Battle.net

Battle.net

The Battle.net logo
Developer(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Stable release 1.2.4.5383
Type Content delivery
Digital rights management
Multiplayer online service
Social networking
License Proprietary
Alexa rank negative increase 394 (February 2015)[1]
Website Battle.net

Battle.net is an internet-based online gaming, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Battle.net was launched on November 30, 1996, with the release of Blizzard's action-role-playing video game Diablo.

Battle.net was the first online gaming service incorporated directly into the games that make use of it, in contrast to the external interfaces used by the other online services at the time. This feature, along with ease of account creations and the absence of member fees, caused Battle.net to become popular among gamers and became a major selling point for Diablo and subsequent Blizzard games. Since the successful launch of Battle.net, many companies have published online game services mimicking Blizzard's service package and the user interface.

Blizzard officially unveiled the revamped Battle.net 2.0 on March 20, 2009.[2] It later revealed further details of the Battle.net revamped features at Blizzcon 2009 which supported StarCraft II, Diablo III and World of Warcraft. The original Battle.net was then renamed to Battle.net Classic.[3]

Supported games

Diablo

Main article: Diablo

When the service initially launched with Diablo in November 30, 1996, Battle.net offered only a few basic services like chatting and game listings. Players could connect to the service, talk with other gamers and join multiplayer games of Diablo. Besides user account data, no game data was stored on the Battle.net servers. When a player connected to a game, they would be connecting directly to the other players in the game. No data was sent through the Battle.net servers. While this made the service quick and easy to use, it quickly led to widespread cheating since players using cheats could modify their game data locally. However, since there was an option to create private games, many players ended up playing with people they knew.

StarCraft

Main article: StarCraft
The Battle.net interface in StarCraft

The release of StarCraft in 1998 increased usage of the Battle.net service significantly. Features such as ladder ranking and game filters were added to the service. Battle.net grew even larger after the release of the expansion pack StarCraft: Brood War, with tens of thousands of players logged on at any given time (even in the present day). StarCraft Battle.net was especially successful in South Korea, where the number of players logged on was often many times that of the United States.

StarCraft also brought with it a new copy protection scheme using CD keys. Under Diablo, Battle.net would allow any client to connect to the service. With StarCraft, only those players with a valid and unique CD key – a generated 13-digit number distributed with each boxed game – were allowed onto the service. Only one person could connect to Battle.net using a specific CD key at a time. CD-Keys could also be muted (unable to chat in channels or whisper), voided (restricted to The Void channel), jailed (both muted and voided) or banned from Battle.net entirely. Every Blizzard game since StarCraft has used the CD key system to connect to Battle.net. StarCraft: Brood War used as its CD-key whatever CD-key was found on the original StarCraft on that computer, and was thus only installable if the original was already installed. With the release of the Gateway system in Brood War (selectable regional server clusters), two players can play at the same time, as long as they are on different gateways. Given how the gateways are expectedly separate from each other, each with their own games list and user accounts that are not shared across the other gateways, it is still maintained that they cannot play in the same game nor chat with each other, etc.

Diablo II

Main article: Diablo II

Diablo II was released in 2000 to much fanfare. The main highlight of Diablo II as it relates to Battle.net was that the game used the client–server model. The game was no longer simulated on each player's computer, but instead was run on Blizzard's server. This also meant that all of the character data for the game was stored on the Battle.net servers. The game also has an open character feature on Battle.net which stored the player's character on the client. This allowed players to play characters locally or on a LAN, and then use those same characters on Battle.net. However, any open games played on Battle.net were not protected from cheating by other players since they could have modified their characters locally. Diablo II also had a unique feature that would show the players in the Battle.net chat room as avatars who looked like their characters did in the game. It also used a different Battle.net interface than previous games, where previously there were mainly only color differences. There was also expanded ladder support including a "Hardcore" ladder which listed players whose characters would be removed permanently if they died in-game. Again, with Diablo II usage of Battle.net increased steadily, climbing even higher with the release of the expansion pack Diablo II: Lord of Destruction in 2001.

