an RTS game. I do believe that Voice Chat on an in-sync system has the possibility to raise bandwidth more than what it adds.

I could see it in D2, where if you're busy fighting a monster you don't have time to type. But even if you're getting attacked in Starcraft... it's pretty easy to say HELP!!!

Plus do you really want to hear all the little kids on Sc2 or Diablo 3(if only...) screaming into the mic? Thats one thing i've always loved about Sc and D2. I don't have to worry about dumbasses being dumbasses.

 

[CyberPitz]

An easy "Allow voice chat" option would be good per game/client side setting. Plus a "Mute player" tick/option would be handy for those people who get out of hand with their mics.

But I'm not concentrating on the mic portion of bnet. There are still a few bugs swirling around/features that could be added. What other features do you think bnet could use to make it a better online system, and bring it FURTHER from being another Heat.net/Gamespy typed thing. *I know it's pretty damned far from it, but Gayspy is like a nuke. The further you are from it, the better off you'll be...*

 

[Pesmerga]

The netcode was made like ten years ago- primarily supporting 56k connections and the such. There have been large improvements, and I think Blizzard knows how to handle those sorts of things now that they've made the world's largest and most popular MMO :-p

 

[Cole]

The netcode was made like ten years ago- primarily supporting 56k connections and the such. There have been large improvements, and I think Blizzard knows how to handle those sorts of things now that they've made the world's largest and most popular MMO :-p

Battle.net is not an in-game netcode, it deals very little with that. If you didn't mean that, then: I'm not just talking about Starcraft, I even stated that. Wc3? D2? Even WoW is tolerable on a 56k.

There are still a few bugs swirling around/features that could be added. What other features do you think bnet could use to make it a better online system, and bring it FURTHER from being another Heat.net/Gamespy typed thing. *I know it's pretty damned far from it, but Gayspy is like a nuke. The further you are from it, the better off you'll be...*

They should implement something like steam communities. Make it all in-battle.net GUI to(but not just load an HTML website) (also viewable in a browser though).
Personally I would like to see Battle.net turn into something with a similiar featureset to Xbox Live combined with current Battle.net features.

 

[CyberPitz]

I'd agree if I ever saw XBL...I'm a newb at that, since I don't own an xbox/don't want to pay monthly to play video games online

But from reading articles, it would be a shift in the right direction.

I'd REALLY like to see a better game joining system. Especially in D2, you go to make a game, and it randomly times out....same thing when joining. Really, the whole interface is even clunky, and without a resolution selector, makes things all the uglier, imo. I know prettiness isn't important, but it would be a great aesthetic change.

 

[Cole]

Well D2 is a different scenario. Games are hosted by Battle.net. Furthermore with the anti-cheat system in place it causes a lot of problem.

You can select resolution with Wc3, that'll be for sure in there in Sc2.

The joining system is fine, as long as there is a ladder auto match making implemented.

Also I don't own an Xbox either, but my cousins did and I lived with them for a summer. Nor do I own a PS2/Ps3. Nor a Wii or Gamecube!

 

[CyberPitz]

Well D2 is a different scenario. Games are hosted by Battle.net. Furthermore with the anti-cheat system in place it causes a lot of problem.

You can select resolution with Wc3, that'll be for sure in there in Sc2.

The joining system is fine, as long as there is a ladder auto match making implemented.

Also I don't own an Xbox either, but my cousins did and I lived with them for a summer. Nor do I own a PS2/Ps3. Nor a Wii or Gamecube!

D: YOU PC NEWB!

I personally never really played bnet and wc3. I played WC3, but it was always downloaded. I've never enjoyed the game enough to purchase it. Is bnet really great?

 

[CyberPitz]

Just found this...

Will Battle.net be overhauled? Will there be new features?

There will be some exciting new changes and features to Battle.net that will help us ensure that StarCraft II will be the ultimate competitive online real-time strategy game. We're not quite ready to discuss those features at this time, but we look forward to getting into more detail in the future.
Will we still be able to play the original StarCraft on Battle.net after StarCraft II is released?

Yes, you will.

Will there be clan management?

We're not quite ready to discuss specifics related to Battle.net at this time, but we look forward to doing so in the future.
What steps are being taken to prevent cheating in multiplayer games?

We don't want to tip our hand to the people who may try to cheat on Battle.net, so we can't go into too much detail, but rest assured that security is one of our top priorities as we redesign and overhaul Battle.net, and we will take every precaution to ensure fairness in our online games. We've taken an aggressive stance against cheating in all of our games, and our players have overwhelmingly supported us in that, so we don't have any intention to make any changes in that regard.

http://starcraft2.com/faq.xml

 

[Cole]

PC newb *cries*

Wc3 B.NET is a lot better. It has a clan system(Sc2 will prob improve on this), auto ladder match making system, team auto ladder match making system (you can auto match make but be teamed up with friends), better friend system, etc.. The only thing I didn't like is that there wasn't any room for custom melee style maps. Only Custom UMS maps.

They should just expand it a little bit more community wise and it'd be great.

Keep in mind that Battle.net so far has been completely backwards compatible and will probably stay so.

 

[CyberPitz]

Oh, yeah BC is going to be awesome in ever aspect. And that's awesome as to what they were doing with WC3. Sounds pretty awesome if they just improve on them. I have complete faith in Blizzard for this.