Blizzard has detailed several upcoming changes to Starcraft II, most of them to coincide with the upcoming Heart of the Swarm expansion set.

The changes include:

• Multiplayer resume from replay
• Global Play
• Multilanguage support
• Clan/group system
• Unranked matchmaking
• Multiplayer replay viewing

The big news here is the resume from replay feature, which is most definitely a response to the recent incident at IPL4 where a disconnect interrupted a game and turned a surefire win for one player into an outright loss, and which left fans watching the match chanting “We want LAN!” while the game was restarted. Given that Starcraft II is a game played at a high level for big money, and given Blizzard’s adamant refusal to add LAN support to the game, this is the best way to solve these kinds of problems in the future.

Global Play and multi-language support will enable players to play against other players outside of their region. This is great news for everyone.

Unranked matchmaking will allow players to play against similar-skilled opponents without affecting their ladder rank, allowing for experimentation and off-race play.

Finally, the clan system is something that players have wanted for some time. There’s not much detail on what it will entail yet, but it’s promised to arrive by the time Heart of the Swarm launches.