Posts with tag battle-net

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If you've ever attended BlizzCon, you've likely noticed that the classic games section, where they set up some of Blizzard's early efforts for fans to play, is a rather popular destination. Popular enough that I've personally given up on trying to get in there, because I'm not a good "line-standing" person. Luckily for me, and others like me, Blizzard has made two of their early games available for free download on Battle.net.

The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing are two of Blizzard's most classic classics, published in 1992 and 1993 respectively, when Blizzard Entertainment was still known as Silicon and Synapse. If, as I did, you missed out on them when they were current, now is your chance to experience all their pixelated glory. Unfortunately, they are only available for Windows operating system, so if you're a Mac user, you may be out of luck.

To find the new downloads, click on the "Games & Codes" option in your Battle.net account, then click "Download Game Clients" from the drop-down menu. The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing can be found under the "Classic Games" section.

Thanks to reader SparkysShocker for bringing this to our attention!

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It's Tuesday, which means maintenance -- or in this case, post-maintenance -- server problems. At present, @BlizzardCS says login issues for North American realms are under investigation -- though they may already be starting to clear up. If you manage to get into the Battle.net launcher, it will helpfully inform you: "Login to the Battle.net desktop app is currently unavailable. However, you can continue to use Battle.net in offline mode to launch and play games that are available offline."

I guess that means tonight's Diablo 3 rift runs are going to be replaced by Diablo 2 leveling.

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No, sorry everybody, it's not the Hearthstone open beta--not yet, anyway--but there is a Blizzard open beta that could use your testing clicks. The new launcher app has been in closed beta for some time, but that phase has ended and now it's in full open testing swing. As explained in the official blog post, the new launcher aims to streamline players' experience of Blizzard games by providing a single application from which to access all of them: World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and Hearthstone.

You'll also be able to use the app to install Blizzard games directly, and if you leave it running it will automatically update those games as well. The new launcher will also allow you to stay logged into your Blizzard games for up to 30 days at a time, if you like. For those interested, you can download the new launcher app here, and access the FAQ here, and you can also check out WoW Insider's overview of what to expect from the new launcher, as well. The app is scheduled to be released in the next few months, in other words, "Soon^TM".

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The UK-based computer trade news outlet PCR posted a quick interview with Blizzard Entertainment on Friday, July 12th. Interestingly, the interview focuses not necessarily on the digital offerings that we come to expect from a computer-based company, but the retail side of the business, and Blizzard's performances in the more traditional market. Blizzard seems to maintain its success in retail not only because of its games' performance history and market momentum, but also thanks to licensed peripherals which help keep the brand versatile.

Probably the most interesting portion of the interview is the sadly brief discussion of Blizzard's POSA (point of sale activation) cards, known as Battle.net Balance Cards. These cards are similar to the game time cards most WoW players are likely familiar with, but rather than add time to your WoW account, they add money to your Battle.net account in general, which you can use to add time to your WoW game or purchase other Blizzard games and so on.

So far, these cards don't seem to be readily available in the US as in the EU, but I have heard rumors of people finding them in GameStop from time to time, so who knows. For those of you who are wary about using a credit card online, or who just might like other options for adding money to your Battle.net account, they might be worth looking into. You can check out the EU Battle.net Balance Card FAQ for further information if you're interested.

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Logging on to do my dailies last night, I was confronted by this dread error message. What horrible doom had befallen me? Oh, I'd forgotten to pick up a new game time card. While I'd previously given Blizzard my credit card information and let them bill me as needed, lately I've gone the game card route -- mostly because it was easy to pick up game time cards using gift cards after the holidays. But I have a feeling that laziness will win out moving forward and get me back on a credit card subscription plan. That way I can never forget and get this login error again... though on the flip side, it also means I could go weeks without playing and still pay for it.

And what about you? How do you pay to play?

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A much asked for feature is on its way into the game -- you will soon™ be able to set your Battle.net status to "appear offline," letting you have some much needed peace and quiet from the clamor of all those friends playing Blizzard's various games.

Currently, if you're logged in and have Real ID, Battle Tag, or character-level friends, then they can see you online no matter what. While this doesn't present a huge problem, sometimes people just want to go in a game and play by themselves, without the presence of a group. And even though WoW will never be a single player game, this upcoming change will certainly allow you to disappear into the masses when you want.

Blizzard's full release as follows:

Blizzard

In the coming months, we're planning an update to Battle.net that will give you more control over your online presence when playing Blizzard games. Soon, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo III players will be able to select "Appear Offline" as one of their Battle.net social-status options (along with Available, Busy, and Away) for those times when they want to wander Azeroth by their lonesome, dominate the galaxy in radio silence, or slay demons in solitude. When you choose this option as your status, all of your Real ID friends, BattleTag friends, and character-level friends will see you as "Offline" in their friends list whenever you're logged into a game.

The "Appear Offline" status option will be added to World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo III separately in future updates for each game. For Diablo III, we expect to add the feature in a patch after 1.0.5. For World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, we expect to add the option sometime after the release of each game's upcoming expansion.

Thanks for your continued feedback, and we'll share more information on the availability of this new feature in the months ahead.

source

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While we've heard nothing concrete, evidence continues to accumulate that a Mists of Pandaria digital preorder will be available sooner rather than later. The latest reveal was spotted by one of our eagle-eyed commenters, who notes that the blank box art listed next to a PTR account on Battle.net has been replaced by an actual Mists box. (Incidentally, this also means that the leaked box art we saw a month ago was apparently right on the money.)

That's not all, however. Another sharp-eyed commenter noticed that Cataclysm-level accounts now have the little green arrow next to them, indicating that they're eligible for an upgrade. Unfortunately, trying to upgrade the account fails; when I tried, it indicates only my Starter Edition is eligible. Still, it's exciting to see the pieces fall into place. What about you? Are you planning on buying digital or retail this time around?

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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