Blizzard Lays Down The Ban Hammer On Bots

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to find your perfect set of gear in a game like Diablo III only to find that either the people you are playing with have snagged it or the marketplace is flooded dozens of them thanks to bots. For serious players it can take away the meaning of rare drops and in the worst case scenarios it can bring the game to its knees by overloading the servers.

Blizzard revealed today that they have banned a few thousand accounts for hacking, boting among other offenses. Since this is a game with an economy based upon real money it is nice to see the developers taking things seriously. Apparently cheating was so widespread that it was starting to cause problems with Battle.net.

Check out their official statement after the jump. (more…)

The World of Warcraft Killer

Have you been playing World of Warcraft recently? Do you have the latest expansion Mists of Pandaria? Are you sitting there reading this and getting mad? Then you’ve probably hit the Mists of Pandaria hacker today on World of Warcraft.

So, here’s the story by Dual Shockers: A level one player managed to hack the game to get to fly around the city and start killing innocent bystanders that just happened to be at the Alliance capitol city: Stormwind. Why was he doing it? Well, we do not have that information at this time, heck, we don’t even have the player that was doing it. What makes this even weirder, is that there Blizzard was working on a fix that would stop players from being stuck on the world connection screen. Pretty weird, eh? Is that a coincidence somehow?

It seems that Blizzard is still looking into this issue and have already rolled out the fix for the connection issues. We’ll update you more as soon as we hear anything. You might want to stay away from Stormwind for a while in the meantime.

Warcraft Pet Battle System – First Impressions

The magical words appared in World of Warcraft announcing Mists of Pandaria had launched! Sadly I watched as my guild mates ran off to make Pandaren monks, however I figured I’d go check out the action around Stormwind. I was delighted to learn that Battle Pet Trainers would train my character even though I don’t have the expansion! What followed has almost been an hour of awesome collecting action! (more…)

Unboxing Mists of Pandaria Regular Edition

Stuck at work, missed the midnight launch, and want to know what you’ll be getting with your MoP box when you rush into the game store later on today? We’ve got you covered! I just picked up my standard edition of the game and here are some images from the unboxing. (more…)

Diablo 3 Patch To Add Paragon Leveling System

Blizzard has been eager to add reasons for players to keep enjoying Diablo 3 long after they’ve completed the main story line. The new paragon leveling system announced today seems to be a great addition. Originally reaching level 60 just left players in an item hunt with no where else to go with their characters. The paragon system adds 100 new levels that begin at level 60.

A big issue for level 60 players has been finding magic gear to continue improving their character. Some players had Magic Find stat boosting sets of equipment they’d switch into before defeating enemies to raise their chances of good drops. This upset other players who were against the gear swapping concept. So every paragon level rewards you with 3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find boosts. As well as core stat boosts like you’d get from a normal level up.

It will be interesting to see where this new concept goes. For more details straight from blizzard on this new system continue to read more.

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RIFT Wants You To Make a Long Term Commitment

MMORPG Rift is set to expand with the release of Storm Rift, the game’s first official expansion, later this fall. Trion Worlds hopes to entice existing and returning players by offering the expansion free of charge with a one year commitment to the game. Subscribers who shell out for the one year commitment will also receive the title of ‘Storm bringer” and an in-game “Landslide” mount.

Storm Rift is set to offer players ten addition character levels, a dozen brand new zones and customizable spaces called Dimensions.

If this particular strategy seems familiar, that’s because it is essentially the same deal Blizzard offered World of Warcraft subscribers last fall. Although, Blizzard was offering players a free copy of Diablo III for their commitment. Will Trion’s enticing free expansion be enough to lure fans of the game back? We’ll have to wait and see.

Blizzard Recommends Changing Battle.net Password After Breach

Due to a recent breach on Blizzard’s internal network the company is recommending users change their Battle.net account passwords. The actual password info accessed was scrambled, and this recommendation is just a precaution. It seems no personal information was accessed says Blizzard.

Blizzard also notes that secret question answers may have been accessed as well as mobile authenticators. Automated propts are planned to inform users of change their secret questions and update their authenticator software.

After the break you can find the full securty update from Blizzard.

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Blizzard Fixes ‘Act I’ Glitch For New Diablo Players

Last week we reported that Blizzard had implemented several restrictions on new purchasers of Diablo III. Some of these restrictions were intentional, such as the inability to create private games or use the real money auction house, and some of them were the result of a glitch found after the restrictions were put into place.

Players who buy Diablo III digitally will no longer be subject to the level 13 or be restricted to the first act of the game. They would will however not be able to access public games, the auction house or trader received items for up to 72 hours. This allows Blizzard to verify the credit card information used to purchase the game and helps prevent gold farming and credit fraud. (more…)

Don’t Expect Starcraft Ghost Anytime Soon

A lot has happened in the past decade in terms of gaming, we’ve seen the launch and decline of the seventh generation of home consoles as well as Sony entering the portable space with the PSP and following it up with the PlayStation Vita seven years later. Perhaps no project, save Half-Life 3, has been as highly anticipated, and yet completely denied, as Blizzard’s Starcraft Ghost.

Fans have waited anxiously for any update regarding the project since it was officially placed on hold in 2005. Speaking with Kotaku, Starcraft 2′s lead designer Dustin Browde says that the game is not currently being worked on but the folks at Blizzard haven’t ruled out resurrecting it in the future, however it could be some time before any of that comes to pass. (more…)

Blizzard Signs Deal for Korean E-Sports

Blizzard Entertainment has signed a deal with KeSPA (Korean e-Sports Association), Ongamenet, and GomTV to facilitate and expand Starcraft II in professional e-sports play in Korea. This is being seen as a triumph for the e-sports community, both in Korea and worldwide, following over two years of debate and misgivings following Blizzard’s announcements regarding Starcraft II‘s lack of LAN capability and their assertion of control over professional competitions for the game.

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