How to download Patch 3.1.1 with a Battle.Net account
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 21st 2009 at 12:15PM
Having problems getting patch 3.1.1 to download? Thinking that WoW Insider is crazy for announcing a patch without the download happening? Well, we might be insane, but we're not crazy.
If you've converted to a battle.net account, you cannot download the patch via the traditional log-in-and-it'll-start method. To get the patch to download, enter your old non-battle.net username and password and the game will begin downloading patch 3.1.1. It's about 10-megs.
You can't log-in and play the game with that user name and password anymore, but you can get the patch with it.
Seems that Blizzard hasn't worked all the kinks out of the battle.net account system. But at least there's a way around the problems this time.
Update: Articles goes up...and 45 minutes later it's fixed!
Many thanks to our twitter followers who let us know about this!
Filed under: Tips, Tricks, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gil Apr 21st 2009 12:22PM
Blarg! Yet another frustration with my Battlenet account. When do you think we'll see a benefit to merging our accounts (if any)?
AlexW573 Apr 21st 2009 12:37PM
If you only play WoW out of Blizzard games, not that much. On the WotLK beta realms we got a special minipet for creating a B.Net account, but haven't seen any sign of that yet on live.
However, I think Blizzard intends to have everyone with a Blizzard account eventually. I'm not sure about this though.
Remember, some people without B.Net accounts have been locked out of WoW because of old authentication servers problems. You may not have noticed it, but you already have benefited from swapping to a B.Net account.
Teresa Apr 21st 2009 12:23PM
As to downloading the patch, you can just type gibberish for the username & password, and you'll start the patch download.
For the login: Blizzard just hasn't updated the battle.net login & auth servers yet. It'll be done before maintenance is completed. Until its been updated, you may get an "Unable to validate game data" error. Please ignore this.
Neodarkmatter Apr 21st 2009 12:33PM
Thanks! This worked for me. It started downloading without even authenticating.
Ahima Apr 21st 2009 1:12PM
If it doesn't authenticate at all, then why do people who are using B.net accounts have problems?
Rook9 Apr 21st 2009 12:24PM
Battlenet accounts are a total joke right now. As a Mac user, Blizzard forced us to switch to battlenet accounts a few weeks ago because we couldn't log on. Their lame solution at the time was to make us create BN accounts. Since then I've been unable to login several times...usually having to wait more than an hour for a fix.
Blizzard...you want people to create battlenet accounts? Try creating a system that actually works.
RyuHakubi Apr 21st 2009 1:02PM
As a Mac user, I can assure you they didn't force anything. They may have suggested the B.n solution at the time of log-in problems, but I waited a day (or was it a few hours), and it all cleared up. I'm sorry you're havin' problems, man. As for me, no B.n until we can go more than a month (and preferably 4 to 6...) without hearing about some screw-up caused by it.
Matt P Apr 21st 2009 1:03PM
Odd. I have a mac and I've been logging in just fine. Did they send you an e-mail?
Jayrok Apr 21st 2009 12:24PM
This worked for me.
There's also a blue response on the Technical Support forums regarding this.
Here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=16473620621&postId=164725085235&sid=1#1
Adam Holisky Apr 21st 2009 12:24PM
...it was a joke.
Rylka Apr 21st 2009 12:25PM
I'm sorry to hear that others have been having trouble with their battlenet accounts.
My spouse and I haven't had any trouble in the past with our accounts/authenticators and this patch downloaded just fine too.
I hope they get things running smoother soon for those having trouble.
Noirin Apr 21st 2009 12:27PM
Thank you! I thought I broke my Warcraft. Or maybe all the WoW news sites decided to have a late April Fools day.
synack Apr 21st 2009 1:00PM
Why oh why did I even convert my account? There has been NOTHING positive about this experience thus far... NOTHING.
So annoyed...
Ryan Apr 21st 2009 4:14PM
I merged two accounts on the first day and neither have had a problem.
mckibbon17 Apr 21st 2009 12:41PM
Ty vm :) it worked!
derek Apr 21st 2009 12:49PM
Thanks for the info!
digz Apr 21st 2009 12:47PM
looks like its been fixed. just fired up the launcher and it started the dl.. and I have a bnet acct.
F0REM4N Apr 21st 2009 12:48PM
****FYI - I have a battlenet account. I read this and went to try out your method, when I launched the launcher tha patch came down without me even attempting to log in.*****
*****IT APPEARS THEY HAVE FIXED THIS :)*****
Katey Apr 21st 2009 12:54PM
yep. this happened for me too - didn't even have to attempt to log in.
Maerhyl Apr 21st 2009 12:50PM
Confirmed to be fixed. I just loaded the client and teh patch downloaded. I have a Battle.net account.