Battle.net 2.0 & Diablo 3

Diablo III is all set to incorporate the Battle.net 2.0 feature, albeit in a mysterious form. Chat platforms have historically played a very important role in nearly all games of Blizzard by enabling gamers to talk to their gaming characters in a convenient format. After being introduced in Diablo I chat channels have witnessed a whole lot of functional and structural changes.

In the original Diablo, the chat platform was situated on the left side whereas the player list was placed on the right side. One of its most noteworthy features was the capability to develop chat channels wherein the ‘Operator’ could totally control other characters in the chat channel. This functionality and layout was soon replicated in other games like Warcraft II and Star Craft.

Coming back to Diablo 3, it will be interesting to see what changes have been made by the game designers. In all likelihood, Blizzard is expected to take the D-2 route wherein major enhancements were made in both graphics and layout, which also included animated characters. Experts believe that that the improved version could also end up using tabbed channels as in the case of StarCraft 2.

While this certainly sounds interesting, the designers would also need to be wary of the presence of animated characters. For instance, the number of such characters and their adjustment into the screen could pose some serious challenges. This is one of the main reasons why it is believed that D3 would follow the footsteps of its preceding versions where the chat channel would continue to occupy the left side.

Ideally, gamers would want to see their animated characters in the game as well as on the chat channels without any inconvenience. They’d also like to have the ability to view other players and their characters. Let us see how D-3 shapes up when it releases later on this year.