Posts with tag battle.net

Do you want to talk to your friends even if they're on other servers, or the opposite faction on your server? Well, Blizzard aims to make that possible via Battle.net, and it's coming before Cataclysm.

Zarhym - Re: Cataclysm Friends List Idea

This is exactly what we are working on implementing with Battle.net and real-life friends. You'll be able to add friends at the Battle.net account level and talk to them while in-game whether they're on the opposing faction, a different realm, or another Blizzard game entirely. This is coming prior to Cataclysm.

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Q u o t e:
Please tell me that people will not be able to "friend" me without my consent. I don't care to be tracked across servers and factions except by a couple people I know IRL.

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This is correct. No one outside of your faction on your realm will be able to communicate with you unless you accept their friend request, or they accept yours. You will still have your normal World of Warcraft Friends list, but we'll be adding in the ability to have Battle.net players on your Friends list as well. The characters on your Friends list will allow the same communication functionality which exists today. It's only when you've confirmed someone as a Battle.net friend that you can take advantage of the additional communication features.

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The real surprise for me is that people playing, say, StarCraft II or Diablo III will be able to chat with people playing World of Warcraft via their Battle.net accounts. It's a definite extension of their Real ID program mentioned during the StarCraft II preview, and I'm even more surprised that it's going to be out before Cataclysm ships. I know that even if I don't play Diablo III (which is unlikely, how will I be able to resist the barbarian?), being able to talk to the various friends I have across six servers will be a positive boon for me.

Normally we don't get too excited over updates to the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, but reader El Oreo brought the most recent update to our attention. Version 1.1.0 of the iPhone version of the mobile authenticator contains the following updates:

• A new "Copy" feature lets you copy the currently displayed authentication code into your device's clipboard. You can then paste it into other text entry fields, such as when accessing Battle.net Account Management on Safari.
• Miscellaneous UI improvements.

Obviously that second note isn't all that exciting, but I think the first one is worth mentioning. This is a feature users of the mobile authenticator have wanted for awhile, not just for Safari but also for Blizzard's other upcoming app. To be more specific, the Auction House app that Blizzard has recently announced (which I hope and pray is as good as Fallen Earth's mobile app). You'll need to log in to use it, so you'll most certainly need to use the authenticator that's on the exact same phone. Since the iPhone doesn't let you use two applications at the same time, this copy feature is going to be a welcome addition. Sure, you could just remember what the generated code is, but this is 2010. Who remembers things anymore? I have computers for that.

At least judging by the number of emails we've been getting about them, WoW scams have never been more popular than they are now. So I'm very happy to see that Blizzard has launched a new Account Security section on their Battle.net site, featuring tips on how to keep your Battle.net account safe.

A lot of it is common sense - things like using an authenticator (which also gets you a nifty Corehound pet), not giving your account name/password to anyone (even if they say they're a Blizzard employee), and keeping up-to-date browser software and anti-virus on your computer. It never hurts to reiterate these things, though; many accounts get compromised every day through not observing these rules.

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Good afternoon, everyone! As you can see above, I'm pretty much at a loss as to what to write as the intro today. When you write one of these things every other day for, oh... eternity, it gets pretty hard. So I'll pass the intro on to our Editor in Chief today.

Elizabeth Harper wrote...

Welcome back to the Queue, in which Alex is too lazy to write his own intro. So today we've decided to crowdsource it and take one random word from each member of the WoW.com team.

Those currently online managed to assemble the phrase, "Delicious pants ibuprofen." Now, on with The Queue.

Mordockk asked...

"Do you gain Ashen Verdict Rep from the 10man instance as well as the 25? Any daily quests associated with it?"

Wondering why you can't log into the game? Mr. Chilly knows why. It's because you spurned him. He was ready to be your bestest bud, and look what you did. You missed the deadline to get Mr. Chilly express-delivered to your mailbox by merging your WoW account into a Battle.net account. You had all the time in the world. You made Mr. Chilly cry. And now you can't even log in! Serves you right!

Well, it's way too late to reconcile with Mr. Chilly, but you can at least get back into the game if you go and create a Battle.net account now. Remember that, aside from being forced to do it now anyway, this also conveniently organizes all of your Blizzard game accounts into one place, lets you re-download any game for which you lost the CDs, and, uh, has a neat menu, I guess. Just go do it so you can play.

Your mother and I are very disappointed in you.

Okay, guys. You've had plenty of time to do it, and now the countdown's just about over. As of tomorrow, only Battle.net accounts will be able to log into the game. If you merge your account before the deadline, you get Mr. Chilly, the adorable penguin pet, but if you do it after the deadline, all you get is a permeating sense of failure.

Just go and merge your account(s) while you're on your break and reading this! It takes almost no time, the process is painless, and you get a small flightless bird that serves no useful purpose. If you don't take care of it now, don't say we didn't warn you when you log in tomorrow and you're spending an extended amount of time with Roary McFrostwyrm.

We're not legally liable for the damage that might cause. We've done our part. The rest is up to you.

The account management page is over here. For those of you who've already merged your account, just read the next post. Don't stare. These guys were just busy, that's all.

We can't believe it either – Turpster has been let loose on WoW.com to bring you videos from in and around the World of Warcraft! You've heard him on the WoW Insider Show, and now see him on TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com.

