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Is there anyway I can tell if a friend is online without starting Starcraft 2 up? A program or a website would be sufficient.

Just so you know why i'm asking this: One of my friends doesn't use IM's or any other form of chatting online and I don't want to waste my money calling him by phone each time I want to play Starcraft 2. And the initial loading time of Starcraft 2 is just too long, just to realize he is not online and I exit the game.

I don't want Starcaft 2 running all the time either, so don't give me that answer!

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You could start up World of Warcraft, but I hardly think that's the solution you're looking for... – LessPop_MoreFizz Sep 4 '10 at 15:47
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In the old days, chat programs could connect to battle.net, letting you talk to friends without running a game. I believe Blizzard said they didn't want chat clients to have access to WoW's chat channels, but now with realID and battle.net's new chat features, maybe they will allow it. – Wikwocket Sep 4 '10 at 16:12
I guess you could ask them to join Facebook (since SC2 uses Facebook Connect), at least you can see if they're online – Ivo Flipse Sep 4 '10 at 21:00
@Wilwocket I've heard some talk from bliz about implementing a chat client but everything has said: potentially and after release. – tzenes Sep 6 '10 at 2:16
I've been hoping that Blizzard would release a standalone client that I could then use to launch the game (sort-of like Steam's chat client). – user2974 Sep 7 '10 at 21:17

1 Answer

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One possible solution is to run (and have your friend run) StarCraft II through Steam. Steam is much less expensive to keep perpetually open than StarCraft and alerts your friends when you enter a game, even when you're not in any game.

Steam accounts are free, and it's a good place to keep all your games organized so that you have quick access to them in one place.

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XFire is probably the other major alternative. – user2974 Sep 7 '10 at 21:24
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+1 this is what I and my friends do. However, be aware that you cannot add friends to steam unless you own a (non-free) game! XFire does not have this restriction, but many more people own a game on steam than run XFire. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Sep 7 '10 at 21:33
@BlueRaja I actually didn't know that, since I've had Steam games since before Steam. Thanks for the info. – StrixVaria Sep 7 '10 at 21:59
@BlueRaja: I know this is bumping an old thread, but I've been informed as part of the StackExchange Game On! chat on what game we can get together to play that Half-Life 2: DeathMatch is free for owners of nVidia and AMD/ATI cards. – user2974 Feb 11 '11 at 3:04

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