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Real ID enforcement delayed yet again — this time to 2025
The Department of Homeland Security today pushed back the deadline for Real ID compliance to 2025.
Social features added to Battle.net desktop client
Our friends over at Adriacraft have had the chance to test a newly datamined version of the battle.net desktop client. They have various in-depth screenshots on their article, but it looks like the current friends list has undergone a needed overhaul. You can now add and remove friends, report other players, accept and decline friend requests, and see recommended friends, which are friends of friends. Although you can't see an actual chat window in any of Adriacraft's screenshots, you can see that there are the options to edit "toast" settings, including messages, which implies that chat, or at least notifications of messages received, could be coming soon to the desktop client. There is also the option to remember status, but before we get excited about offline mode finally arriving, remember that there are already statuses in battle.net -- away, busy, etc. There is, however, an image of the user being offline, but this could just be because he wasn't logged in when it was taken. If you are concerned by any of this, or feel that you would not want the friends of friends option, setting up parental controls on your account can be an excellent way to tailor battle.net communications to your personal preference. You can disable it, or even selectively disable various elements, including parental controls.
Patch 5.3 and more with Ghostcrawler
In case you hadn't heard the news, patch 5.3 is set to hit live servers tomorrow. While 5.3 doesn't include a new raid, there are a host of different new activities, including four new scenarios, heroic scenarios, a ton of pet battle changes, and of course the advancement of Mists of Pandaria's storyline as the heat ramps up between Alliance, Horde, and an outlier faction of Horde rebels. It's back to the Barrens again -- and this time, Crossroads isn't the area of contention. But on top of all of the new content comes a ton of different class and content changes as well. We sat down to chat with Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street about patch 5.3's changes, as well as some upcoming changes for patch 5.4, response to subscription losses, Vengeance changes, that big unannounced feature we've all been dying to hear more about, and much more.
Why do we still have servers?
I was wondering about it all day yesterday, considering the existence of cross-realm play, CRZ, that PvP, dungeon finder and LFR all pull across multiple servers why do we still have those servers at all? Are they a relic of the original game's design? Are they still physically necessary or could we simply have all these different servers exist as one large super-server that everyone in a region plays on? It certainly feels to me that, for better and for worse server communities are a thing of the past - I know a lot of people who play WoW, my friend's list is relatively hopping and my twitter feed even more so, but I haven't run a dungeon with random people on my realm since mid-Wrath and even then I didn't do it very often. Before the rise of dungeon finder groups, I either ran with a guild group or I didn't run, having soured on the experience after tanking BC heroics. The way I currently play, I raid with my guild, run LFR occasionally (not very often) or queue for some dungeons either solo or with some Real ID/Battletag friends, do some retro raiding in the same fashion, and in general to me my server is almost completely meaningless. I play with and chat with people from all over the place, from Sisters of Elune to Norgannon to Malfurion to Kilrogg. If I could add EU players and chat with them, I'd have an even bigger friend's list. The people I know in game are people I've played with, people I've chatted with online for a while, but in very few cases are they people I've actually met here on my current server outside of guilds I've joined. Of course, as I've argued before, personal experience isn't universal and anecdotal data isn't conclusive. I'm just one player. So the question becomes, what about you reading this now? How important is your server to you? It's very possible there are thriving server communities out there that would be damaged by a change that reduces server identity further and if so I think it would be useful to find out. If a single mega-server per region would be detrimental to people's playstyles, let us hear you. Positive or negative, your feedback is desired.
What does community mean in World of Warcraft?
When I first started playing World of Warcraft, in late 2004 on the server Azjol-Nerub, I knew the people in the guild my wife introduced me to and that was about it. Via that guild, I eventually met people who brought me to another guild, one that raided fairly heavily. That guild moved to Norgannon, becoming one of its top raiding guilds up until the end of Wrath of the Lich King when it moved servers and factions, and I didn't go along for the ride. I instead moved to Cenarion Circle, then Sisters of Elune. In all of this, my sense of community in the game has always been very heavily guild focused. This means that when people talk about having developed a sense of server community via pugging Stratholme or Shadow Labyrinth back in the day, they're talking about a game I never played. When I was pugging in early BC, before I started raiding again, I was miserable dealing with non-guildmates who often wouldn't listen, demanded a tank with more AoE than a warrior, refused to CC or refused to do so on the targets I asked, and were otherwise often awful. This isn't to say I didn't have any good pick up groups in those days, but if I wanted to get anything done I often had to wait for guild groups. One of the reasons I heralded the advent of the Dungeon Finder was that instead of bothering my guildies so I could get some runs in, I just queued up. No more "LF Tank and 2 CC for Shattered Halls, Paladin tank preferred" or whatever the flavor of the month is. Not that we were running Shattered Halls anymore by that point, of course.
