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World Of Warcraft Now Uses Cross-Game Real ID Friends List
Yesterday Blizzard launched patch 3.3.5 for World of Warcraft, one of the last patches in the lead-up to their third expansion pack, Cataclysm. Part of the changes in this patch include the implementation of a new chat system and an upgraded friends list that lets you see when buddies are logged on across games and on any character.
The new real ID system (pictured above in StarCraft 2) is a major facet of what Blizzard is calling Battle.net 2.0. To add someone as a real ID friend, you need to know their e-mail address rather than just their character name. Once you do, though, you'll see their real name, what game they're playing, and what character they're logged on as in your friends list. You'll also be able to send messages to buddies who are playing a different game or playing on a different server than you.
The new patch also was supposed to introduce a new raid boss encounter, the Ruby Sanctum. Although that encounter has been added to the game, Blizzard is keeping the raid closed for at least a week while they work on getting the patch out in other territories.
I downloaded the patch last night and checked it out a bit. As someone who will likely be playing a lot of future Blizzard releases (and with guild members who will be doing the same), I'm happy to have the cross-game chat option. The small tweaks made to the game's regular chat system are also quite nice. These are minor quality of life improvements, but it's good to see them set up and running before the next big expansion.
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