Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBlizzard giving serious consideration to mandatory authenticators
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 8th 2010 at 12:50AM
This response is a direct effort to stop the massive number of compromised accounts by gold sellers and keyloggers. The seriousness of the situation with compromised accounts has reached such a level that wait times for item and character restoration are entirely unacceptable, even to Blizzard executives. Blizzard has taken other internal measures to deal with long wait times of people in account restoration queues, and we'll be covering those measures tomorrow.
However, with the inclusion of mandatory authenticators, this should solve a major problem for Blizzard's support and account administration teams.
The number of compromised accounts under the mandatory authenticator plan should plummet, if not be virtually eliminated, and players should be able to enjoy a much more secure gaming experience. While some might have a hard time with the transition, Blizzard can provide excellent support in getting all of their 11.5 million players up to speed. Indeed, we have already seen some incentive programs appear; the price of authenticators has dropped recently thanks to free shipping, and we are now rewarded with an in-game pet for having an authenticator attached to our accounts.
A few months ago we postulated such an idea as one of our Breakfast Topics. In Why Blizzard should make authenticators mandatory, player reaction was mixed. Some saw it as a great opportunity to eliminate compromised accounts, others thought it would be an unnecessary money grabbing scheme by Blizzard.
Perhaps the best option put forth by commenters on WoW.com was to make the authenticators mandatory with Cataclysm. Many people agreed with this, and it will be interesting to see how Blizzard rolls out their mandatory authenticator system.
On the down side to this plan is a serious logistics problem, in that Blizzard can barely keep authenticators in stock now. They have yet to prove that they have the capacity to distribute them to millions of additional players. We are currently investigating this issue and will report back once we have more information to share.
We do not know if authenticators will be mandatory on just WoW accounts or on any Battle.net account.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 20)
Sichas Jan 8th 2010 10:15AM
Namssob, are you kidding? That's not racketeering at all. If you're fretting about what probably will boil down to a less than $5 increase on the Cataclysm price, I'll send you the $5 because clearly you're living out of a cardboard box. Might I also ask how you pay for WoW every month if you can't afford an extra $5?
P.S. Companies, such as Nintendo or Sony, tack in accessories in their boxes all the time that jack up the cost, usually with very little possibility of getting the product without the accessory. Guess what? That's life. Deal with it.
Oneiroi Jan 8th 2010 12:31PM
Namssob:"Tacking on a "few extra bucks" is not fair to those who have already paid for one (including shipping)."
Didn't you receive a pet for it recently too? That probably comes out for about the same or less than the $10 ones they're selling. Enjoy!
Belkar Jan 8th 2010 1:19PM
Authenticators are really only needed because Battle.Net accounts are email address based, and not the FAR more secure username based. There's a reason that financial institutions require usernames, not email addresses to authenticate.
And smart/safe computing says that you should use new, unique usernames each time. ya'll do that, right?
tehhairbuns Jan 8th 2010 12:56AM
I'm assuming the ship from the USA?
Yet another slap in the face for oceanic players - high ping, terrible service, and now we'll probably have to wait WEEKS to get a kriffing authenticator shipped.
Whoohoo!
kia Jan 8th 2010 1:12AM
Actually, when I ordered mine, it took around 3 business days: two to go from ordered to "shipped", and then about 24 hours give or take to arrive on my doorstep. That's from California to Sydney. I've heard it actually takes longer if you're in the US, because instead of using a courier service that hops on the next cargo plane, it goes via the surface postal service, and can take up to 2 weeks.
Alchemistmerlin Jan 8th 2010 2:10AM
IT'S A SLAP IN THE FACE!
In the face!
MechaKingGhidra Jan 8th 2010 3:00AM
@kia
Wow...just wow. that is by far the fastest delivery I've heard of for anything. I ordered my authenticator over two weeks before Christmas and only two days ago did it finally change status to "shipped".
Being a "northern neighbour" (Canadian) I'm a little more than peeved. Oh well, there are far too many technicalities I have no understanding of regarding the postal system so I can only hope that the actual delivery time is minimal in comparison.
Choline Jan 9th 2010 1:29PM
@ MechaKingGhidra:
Canada Post sucks. It's a fact of living here. :3
Mecivious Jan 8th 2010 12:58AM
I have no problem using an authenticator every time I log on. Yes, I feel it is an inconvenience but not big enough to complain actively about. Though, I'll be damned if I'm going to pay any extra money on top of my monthly bill because people are too stupid to keep their computers secure.
I find myself having a real hard time sympathizing with people having their accounts "hacked" because they like to click forum links and the such. Send me my free authenticator and I'll use it like a champ.
jbodar Jan 8th 2010 4:52AM
Authenticators are a one-time cost of about $6 USD; it's not monthly.
Hillazon Jan 8th 2010 12:58AM
Good.
These should have come in the box with the install disks from day one.
Fyril Jan 8th 2010 12:59AM
Whilst I plan on getting one anyway is it fair for Blizz to say in order to play You have to buy the game, game time and an authenticator?
devilsei Jan 8th 2010 1:07AM
Believe so Fyril. They can do what they want with our accounts because of the ToS we accept all the time. We're essentially renting out the rights to create and store data within some large system, and freely operate it within the confines of their system. Thats why if we get hacked, they dont have to fix it, they can ban us on a whim, all that jazz.
Try bringing it to court and they can probably argue (successfully I might add) that in making it mandatory, they are improving the experience of all players online by fighting against outside factors that seek to ruin our fun. So what if little bobby can't play cause its mandatory? Susie down the street, and the guild made up of the entire town are now hack-proof, and thus overall safer for all for it ensures nothing ill happens to them in-game.
Shiro_Shishi Jan 8th 2010 12:59AM
I have been meaning to get one anyway! Good news indeed.
Zhiva Jan 8th 2010 1:00AM
Interesting. Does that mean that players from most European countries will not be able to play WoW because despite of these countries being in Blizz' shipping list we get "we cannot ship to this address" every time we try to buy authenticator?
Even if they put authenticator into Cata boxes, how about those players that won't upgrade to Cata immediately or those who buy it online?
Tethra Jan 8th 2010 1:56AM
Have you made sure you're trying to order from the right page for your region? When my husband tried to order a couple for him and I, he got the same error messgae but then he realized he was trying to order from the US page and not the Canada/Australia/NZ/Latin America page. It worked just fine when he went to the correct page.
This is the EU page: http://eu.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=221003617
Zhiva Jan 8th 2010 1:58AM
/sigh
Yes, I do order from European store.
Cavis Jan 8th 2010 2:59AM
I'd love to buy Authenticator, but "We currently cannot ship to this address".
I'm living in Poland. Part of EU. My country is on list of countries where Blizzard ships stuff. Yet for last 2 months when I tried to order authenticator I can't. Now solve this!
Ozzard Jan 8th 2010 3:35AM
@Tethra: Yes, Blizzard simply doesn't ship to some EU countries, or charges extortionate shipping (€6 for authenticator, €26 shipping as an example). I'm in the UK, and have bought and sent on authenticators for a few of my worst-affected guild-mates.
paul Jan 8th 2010 5:47AM
"Even if they put authenticator into Cata boxes, how about those players that won't upgrade to Cata immediately or those who buy it online?"
This brings up another problem, that anyone starting WoW for the first time would need to buy an authenticator or cataclysm, and buying a game plus three expansion right at the start could be pricey, and put people off.
So I assume the work around for this is you need an authenticator to play cata, but not WoW. Maybe you could log on via a vanilla or BC account without an authenticator, but you cannnot upgrade your account to cata unless you have an authenticator. (or the upgrade process prompts you to get one)