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Security warning issued by Blizzard, World of Warcraft mobile auctions offline
Blizzard Entertainment has issued a security warning for all World of Warcraft players. According to the warning, the studio has been tracking an uptick in unauthorized logins via both the website and the World of Warcraft mobile armory application, with individual warnings being sent to any players who do not have an authenticator and whose accounts have recently seen unusual activity. Players in this group should check their emails for information about resetting and securing their accounts. Aside from encouraging all players to take extra steps to secure their accounts, Blizzard has temporarily shut down mobile access to the World of Warcraft auction house as an added security measure. Customer service will restore any items or currency lost as a result of this action. There's no information that this represents any kind of mass hacking, but it's probably best to change your password and get an authenticator if you don't already have one.
Blizzard confirms WoW account hacks, issues warning on security
WoW Insider reported on this over the weekend, and Blizzard has now confirmed that there has been a security issue with the Mobile Auction House. Blizzard Entertainment There's been a recent increase in unauthorized World of Warcraft account-logins via our website and the World of Warcraft mobile armory app. We're in the process of notifying any account holders who were not using an authenticator and whose account showed signs of unauthorized access (e.g., logging in from an unusual IP address). If you are among this group, you will receive an email describing how to reset your account. As a result of these activities, access to the World of Warcraft auction house via the mobile app has been taken off-line temporarily. Upon request, our customer support team will restore in-game items and gold for any accounts impacted. While no means of account security is guaranteed, every precaution you take to secure your computer and your account-including changing your password periodically-adds another defensive barrier. We strongly encourage everyone to take a few moments to read through the security tips available on our support website and follow the suggestions posted there. source As we mentioned in the original article, a GM had recommended the addition of SMS Protect to further secure accounts, and using unique passwords for your battle.net account. Also, running virus scans, keylogger scans, and malware scans is an excellent practice.
Alleged Mobile Armory hack allows unauthorized transfer of gold [Updated]
WoW Insider has received a significant number of reports of an alleged security threat which is related to the Mobile Armory. Several players have reported that the Mobile Armory has been used to fraudulently spend large amounts of their gold on extremely overpriced white-quality items on the auction house, which serve as means to illegally launder gold to the posting player. In a US forum thread, players have reportedly already lost hundreds of thousands of gold. Further, many of these players have Blizzard Authenticators attached to their accounts. Similar reports are coming in from the EU. There is reported confirmation from GMs, alleging that the technical team are aware of an issue, and advising the player in question to add SMS Protect to their account to safeguard against any potential further issues. If you would like further information on adding SMS Protect to your account there are video guides available. Of course, it is also important to maintain an authenticator on your account, as well as running regular virus scans, malware scans, and keylogger scans, as well as using unique passwords for your battle.net account. We have reached out to various contacts at Blizzard Entertainment for comment. We will provide any updates to this developing story here. Update 12:50pm EDT: We're getting reports that the Auction House on some realms have been closed. The Mobile Armory Auction House also appears to have been closed, confirmed by Blizzard EU via Twitter: The Mobile Auction House is currently down for maintenance. We don't have an ETA yet, but will keep you updated. - Blizzard CS EU (@BlizzardCSEU_EN) June 22, 2013 Thank you to the various people who contributed to this story.
Breakfast Topic: Do you use the WoW Mobile Armory?
How close to your heart do you keep World of Warcraft -- as in, say, your chest pocket? You've probably heard passing tell of one or more of its features, but you might not have realized how many ways the Mobile Armory offers to keep you in touch. View your character profile and search for others with the character profile function. Access most auction house functions via the Remote Auction House, including web access from your computer. Log in to guild chat via your mobile device, and keep up with the in-game calendar, guildmate and friend event invitations, and guild news. There's also a mobile login authenticator for many mobile devices. And come BlizzCon time, Blizzard releases a handy app with full schedules and event locations. So whenever we spy you away from your keyboard, with head down and thumbs flying on your smartphone, should we expect that you might still be plugged in to your precious game world? If you're a WoW Mobile Armory fan, what part do you use most? Or if you're not a fan of this free service, why not?
WoW Mobile Armory updates for Mists of Pandaria
The WoW Armory mobile app has received an update for Mists of Pandaria. Several features have been added, including support for Mists features such as the pandaren race and the monk class. The new talent system has also been added, allowing you to inspect each talent's tooltip, and to inspect the talents, specialization spells and glyphs of any player, in both specs. I personally found the way the talent screens work to be a little confusing. The default screen when you hit the talents button is actually the list of spec-specific spells, and the method for getting to the talents and glyphs isn't entirely obvious. In case you're having the same struggle as I had, slide the screen to the left to reveal the other screens. Additionally, account-wide achievements are now in, with certain achievements highlighted in a fetching blue color -- the account level achievements such as Battlemaster. The new achievements for Mists of Pandaria have also been added. Various bugs were fixed, and Italian language support has been implemented. And, of course, the mobile armory's entire arsenal was release for free on August 23, including the mobile auction house and mobile guild chat.
