The second Golden Age of Video Games in the late nineties wasn’t limited to legendary titles; it was an era where companies won fans by empowering them.  In Starcraft’s case, Blizzard dangled a free-to-play gaming service alongside a “spawn” function where potential buyers could beat the crap out of each other with a friend’s copy of the game.  The corporatization of game development has caused this empowerment to regress.  Hey, why would Sony want a backwards-compatible Playstation 3 when they can charge for digitally-downloaded Playstation 2 software?

In addition to the removal of true local area play and the increase of digital restrictions management, Blizzard Entertainment’s current platform for Starcraft II online play is “one game, one account, one name”.  Why?  Yeah, this approach is about making money.  But it’s coming from more angles than you’d think.

At BlizzCon, Blizzard employees affirmed this decision was to prevent smurfing (talented players “resetting” their record by creating a new account).  Smurfing has two purposes: To experiment with new strategies without tainting their “real record”, or to ego trip through the ranks of mediocrity.  Neither situation addresses the Warcraft III matchmaking system that forces good players to make new accounts in order to find games, and it doesn’t address that bad players will complain anyway because that’s what bad players do.

It’s really a public relations ploy.  Blizzard has plugged three strategy games into Battle.net since smurfing entered the culture, and only decided to hard-line the approach when “millions of World of Warcraft players” came into play.  And since the MMORPG is predicated on making time and effort the most important assets for overcoming challenges, Blizzard is going to make every concession in making sure these players don’t become frustrated.

So, you’ve stripped functionality by convincing new gamers that experts won’t ruin your party.  And thus, Blizzard can to grant that functionality back for a price.

And that’s why “One name per account” won’t stick.  Blizzard’s already convinced people to pay real money to change the name and gender of their World of Warcraft character, so there’s money to be made in a new name.  But then why restrict premium name creation on day one?  If you don’t care for competitive gaming, this is a solid time to begin.

Know about domain squatting?  Where someone registers ReaganIn2016.com with the hope that the Mayan Apocalypse will get Zombie Reagan back on his throne?  It’s enough to underestimate the obnoxious prick who will get under the skin of an internet message board they don’t like (I already have alternative names to work with, don’t bother); powers in competitive gaming have brand recognition to cement.

Trust me: When you see this avatar, you shit bricks if it isn’t me.

From the day Starcraft II was playable, KeSPA and company have been politicking “their sport” Starcraft against Blizzard’s complete control over the the sequel’s competitive gaming scene.  What better for Blizzard to make friends with KeSPA by creating a naming system where 650 variations of Slayers_Boxer can’t exist, and pro-gamers can use the clout of their teams to secure the name they want before Starcraft II goes live?  Go ahead and claim there isn’t precedent for this.  Have you read the World of Warcraft naming policy?  It states that if you name your character, you are probably going to get banned for it.

It really is economics: The Activision-Blizzard marriage was built on an arms race that began when Blizzard’s pay-to-play role-playing game became a huge success.  The company now faces a daunting task: Convert a pay-to-play World of Warcraft audience to the free-to-play Starcraft II…and make more money.  And whether you’re a gamer with no interest in the Korean Gaming Machine or somebody who wants to play anonymously from time to time, it’s probably going to cost you.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Blizzard Entertainment, E-Sports, Marketing, Matchmaking, Online Play, Starcraft, Starcraft II. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.