The world(s) of StarCraft are set to get a whole lot more social with two new features that the upcoming expansion, Heart of the Swarm, is bringing to the table.
Clans and Groups. They may not sound like much, but they're a new feature that should assist both casual and competitive players alike.
On the official StarCraft website, Blizzard has offered up details on how Groups and Clans will work on Battle.net, and how they'll differ from each other. "The Groups feature is for players who want to associate casually and in larger numbers," and is "a way for you to meet and interact with other StarCraft II players who share common interests." Not too different from a forum where topics are divided into different threads. " Groups will remain geared around casual social interactions," but can offer topics like "Strategy and Coaching for Groups that are looking to share their favorite strategies and helping others improve their play." Really, it seems like a wholeheartedly good effort for Blizzard to introduce the game to rookie players.
Clans on the other hand, are for the competitive player; the carpal tunnel afflicted clicker with murder in his eye and a swarm of dead zergs in his wake. "Our goal with Clans in StarCraft II is simple -- we want to bring people together in ways that make sense for allowing players to organize into groups, communicate with each other, and recognize others in-game," said Blizzard.
Both Clans and Groups will have their own channel, news feeds and rosters. Members per clan are limited to 50, whereas a Group's numbers can be "near limitless."
Despite the differences, Clans and Groups are similar in functionality, Blizzard says, "so we anticipate that some people will use them interchangeably at first. Moving forward, our development focus on the Clans feature will be to add more competitive features, whereas Groups will remain geared around casual social interactions."
Just keep in mind that "like other new features being tested in the beta," both Clans and Groups are "a work in progress," but Blizzard is "looking forward to testing it with you."
Both a digital deluxe and collector's version for Swarm were also recently announced, each with its own set of features. According to Blizzard president, Mike Morhaime, the goal of Swarm was to "expand on the multiplayer action and cinematic storytelling of Wings of Liberty. Combined with features like unranked matchmaking and our new leveling system, this expansion elevates the StarCraft II experience for players of all skill levels."
Heart of the Swarm promises to be "the most in-depth look into the zerg that Blizzard has ever carried out." The expansion will be released on Windows and Mac Mar. 12, 2013.
The Heart of the Swarm expansion for StarCraft 2 will add two key social features: Clans and Groups. While Clans, previously detailed by Blizzard, are geared toward competitive StarCraft 2 players, Groups are designed to foster more casual in-game associations.