World of Warcraft mobile app now offers all services for free
World of Warcraft just got a little freer. Blizzard announced today that the services offered as WoW's Remote subscription service are now free to all WoW subscribers. That means that you can now chat with your guild and avail yourself of auction house services from your mobile device. All you need to start devoting even more of your waking hours to WoW is the Mobile Armory app, which is (and was) free. Along with the newly free features, you'll be able to access character profiles, realm status updates, a talent calculator, and more. Current WoW Remote subscribers will be contacted by Blizzard soon with more information regarding the end of their subscriptions.
The Daily Grind: Would you pay for an MMO's mobile app?
The rise of smartphone gaming has created a niche somewhere between mobile MMOs and regular MMOs: MMO apps. Games like World of Warcraft, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Lord of the Rings Online, the upcoming Guild Wars 2, and now RIFT all have (or will have) mobile apps that players can use to perform a variety of in-game or pseudo-in-game activities, like chat with guildies, relist auctions, reset crafting timers, or play lotteries. The sticking point is that some of these games aren't giving the app away for free. World of Warcraft, for example, lets everyone download the Mobile Armory app for free but charges a $3 monthly subscription fee for premium services in the Remote app. That's $3 above and beyond the $15 subscription just to access guild chat and play the auction hall from your pocket. Would you pay for a mobile app for your favorite MMO, and if so, how much? What's your limit? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
World of Warcraft Mobile Armory updated to version 3.1.0
The World of Warcraft Mobile Armory for iPhone was updated earlier today to version 3.1.0. The update adds improved mobile auction house functionality, visual tooltips in chat, additional guild features, and other general quality-of-life improvements to bring the mobile app up to par with Battle.net's latest web interface and expected on-the-go functionality. The mobile app, the Battle.net web interface, and World of Warcraft's built-in UI all seem to be continuously competing with each other to push the capabilities of WoW's virtual marketplace while simultaneously struggling to keep up with each other. It should be interesting to see how the other two platforms follow up on this app update. You can view the full patch notes behind the cut below.
Mobile guild chat updated for Android app
Blizzard has updated the Android version of its World of Warcraft mobile remote app to include the mobile guild chat feature. Also, all North American realms are now eligible to use the guild chat feature. For a limited time, the mobile guild chat feature is free to use, but it will eventually be part of the subscription service that also includes the mobile auction house as part of the app. The World of Warcraft remote app features character sheets, talent calculators, calendar access, item database information, and much more. For a monthly subscription, players can access the in-game auction house, buy and sell wares from their inventories, and collect money from sold auctions. The mobile guild chat feature, currently free, allows players to log in to guild chat and converse with guild members and friends, a great resource for staying in touch with your guild on the go. WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
Blizzard adds WoW guild chat to iPhone Mobile Armory app
If you're hopelessly addicted to guild chat -- and you've got an iPhone or iPod Touch -- Blizzard has a new app designed to make sure you never miss another moment of drama. A new remote guild chat feature has been added to the World of Warcraft Mobile Armory app, and players are now able to chat and send whispers via their Apple mobile device. You'll pay $2.99 per month for the privilege, and the WoW remote subscription also grants you access to the game's auction house functionality while you're on the move. Blizzard is demoing the service -- and waiving fees -- for a limited time, during which the guild chat feature will be enabled on select servers (currently Fizzcrank and Lightbringer). More details are available at the official announcement page. There's no official word on an Android version, though ZAM reports that it "should be released soon."
WoW mobile guild chat released, free for a limited time
The World of Warcraft mobile app for iOS devices was updated today with the oft-requested mobile guild chat feature. Best of all, this new feature is free to everyone for a limited time! Check out the full release after the break.
The Queue: Extra strength
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Mike Sacco was unable to tackle your usual Friday edition of The Queue this week, so I'm going to use this opportunity to make up for my oh-so-brief Monday editions of The Queue and answer a few more questions than we typically do each day. Onward! Noyou asked: With Activision pulling the plug on Guitar Hero and True Crime, how will that impact WoW, if at all?
