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Start iChat (or Adium) without logging into services
Have you ever wanted to open iChat or Adium to check a chat log, account setting, or other information, but didn't want to connect to your instant messaging services? Rob Griffiths at Macworld offers a great tip on how you can easily do this, and it won't annoy your online buddies with incessant signing on/off. Before clicking on iChat or Adium, hold down the shift key and continue holding it until the application launches. When the app opens, none of your accounts will be logged in. You can then manually login to individual accounts as necessary. Try it and see!
WoW Insider Interview: Blizzard speaks about Authenticator security
About a month and a half ago, we reported on the story of a player who had apparently gotten their account hacked while they were using the new Blizzard Authenticator key, and it raised a lot of questions in players' minds about the only hardware Blizzard's ever made: just what does the Authenticator do to protect players' accounts? Have Authenticators actually prevented accounts from being hacked? And what would it take to, through social engineering or other methods, actually remove an Authenticator from an account?At the time we published that first story (which was later disputed by a customer support representative), Blizzard contacted us here at WoW Insider, offering to clear up players' concerns about the new keys. We quickly submitted to them a few questions pulled from our own writers and a few submitted by readers, and they've now returned the answers to us -- you can find Blizzard's answers to our questions about the Authenticator after the break. Thanks to Blizzard for answering our questions about how these keys work, and clarifying some of the issues around their security.
Wrath of the Lich King login screen video
There is a new addition to the login screen for Wrath of the Lich King tonight. A large dragon, which was previously just a white mesh, swipes down from the sky and roars at you as you log in. It is a very cool addition to the otherwise bland login screen.I was able to capture the video above, and the audio you hear is just as I hear it. I expect there to be a "roar" or something else eventually inserted for the dragon. Nonetheless, it's quite a neat feature. You can also watch a high quality version via YouTube.The new beta build just came out tonight, so stay tuned for more info and analysis as we get it all collected together.
Mac 101: Disabling automatic login
If you use your Mac as a public computer (or family computer), then you might not always want it to load your user account when the computer starts up. By changing one option in the Accounts System Preference pane, you can have your Mac display a list of user accounts upon startup. Just open System Preferences and go to Accounts > Login Options. Click the "Automatic Login:" drop-down box and select "Disabled." Please note that you will need to authenticate as an administrator to change any of these settings. You can further customize the "login window" by choosing either "List of users" or "Name and password." If "list of users" is selected, you will be prompted to click your user account name and give your password in order to login. If name and password is selected, you will need to type in both your username and password to login.
Breakfast Topic: Planning for the beta
It can't be too long now -- people are getting let in the Wrath beta from BlizzCon last year, and everyone's opt-in registrations are in, so it's only a matter of time before the invites go out and the floodgates open. And when they do: what's your plan?Are you going to step right into a Death Knight first to see how the new Hero class works? Which of the classes has got you most interested in trying new things? I'm excited to see all the Shaman changes, and I've got a Shammy waiting at 70, so that's probably what I'll do first. As for the Death Knight, I kind of want to see that stuff on the live realms, though by the time the beta ends, the call of a new class may be too much for me to ignore.What's up first for you when you log into the beta realms?
Wrath of the Lich King login screen
While we've had some fake Wrath of the Lich King login screens before, this one is the real deal. It's being reported on by numerous sites, and several people have confirmed its authenticity. The image itself is of a ice fortress. You can see the version, 3.0.1, along with the latest build number and date: July 15, 2008.Many people will notice that you have to sign in via an email address. This is part of a new system that Blizzard has put into place for the Wrath beta. Essentially, you'll have to create a new "Blizzard Account" to log into the beta. This account is separate from your retail WoW account, however you still have to have a retail WoW account and a beta key to get one. There's not a ton of information out on the new account system they are using for this, but when we have more information on it we'll post it.For now, enjoy your new login screen!
Blizzard Authenticator to be introduced at the Worldwide Invitational
The problem with keyloggers and other methods of account theft has been well documented here at WoW Insider, and it seems like a constant problem. Even the most conscientious of players has fallen prey to it. However, at the Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard is introducing a little piece of hardware that could make those problems vanish. Say hello to the Blizzard Authenticator. The Authenticator is a small piece of hardware that you can associate with your World of Warcraft account. Once the Authenticator is associated with the account, you will need it to log on. Every time you log on, you press a button on the Authenticator to generate a six-digit code that you must input to log on. Since only you know the code, and it's generated apart from your computer at the time you're ready to log on, it will be safe from trojans, keyloggers, and other hacks. The Authenticator will be available at the WWI to start, then eventually at the Blizzard Store. The starting price being quoted by Blizzard is $6.50 -- a small price to pay for safety from a ransacked bank and naked server transferred characters, for many. Is this the big announcement though? It's possible, of course, but we like to think there's more in store at the WWI. Stay tuned here, and we'll let you know.
