I don't really miss chat channels because i was one of those people that only talked to their friends anyways. no clans for me.
My biggest problem with 2.0 is how buggy it is but at least one of my experience with bugs turned into a funny story.
So I played 2v2 random in the beta just to check it out but i swore never to play it again after a couple bad experiences with teammates ("how do i make space ships?").
Anyways if you try to create a party and invite someone else in that is already in another party Bnet gives you a nice message and your party isnt created. Then i tried to 1v1 but it was grayed out and it would only let me 2v2 and above. Too late, I already clicked join game so here i was playing 2v2 random again.
The Game Long Version
+ Show Spoiler +
Into the game: zt vs zz. I was z and partner was t. It was on War Zone. To kind of gauge my partners skill I said "They're probably going to ling rush us" and the guy said "No kidding". Thank god, I said to myself. Anyways so I open 13pool into speedlings all the while monitoring my partners BO.
08scout around his base for cheese (against zz lol)
10depot
10rax
12bunker
And the worst part is it wasn't even at our choke it was around his cc. fml
Anyways my ally and I must be living right because:
1. the opponents actually did zergling rush (my scout died to a billion zerglings but this was after his bunker was up)
2. They went straight for his base
3. his bunker was blocked on 2 sides by the rax and cc (purposefully or not?)
Anyways he held off the attack and I kind of ignored him and took 4 bases and rolled the opponents after 2 army trades (go hoarding larva woohoo!)
Afterwards, I check the rankings of the players
The two zergs were both bronze at around 50%
I'm 7-4 in platinum and I'd say that's where I belong
My ally? Gold. But man, he is a diamond in the psychic game. (or zergs are all diamond in the predictability department)
Short Version:
My gold league ally was way crappier than my 2 bronze opponents but he lucked out and we won.
The BNet 2.0 ranking system has some flaws. It doesn't feel right. When my friends see I'm platinum and they're gold they assume that I'm better than them but it most cases that is totally untrue. I think the ranking system is totally and 100% redundant if you are gauging skill. It really is only for personal accomplishment. You don't see your opponents rank until after you play him. The only people's rank you see beforehand are your friends and you should know how well your friends play already. It's just a boost to see at the end of the day that you are #1 in your division. Of course, we all know being #1 in your division doesn't mean anything either but I'm not at that level yet.
Thanks for reading!