CantFaketheFunk said:
They still will be, for the most part. I don't understand a backlash against what is - as I understand it - essentially just a method for the best mapmakers to see some return and some capital to continue delivering the best custom maps that they can.
There has been a bit of an unreasonable backlash, but there is a reason to be opposed to the sale of custom maps.
First though, to clarify: it seems to me that the MAPMAKERS are the ones that will decide whether or not to sell their maps, in a system vaguely similar to XNA: you make a map, then if you want to sell it, you offer it up to Blizzard for judging on whether or not it's worth putting a price on at all. If it's not, you can post it for free. Odds are that there will be a big part of the mapmaking community that will refuse to price their maps regardless of how excellent they are though, because they're not into map-making to make money: they're there because they enjoy showing off their skills.
The core reason to be opposed to this has already been said:
Valiance said:
Really though, it's gonna be like "Oh you can play on lost temple for free but 80% of the world plays Python now, and you have to pay for it if you want to compete on that level of play."
The other issue is map compatibility: what if you want to play with a buddy on a sweet custom map that you bought? Tough beans, because he didn't buy it for himself.
I don't really see a HUGE problem with this though. This will give more people incentive to try mapmaking, and as long as there are strict quality controls on which maps are allowed to sell, things should be okay.
Focusing on the other things: this, as stated above, seems to be an amalgamation of Facebook and Steam. Not that it's a bad thing per se, but it was sort of to be expected. This hasn't shown us anything terrifically revolutionary to compensate for the loss of LAN: though some of the features are new and exciting, seeing the deviation of Blizzard from one of their core practices is disappointing.
I AM pleased to note the Decals being tied to Achievements though. That was an idea me and my friends talked about a while back: having Achievements on the 360 unlock certain pieces of gear for your avatar.