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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBattle.net will integrate with Facebook
by Robin Torres 
May 5th 2010 at 12:30PM
Vaneras -- Battle.net Facebook IntegrationOf course, the integration will be voluntary. This announcement does not mean that all those friends you have in Facebook just to increase your mafia will automatically know you are playing WoW. You will choose if you want to integrate and which friends to import.
The full PR announcement after the break.
Blizzard PRBlizzard Entertainment's next-generation online gaming platform will integrate with Facebook to enhance social gaming experience.
PARIS, France – May 5, 2010 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that its Battle.net® gaming service will integrate with Facebook®, linking the world's premier online gaming platform with the world's most popular social platform. The first step in the integration will enable StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ players to quickly add Blizzard gamers who are friends on Facebook to their Battle.net friend lists, facilitating their social gaming experience on the service.
"We're pleased to be working with Facebook to integrate their platform with Battle.net to enhance the social-entertainment experience for our players," said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. "This new functionality will make it easier than ever to connect with friends on Battle.net and play StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games together."
The new Facebook functionality in Battle.net will be tested in the near future via the ongoing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty beta test and will be available to all StarCraft II players when the game ships later this year. Information about other Facebook-related features on Battle.net will be announced at a later date.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
Drakkenfyre May 5th 2010 1:12PM
And when FaceBook eventually fails, we will have a useless functionality.
Tim May 5th 2010 1:48PM
This will never happen
Drakkenfyre May 5th 2010 2:03PM
Talk to MySpace. I hear it's popularity is pretty low nowadays.
Facebook isn't permanent. It's the new new thing. Once it's popularity is over, it will die. Look at GeoCities, maybe you are too young to remember it. It was the big thing back in the day, too. It finally was shut down last year.
Intergrating a website into a game that is a fad is a bad idea. When the website shrinks down or flat-out closes, you now have wasted time and programming for that site. The functionality will eventually cease to work.
People are already have a huge fit over the Real ID implementation in StarCraft 2. If you want to talk to someone across game, you have to add them as a Real ID friend. Then they can see your full name, and your email address. And you can see all of their Real ID friends, and they can see you.
Now, as someone has already posted on the StarCraft 2 message board, watch if Real ID is linked to the Facebook integration, Suddenly you have alot of people knowing alot of other people without actually knowing them. You want your friend and his 100 other friends to know your full name and potentially your email address?
Kroof May 5th 2010 9:50PM
I like that this is not mandatory.
Frankly, facebook has terrible account security. In no way would I like to link something like that to an account I pay for.
AppleZilla May 5th 2010 1:30PM
Pass. Facebook is a security nightmare.
Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook
http://gizmodo.com/5530178/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook
Six reasons to hate Facebook's new anti-privacy system, "Connections"
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/04/six-reasons-to-hate.html
Kal May 5th 2010 2:07PM
Thanks for the links, been debating about cutting the cord for a while and those gave the push I needed.
Goodbye annoying alerts and messages. Hello privacy.
Ravingsockmonkey May 5th 2010 5:46PM
Thanks here too. I was considering also cutting the cord after many articles I've seen were showing FB to be more and more of a privacy nightmare. Maybe I can get my family to actually CALL me for a change?
Cetha May 5th 2010 1:33PM
what's more interesting is why you feel the need to be "closeted" about playing WoW?
Drecin May 5th 2010 1:41PM
So this just means that I will be able to chat with friends on my FB while playing WoW???? If not than what does this mean exactly....You can start calling me a Noob.......NOW....
furry May 5th 2010 1:46PM
Does this mean that if I want to use Battle.net, I'll need a facebook?
If I want to use this functionality, does that mean that facebook can sell the fact that I play wow to whoever the heck it feels like?
:(
Robin Torres May 5th 2010 1:53PM
No. Not mandatory. Not at all. No. No.
jfofla May 5th 2010 1:43PM
Imagine how people talk in Trade Chat
Now imagine that plastered on your Facebook Wall for all your RL friends to see.
Faith Trust May 5th 2010 2:05PM
as long as they dont start with "analogies" its not that bad...
Rich May 5th 2010 1:45PM
How sad is myspace now? hah.
jfofla May 5th 2010 1:46PM
Better Yet!
It will publish your /played and update it on your wall!
Mindaika May 5th 2010 1:52PM
That's great news! And then from there, facebook can sell all of your personal data, and probably your Battle.net data, to anyone it feels like, forever!
sprout_daddy May 5th 2010 2:01PM
"DEATH2NUBZ, a level 42 Tauren Warrior, was ganked in Ashara."
4 others like this
Seath May 5th 2010 2:07PM
we all know how bad the goldsellers are on trade now. This would let them find us outside of wow. This would be just another way to spam and hack our accounts.
Swampsquatch May 5th 2010 2:05PM
Why are so many people embarrassed about playing WoW? Grow up and stop being childish (or looking at video games as childish) and while you are at it, grow a "spine" (since all the other terms I wanted to use aren't appropriate).
traptinacivicsi May 5th 2010 2:44PM
I dunno if it's the fact they PLAY wow, but that it would probably update quite a bit allowing others to know how MUCH you play.
I know there's the 'why should you care what others think' and 'maybe play less' but when your on a social network with everyone you've ever known, it's just creepy.