Appear offline and still play? Safe from messages and invitations from the friends list? Found hints about the function in Hearthstone . Players in WoW and Overwatch also wish for this mode.
A feature that Blizzard announced a long time ago could soon be activated. We are talking about the “Appear Offline” option, which allows you to play online, but remain invisible to your friends in the friends list.
Fans have long desired such a function to finally play Blizzard’s games “undisturbed”. The offline mode could soon be introduced in Hearthstone.
Offline Mode in Hearthstone
In the latest patch for Blizzard’s popular card game “Hearthstone”, there are new hints about the desired offline function. Data miners have taken a close look at the game’s code and have come across interesting lines.
The code states:
- GLOBAL_FRIENDLIST_CHALLENGE_BUTTON_IM_APPEARING_OFFLINE You can’t challenge {0} right now. You are set to appear offline.
- GLOBAL_CHAT_SENDER_OFFLINE You are currently offline.
- GLOBAL_CHAT_SENDER_APPEAR_OFFLINE You may not send chat messages while you are set to appear offline.
These lines inform the player, who appears as “Offline”, that they cannot challenge players or send chat messages while offline. A significant progress that indicates that this feature is now apparently being actively worked on.
The patience of many players has been stretched on this topic for a long time, because Blizzard already mentioned in 2012 that the team wanted to look into this feature more closely. However, not much has happened since then.
In November 2016, Overwatch’s Game Director Jeff Kaplan stated that they would like to integrate such a function and that it would have to be coordinated with the teams of all Battle.Net games (WoW, D3, Hearthstone, SC2, and Overwatch).
An offline mode is desired, as it is immediately recognizable in Blizzard’s games what a player from the friends list is playing. The social factor of this feature is clear: friends can quickly send messages and invite each other to play, making it fast and uncomplicated. However, those who want peace and do not want to show every friend that they are currently playing, see no option available. Because until now, there has been no function for that.
Appear offline in WoW and Overwatch?
Not only players from Overwatch or Hearthstone wish for such a function. Many gamers from the community would also like to appear offline in WoW, to avoid group or raid invitations and simply be “by themselves” for a while.
However, the implementation is not that easy, because for example, in the world of Azeroth, it can quickly lead to confusion if you suddenly stand next to your buddy in the auction house, who is actually “offline”.
It is currently unclear whether Blizzard is “testing” the offline mode in Hearthstone to later implement it in all games. Perhaps only selected games will receive the feature that fans have long wished for. As soon as there are any updates, you will read about it with us.
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