Blizzard shows parental controls for World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and StarCraft II
MMOs and other online games have such a wide appeal that they attract players of all ages. Some MMOs simply add a minimum age requirement to the signup process and advise parents not to let their children play, but others implement strict parental controls. Blizzard recently released a new video explaining the parental controls that parents can use to monitor and control their childrens' play time in World of Warcraft, Diablo III and StarCraft II. Parents can use the system to limit the total number of hours an account can play each day or week or even schedule specific play times on a calendar. The controls can also limit the use of RealID and voice chat and even mute all of the game's chat channels if necessary. Parents can also disable Diablo III's real money auction house and use of the Blizzard forums. WoW Insider suggests that parental controls may actually be equally useful to students who need to limit their play time or any player who might want a weekly report of his activity. Read on to see the full video and find out how to use parental controls on your child's Battle.net account.
Blizzard releases parental control video
Parental controls are of paramount importance in games such as WoW, which appeal to a wide audience of young and old, and are sufficiently immersive to permit lengthy sessions. Blizzard has long advocated responsible gaming, and WoW Insider is no different. To this end, Blizzard has released a video clearly and carefully laying out all the Parental Control options available to the WoW-playing family. These include: Limited hours' play per day or per week Scheduled playtimes and preset schedules Limiting of the use of RealID and in-game voice chat Preventing use of Diablo III's Real Money Auction House Automatically generated weekly playtime reports. These features may be useful for more than just parents. Students wishing to ensure they aren't distracted by WoW could have their own parents set up controls for them, or players who wish to limit themselves for any other reason could do the same. Additionally, any player might appreciate weekly reports of their playtime! Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Blizzard's 'appear offline' functionality coming soon
Have you ever wanted to wander Azeroth in virtual seclusion, flying completely under the radar of folks who may have you on their friends list? If so, Blizzard's new "appear offline" functionality will likely put a smile on your face. "All of your Real ID friends, BattleTag friends, and character-level friends will see you as offline in their friends list whenever you're logged into the game," Blizzard says on its Battle.net website. This is assuming you don't set your social status option to available, busy, or away, of course. The new functionality is slated for World of Warcraft as well as StarCraft II and Diablo III. WoW's version of the feature should surface sometime after Mists of Pandaria.
Now approaching two years of Real ID -- did it work?
It's been just about two years since the Real ID feature was introduced to World of Warcraft. This feature unintentionally created some of the hottest debates when it was introduced, largely because it meant the friends you chatted with on Real ID would be able to see your first and last name. The topic became even more heated when it was announced that player's real names would be automatically shown on Blizzard's forums, something that went over like a lead balloon. I mentioned from the beginning, on a quiet post on my old blog (Warning: language) that while I thought the feature was interesting enough, it wasn't interesting enough for me to use it. So where do I stand, two years later? I have exactly five people on my Real ID, and they're all coworkers with one exception, a friend I wanted to help out on a cross-server raid. I still don't care for Real ID, but it does come in handy every now and again. I'm still not going to use it widely. So two years after all the roaring, screeching, and general madness ... how did Real ID go over? Was it a success?
Breakfast Topic: Do you use Real ID?
I do use Real ID. Wait, that's not accurate. I do have Real ID enabled on my account and I do have a friends list, but I rarely use it. Because of It came from the Blog, my real name is known in game. So that kind of privacy is not as much of a problem for me as it is for most players. Still, my friends list is exclusive -- I don't friend everyone and his brother like I do on Facebook. The Drama Mamas recently covered the problem that arises when you want to have some alone time, but your friends keep inviting you to do things with them. It's hard to say no without feeling like you're hurting their feelings. If Real ID had an invisible mode, this wouldn't be a problem. Captain Obvious has been tapping his foot about that one ever since this feature first came out. So all of your friends can see your real name and they can chat at you whenever they want. In Diablo III, they can even hop into your game if you don't have that function disabled. But at the same time, you can play on an alt while waiting for your friends to get online to get a group together. They can contact you easily cross-server and cross-faction -- even cross-game. The online privacy issues are huge if you aren't careful, but the convenience of chatting with friends from all over the region is also huge. Do you have Real ID enabled? If so, do you invite people you don't know in the physical world or do you restrict it to friends who already knew your email address and real name? If you don't use it, why not?
