[2023] Discussion Topic - 2021/9 - Social Features

Social features are an important part of any game, and RTS is no exception. Features like chat channels and clans are common requests, especially from a community that experienced the absence of many of these features early on in StarCraft II. But what do these features look like today? What other social features excite the community?

Companies like Twitch, Discord, Reddit, and many others around the world have changed the landscape for the way players socialize around games. How does that changing landscape affect the way we should approach social features in a new modern RTS game? What do users expect out of a chat system today, and how can it not only check the boxes to meet those expectations but excel in this new environment? What is the right way to build a clan system that not only manages to co-exist among so many fantastic third-party community-building tools but also capitalizes on all of these new innovations? What is the right approach to supporting voice chat with so many players defaulting to Discord for their comms?

Even if we isolate in-game features from modern third-party innovations, the expectations around them have changed dramatically over the years. In what ways have in-game systems like chat and clans evolved that we need to capture?

With these thoughts in mind, it’s once again your turn to tell us how you would like to be social:

• Tell us about how you have made friends in gaming throughout the years. What role did social features play in those relationships?
• Where you are from, how do you generally interact with the wider gaming community?
• What social features do you think would or would not work today from your favorite games in the past? If you don’t think some feature that you loved in the past would be as likely to succeed today, how would you try to capture the same feeling or sense of community you got from that feature in a modern environment?
• Can you name some modern games that you think particularly handle social features well? Why do you think these features work so well? How would you translate those features for a modern RTS?

Previous Discussion Topics:

• Heroes
• Asymmetry
• Onboarding
• Teams
• Win Condition

Previous Responses:

• Our Thoughts on Heroes
• Our Thoughts on Asymmetry
• Our Thoughts on Onboarding
• Our Thoughts on Teams
• Our Thoughts on Win Conditions