Authenticator
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Activating the Authenticator
The Blizzard Authenticator is currently sold out on the Blizzard Store. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come, when they're ready. I bought one as soon as I heard they were available. Although my experience with the Blizzard Store was not great, it was certainly better than some others. After my order was placed, every time I checked on in, I what appeared to be a rag doll murloc who informed me that an error occurred on the page. My authenticator has arrived. Thanks to the free shipping from the Blizzard online store, I saved $0.59 in United States Postal Service postage. To be honest, I'm just glad to have my security token. The token come with a single piece of documentation, which directs the user to the security token FAQ page. I expected the authenticator to be slightly larger. It's approximately the same size as the clicker for my Mustang. I have not yet devised a tether for it, but the device will soon be leashed to my computer.
Authenticators sold out, for now
It looks like I'm not the only one keen on getting a shiny, new account authenticator. The Blizzard Store is currently marked as "Sold Out" on the product. Tyren posted on the General Discussion forum that it will be several weeks before they will be available for purchase once again. I believe that those who have placed their orders are still slated to receive them, though I have received no word on my order. I ordered mine Tuesday morning, and the order status is currently sitting as processed. If they follow the shipping schedule in the email, the devices should be sent out at some point tomorrow. I'll give a full review once my token arrives at my doorstep.
Authenticator on sale at the Blizzard Store
I'm giddy again. Why? Because I just placed an order for new Blizzard Authenticator. I am not the least bit phased about the price. Given the time frame between when Blizzard announces that they will do something and when they actually come through, I'm surprised this has come so quickly after the announcement. Sooner is better than later. I know what it's like to lose control of my account to a keylogger. Operating under the assumption that they will operate both of my accounts, I placed an order for two: one for me and one for my better half. I shall let you know when the doohickey arrives if this is, in fact, the case. I also believe that they make a great gift, so I bought one for my mom as well. Shipping for this product is free, but you do have to pay your state sales tax (Nevada state sales tax for two, Michigan tax for one). The shipping disclosure states:
Forum post of the day: Rage against the authenticator
Alright, so the splash screen mystery is dramatic. Whatever the important announcement is, I don't think they could come up with one that makes me happier than the new authenticator. I will be first in line to buy mine once it comes out. It seems that most of us are with me. We've been clamoring for better authentication, and we're going to get it. A one-time charge of six and a half bucks for an extra layer of security seems like a smoking deal to me. It hasn't occurred to me to be bothered by the price. Tuhrell of Malrone believes that the authenticators should be distributed by Blizzard for free. Vallana of Thaurissan is on a short list of responders in the thread that agreed with the original poster. She believes that her $15/month is enough to spend on WoW and is "not retarded enough to get hacked so I really don't need it."
New account management options: Blizzard Authenticator and Beta Opt-In
Many thanks to my buddy Taeous for discovering a new link on the account management page yesterday evening. Currently there are two new small items that are going to be of interest to nearly every WoW player out there: "Blizzard Authenticator" and "Beta Opt-In". We already know about the Blizzard Authenticator that'll be coming out soon enough. It is a little (optional) device that will act as a hardware based key which will be needed to log on to your account. This looks like the spot that you can associate one to your account with. However the Beta Opt-In link is really interesting. This is just in time for all the activity at the World Wide Invitational 2008, and those of us at WoW Insider are speculating that all those beta keys people are getting at the WWI08 will be used there (there will be a goodie bag handed out to each attendee). However hopefully this will also let others get into the beta as well. Right now the beta link points to the resurrect-a-friend program, and the authenticator link points to an un-published page - we'll let you know when they change over to a page with more useful information. Nonetheless, definitely something we all want to keep an eye on.