Blizzard's maintenance interrupts some website features
The WoW login screen acknowledges that some services may be intermittently unavailable due to "website maintenance and upgrades." As we've reported, Blizzard sites have experienced maintenance periods earlier this week. The current news blurb says that they are working on the web infrastructure to provide "new features" and "increased performance and security." The features impacted are: account creation password recovery paid character transfer adding payment The message says that these services may be unavailable "intermittently." It does not indicate how long the website maintenance will continue, but promises to provide updates. The maintenance is also confirmed on Blizzard's home page.
Lorebook opens to European subscribers
The Lorebook is one of The Lord of the Rings Online's best features, even though it isn't in the game. It's a community-moderated wiki containing vast amounts of information about LotRO's world and, of course, lore. Unfortunately, European players have never been able to fully participate. They could view the contents, but not edit them.That's changed. European players may now use their login names and passwords to edit Lorebook entries. If you've been itching to take part in the conversation, head on over. But be aware; for the moment only English-language entries are accepted. Also, the Lorebook does not yet contain European server listings. No word has been given on when those will come.
Tuesday April 29th maintenance
...and Bornakk looked upon the World (of Warcraft) in its seventh day and said: "Let there be maintenance." And so it was.Bornakk posted on the General Discussion Forums this afternoon that there will be maintenance tomorrow on all realms from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT. Additionally, the forums themselves will be undergoing maintenance from 5:00 a.m. PDT until 8:00 a.m. PDT. You will not be able to log in to the forums, but you will be able to read them.Patch 2.4.2 was announced last week and is on the PTR right now. However, it is unlikely that the patch will come tomorrow. The PTR phase of minor patches almost always lasts two weeks. Of course with that said, I'm sure I'll be eating my words tomorrow as 2.4.2 goes live. We'll all just have to stay tuned and find out!
Login servers down, forums explode
People are reporting trouble logging onto the game tonight, and quite a few threads have hit the forums. Drysc reported at 11:41 pm PST that the problem was all solved, but I still had trouble logging on for a while after that, perhaps due to the volume of other players also trying to get on and play as well after taking most of the holiday off.What really amazes me, however, is the shocking level of vitriol you can witness over this. I guess Blizzard could take it as a compliment that if people experience even a few hours of login trouble, they get, well... extremely testy.Now, I love WoW and I had trouble getting on tonight. But instead of, well, losing control of my temper I went and played Mass Effect for a few hours. I am awful at it, but it's still kind of fun. Then I managed to get my insomnia freak on once the servers finally came back up. (One level to go and my second shammy is 70! Woot!) I guess what I'm saying is, there's a right way to react to this kind of thing, and this is not it.
LotRO in-game help demands extra login credentials
Reports are coming in on the award-winning Lord of the Rings Online's official forums that players are being prompted to enter their username and password when trying to use the in-game help facility. This thread contains posts from some people worried about security issues, some saying that in-game help has always asked you to login, and others disagreeing with them.It is all cleared up, however, on the second page, when Turbine's Community Manager makes a post confirming that it should not be happening. The quote from CM Patience: "it's definitely borked, and we'll get it fixed as quickly as possible". So if you're worried about entering your login details twice, hopefully there will be a fix going live soon. Just add the name of that annoying gold spammer to your list, and start a voodoo ritual fire the whole thing off when the issue is resolved.
TUAW Tip: easy TUAW login bookmarklet
A lot of folks write in complaining about the login system for commenting here on TUAW. While we completely sympathize (all the TUAW contributors have to login the same way to leave comments) in this day and age of comment spam it's an unfortunate necessity. That said, computers are supposed to make things easier, right? Well in a comment to a recent post Kalessin pointed us to a super handy bookmarklet from Alex Coles that will automatically fill in your TUAW credentials for posting comments. Of course you'll have to edit the bookmarklet with your own email and password, but I've tested it and it works great in Safari and Camino. So if your browser just won't save your personal info for whatever reason, just stick this bookmarklet in your bookmarks bar, edit the credentials, and your TUAW login is always only a click away. Obviously, the same idea can be extended to other sites, as well.Thanks Alex for this great timesaver!
