Tag Archives: Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo III: Eternal Collection is Coming to Nintendo Switch

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It’s official! Diablo III: Eternal Collection is coming to Nintendo Switch. It will be released in Fall of 2018, but you can pre-order it now.

The Diablo III: Eternal Collection includes the Diablo III game, the Reaper of Souls expansion, and the Rise of the Necromancer pack. Players can choose from 7 classes, play through 5 acts, and receive some Nintendo Switch Exclusives that are not accessible in any other version of the game.

Jump into local, action-RPG multiplayer with up to three friends, and crush demons from your comfiest couch cushions, no internet required – or fill out the ranks of your party online. You can play Diablo III shared-screen on a single Switch, remotely on up to four Switches, or combine TV and handheld play.

Pre-Purchase comes with:

Ganondorf Transmogrification Set – Lords of Hell, meet the King (or Queen) of Evil.

Switch-Exclusive Cosmetics – Cucco Pet and Triforce Portrait Frame, plus the Echoes of the Mask Wings

All Diablo III Game Releases – The Eternal Collection includes Diablo III, Reaper of Souls, and Rise of the Necromancer.

Local and Remote Multiplayer – Up to 4 players (remote requires Nintendo Switch Online)

The verified Diablo Twitter account provided some additional information in the form of a video.

The Diablo Twitter account responded to some of the questions that were asked as a reply to the above tweet. The additional information from the Diablo Twitter account confirmed that “Seasons will work similar to how they do on other platforms.”, and that players on Nintendo Switch will “be able to play offline solo and local co-op.”

Blizzard Added a Third BlizzCon Ticket Sale

Gaming,

Blizzard Entertainment held two ticket sales for BlizzCon 2018, on different dates, earlier this year. As always, those tickets sold out incredibly quickly. If you missed out on the first two ticket sales, there’s a chance you will have better luck with a newly added third ticket sale.

Hoping to attend BlizzCon in person this year, but didn’t manage to snag a ticket during the first two sales? You’re in luck – we’re thrilled to announce a third ticket sale, scheduled for Saturday, August 18 at 10 a.m. PDT.

The third ticket sale will be hosted by Universe.com. Tickets are priced at $199 each (plus applicable taxes and fees.) This third ticket sale will work just like the previous two. Blizzard recommends that you check out the BlizzCon Ticket Page and a Badge Information page for more details.

BlizzCon 2018 will take November 2 and 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

If this third round of tickets sell out before you were able to buy one, there is another option. There is a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket that will provide live streaming coverage to viewers around the world. Blizzard has not yet released specific details about what, exactly, will be streamed.

World of Warcraft Welcome Back Weekend

Gaming,

Blizzard Entertainment is doing a World of Warcraft Welcome Back Weekend. Players who have inactive accounts can play World of Warcraft for free for a limited time. It’s a nice way to get players back into the game before the new Battle for Azeroth expansion arrives in August.

Battle for Azeroth is approaching fast, and everyone is needed back on the front lines. This weekend, we’re upgrading all inactive World of Warcraft accounts to grant returning players full access to the game and all of their characters – without a subscription – through June 24.

In the blog post, there is an asterisk next to the word “game”. Players are responsible for any online connection fees. Game access will be granted at the last expansion the player purchased, or the Warlords of Draenor expansion, whichever is greater.

This is interesting, because Warlords of Draenor is not the newest expansion. The most recent one is Legion, which will not be provided for players who have inactive accounts and who play for free this weekend.

This might be problematic for players whose old friends and guildmates stayed active and who finished the Warlords of Draenor content quite a while ago. They could still play together, but would have to do it in what some would consider old content.

In addition, Blizzard Entertainment is offering 25% off select game services. This includes:

  • Appearance Change
  • Character Transfer
  • Faction Change
  • Name Change
  • Race Change
  • Character Transfer / Faction Change Combo

The offer does not include a discount on Guild Services, WoW Token, Character Boost, pets, mounts, or transmog items.

Blizzard Steps Up Abusive Chat Penalties in Heroes of the Storm

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Blizzard Entertainment, creator of Heroes of the Storm, announced they will be rolling out improvements to their reporting system for abusive chat. They will be changing the way they penalize repeat offenders by increasing the severity of the actions they take against their accounts.

Currently, players in Heroes of the Storm who are regularly reported for abusive chat incur a silence penalty that restricts them from chatting in-game and prevents them from playing Hero League for the penalty’s duration. Additional offenses result in increasingly longer silence penalty durations.