WoW Mobile Armory gets 3-D model viewer, activity feeds and more
The newest version of the World of Warcraft Mobile Armory has been released on iTunes, featuring a 3-D model viewer for all characters, activity feeds similar to the ones on the web version of the armory, and optimizations for Apple's iOS 4.0. Included in the update is a cool feature called screenshot mode, allowing you to take cool pictures of your characters in front of lots of backdrops, including the racial capital cities. The screenshot mode will even remove all of the interface elements from the phone, giving you a clean shot. This update could be laying the groundwork for the newly revealed mobile guild chat service available through the armory app, potentially unlocked in the near future for subscribers to Blizzard's Remote Auction House service. Hopefully, more light will be shed on this functionality in the near future. Until then, get updating, because these new features are pretty neat. Previously, I would have had to bookmark the armory's RSS feed for my characters and open them in Safari on the iPhone, but with the new activity feeds built right into the armory app, things have gotten a lot less clunky. %Gallery-103031%
Guild chat coming to the Mobile Armory app
Wrocas (European community manager) announced on the WoW forums moments ago that a guild chat feature will be added to the Mobile Armory that's available on both the iPhone and Android. Players have been asking for this type of feature ever since the armory was introduced. This feature piggybacks off the same service that the remote auction house uses, which requires an additional monthly fee on top of your normal World of Warcraft subscription. One fee to rule them all (and by "all," I mean both the mobile auction house and the guild chat feature). This allows access to guild chat, officer chat (presuming you had access to start with) and whispers. It appears the whispers will only be allowed to and from guild members, at the moment. There is also no news about being able to chat with your Real ID friends. If you don't have a device that the Mobile Armory runs on, Blizzard will soon be adding this feature to the normal armory as well. The full announcement is behind the break.
Gold Capped: Out-of-game auction house access
Every week, Gold Capped (from Basil "Euripides" Berntsen) aims to educate players about how to make money on the auction house. For the inside line on crafting for disenchanting, transmutation, cross-faction arbitrage and more, check in every Wednesday. Also, feel free to email Basil any comments, questions or hate mail! A couple of months ago, Blizzard released the mobile auction house, which is a feature of the armory that lets you buy and sell without having to log into the game. It's available on mobile devices like the iPod touch and Android handhelds; however, it's easiest to use in a browser with a full-sized screen. This feature has sparked such innovative out-of-game tools like The Undermine Journal (see Gold Capped coverage), which crawls the armory auction house's listed auctions and provides some excellent aggregate data. Blizzard hasn't officially provided support for third-party applications yet, however they're close enough to in-game addons that I suspect it's only a matter of time. The armory auction house isn't perfect, and since the beta ended, the product seems to have been left pretty much alone, bugs and all. That said, it accomplishes its purpose: You can buy and sell on your auction house instead of working or studying. Join me after the break to explore methods of work avoidance!
Mail access being considered for mobile app
In a recent forums thread, European CM Vaneras confirmed that in-game mail access is being considered for the armory mobile app. It is of course far from being confirmed -- but still, in theory, if it were implemented, it could be handy, allowing people on the go to transfer items between bank alts, manage consumable distribution between characters and more. Vaneras also said that Blizzard is always researching new potential additions to their web and mobile services as well, which actually piques my interest even more. I'd personally love to see guild chat and in-game chat channels added to the mobile and web services. If I could use a messenger program to stay hooked in to my guild and my friends list even when I'm not playing, I'd be willing to throw a few extra bucks a month Blizzard's way.
Updated Armory app features Find an Upgrade, saved talent builds
A few readers (thanks!) sent us notes pointing out that Blizzard has updated the Mobile Armory app for the iPhone. The new version, 1.1.0, features a streamlined character selection screen, the ability to save and load custom talent builds (though unfortunately it doesn't look like there's any way to bring these into the game automatically -- you just have to choose points the same way), in-game reputations on character profiles, and a number of other bugfixes and user interface improvements. The one big feature is that "Find an Upgrade" now works on the mobile app -- you can search directly in the app for a gear upgrade for any equipment slot on your character. That's a nice bonus; it means that while you're sitting on the bus with your iPhone, you can look through your gear, and figure out what you're going to be upgrading to in that waist slot the next time your guild heads up into Icecrown. I'd still like to see a little more integration with the game itself (a few MMO companies have hinted that they're pushing for more integrated iPhone tie-ins), but since the app is called Mobile Armory, and yes, is still free, I can't complain too much.
WoW Insider Show Episode 51: Downranking no more
I didn't realize until right now that that was Radiohead's National Anthem sneaking into the WoW Insider Show's theme song -- shows how much I listen to the cool mix of Warcraft sounds that Duncor put into our intro. But yes, if you listen to this week's WoW Insider Show, now available on WoW Radio's website and over in iTunes, not only do you get the dulcet tons of my voice, Turpster's accented vocalizations, and the stylings of WoW Insider's Amanda Dean, but you also get to hear a little bit of Thom Yorke's band as well. And, you'll hear us talking about: The whole BlizzCon deal, specifically if the apology from Mike Morhaime smoothed things over (we mostly think it did). What's up with potion sickness, and whether it'll stay until Wrath goes live. How the downranking changes might affect both PvE and PvP, among a number of other changes coming in the beta And lots of other stuff, including Turpster's appearance on How I WoW, and all kinds of emails from listeners, including a tip about a mobile Armory app, and whether I'm still a Shaman fan or not (I am, but frankly I'm slipping a bit -- Hunters are just so much more fun). If you'd like to email us about something you hear on the show, please do: the address is theshow@wow.com. Enjoy the show this week, and we'll see you next Saturday as always over on WoW Radio for the WoW Insider Show.