Drama Mamas: How to spend time in WoW alone
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. With Real ID and Battle Tags, solo time while playing any Blizzard game is more difficult than ever. But can playing alone still be accomplished? I get that WoW is an MMO, and that many games are multiplayer or have multiplayer opportunities. Most of the time, I don't mind playing with other people. I like dungeons and raids and grouping for battlegrounds. But sometimes, I want to play alone. I don't like to quest with other people because I have a certain way of doing things, and I don't like to be redirected or slowed down. Likewise, when I'm learning a new class/game/spell/mechanic, I want time to flounder on my own (or in random groups) to figure out how things are going to work for me before I jump into a group with my friends, where I feel the stakes of my failure are a little higher.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Revisiting anonymity in our games
It seems like ages ago, but back in July of 2010, Blizzard shook the MMO world with the announcement of RealID. You probably recall the firestorm, but the long and short of it is that Blizzard was planning to make all posts in the forums display each poster's real-life first and last name. The protests against it were so loud that Blizzard backed down from the move and life resumed as usual. The intend was to integrate social media into Blizzard games, particularly Facebook, but it became a huge can of worms because it forced everyone who wanted to post on the forums to reveal their true names. But social media is continuing to grow, and there are lots of ways that game companies have made use of it. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, let's look at Trion's approach and revisit the idea of anonymity in MMOs.
Breakfast Topic: Further discussion of cross-faction raiding
Matthew Rossi recently discussed the possibility of cross-faction raiding. Those ideas always generate heat worthy of further discussion, so that's exactly what we'll do this morning. With Real ID, the impending BattleTag system, and the increasing prevalence of social media usage in the World of Warcraft community, it's highly unlikely that all of your friends are on the same faction. In both the real world and the virtual, it has become easier and easier to meet people on the other side of faction lines. Even if all of your friends are on the same faction right now, who knows if that will remain true? You meet new people every day. It doesn't feel good to meet a new coworker, find out they play WoW, only to learn they're on the opposite faction. You'll never be able to play together. Well, you can, but you sure need to jump through a lot of hoops to do it ... like ditching your main character. The social landscape of the game has evolved, but the binary faction lines remain static. Why not allow cross-faction raiding? I'm not calling for the abolition of a two-faction system entirely. Two independent stories for each faction still makes sense. The conflict between the Alliance and the Horde is still a part of the world we play in. However, if players are on our Real ID or BattleTag friends list, we must know them well enough that those faction lines don't matter. Why continue to use those faction lines in content where they are unnecessary? Some raids do have unique content based on faction, that's true. It would be weird to fight for the Alliance as a Horde player in a raid such as the Argent Tournament, wouldn't it? I'm sure some creative Orb of Deception kludge could overcome that obstacle. What say you, WoW Insider?
Should there be a hide option for RealID?
No matter how much we may love playing with our guilds and friends, sometimes we just want to take some time off and play in single-player mode. However, with the pervasiveness of the RealID system, is it truly feasible to go off the grid to do this? Syl over at Raging Monkeys attempts to tackle this very problem, arguing enthusiastically that we should be allowed this option, that it would not only be convenient but also would benefit those relationships we have built both in-game and out. Personally, I'm a bit torn on the issue. On the one hand, I can identify with this situation, as I have been there many times before. My own friends would always want to level alts together, but our goals for those characters never quite lined up. I'd find myself creating secret alts on another faction, sometimes on another server -- not only to experience more of the story and lore than I had before, but to just be alone. Of course, this was all before the RealID system was implemented, because after its debut, I was not able to start a new draenei paladin or blood elf rogue without being flooded with questions and, admittedly, a little guilt. On the other hand, there is a very simple solution to all of this: Put your foot down. If someone asks why you're on Area 52 rolling a worgen warlock (or why you're even rolling a warlock in the first place, yuck), I think we all can agree that the best solution would be to honestly and delicately state that you need some time off, away from all of your in-game obligations -- including those inquiring minds. But is confronting your pursuers really that easy? For some, this type of thing comes naturally, and I for one am extremely envious of these people. For others, confrontation of this sort is not something we want to deal with, and the option to hide from RealID becomes a safe, albeit passive-aggressive, option. What do you think? Is this a feature that Blizzard should be working on, or should these players find other means of enjoying the game in solitary peace?