Blizzard feels that, in some cases, “silence penalties alone aren’t enough for repeat offenders to see the error in their ways and correct their behavior.”

As a result, we’re going to greatly reduce the number of silence penalties we apply to repeat offenders’ accounts. Instead, a player who returns to abusive behavior after their initial silences expire will begin incurring account suspensions. These suspensions will quickly ramp-up in duration and prevent them from playing Heroes of the Storm entirely. Players who prove they are incapable of – or unwilling to – improve their behavior after being warned, silenced, and suspended enough times will be permanently banned from the game.

In addition, Blizzard has already started implementing machine learning technology that further enhances their ability to validate and empower accurate player reports. They believe it has proven successful so far, and they plan to continue leveling-up and expanding their report validation process going forward.

Battle for Azeroth Expansion to Launch Worldwide Simultaneously

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Blizzard Entertainment, creator of World of Warcraft, announced in April that the newest expansion would go live on August 14, 2018. They recently announced that it would launch worldwide simultaneously.

The decision to have a global launch of the Battle for Azeroth expansion could work really well, and allow all players to engage in the new content right away. Or it could turn out to be a glitchy, laggy disaster. Players will just have to wait and see how it goes.

For the first time in World of Warcraft, the next expansion – Battle for Azeroth – will launch in the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand at the same time. Wherever you live and whatever faction you fight for, you can be part of one globally united front as the battle for Azeroth begins.

Blizzard Entertainment has a map on the page where the announcement was made that shows what time World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth will go live around the world. The same information is also presented in a list. There is also a countdown that shows you that days, hours, minutes, and seconds left before the global release will happen.

Battle for Azeroth will launch:

Americas – August 13, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The reason it is being launched slightly ahead of August 14 (in local time) is to align with the other regions.

Europe – August 14, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. CEST

Taiwan – August 14, 2018, at 6:00 a.m. CST

Korea – August 14, 2018, at 7:00 a.m. KST

Australia / New Zealand – August 14, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. AEST

UTC – August 13, 2018, at 10:00 p.m. UTC

Heroes of the Storm Silences Accounts for Offensive Language

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Heroes of the Storm, made by Blizzard Entertainment, is now able to silence the accounts of players who use offensive language and harass their teammates. This is being implemented in addition to the weekly suspension and ban waves.

Community Manager Nate Valenta posted the following on a Heroes of the Storm Forum post on April 18, 2018:

Starting today, we’re implementing new technology that enhances our ability to validate the accuracy of reports. This will allow us to increase the rate that we issue account silences and ranked suspensions to players who are frequently and consistently reported for using offensive language. These actions are aimed at those who regularly use offensive language to harass, antagonize, and abuse one or more of their teammates. This type of behavior not only ruins the experience for those who are targeted, but also damages team morale, effectively degrading the fun for everyone in a match.

The post continues by making it clear that the weekly suspension and ban waves for non-participation and intentionally dying will continue. Players who have recently reported another player for going AFK (away from keyboard), refusing to participate, or intentionally dying should keep an eye on their email inbox associated with their account for updates regarding actions taken by Blizzard agains the player they reported.

Heroes of the Storm is a game that requires a team of players to battle against an opposing team of players. It makes absolutely no sense for a player to use offensive language to harass or antagonize teammates. It’s nice to see Blizzard doing something to curtail this type of behavior.

Blizzard Balance Gifting is Now Available

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Blizzard Entertainment is now allowing players to send Blizzard Balance to their friends. This is a brand new change that will give players the option to send some of their own Blizzard Balance to a friend who also plays Blizzard’s games.

We’re expanding our gifting service by allowing you to send Blizzard Balance to your friends, offering you the benefits of retail gift cards in a new and easy-to-use digital format.

Blizzard Balance is an electronic balance players can use to purchase Blizzard Entertainment games and services. Funds added to Blizzard Balance are not refundable and cannot be converted into cash. Blizzard Balance can only be used to buy designated Blizzard Entertainment products and services.

You cannot use Blizzard Balance to make a purchase on the PlayStation Store or Xbox Marketplace. This is worth pointing out because some players are playing Overwatch and Diablo III on consoles.

To send a Blizzard Balance gift, the first thing you need to do is visit the Blizzard Shop. Select one of the suggested values – or enter a custom amount. Click the “Gift Balance” button and select the friend you want to send it to.

Blizzard will deliver your gift to your friend, along with a notification and personalized message. Your friend will then be able to claim the digital gift card balance onto their account. Players will also be notified on the Blizzard App when a friend has sent them Blizzard Balance – and can claim that gift through the app.