Battle.Net Accounts and WoW

Vectivus · 03/19/09, 4:25 PM

Effective immediately, World of Warcraft accounts can now be "merged" with the new Battle.Net account system. Eventually, the existing WoW account creation system will give way to this new system.

Supposedly, this will allow Blizzard to offer new features to holders of multiple WoW accounts, as well as allowing you to manage your portfolio of Blizzard games from a single, centralized source.

Link:
Welcome to Battle.net

F.A.Q.:
The new Battle.net Frequently Asked Questions

Daenerys · 03/19/09, 4:43 PM

I just logged into the official forums and was greeted with a new login screen. One thing I did NOT enjoy was putting in my authenticator code to log into the forums...that is going to get really tedious really quickly. Should be interesting to see how this changes things.

Malan · 03/19/09, 5:13 PM

The new Battle.net Account allows you to log in to World of Warcraft, manage purchases at the online Blizzard Store, keep track of CD keys for your Blizzard Entertainment games

Oh yah, I can see that can causing some issues for compromised accounts.

[e] Along these lines, here's another piece of account related news.
Authenticator app coming to iPhones, iPods, and other mobile devices

Jeffonious · 03/19/09, 5:22 PM

Originally Posted by Vectivus

Effective immediately, World of Warcraft accounts can now be "merged" with the new Battle.Net account system. Eventually, the existing WoW account creation system will give way to this new system.

Anyone else unable to login?

Torrential · 03/19/09, 5:26 PM

Originally Posted by Daenerys

One thing I did NOT enjoy was putting in my authenticator code to log into the forums...that is going to get really tedious really quickly.

Means I need to carry my authenticator around if I want to log into the forums from work I guess. Which I really don't want to do. The less my authenticator moves the less the chance I'll lose it and end up in a terribly messy situation.

Valerian · 03/19/09, 5:27 PM

Originally Posted by Malan

Oh yah, I can see that can causing some issues for compromised accounts.

[e] Along these lines, here's another piece of account related news.
Authenticator app coming to iPhones, iPods, and other mobile devices

This will be very nice considering actual authenticators have been sold out for I don't know how long, let alone the ones that can ship to Canada. Presumably if its a one time connection thing, there should be no issue as to the "limit" on these.

Desik™ · 03/19/09, 5:30 PM

Originally Posted by Jeffonious

Anyone else unable to login?

I merged my account and now I can't post on the official forums, all my characteres have have this:

*The characters on this account are unavailable, as the account has expired or is prohibited from posting.

Looks like they still working on it.

FalseMyrmidon · 03/19/09, 5:38 PM

Hmmm, I can't even login to the account management screen now. It just shows me the login screen again with the password field blank (no error about invalid password or anything). Don't think it's just affecting the forums.

Gaj · 03/19/09, 5:47 PM

Originally Posted by FalseMyrmidon

Hmmm, I can't even login to the account management screen now. It just shows me the login screen again with the password field blank (no error about invalid password or anything). Don't think it's just affecting the forums.

Not sure if this matters, but for Wrath Beta I had to merge my WoW account into Battle.net. My avatar was my old character before I did a paid name (and sex) change.

Logged in ok, but the posts are all old and out of order. Anyone else see this?

NCH · 03/19/09, 5:48 PM

Anyone knows what happens if you alredy have a battle net acc?
I played W3 in Bnet so i alredy have an acc.

Vectivus · 03/19/09, 5:49 PM

Originally Posted by Valerian

This will be very nice considering actual authenticators have been sold out for I don't know how long, let alone the ones that can ship to Canada. Presumably if its a one time connection thing, there should be no issue as to the "limit" on these.

Only available to Korean carriers right now. US/EU are flagged as "coming soon", but who knows what that means.

There's also no mention of the consequences of changing between mobile devices, but a clever person can piece together that if you don't log in and delete the authenticator from your account before you switch mobiles, you're effed, and get to spend a lovely hour* on the phone with Blizzard billing.

*day

I like the overall trend, though, and the game management system for multiple titles is awesome.

Originally Posted by FalseMyrmidon

Hmmm, I can't even login to the account management screen now. It just shows me the login screen again with the password field blank (no error about invalid password or anything). Don't think it's just affecting the forums.

I was able to log into Welcome to Battle.net, WoW account management, and the official forums using mine. Could be you're experiencing some kind of other, unrelated login error.

Originally Posted by Gaj

Not sure if this matters, but for Wrath Beta I had to merge my WoW account into Battle.net. My avatar was my old character before I did a paid name (and sex) change.

Logged in ok, but the posts are all old and out of order. Anyone else see this?

Not quite. For the Wrath beta, you created a "Blizzard" account - this is a "Battle.Net" account. It's the evolution of the same concept, but your Wrath beta account is not tied to this system in any way.

Originally Posted by NCH

Anyone knows what happens if u alredy have a battle net acc?
I payed W3 in Bnet so i alredy have an acc.

This is a totally new, separate thing. It has nothing to do with Battle.Net "1.0" accounts for previous Blizzard titles.

Zedd · 03/19/09, 7:08 PM

Sounds like Steam of some sort.
And It makes the gossip about SC2 and Diablo3 Online needing payment seem more likely.

Cuer · 03/19/09, 8:03 PM

The official announcement:

We’re pleased to introduce the Battle.net account -- a brand-new way for players to manage their Blizzard Entertainment games, make online Blizzard store purchases, log in to World of Warcraft, and more using just one set of login information.

World of Warcraft players now have the option to create a Battle.net account, merge a World of Warcraft account (or multiple accounts) with it, and begin logging in to the game, the Armory, and the forums using their new Battle.net account login information.

Some of the benefits of the Battle.net account include:

* Fewer passwords to remember. One single login lets you access World of Warcraft, the online Blizzard store, and more -- including upcoming games such as StarCraft II and Diablo III.

* Opt in to upcoming Blizzard Entertainment beta tests. Put yourself in the running to be invited to test upcoming games.

* Easy access to your classic games. Store your CD keys for classic Blizzard Entertainment titles, and then download the games whenever you wish.

* And more to come… We’re planning to add more features in the future, including tools to help friends communicate between games and bring players closer together.

At this time, signing up is completely optional -- but if you’re interested in taking advantage of the benefits of the Battle.net account today, check out the FAQ for more information, or create an account now.

FAQ- The new Battle.net Frequently Asked Questions
Create an account- https://us.battle.net/account/creation/tos.xml

supplicium · 03/20/09, 3:36 AM

Originally Posted by Zedd

Sounds like Steam of some sort.
And It makes the gossip about SC2 and Diablo3 Online needing payment seem more likely.

I don't think that's intrinsically true. More so I believe they want more accountability online. There was a post somewhere that was linked to me earlier today via IRC, that was discussing the ToS for SCII and DBIII that all, I repeat, all whispers/chat/messaging will be logged for use in harassment cases/inquiries. Having a B.NET central account gives the player more accountability. If you were to be banned from SCII for some sleazy chat, and that ban effected wow, and Diablo wouldn't you try to watch your tongue a bit more.

On the other hand, blizzard is a company and that company doesn't exist with out cashflow, and there is a good chance of some sort of fee for online play, though I would guess it would be substantially less for sc or diablo do to the lack of complex data that exists in a game like WoW.

Kissmyaxe · 03/20/09, 5:49 AM

If they plan monthly fees for SC2 and D3, then I would be up for paying a single monthly fee and be able to play any Blizzard title online. Rather than keep track of 3 separate subscriptions, having only one at a discount would be much more appealing.