Gemalto intros USB smart card to curb phishing
The long, long list of uber-secure USB flash drives continues to grow as paranoid data carriers attempt to protect their lab reports and award-winning recipe books, but Gemalto has a slightly different kind of security in mind with its latest USB smart cards. The forthcoming keys will function much like the Mighty Key already does, as it offers up phishing protection by requiring that users have the USB stick plugged into their computer before being able to access files, online banking accounts, or your secret stash of 90's anime. While the company already provides such security measures for governmental / enterprise agencies, the Network Identity Manager is purportedly tailored for the average joe, won't require "any specialized software," and will play nice with standard browsers. Additionally, the system will utilize a token management system and support Verisign's VIP Network Identity federation framework, but won't require users to carry around a perpetually changing key fob as does PayPal. Gemalto hopes to "simplify" user security and curb the growing phishing problems in America, but there's currently no word on when we'll see these protection measures available for sale here in the States.
Visage Login - customize Mac OS X's login screen
If the design of Apple's Mac OS X login screen just isn't floatin' yer boat, Visage Login might be worth a look. With two separate versions - one for 10.4 and another for 10.1-10.3 - this is one of the few apps I remember where 10.3 users have some features to brag about over Tiger users. As an app for 10.4 Tiger, Visage Login allows you to alter the login screen's logo and desktop image, while a preference pane for 10.1-10.3 has the ability to run screen savers as your desktop background, personalize system alerts, randomize the login screen background, and more.Visage Login is shareware with a fully-functioning 3 day demo. A single license costs a mere $4.95, while a 50+ machine license for businesses and corporations is $29.95.[via digg]
Hey! Update your info!
I know, when you log on to the game those first messages tend to fly by so fast that you might not notice them at all. But these yellow text messages tend to be important... unlike the nonsense that's likely to come after. Yellow text informs us of emergency reboots and these login messages usually informative of things so important that everyone needs to see them. But this one? It tells us to make sure our contact information is up to date -- you know, in case they need to contact us. Now, I know I'm getting dangerously close to the realm of conspiracy theory, but why would Blizzard need to contact us? And why would anything be important enough to make an in-game alert to advise us to update our contact information? The obvious answer to me is beta invites -- though I may just have Burning Crusade on the brain. It would not at all surprise me, however, to see the beta opened up to a larger and larger pool of players as the expansion release nears, giving Blizzard a heavier stress test of the Outlands zones. Of course, this may not actually be a sign of that. Maybe Blizzard just thinks it's really important to update your account information.
Servers Coming Back Online
After a few hours' extended maintenance, most realms are starting to come back online. Not coming back up yet are the realms involved in the migration. At 11:10 AM PDT there was an update saying that we should expect the migrating realms (Cenarius, Cenarion Circle, Hyjal, Lightbringer, and Uther) to be down for 10 more hours. Several realms from the migration site (Blackrock, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Khaz'goroth, Kil'Jaeden, Kilrogg, Ner'zhul, Proudmoore, Sen'Jin, Silver Hand, Tichondrius, and Vek'nilash) will be down for another 4 hours. All other realms should be online by 12:10 PTD, so within the next ten minutes or so.
Upcoming Authentication Upgrades
You can't have played World of Warcraft long without noticing that there are login issues - times when the servers are up, and your friends may be playing, but you are not able to connect. These problems are with the authentication system, which has become more and more overwhelmed by the amount of traffic it's handling. However, these troubles may be coming to an end - during Tuesday's US maintenance, Blizzard will be bringing online new authentication hardware, which will hopefully make a difference.
Login Servers Down...again?
I had thought maybe it was just me who has been getting the 'Unable to Connect' message for the last half-hour, but it looks like plenty of other folks have had the same problem this evening, so it seems the login servers are indeed down once again, at least on this side of the Atlantic, as of 9:30 PM CST.So, if you happen to be reading this while you're in the game, for god's sake...don't hit that logout button! And let us know, dear readers, what kind of luck you're having out there...
Authenticating...
It should be no surprise to anyone that the authentication servers are having issues lately - the servers themselves may be running fine, and perhaps you have a few friends whom you know are connected and playing, yet you can't get past login. Or perhaps your server doesn't even appear on the server list when you do manage to log on. Well, Eyonix has made a post in the general forums providing some clarification on the problem. Apparently last night's troubles were due to a hardware failure, and because the failure occurred during peak playing hours, all players will be receiving a day's credit to their account. However, while the hardware failure was fixed, we should continue to expect slow logins during peak hours. However, there is hope - they should soon be moving to an improved authentication platform, which should reduce the login lag. No ETA on this system, but at least it's coming.