Warcraft III

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was released in 2002 and its expansion pack, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, was released in 2003. The release of these two games brought with them a number of new features to the online service. The most significant feature to be added was probably the concept of Anonymous Matchmaking. This feature allowed a user who wanted to play a game to simply press a button and automatically be matched up with one or more other players who were similar in skill (based on ranking) and also wanted to play a game. This allowed for people to get into games quickly and easily. It also reduced win-trading, where two people would purposely win and lose games to artificially raise their rank on the ladder. The matchmaking concept was also expanded to team games in a feature called "Arranged Teams". In an arranged team game, you could make a team with one or more friends, which was then anonymously matched up with another team of the same size and rank. However, a strategy was introduced on how to cheat the automated 'fair' matchups, called 'Abusing', simply by someone losing the Arranged Team Games intentionally with one ally so that with another ally (who wants to gain wins easily) won't find it difficult because the automatic matchups would put the two players up against relatively unskilled players. Automated tournaments were added in the expansion, where players would compete to be crowned tournament champion in a series of games played throughout the day. In addition to the new game styles, a slew of other features were added including selectable chatroom icons unlocked based on the player's number of wins, a friends list, and clan support.

World of Warcraft

Main article: World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft initially did not support Battle.net, having separate accounts from Battle.net once until the revamp of Battle.net on March 20, 2009 which forced players to merge their World of Warcraft accounts with the new Battle.net accounts.[4] The features of Battle.net utilized in World of Warcraft include allowing players to engage in cross-realm, cross-faction and cross-game chat, which allows players to talk with their friends on their Real ID friends list, from other factions, other servers as well as other games such as StarCraft II and Diablo III.[5] On November 11, 2009 Blizzard Entertainment made Battle.net a mandatory feature for World of Warcraft players.[6]

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the first game to natively support the new revamped Battle.net online interface. The new Battle.net was planned with a marketplace for StarCraft II which would allow players to download both free and paid maps, but this feature has not yet been implemented. Instead, regular and custom maps are available for everyone and sorted by a popularity system based on total playtime. The new interface includes a chat service which is similar to that of Instant Messengers which allows players to interact across different games. Initially not having been shipped with regular, channel-based chat rooms, this was later added in a patch after both community and gaming media noted the lack of the feature. The game also supports VoIP for players.[7][8]

Diablo III

Main article: Diablo III

Blizzard confirmed on June 28, 2008 at the Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France that Diablo III would feature Battle.net support. However, it would progress to the point that a Battle.net account is now mandatory in order to play Diablo III.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Hearthstone requires a Battle.net account to play.

Heroes of the Storm

Main article: Heroes of the Storm

Heroes of the Storm requires a Battle.net account to play.

Development

Battle.net 2.0

Battle.net was revamped by Blizzard in 2009 and officially unveiled on March 20, 2009, it was further elaborated on during Blizzcon 2009. The new Battle.net contains three unique sections. The first allows players to connect all Battle.net accounts, World of Warcraft characters and friends list together and integrate them into a unified single Battle.net account. Players can also unlock achievements in-game which would in turn unlock avatars and decals which would be shown on the player's profile, the decals can also be seen in-game on the player's units.[9]

Chat System interface on the revamped Battle.net 2.0

The second section consists of making Battle.net into a competitive platform for players which involves a new improved matchmaking system, simplifying the process of players organizing games. The ladder system has also been revamped; the system classifies players into certain leagues according to their level of competitiveness. Players would then compete against others who have a similar skill level to their own, albeit across leagues. There is also a special practice league to practice and hone skills, where game speed is reduced and maps are designed to create a slower pace of the game. The party system works similar to that of World of Warcraft where players with friends would join together and enter games as a party.[9]

The final section involves the new chat system which involves a new system similar to Instant Messaging across games. Players may communicate with friends across games, servers, and characters.[9]

Another new element is the use of an online marketplace which allows player or map makers to create and sell their maps online through Battle.net, players can also browse and search through maps online and rank them by player ratings as well as download both free and paid maps. This is however not implemented yet.[9]

On May 5, 2010, Blizzard revealed that Battle.net 2.0 would be integrated with social networking site Facebook, "linking the world's premier online gaming platform with the world's most popular social platform".

Growth history

By November 1997, Blizzard claimed that Battle.net had 2.2 million games played, 1.25 million different users, and averaged 3,500 new users each day.[10] By April 1999, it was reported that Battle.net had 2.3 million active users, and more than 50,000 concurrent users.[11] By September 2002, their active user count had jumped to 11 million.[12] By September 2004, their active user count was up to nearly 12 million, spending more than 2.1 million hours online each day, and they had an average of 200,000 concurrent users, with a peak concurrent user count of 400,000.[13] In 2006, Blizzard claimed that Battle.net, when combined with the World of Warcraft subscriber base, was a leader of online gaming, noting that "even Xbox Live is not even close to us".[14] In November 2008, Blizzard banned over 357,700 accounts that were found to be using third-party hacks.[15]

Community content

A community of developers has arisen around Battle.net. Many unofficial clients are available for Battle.net, and most of the protocol used by Battle.net-enabled games has been reverse-engineered and published by volunteers.

