For the past two weeks we have reported more and more leaked information about the Discord-like features coming over to Blizzard‘s Battle.net. The datamined material showed off many features that Blizzard fans have been asking for since … well, forever, including the coveted “Appear Offline Feature”. After more and more images and coding were revealed, Blizzard has officially unveiled their new and improved social setting. Here’s what to expect.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The beta for the social hub is now live and includes features such as channels, group chat, individual profiles and avatars, and more. Arguably the most helpful is that of the Offline Mode in addition to the already there “Online”, “Away”, and “Busy”.
Offline Mode
With popular online games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and now Destiny 2,ย a vastly improved social experience just makes sense. Like clients such as Discord and TeamSpeak, this will take online play to a more immersive level by allowing new avenues for players to come together and communicate.ย
This is what Blizzard had to say about the upcoming features:ย
“Appear offline allows you to set your status to show you as “offline” to your Blizzard friends while remaining connected to Battle.net. This means you can launch the app and game away without distraction. Appearing offline will show you as offline to everyone in your Blizzard friends list. Once you have joined a game, the experience of appearing offline might be slightly different depending on which game you are playing. In the case of World of Warcraft, your guildmates will see your character come online and enter WoW’s in-game chat channels, and anyone who has you as a character-level friend will see you online on their friends list. Everyone outside of the same game as you will not see you online or playing any games.”ย
With the Battle.net mobile app just released, the ability for offline messaging is an awesome feature that may not be a new concept, but is incredibly handy. If you’re wanting to game in peace, setting yourself as “offline” won’t inhibit messaging abilities.ย
Social Tab and Blizzard Groups
Social Tab
Our new Social tab is your one-stop-shop for managing all your various social interactions. Whether you’re chatting with a friend or engaged in our new Blizzard Groups, you’ll easily be able to pick up where you left off in all of your conversations.
Blizzard Groups
Blizzard Groups are a new way for you to connect with your friends and plan your next mission. Players can create and join Groups based on their common interests. There, they can keep in touch, share strategies, and catch up on conversations they might have missed while offline.
Each Group can have multiple text and voice chat channels, and Group administrators have a variety of tools to help manage membership, send out invitation links, and more.
ย
Profiles
Let the Blizzard world know a little bit more about you by customizing your profile!
Your profile will allow you to select an avatar, share what’s on your mind with an About message, add links to where people can find you on social media, and more! You can also view profiles of other players if you’re curious about a pending friend request or what games a friend plays.
Players using the beta in the Americas region can customize their profile through the View Profile button in the app header and Friends List drop-downs.
Interested in trying out the new features in the Battle.net beta? Check out their official site here for more details, how to test it out yourself, and where to leave your feedback.
