Battle.net 2.0 Article Series >> The Next Generation Gaming Network >> (Page 1) | (Page 2)



The Strength of Battle.net 1.0

Battle.net is probably one of the best game networks around and was the first game network built into the game itself. This is of course handy for both players and Blizzard; players can be shown millions of ads, and players can easily start a game with the click of a button. The matchmaking might lack some user interface functionality and could be improved, but it's still very good compared to other systems. As usual, Blizzard have taken inspiration from different sources and melded them together to create a more useful and polished (fun and FREE!) system for the fans. Despite all the greatness of the network, what many players like most about Battle.net is that it's free to use.

Most players don't need any more reason than that, and the fact that the network works great enhances the over-all feeling of the game; be it Diablo, StarCraft or WarCraft. You don't think about how the server system works, and you shouldn't have to! You are supposed to play and have a good time with friends, or make new friends and match your gaming skills with others!

Being an official site, the Battle.net forums have also been known to host a relatively bad forum culture, with many "less desirable" specimens of gamers, as well as the odd spam flood. Even with a CD key requirement, some gamers could be awful on the boards. While the WoW boards (US & EU) are a lot better due to the greater number of moderators, some level of "less desirable" specimens of gamers will probably always flock to the official boards, regardless of which game the forums are about.

Improvements Can Be Made As for the gaming, despite all the praise that the current Battle.net is worth, there are still a lot of things that could be improved upon. Out of fans' wishlists we find the more popular demands are to get sorting functions for WarCraft III "DotA" games (or other custom games), on their own as it's very hard to see other game types easily otherwise. Other, smaller features such as having a "/r" command for quick replying for all games, like in WarCraft 3 or WoW can also be taken up as example. Some fans complain about lag, and others about the lack of proper "black lists", or "personal ban list". Despite Battle.net's brilliance in some areas, there are plenty of small things that could be improved without doing a huge change like upgrading it to the next generation gaming network.

While the "whining" of some players might be misplaced (remember, Battle.net is free), Blizzard are obviously very interested in improving the network further. Their plan is to overwhelm us, and knowing Blizzard, I have no doubt they will.

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	Jay Wilson: I can't really talk about Battle.net but I will say, Battle.net will not be a background. It'll be huge, the next version will be absolutely Blizzard's focus. Everyone is going to be thrilled when they see the kind of stuff we have planned! It feeds into our overall focus of providing a really great service for our players.

Despite keeping most of Battle.net 2.0 under wraps, some pieces of information have been seeping out from the great machinery that is Blizzard. Read more on confirmed features of Battle.net 2.0 in the second part of the Battle.net 2.0 Article Series by Diii.net! Definite Battle.net 2.0 Features and Rumoured Battle.net 2.0 Additions are now released!

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