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Blizzard launches Battle.net Item Restoration service
With the advent of transmogrification, void storage, account-wide pets, and lots of other item-dependent features, it's seemed a little odd that Blizzard hasn't been allowing item restores via the GM queue. Well, that apparently ends today -- both the inability to do so and requesting to do so via GM ticket. Now, your Battle.net account page has a brand-new service: Item Restoration. It's a free service that you can perform once every 30 days to retrieve lost, deleted, or vendored items immediately. In the event that you disenchanted an item instead of deleting or selling it, you'll still go through the regular GM ticket line to have your case looked at. Kudos to Blizzard for finally making this service available -- it was a huge stress on the GM queue and an inconvenience for players. Now everybody's happy. Probably. Announcing: Battle.net Item Restoration Starting today, players can access a new system that will allow players to recover World of Warcraft items that they may have sold, destroyed or disenchanted: Battle.net Item Restoration. With this new self-service option the recovery of an item or items that were recently deleted or sold to a vendor can be restored to a character immediately when using the ticket submission system on our support site. For any items that were accidentally disenchanted the same method can be used to request a review by Customer Support for restoration. This restoration option may only be used once every 30 days on active World of Warcraft accounts that are in good standing. As this option has a limited availability and use, we still encourage caution when selling, deleting or disenchanting items. While Customer Service always strives to help whenever we can, with the introduction of this self-help feature we will no longer be able to assist with these types of requests. Additional details can be found in the following Support Article: Battle.net Item Restoration. source
Reminder: Watch out for Mists of Pandaria beta invite scams
Email notifications for the Mists of Pandaria beta have started arriving in people's inboxes -- and this means that we'll likely see an upswing in beta invite scams, as well. If you have received an email stating that you've been invited to participate in the Mists beta, be aware of the following: Don't click any link in the email. Blizzard will never ask you for your account information via email, nor will it usually provide any kind of link to click on. Do head to Battle.net. Type the URL into your browser (don't follow a search or email link) and use the secure login on that page to log into your account. If you have been invited for the first round of Mists beta, you will see your normal World of Warcraft: Cataclysm account listed under your game accounts -- and underneath that, you will see a listing for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Beta. If you do not see a link to the Mists of Pandaria beta under your game accounts, you are not in this round of testing, and the email you were sent was a fake. The same applies with beta keys as well. If you receive a notification with a beta key, do not click on any links in the email. Go to your Battle.net account as listed above, head to Manage My Games, choose Add or Upgrade a Game, and manually enter the beta key. If the beta key works, you're in; if it doesn't work, you may have been the recipient of a fake key. Remember, any time there is a beta or a trial period for a new game, there will usually be an upswing in attempts to nab accounts, too. Keep your account safe -- and if you made it in the beta, have fun! 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!
Blizzard introduces universal BattleTags to its titles
When Blizzard first rolled out Battle.net's Real ID feature, many players were timid (read: incensed) about using it due to the fact that it revealed players' real-life names to fellow gamers they added. These worries can be easily laid to rest with Blizzard's latest announcement: the addition of BattleTags. What's a BattleTag, you ask? Well, simply put, it's a screen name by which you are identifiable across all Blizzard games, only without the privacy concerns of Real ID. Real ID, however, will continue to exist along with BattleTags, so players can use whichever method they so desire. BattleTags are currently being tested in the Diablo III beta, and the feature will be available to Diablo III players when the game launches. The feature will also be rolled into World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, but the studio isn't ready to give solid dates on when that may take place. For the full details on BattleTags, including instructions on how to claim your own, head on over to WoW Insider and have a read.
Battle.net parental controls guide
We've talked before about using parental controls to opt out of Real ID and we've talked about the new Battle.net site, but we haven't actually talked about setting up an account for your child ... until now. The gallery below is a walk-through on what settings are available and how to set them up for your child. If you are taking the route of electronically limiting your child's play time, I highly recommend setting up both limitations and a schedule. This way, you don't have to be constantly checking to see if your child is playing outside his approved play schedule. However, it's a very good idea to look over your child's shoulder to make sure he's not griefing the locals or using language that previous generations would wash out mouths for. %Gallery-98433%
Email confirmation added to authenticator setup to foil hackers
For a while now, account thieves have been putting authenticators on their stolen accounts to buy more time for their scumbaggery. Blizzard has recently made that more difficult by requiring email confirmation when an authenticator is added to a Battle.net account. Rather than just logging in and putting in the appropriate information, you now have to follow the steps in a confirmation email sent to the address registered in your Battle.net account. Note: Changing the email address on the account requires not only your password (which the account thieves already have at this point) but also the answer to your security question. So make sure the answer to your security question is not guessable or obtainable by any phishing information. As I have suggested before, if you use a password for your security answer rather than an actual answer, you are adding a very thick level of security. Make it a separate password you use just for security questions, like p45sw0rd (don't use that one). We don't know how long ago Blizzard added email confirmation The email confirmation has been active since July 27 and we believe it will reduce the workload of Blizzard's customer service. More importantly, this will make getting your account back less painful. Of course, the best way to prevent someone from stealing your account and then adding an authenticator to it is to put an authenticator on it yourself. There are keyfob and mobile versions available. [Thanks for the tip, Joel!]
New Battle.net site is live
The URL may include the word "beta," but the new Battle.net site is live and seems to be fully functional. Some changes we've noticed at first glance are: Complete change to the interface and navigation. You can check a box to stay logged in. It gives the status of their franchises. What's not there: an ability to chat with Real ID friends from the browser. Ah well. We don't know as of yet when the old Battle.net site will be phased out, but we'll keep you posted.
