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It's still possible Players that wish to remain anonymous on Battle.net if players want that and still add friends and be sociablehave the option to do so.
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'''Battle.net''' is [[Blizzard]]'s online match-making component and social networking tool for their game franchises. The network features both [[PvP]] and [[co-op]] for [[multiplayer]] gameplay.
The network offers its services to about 12 million players, and with the a new version of Battle.net that will be available with [[StarCraft II]], Blizzard naturally hopes they can serve even more fans. Since At this point in time, Blizzard have has only so far released information about the StarCraft II-specific features for Battle.net, most of this article so far reflects that. As soon as [[Diablo III]] information (or any other game) is revealed or leaked, it will be added here.
Battle.net links:
==Pillars of Battle.net==
[[File:Battle.net_loading.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Loading a game of [[StarCraft II]].]]
The new Battle.net is designed primarily with primarily four main purposes/features to make it the best gaming network:
===Always Connected===
The player will see a use for being connected at all times, even when playing single player, as he connects to a "character" online that gains Achievementsachievements, limited avatars or decals and other related features.
There are a number of features that will only work online. Also, but there will be an offline mode for Single Player and skirmishes, for Skirmishes, the odd plane flight , or any internet downtime you might players may have.
Unfortunately, this pillar also includes the main reason why there is no [[multiplayer]] functionality for [[LAN]].
===Finding Games===
For [[RTS]] games on Battle.net, like [[Starcraft II]], the new Battle.net use a competitive arena matchmaking system that is more intelligent than most available matchmaking technologies right now, and that . This system "learnlearns" progressively how which players to matchmakematch up. The idea is that whatever skill level you are, you should have fun online, and be set up to win and lose about 50/50.
[[Diablo III]] players will instead be matched with people they are likely to have fun with, playing in [[co-op]] games.
===Social===
[[File:Battle.net_chat.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Chat interface of Battle.net. Somewhat reminiscent of Facebook.]]
Logging in will allow access to better friend management and other social gaming components. It's easy to use, and easy to keep in touch with friends that like play any Blizzard game.
There will be both text chat and voice chat for players in [[StarCraft II]]/ and [[World of WarCraft]] (presumably all Blizzard games in the future) to use in any game to talk to each other. It will work like a backbone to the network, and will seamlessly integrate friends lists, matchmaking, messaging, and other features.
===Mod Support===
Mod support is basically "[http://starcraft.incgamers.com/wiki/Mapmaking map making]" support, since the maps can easily be modified to be anything rather than just a an [[RTS]] game. The support for it will include an easy way to see view and try others' use mods, as well as being able to charge people real money to use your mods, if you have managed to create a very popular one.
==Battle.net Characters==
[[File:Battle.net_profile.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Battle.net profile screen showing the character "Ridley".]]
Battle.net is now outfitted with a brand new feature going live with [[StarCraft II]], and it's a ''StarCraft II Battle.net character''. This character serves as your single persistent identity across the service. Everything you do in the game -- win/loss record, achievements, unlockable rewards, friends list, and more -- will be saved to your character profile for you and your friends to see. Even your save game progress in the campaign can be synched synced to Battle.net.
Say you upgrade your computer and re-install the game; once you connect to Battle.net, you can continue the campaign right where you left off. This can be handy for people using more than one PC, allowing progress wherever the player is.
Players can then see their Real ID friends by their real name, along with any character they are logged in as. There is also more detailed presence information about what they are doing, you can send or receive broadcast messages to/from them and use cross-game communication between StarCraft II, Battle.net, and World of Warcraft.
It's optional, and need not be activated unless the player wishes itto.
===Leagues and Ladders===
[[File:Battle.net_leagues_ladders.jpg|thumb|300px|1v1 Platinum League division 75 shown here.]]
The new Battle.net matchmaking service will measure player skill more accurately than ever before, making online competitive play more accessible for a wider audience. There is also a new Battle.net Leagues and Ladders System added to the service.
After using the auto-matchmaking system a few times, Battle.net will automatically slot players into a league and division that best suits your skill level. The goal here is to encourage local competition by finding players a neighbourhood of 100 players of equal skill to be ranked against. The intention is to make ranked online play much more enjoyable and give everyone a realistic chance to win their division.
The Blizzard community has previously been very creative and made a lot of maps and mods for the games seen on Battle.net, like DotA, Tower Defense, and many others. More on this in '''[http://starcraft.incgamers.com/wiki/Mapmaking Mapmaking]'''.
To help this further, Battle.net will feature a '''Map Publishing''' feature that will let users upload their maps to the service and share them with the rest of the community immediately on the network. Players can publish, browse, and download maps directly via the Battle.net client. It will also allow for Finding Players trying to find games based on specific mods (like DotA or Tower Defense) will be easier have little trouble with the new custom game system, that will allow easier searches and filtering of custom maps.
Sometime after the release of StarCraft II, modders will have access to an even more advanced means of sharing their work via Battle.net with the StarCraft II Marketplace. With the Marketplace, players will be able to browse, download, rate, comment on, and even buy mods if their creators choose to put a price tag on their work.
Blizzard strongly believes that providing content creators with the option of being compensated for their work will lead to some truly amazing projects; having a budget will give modders much more freedom to explore and fully realize all of their ideas. This in turn will theoretically lead to a bigger selection of high-quality mods and a greater variety of content on Battle.net
==Development==
Battle.net started as a matchmaking service for [[Diablo]] players in 1997, and was revolutionising revolutionizing at the time, as it did not require the player to go out of the game to connect to the service or set up a game with a friend. It had IRC-like chat commands that could be used both inside and outside of the game, and was a very popular way to play Diablo. Diablo unfortunately suffered greatly from [[hack]]s and cheating, something [[Blizzard]] helped improve in the second iteration of Battle.net, for [[StarCraft I]] and [[Diablo II]].
With Diablo II, the Battle.net team was reinforced with more anti-hack measures, and by the release of [[WarCraft III]], there was a whole team dedicated to keeping the network safe from cheaters.
Battle.net fell out of favour to with StarCraft players as the network became increasingly outdated and laggy. An unauthorized third party service called iCCup gained popularity. It's essentially a hacked, or at least modified, version of Battle.net, and offers more services and functionality than the original.
"Battle.net 2.0" is a nickname given to the new version of Battle.net by the fans, and the work on it presumably began in late pre-alpha inside Blizzard in 2008. Back then, a great deal was still known about the network, and you can read more about it in the [http://starcraft.incgamers.com/articles/comments/battlenet-20-article-series/ Battle.net 2.0 Article Series] publicised by [[IncGamers]]' game channels at the time.