Also, several communication tools have been made, like a "whisper" tool, so that a player could talk to their friends even if they are in a game.

Custom games (using maps that were not made by Blizzard) have helped build the community, and now are a substantial portion of the games played. Among the most popular of these games in Warcraft III are tower defense maps and Hero solo maps (like Defense of the Ancients, and arena maps) or pure RTS games like Civilization Wars, where the player develops their economy, tech, and unit diversity but the player has no control of their units.

Controversy

bnetd

A group of gamers reverse engineered the network protocol used by Battle.net and Blizzard games, and released a free (under the GNU GPL) Battle.net emulation package called bnetd. With bnetd, a gamer is not required to use the official Battle.net servers to play Blizzard games.

In February 2002, lawyers retained by Blizzard threatened legal action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against the developers of bnetd. Blizzard games are designed to operate online exclusively with a set of Blizzard-controlled servers collectively known as "Battle.net". Battle.net servers include a CD key check as a means of preventing software piracy.

Despite offers from the bnetd developers to integrate Blizzard's CD key checking system into bnetd, Blizzard claims that the public availability of any such software package facilitates piracy, and moved to have the bnetd project shut down under provisions of the DMCA.[16] As this case is one of the first major test cases for the DMCA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation became involved. For a while negotiations were ongoing to resolve the case without a trial. However, the negotiations failed and Blizzard won the case on all counts: the defendants were ruled to have breached both StarCraft's End User License Agreement (EULA) and the Terms of Use of Battle.net.[17] This decision was appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also ruled in favor of Blizzard/Vivendi on September 1, 2005.[18]

Privacy and Real ID

On July 6, 2010, Blizzard announced that they planned to change the way their forums worked to require that users identify themselves with their real name.[19][20] The reaction from the community was overwhelmingly negative with multiple game magazines calling the change "foolhardy"[21] and an "Epic Fail".[22] It also resulted in the largest user response ever on the Blizzard forums.[23][24][25][26][27] This included personal details of a Blizzard employee who gave his real name "to show it wasn't a big deal".[28] Shortly after revealing his real name, personal information was posted that included his phone number, picture, age, home address, and other details.[23]

Some technology media outlets suggested the change was a good idea and would benefit both Battle.net and the Blizzard community.[29] Others worried that Blizzard would open their fans up to real-life dangers[30] such as stalking, sexual predators, and employment issues, since a simple Google search by a user's employer would reveal their online activities.[23][31][32][33] There was also concern that this would lead to real-life harassment and safety concerns, especially for women and transgender gamers who are already harassed quite often in-game.[34][35][36][37][38][39]

Blizzard initially responded to some of the concerns by saying that the changes would not be retroactive to previous posts, that parents could set up the system so that minors cannot post, and that posting to the forums is optional.[25] However due to the huge negative response, Blizzard President Michael Morhaime issued a statement rescinding the plan to use real names on Blizzard's forums for the time being.[40][41]

2012 hacking

On August 4, 2012, Battle.net was hacked, with the hackers having access to user e-mail addresses, answers to security questions, and scrambled passwords.[42] As a result, players on North American servers were required to change their passwords, and urged to change their security question.[43]

General criticism

Public opinion of the new Battle.Net has been mixed among fans since StarCraft II's release. Lacking a classic chat interface throughout the Beta and after release, the feature was only added after large fan feedback on the official forums and attention to the topic on gaming media. To this day, StarCraft 2's custom scene — that is, custom maps and scenarios created by players and community enthusiasts (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "mods") — is very small (both in terms of maps available and players playing them) compared to both of its predecessors, WarCraft 3 and StarCraft, despite a more powerful editor. Both limits imposed upon map makers (limited upload, limited rights) and the sorting of maps through a "popularity system", where a very limited selection of maps attract attention, are causes of this issue. Several prominent features of previous games, like shared watching of replays directly on Battle.Net, multiple accounts per copy, and automated tournaments have also not made it to StarCraft II. In-game support for clans, also present in its predecessor Warcraft III, was eventually added to the game 2 and a half years after release.