Battle.net will integrate with Facebook
Blizzard has just announced that you will be able to pull your Facebook friends into your Battle.net friends list. They will be testing this functionality soon in the StarCraft II beta. Since we know that the Battle.net functionality will come to WoW before Cataclysm, that means we'll be able to import our Facebook friends into our WoW friends list at that time. This is just another example of the worlds of Facebook and MMOs colliding. Vaneras -- Battle.net Facebook Integration The action taking place on the battlefield is just one part of the StarCraft II experience -- we're also working to make sure that you can easily connect, communicate, and play with your friends. To help accomplish that, the new version of Battle.net will offer integration with Facebook. This new functionality will start off by allowing you to quickly import Facebook friends into your Battle.net friends list, and additional features will be added over time. source Of course, the integration will be voluntary. This announcement does not mean that all those friends you have in Facebook just to increase your mafia will automatically know you are playing WoW. You will choose if you want to integrate and which friends to import. The full PR announcement after the break.
Apple's temptation to overuse iAds
Dave Johnson over at Bnet has written up an interesting post about iAds; he says that Apple's new advertising program is reason enough to ditch your iPhone. Why? Because even Apple, he hints, isn't big enough to stay away from the billions of dollars that it will probably end up bringing in with iAds. The service seems made for free apps, but Johnson argues that, with a platform-level solution for advertising, there's nothing to stop these things from showing up in paid apps either. And I've even had the thought this week that, once Apple gets a taste of advertising revenue, what's to stop it from going even further? Why not include iAds in the actual OS homescreen? Heck, why not include them in OS X? The next Leopard isn't $30 -- it's free, but you'll see an "emotional and interactive" iAd on your menu bar until you activate it. Of course, this is the slippery slope argument, which is a fallacy. Just because Apple has implemented an official advertising system doesn't mean it will one day be using advertising to supplement its OS sales. Moreover, I definitely don't agree with Johnson that it's time to get rid of your phone. However, there's certainly going to be a temptation for Apple here. Google makes $23 billion from advertising already, and even with all its money in the bank, Apple might be surprised at just how popular iAds becomes. [via DF] Update: The original headline on this post expressed an image that was not intentional. Our apologies for any misunderstandings.
StarCraft II beta is live. Beware of scams!
People are getting actual StarCraft II beta invites, but that doesn't mean that all beta invites (or any other emails that look like they are from Blizzard) are real. If you got an email saying that you have been invited to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, don't click anything in that email. Instead take the following steps: Type battle.net into your browser (no typos) and it will go to the secure battle.net site appropriate to your region. Enter your account info. Under Manage My Games, choose Add or Upgrade a Game. Enter the Beta Key provided in the email where it says Enter Game Key. Press Add Game. If you are able to successfully add the game to your library, then you received a real beta invite. If the email tells you to go someplace else for the beta key or the key provided did not work, then you received a phishing email.
Create a Battle.net account, or don't play anymore
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.
Last day for non-Battle.net accounts to log on
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.
Blizzard files lawsuit against private server
We've talked about private servers on the site here before, but in case you haven't heard the term: they're unofficial servers, very much against WoW's Terms of Use, that are run by companies other than Blizzard. They're shady as get out -- some make you pay (and these are not people you'd ever want to give any credit card information to), some will delete or change characters on a regular basis, and many times they're created just so whoever's running them can mess around with GM powers, and cheat with any items they want. So you can see why Blizzard would want them shut down, and that's exactly what they're trying to do with this lawsuit filed in the California Central District Court against a company called "Scapegaming" that runs at least one private WoW server (and they've apparently been running microtransactions in-game -- selling in-game items for "donations" of money). The law firm working for Blizzard, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, also worked on the "Bnetd" case, which was another piece of unofficial server software that allowed players to play off of Blizzard's Battle.net setup. The complaint lists copyright infringement as the cause, which means they're probably using the same argument targeted at other private servers in the past. We'll keep an eye on this, but it's very likely Blizzard will win this one unopposed, and Scapegaming (or at least just their WoW server) will get shut down for good. Thanks, Phenom!
BlizzCon 2009: The new Battle.net and WoW
The BlizzCon Battle.Net + Starcraft II panel revealed some interesting tidbits about how the new Battle.Net will communicate and interact with not only Starcraft II, but other current and future Blizzard games -- including WoW. By adding someone to your BNet friends list, you can see when they're online in games that you play. This means that. for example, if your friend Alex Ziebart is playing SC2 and you're in WoW, you'll be able to see that he's online -- and even send him a message if you desire, a la Steam's community overlay.But wait, there's more! If you and Alex are real-life friends, and approve each other as as much on BNet, you'll also be able to tell more detailed information at a glance on your WoW friends list, like what server Alex is currently playing on, or whether he's actually playing Diablo 3. A proposed feature is to let you log out of whatever game you're in and jump into whatever game Alex is playing and join him! The friends list will work very similarly in all of the BNet-ready games.It sounds like a great improvement, and very XBox Live -- which I gather is the point. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
Bungie.net gets facelift
Bungie Studios revamped their presence inside the series of tubes that are the internet. While the previous incarnation of Bungie.net was revolutionary for its time, that was 3 years ago, and the latest takes it to the next level. To commemorate this transformation, the boys (and princess) of Bnet posted an interview with Lead Web Developer, Chris Gossett and Tom Gloconda (aka Achronos) about the revitalized look and feel of the site as well as features that have been added in preparation or Halo 3's beta and retail release this fall. The interview ended with some fun stats about Halo 2 for us to ponder, like how 4.7 million Gamertags have played in over 670 million games, although they didn't tell us how many of those were from the one month trial cards. What do you think of the new design and interface?[Via HBO]