Cross-realm raids coming in patch 4.3.2
Since the introduction of cross-realm dungeons via Real ID, countless players have been clamoring for the feature to be extended to raids, too. Well, countless players, you don't need to wait much longer. Cross-realm raids will be coming in patch 4.3.2. So sayeth Blizzard: Coming in Patch 4.3.2 -- Cross-Realm Raids We previously introduced the ability to form cross-realm parties with Real ID friends, and now with Patch 4.3.2, we're adding the ability for players to use that same functionality to form raids to run older normal or heroic raids, or participate in Battlegrounds! This will allow you to join up with your Real ID friends from other realms and: Form a cross-realm raid and use Raid Finder Jump in to any classic dungeon or raid and be automatically placed in the same instance Join forces and dominate the Battlegrounds Please note, you will not yet be able to run normal or Heroic Dragon Soul with cross-realm Real ID raids. As we look forward to the BattleTag system, it's a very exciting time for World of Warcraft. No matter what realm you and your friends are on you'll be able to team up and take on group content throughout the game. source Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Blizzard brings Balance and Battletags to Battle.net
Blizzard Entertainment has been steadily updating the Battle.net online multiplayer service recently, presumably in anticipation of Diablo 3's release next year. Last week, the company introduced what it's calling the Battle.net Balance, a currency total stored on its servers that players can use to pay for Blizzard items -- from a World of Warcraft subscription to in-game items and plushies in the company store. This is where funds not translated directly into cash will go from the real money auction house in Diablo 3, whenever it arrives. Today, Blizzard introduced the BattleTag system, which is a specific public username that will identify players publicly on Battle.net services (similar to Xbox Live's Gamertag name). This is likely the compromise Blizzard came up with over its controversial Real ID service, which was originally meant to utilize real player names. BattleTags are not unique, but players will have a number in their public profiles that will let you identify just which "touchFuzzygetDizzy" you're talking to. BattleTags will appear first in the Diablo 3 beta, and get used in all of Blizzard's games and services sometime after that.
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.
Blizzard announces new Battle.net BattleTags
Blizzard has just announced and posted a FAQ about its upcoming Battle.net feature BattleTag, a feature separate from Real ID that connects players across all of Blizzard's games with a screen name rather than your own full name. BattleTags seems to be Blizzard's response to the community's privacy issues with Real ID, in which many players want to make new connections with people they meet in game but are not willing to share so much personal information. BattleTag will eventually have access to all of the grouping and queuing features that Real ID users currently have access to. Not only will your BattleTag be your identifier across Blizzard games, but it will also be used as your forum handle on the community websites. These handles are not unique, so you could potentially have the same name as someone else, but you'll have an identification number that appears after your name in your profile so that people can find you and send you messages. BattleTags do not interrupt your Real ID friends or any other feature. Again, BattleTags are optional, and you are still able to post on the forums using your World of Warcraft characters or StarCraft II account. BattleTags are rolling out soon in the Diablo III beta and will be available for everyone at a later date. Personally, this is exactly what I wanted from Real ID, now pared down to a manageable, private screen name. My real friends can stay on my Real ID list, and my online friends, guildmates, and other people can use my BattleTag. This new feature is a great response to players' concerns, and I cannot wait to try it. Hit the jump for the full FAQ and learn all about BattleTags.
Real ID grouping feature out of beta, remains free
The Real ID party grouping feature, which allows players across realms to group up and run dungeons through the Dungeon Finder with same-faction Real ID friends, is officially out of beta and remains a free service. When the service was first announced, a premium price was going to be attached to the service, but since launching, Real ID grouping is not part of the premium package -- it's free for everyone. Blizzard reserved the right to add features to the premium suite of WoW services, but this one is here to stay for free. I was skeptical about the costs associated with the service in the beginning, but after trying out the service with fellow WoW Insider editors, I was hooked. Paying for the service, however, was not something I would have done. Players have a certain expectation about what they get with their monthly subscriptions, and in a world where free-to-play MMOs and games charge small amounts all over the place for items and boosts, a subscription game in the vein of World of Warcraft has a harder time justifying the extra costs because of the nature of the monthly subscription beast. It is nice to see that Blizzard is adding this feature for all players, no cost attached. Hit the jump for the full announcement and FAQ.
WRUP: The hottest rhyme 1988 has to offer
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! Yo, my name is Fox I'm a real big deal I write What U Playin' I got sex appeal You think you cool think you so damn great But you rappin like it nineteen eighty-eight Steal your rhymes from LFO Talk about Abercrombie then you good to go This week I'm gonna totally phone it in Put a video up then go for a swim So later suckers I'm outta here Got a bonus question Here it is real clear: Cross-realm groups the service is go When it costs money will you pay the dough?