Games by Battle.net version

An early model of the revamped Battle.net interface in World of Warcraft

Battle.net Classic

Restricted Chat Functionality

Battle.net 2.0

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Battle.net Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  2. ↑ "Blizzard Unveils New Battle.net". Kotaku.com. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  3. ↑ "Upcoming Blizzard Battle.Net Feature Draw From Warcraft, Xbox Live, Life". Kotaku.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  4. ↑ Merge World of Warcraft accounts with battle.net accounts
  5. ↑ Sacco, Michael (27 August 2009). "Battle.net 2.0 to allow cross-faction communication". Wow.com. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Wow -> Archived News -> November, 2009". Worldofwarcraft.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "StarCraft II General Discussion". Battle.net. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  8. ↑ "BlizzCon 2009: Battle.net 2.0 features revealed [Update]". News.bigdownload.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Upcoming Blizzard Battle.Net Feature Draw From Warcraft, Xbox Live, Life – Blizzcon 09". Kotaku.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Features – "Battle.net Defines Its Success: An Interview with Paul Sams of Blizzard" [11.28.97]". Gamasutra. 28 November 1997. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  11. ↑ Conason, Joe (21 April 1999). "Salon Technology | Online gaming's store-shelf chains". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "Appellees Brief | Electronic Frontier Foundation" (PDF). Eff.org. 30 September 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  14. ↑ "GC: WOW Factor //". Gamesindustry.biz. 25 August 2006. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to". Battle.net. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  16. ↑ Linux.com: Open Source game server shut down by DMCA, February 21, 2002
  17. ↑ Court document: Davison & Associates vs Internet Gateway & Associates, September 30, 2004
  18. ↑ Chillingeffect.org: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Freezes On-Line Gamers with an Eight Circuit Court Victory, September 19, 2005.
  19. ↑ "Battle.net – English Forums -> Battle.net Update: Upcoming Changes to Forums". Forums.battle.net. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  20. ↑ Holisky, Adam. "Official forum changes, real life names to be displayed". Wow.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  21. ↑ "News: Fans rage over Blizzard forum plans". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  22. ↑ "Why Blizzard’s new forum plan is an epic fail". video gamer. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 "World of Warcraft maker to end anonymous forum logins". BBC News. 7 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  24. ↑ Kuchera, Ben. "Blizzard: post about StarCraft 2? Use your real name". Arstechnica.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Holisky, Adam. "Blizzard's responses on the Real ID situation". Wow.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  26. ↑ "Blizzard's Real ID Removes Anonymity From Their Forums". DigitalSomething.com. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  27. ↑ Oli Welsh. "Blizzard forums to require real names MMO News – Page 1". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  28. ↑ Northrup, Laura. "You Want Your Real Name Publicly Associated With Your World Of Warcraft Account, Right?". The Consumerist. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  29. ↑ "News: Blizzard's Real ID Puts Names to Trolling, Underage Lesbianism". Kombo.com. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  30. ↑ "Counter-Strike Gamer Hunts Down, Stabs Man". Tomshardware.com. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  31. ↑ "Is Blizzard's Real ID Safe, Or A Playground For Sexual Deviants? – Voodoo Extreme". Ve3d.ign.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  32. ↑ "Geeking Out About… » 21st Century Digital REDACTED". Geekingoutabout.com. 28 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  33. ↑ "Blizzard forces users to show real names – Internet security they have heard of it". TechEye. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  34. ↑ "The Real ID Debacle: What We’ve Learned".
  35. ↑ "True names: identity, safety and Blizzard’s Real ID".
  36. ↑ "Aftershock: Blizzard's Real ID policy gaffe rattles on".
  37. ↑ "Blizzard forces users to show real names".
  38. ↑ "Was Blizzard’s real name decision nothing more than a PR stunt?".
  39. ↑ "Homophobia and Harassment in the Online Gaming Age".
  40. ↑ World of Warcraft – English (NA) Forums -> Regarding real names in forums
  41. ↑ "Blizzard backs down over gamers using real names". BBC News. 9 July 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  42. ↑ Albanesius, Chloe (August 10, 2012). "Blizzard's Battle.net Servers Hacked, User Info Stolen". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  43. ↑ "Important Security Update". Blizzard Entertainment. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.

External links