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August 25th, 2009, 09:42 GMT · By

LAN-Like Internet-Based Play Mode Possible for Starcraft II

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It has been known for quite a bit of time that Starcraft II will not be featuring pure Local Area Network multiplayer games, with Blizzard saying that it aims to eliminate LAN play, thus routing all the multiplayer gaming through a beefed up Battle.net.

But now, several statements from Blizzard people point the way to the possibility that a LAN-like mode might be implemented, with players able to set up fast a local connection after they log into Battle.net in order to authenticate.

In an interview conducted at BlizzCon, Greg Canessa told Shacknews that “Maintaining a connection with Battle.net, I don't know if it's once or periodically, but then also having a peer-to-peer connection between players to facilitate a very low-ping, high-bandwidth connection... those are the things that we're working on.” He added that “We really wanted to bring all these players together and keep them in the same pool, and make everything work, so your achievements work, your friends list works, everything just works correctly, as opposed to having two separated ways to play.”

Apparently, Starcraft II will allow players to get into the single player campaign using a so-called “guest account,” which will be offline and will not need a connection to Battle.net. But the developers are very determined to integrate as much information about the player as possible in their online profile, allowing them to match their skills in multiplayer games with similarly capable players and also to show off their achievements easily.

A lot of pieces of news regarding Starcraft II came out of BlizzCon. Some players were outraged to hear that Blizzard was planning to allow maps to be sold by mod makers for a fee, while other players were delighted to hear that the editor included in the game was powerful enough to create role-playing experiences and FPS games.

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READER COMMENTS:


Comment #1 by: Xelliz on 25 Aug 2009, 14:50 UTC reply to this comment

I love Blizzard and all their games. Battle.net is a great service, but I really have a lot of concerns about the forced online and this "consolation" is only that.

For those that are unaware, Blizzard can't even fix WoW in a timely manner. The servers that control the instances on realms are slammed full and players have bang their character against the portal for anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of hours just to get into one.

If they can't even keep their cash cow running properly, how do they plan to maintain the proper server to player ratio on the free Battle.net when SC2 drops and their service is slammed by everyone being required to go through Battle.net


Comment #2 by: Sponge on 03 May 2010, 23:45 UTC reply to this comment

^I respect Blizzard too. I don't play WoW but played the hell out of Diablo I & II and WarCraft and StarCraft.

Why is it that online gaming companies never get the initial server load prediction correct? There should be excess capacity at the start of any game launch and for 6 months post. This rarely is the case these days. Connection issues, load balancing, lag issues, etc. What generation of connection facilitating software are we on? Why are these still problems for the average gamer 20 yrs after I first played WarCraft on a LAN?

All gamers spend $100+ to buy and support a GOOD title. We play a GOOD title for at least a year, I've played several for 5+ yrs. In fact, I still have StarCraft installed on my XP machine and play it. Run the extra servers, don't be so dam cheap with my $14/month ($168/yr). Over-estimate the number of servers deployed JUST ONCE, see what happens, see how the experience changes when people are happy to connect and play reliably.You'll make even more money with happy returning customers.

YOU ARE NOT SELLING THE GAME! YOU ARE SELLING AN ONLINE EXPERIENCE!

To All Game Developers / Publishers: The gaming experience, for the price, is barely worth the money and effort these days. It shouldn't be that way for the money we invest in you and your code.

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