Blizzard Explains Diablo 3 72-Hour Lockdown
Blizzard explains why consumers of the digital version of Diablo 3 are locked to the Starter Edition for 72 hours.
Blizzard released a lengthy explanation for the 72-hour lockdown for the digital version of Diablo 3 on Friday, blaming the restriction on possible credit card fraud.
On Thursday Blizzard originally stated that as of patch v1.0.3, consumers who purchase the digital version of Diablo 3 -- either through the online store or Battle.net -- would be restricted to the Starter Edition for the first 72 hours. This means players can only play in Act I up to the Skeleton King, and they can only level up a character to 13. Matchmaking is available but only with other Starter Edition players, both auction houses are closed off, and Global Play is unavailable.
But hey, Blizzard thanks you for the $60 purchase nonetheless.
"Outside of the issue that we fixed, digital purchases do require a review period before they kick over from Starter to Full editions," a Blizzard support agent posted. "We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is a necessary step to combat fraud and other malicious activities that can weaken everyone's play experience. The delay is no longer than three days, and is often much quicker than that. Hang tight."
Apparently here's what Blizzard doesn't want to see: gamers purchasing the digital copy and blowing through the game before the company discovers that a fraudulent credit card has been used, or the funds somehow become unavailable before the transaction closes. In fact, Blizzard makes this somewhat perfectly clear in Friday's lengthy explanation to Kotaku.
Here's the letter:
For security reasons and to help ensure the integrity of the game and auction house service, players who purchase the digital version of Diablo 3 may have to wait until payment verification is complete before they can access certain game features. (See below for a full list of restrictions associated with digital purchases). While most payments are approved and restrictions are lifted within a day, in some cases it can take up to 72 hours to complete this process.
Similar to World of Warcraft, these restrictions were put in place to deter credit card fraud, which in turn helps reduce gold spam and other harmful activities that can have a negative impact on the game experience for everyone.
However, as an unintended consequence of these security measures, players who purchase the game digitally after patch 1.0.3 are temporarily being capped at level 13 and not able to proceed beyond Act I. We are working to correct this as soon as possible and will provide another update when we have more details to share.
Aside from the two unintended restrictions noted above, below are the standard security-related restrictions that will be in place for digital purchases until payment verification is complete:
· No public game access for unverified digital purchasers
· No auction house access (real-money or gold) for unverified digital purchasers
· Unverified digital purchasers cannot trade items or drop items for other players to receive
· Unverified digital purchasers are not able to chat in any public or game channels
· Unverified digital purchasers cannot attach a custom message to friend requests, but they can send/accept friend requests, and play with their friends
· Global Play is not available for unverified digital purchasersAgain, we want to be perfectly clear that these are temporary restrictions (often lifted within a day and at most 72 hours) associated with digital purchases for the protection of players. We appreciate player feedback and will continue to evaluate the best methods for ensuring a positive game experience for everyone.
Sigh. The Diablo 3 drama seems to never stop. Still, the game rocks and performs great despite previous launch issues.
I think your kinda failing hun.
Maybe you should try another method, like, maybe not attacking your customer base of loyal purchasers? I know fraud happens in every aspect of every market, but I've never been told that type of thing while ordering 1500$ in Pc parts from newegg just to be sure I'm actually going to pay, I might find it acceptable for the cost being transferred, but for a 60$ game that seems to not work or punish players more then it benefits them? I'll keep passing on Diablo III.
It's too bad really, publishers keep harming their customer base in an attempt, a foolish one at that, to stop a handful of badeggs.
I guess it saves me money to put into games for my Vita. Its in need of a library at the moment.
I have a better solution, remove the RMAH.
There goes the reason for the always online though.
Funny how people defend it when it's Blizzard, but bash it when Ubisoft does it.
Actually, the point is lock new (unverified) accounts out of the auction house to prevent it from being flooded by fraudulent bot accounts.
So the actual point is who cares about the customer as long as we can nickle and dime them to death still.
I think your kinda failing hun.
Maybe you should try another method, like, maybe not attacking your customer base of loyal purchasers? I know fraud happens in every aspect of every market, but I've never been told that type of thing while ordering 1500$ in Pc parts from newegg just to be sure I'm actually going to pay, I might find it acceptable for the cost being transferred, but for a 60$ game that seems to not work or punish players more then it benefits them? I'll keep passing on Diablo III.
It's too bad really, publishers keep harming their customer base in an attempt, a foolish one at that, to stop a handful of badeggs.
I guess it saves me money to put into games for my Vita. Its in need of a library at the moment.
I don't see how you got that from what I said. This move is about securing the servers from abuse. It has nothing to do with increasing revenue (because it doesn't increase revenue).
No, the actual point is to protect everybody and prevent laundering and fraudulent purchases which hurts everybody.
If somebody has a stolen credit card, uses the RMAH to purchase items from their own accounts or to purchase items to resell for money, then cash out to their own paypal account... that is a serious issue.
Get off the hate bandwagon and use your brain.
They dropped the ball on D3, and continue to kick it towards the out of bounds line, it's sad.
Except for those who play for 20 hours per day. Then again, they might need medical attention, fast.
Stolen/fraud credit cards require more than 5 seconds of time to be reported and deactivated.
Not like I have any shortage of games to play through anyway.
I have a better solution, remove the RMAH.
There goes the reason for the always online though.
Funny how people defend it when it's Blizzard, but bash it when Ubisoft does it.
Certainly, I'm still getting arrows to the knee myself, never had so much fun with all the modding for my $60.00 bucks
In that case they could lock AH only, not limit the content to a single encounter.
That would create 2 different starter editions. Plus things like not being able to play global and not being able to join public games probably cut down on gold spammers, so are also needed.
Letting the starter edition play to the end of the first act might help. But that still doesn't fix the inability for starter edition to play with full version friends.
* How many million $ did the company get from Diablo 3 and it sells at 60$(€) and that is premium pricing, how many players could actually properly play their purchased game in the first two weeks?! I'm sure the loyal fans enjoyed it!
* How long time was it since WoW got any content patch? How many million dollars in pure profit do Blizzard rake in from that game alone each month?! I'm sure the loyal WoW players like to do the same 8 bosses for over 6 months!
* Starcraft 2 that was supposed to follow the hugely successful Starcraft one that have been a major Lan game at any Lan party, today Sc2 is played at few since it forces everyone to be online to play. I'm sure the loyal Starcraft players like that!
I for one will not look back on a Blizzard title after this, all pointing that the company put greed ahead of the players. I once were a loyal Blizzard fan and have bought every title since the first Diablo. Whats good however is that there are many small companies (much like Blizzard were at the old days) that care most about their customers rather then their own greed - Torchlight 2 look to be from such company!
R.I.P - Old Blizzard that made good games and placed the customers ahead of greed - You will be missed!