Happy Labor Day everyone! But more importantly, Happy Birthday to me! Today is my favorite day of the year for obvious reasons but it could also be your favorite day of the year too thanks to my super-awesome-grunty-birthday-giveaway! All you have to do is to follow me on Twitter and sending me a 'Happy Birthday' tweet (Or anything you like, but it's my birthday - Did I mention it's my birthday?) The winner will be selected after 12am Wednesday and notified via a Direct Message on Twitter so make sure to get your tweet in before then.

As noted in my previous article on the subject, the new and improved Battle.net won't affect only StarCraft II -- among other things, the Real ID feature will allow you to see what other Blizzard games your real-life friends or acquaintances are playing, should they desire it. But that's apparently not the only perk for WoW players. Blizzard recently announced that migration of WoW accounts to Battle.net accounts will soon be mandatory, and posted a FAQ about it on the official website; one detail immediately caught my eye...

What will change in World of Warcraft after the forced migration?

The core gameplay experience will remain unchanged as a result of the migration. However, you'll be able to take part in all of the new Battle.net features, such as cross-realm, cross-faction, and cross-game chat.

That's right. Got a friend that plays Horde and you play Alliance? You'll be able to talk to them from inside WoW, even if they're on a different server. Heck, even if they're playing StarCraft II or Diablo 3, you'll still be able to chat with them. How cool is that?

To quell some concerns that'll surely get posted in the comments, the extent that others can utilize your Real ID is completely up to you. You decide who gets to see what information and to what extent -- if you want your best friend to be able to see what game you're playing or what server you're on, you can do that, but you can also prevent your annoying cousin from pestering you to play StarCraft II while you're raiding. No, Jeff, I actually can wait for you to "pwn" me. Gots to get me some purps.

In an interview over at Slashdot, J. Allen Brack, Lead Producer of WoW, spoke about the Battle.net conversion that's going on and how it will apply to WoW. One of the more important things he said was:

We have optional Battle.net conversion right now, but that will be mandatory at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Many people have done the conversion already, and many speculated and inferred from past Blizzard comments that the conversion would eventually become mandatory. But now it looks like it's going to be, and that date is in the "not-too-distant future."

The conversion process is relatively straight forward, and can be started by visiting your account management page. There have been times when Battle.net enabled accounts were not able to get into the game due to authentication issues, but those seem to be diminishing.

We'll be sure to keep you updated on any additional announcements concerning the upcoming mandatory conversion

WoW.com has been getting a massive number of tips in regarding problems people are experiencing when trying to log into the game. There is no official Blizzard word yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one soon.

The problems seem to be originating from people who have not yet merged their World of Warcraft accounts with their Battle.net accounts. To do so, go into the account management page and select the appropriate options.

There have been some stability issues with the login servers the last few days, and this seems to just be the latest.

If you can't get in, check out our Guide to Patch 3.2 - we're expecting the patch to drop within the next few weeks. And if you haven't heard already, the Warcraft Movie has landed a director - Sam Raimi. It's World of Spidercraft, baby.

Update: Now there is an official Blizzard response to the problem, although there is no ETA on a solution.

Update #2: For those wondering, the issue was fixed overnight.

We've started getting a few emails regarding the authentication servers. Apparently there are issues again tonight! None of us on staff were actually running into any trouble, so we assumed it was just an anomaly until we saw this thread. From reading through it, it appears that the reason none of us on staff had problems was because we had all converted to Battle.net accounts, and this time around only those that haven't converted are running into problems. Fancy that!

Blizzard is aware of the problem, and seem to be actively investigating it. Keep an eye on the linked thread for updates, and if you want a quick fix to get on and play the game tonight... just convert to Battle.net and you'll be on in no time.

And for the record, when you write in about server outages? If we haven't posted about something yet, it doesn't help you to accuse us of being paid off by Blizzard. We can dream of a bright future where Blizzard showers us with money, but no, that hasn't happened yet. It's much more likely that we just don't know.

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.

There's a great question about the mechanics of spell casting when a proc / buff is or is not active. It's a very fine point that most people don't consider, and it's a mechanic that has been reiterated by Ghostcrawler and company recently. Take a few minutes to read it, you'll be glad you did.

Today's reading music is Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole singing They Can't Take That Away From Me.

I love the way we dance 'till three.

Mortur asked...

"Now that the Battle.net conversion has been released for a while and bugs have been being dealt with, do you feel that there is much reason anymore for holding off on converting your account to Battle.net? Have the authentication issues after a patch been going away?"

These things sometimes take a while, but Blizzard has finally made the Battle.net authenticator app available in the European iTunes stores (you can download it here). As with the NA version, the app is a freebie and designed to add an extra layer of security to your account thanks to a random number generator.

We've already posted a hands-on look at the app and I had a quick play with it while writing this post. It seems really easy to use once you sync the app to your Battle.net account and there's something very special about seeing the Blizzard logo pop up on my iPhone. The app should also work on the iPod Touch and is available now, so if you've already merged your WoW account then this might well be the app for you. I certainly carry my iPhone around with me more than my keys so this little app is a very welcome addition.

Here in Europe, we've been waiting patiently, watching as the Americans frolic with their shiny new Battle.net merged WoW accounts. Blizzard has just updated the news section of the European site with a welcome announcement. European players will now be able to finally merge their Battle.net and World of Warcraft accounts into one shiny new entity.

The process takes about a minute and, after a cool sound effect, you'll see Wrath of the Lich King appear in your games section. The only thing you need to remember is you will need to put in the email address associated with your Battle.net account in the WoW login screen rather than your user name. So, without further ado, go forth and merge!