About a year ago, Blizzard Entertainment implemented a new messaging system into their online service: Battle.net. Dubbed “Real ID”, this new feature allowed players to chat with their friends regardless of what character or realm they happened to be logged into, as well as those playing Starcraft 2. Ever the innovators, Blizzard is currently testing the newest addition they’re tacking onto Real ID system: the ability to not only chat with your friends cross-server while playing World of Warcraft, but being able to invite each other into groups to run 5 player dungeon instances as well. 

Designed to make playing with real-life friends who happened to roll on a different realm easier, the Real ID Party Feature looks like it’s going to be a step in the right direction. On the other hand though, giving players more and more freedom to group with people on different servers can have a detrimental effect on the server community. With the cross-realm dungeon finder implemented in Wrath of the Lich King, which will automatically put players in a random dungeon group with up to 4 other people combined with the massive incentives given in Cataclysm to join a guild, it seems like there’s less and less reason to meet new people from your server.

At any rate, the Real ID Party Feature will allow a person to invite any combination of friends from different servers or their own, provided they are all on the inviter’s Real ID list. If the prospect of this new feature has tickled your fancy at all, don’t start getting excited just yet. It may or may not be part of a “premium service” that you’re going to have to pay extra for.

Yeah, I remember when Blizzard was just about making games too.