Battle.net Balance funds World of Warcraft game time
by Michael Gray 
Dec 9th 2011 at 7:00PM
Essentially, you have a Battle.net Balance made up of points. Adding value to your Battle.net Balance is executed through charging up. You can charge up your Battle.net Balance using debit or credit cards, or sales from Diablo III auctions. Be aware, though, that you can't convert Battle.net Balance back into cash; once you put money there, it stays there. (There is an exception in some regions using PayPal, but details are scarce on that right now.)
Some of the Battle.net details are a little fuzzy right now because Blizzard is forced to deal with a lot of regional-specific laws. For example, in some regions, it'll have to empty value from a Battle.net Balance that hasn't been accessed in three years. Which regions? We don't know yet.
The most exciting bit of this news, however, is that you'll be able to purchase World of Warcraft prepaid game time using your Battle.net Balance. So if you're pretty good at the Diablo III Auction House, you might be able to kiss your subscription fee goodbye.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Soeroah_the_second Dec 9th 2011 7:19PM
Don't mean to nitpick, but wasn't the "buy WoW gametime with Diablo III earnings" thing mentioned a while ago? I've been under the impression it was one of the first things they mentioned, so I'm a bit surprised at some of the talk I've seen...
In any case, hopefully the AH system is decent enough to allow for it. If Blizzard is selling the gametime themselves, then it shouldn't be driven by market forces like buying gametime in Eve Online. But, in Maplestory, the real-money-to-in-game-money system is total crap, usually something like $20 for 1000 points where most things cost 5000+ points.
Snark Dec 9th 2011 7:26PM
Yeah, I thought this was old news.
But cool nonetheless for WoW players.
Ice Dec 9th 2011 7:29PM
Basically yes and basically not.
It was said that you can use it on "blizzard products" on store..with not much details after that, maybe few "pets and some games" around internet. So there was never direct saying "yeah game time too" just "products".
Depending on "deposit fee" there is possibility that some people might end up spending that 15 dollars month on real money AH purely thro deposit fees anyway. Some might sell one item for 15 dollars and never use it for month.
PJ Dec 9th 2011 7:30PM
So you can't make real world money from this? Then who cares.
Sumadin Dec 9th 2011 7:37PM
Money saved is money earned. Say if you got Diablo 3 and Wow. Your earnings from D3 Auction house will be the first thing blizzard draw from when it is payment day. So instead of drawing from your RL account it takes from your Battle net account. Voila you got 15 dollars you wouldn't have on your account otherwise.
And if you don't got wow... Well then get off Wow insider and go buy your GF a plushie.
PonTelon Dec 9th 2011 7:42PM
Some regions can use PayPal to transfer it into real money. USA is one. :)
Arrohon Dec 9th 2011 7:45PM
You CAN make money off of this. You just can't have it if you put in on the balance. Anyway, money saved is money made ($15 a month saved is another $15 you wouldn't have had).
Noyou Dec 9th 2011 7:50PM
Well technically, if you play wow for 12 months and you use RL money to do so, you can in fact earn up to $180. That's not too bad, if you ask me. How much do you have to put up for the real money AH though? I have never played Diablo.
Rai Dec 9th 2011 8:29PM
Any idea if the UK is one, PonTelon?
awall Dec 9th 2011 10:46PM
Actually, the Battle.net balance is a separate option from having the real money auction house profits cashed out directly through Paypal (or other services, depending on region). That's how I read it anyway.
For example, if you don't want to connect a bank account through Paypal, you can still have your RMAH profits placed in your Battle.net balance and buy things from the Blizzard store. The FAQ did confirm game time too, btw.
awall Dec 9th 2011 10:53PM
Game time via a pre-paid card that is. It's not usable for a recurring subscription plan.
mikewin2222 Dec 9th 2011 8:15PM
Good idea but it should have been implemented a long time ago. Realm transfers, race changes and mount/pet purchases are down because people don't have the expendable income anymore. It's easier not to play the game than to play with virtual casino chips.
icepyro Dec 10th 2011 4:26AM
The real money auction house is a feature of Diablo 3 (which has not been released yet) and not WoW (and they have said no plans for it either). There have been game time cards and other stuff on the store for a while, and someone can always gift those things. Basically, since there was no way to get points except to spend the cash anyways, why not directly spend the cash on products rather than points, especially when international laws may have interfered from offering this before anyways?
Al Dec 9th 2011 8:14PM
Ugh.
LeftVentricle Dec 9th 2011 9:36PM
omfg, this could save me so much money. I'm not much of an AH tycoon though...
Dementron Dec 9th 2011 9:48PM
There go my hopes of farming Diablo to supplement my SSI. :/
(I know that sounds pathetic, but if I live on so little money that an extra, say, $30-50 a month would make a huge difference.)
Though I have to say $15 a month saved can go a long way, and if I can spend it on stuff from the store or account services that would be a nice bonus, so it's not a total loss.
Ant Dec 10th 2011 6:37AM
They're not saying you can't get the money from the AH they're saying you can fund the Battle.net balance with the AH winnings and if you do you can't get that money back. You can still paypal that AH monies in D3, no worries.
mord405 Dec 12th 2011 1:48PM
Anyone else notice Griswold's Heart? Poor Simon!!
EaterOfBirds Dec 11th 2011 8:07PM
In my cynicism this strikes me as trying to get Diablo 3 entrepreneurs to keep their made money in blizzard stock and funnel it back into the system rather than pocketing it for themselves.
goldeneye Dec 12th 2011 4:17AM
Yes, it totally is. Question is: why is that wrong?