PTR Build 13162, WoW reaches 12M Players, Authenticator Changes

This build just proves that the warlocks are the best class in this game.

In regards to the phone authentication thing, I think it's probably an internal way of saying "we dont think this is you and you need to call us". How many times have you seen guildies not responding to chat but yet spamming trade chat. Hacked. lol. So you report them. Now they can send them a message to call but doesnt bog down Account Admin with an actual ban.

Originally Posted by Dragonwing

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Who is this quoted from?

John Cena.

Originally Posted by qtzirl

In regards to the phone authentication thing, I think it's probably an internal way of saying "we dont think this is you and you need to call us". How many times have you seen guildies not responding to chat but yet spamming trade chat. Hacked. lol. So you report them. Now they can send them a message to call but doesnt bog down Account Admin with an actual ban.

This, pretty much I think it is a way in the long to term
a) save players time with what I assume will be instant numeric PW sent to said phone (possibly)
b) It is probably cheaper to make the game more secure then it is to pay admins to fix problems.

Either way if what I'm hoping it does is true it is a win/win

Originally Posted by Baygon

people need to understand that that's 12 million accounts made since WoW was launched, not Active accounts, and most of those are gold farmers as well.

This has never been how they count subscribers.

Originally Posted by Typhron

12 million. That's as many as a million dozens.

And that's terrible.

Dammit, now I have to go waste two hours browsing that site again...

Originally Posted by Falith

Uhm, why cant you just buy a normal authenticator?

Because they cost money, and if I already carry a cellphone everywhere, why should I care anything else?

Originally Posted by Matchu

No. That's not even true.

Yes it is, don't talk about stuff that you don't know.

Originally Posted by subanark

Even if you do have an emulator (or you make your own version of the authenticator) you still need the serial number of the authenticator to make one that mirrors the one in use. Getting the Serial number of an authenticator is somewhat tricky too (and this will probably only work if the user has the mobile authenticator).

I can't think of any good reason to have more than one battle.net account. You can have multiple wow accounts on a single Battle.net account.

Edit...
I see what your saying, you can use a Java emulator to have a fake authenticator, which is much more vulnerable to hackers. I don't think doing this will be too popular, and it will be a lot of work on hacker's part to detect the few users that do this.

No, what I'm saying is that Blizzard is doing this to 'stop the hackers' but the hackers don't really need physical authenticators. They use the authenticator to stop players to get into their own account making them use one per account is just the same.

Originally Posted by dcemuser

Why wouldn't you put two accounts on the same Battle.net account? You can access them both at the same time even if they're on the same acconut.

Let me give you a perfect example, if you play Starcraft you will need one battle.net account per region and there are seven(7!) regions, now you can see how walking around with 7 key-chain/authenticators is not very practical. And b4 some noob comes along saying "why would you want to have all the seven regions? duhh" I'll tell you the answer: pro-gaming on different tournaments around the world.

Originally Posted by dcemuser

Nah, he's trying to say that it doesn't affect hackers because they can generate new Authenticator serials in under a minute using an emulator.

That isn't true though, at least for the Android Emulator, because it is linked to your Google account. This change was most certainly made to deter hacking, so hackers can't bind 150158 accounts with one Authenticator.

It's true for the JAVA ones, which in Europe is what most ppl use on their phones.

Originally Posted by Elween

well if you have money for two or more accounts, one more authenticator wouldn't kill you.

like I said above, the money is one part but its not all, why would I have to have several on my pocket all the time? its lame.

Originally Posted by Lanjelin

Androidusers can download either FlexAuth (free) or mAuth ($2) wich both supports multiple tokens for Battle.net account.
They both have a backup function for you tokens aswell, incase something will happen to your phone.
Not sure if theres anything for iPhone yet.

Again the JAVA ones are not like that.

To sum up, I don't see ONE valid reason for them to do this except to nag players. It's just stupid! You already have to confirm via e-mail that you accept the addition or removal of the authenticator (finally). Also having hackers use the same authenticator is actually GOOD cause they will immediately know all the accounts that are compromised as soon as they catch one of the hacker's authenticator.
/EDIT
just a quick edit about the "just buy a key-chain one" Do you think Chuck Norris would? (its like saying to everyone that he needs protection! and again that's LAME)

Originally Posted by DarkZero

I hope many guilds doesn't use that "this rank requires an authenticator". I don't plan to add an authenticator to my account. I've never been hacked in the last 5 years and I don't believe I will soon enough.

At least I have an android phone now, so I can easily add a mobile authenticator.

Any guild that has a guild bank that has expensive stuff will use an authenticator, at least for the pages that have expensive stuff on them. Its a great idea to have an authenticator. 5 extra seconds to log on every time and 7 dollars is a much better alternative to the 5+ days it takes to restore your account on the super low off chance you DO get hacked (not to mention all the frustration caused by it).

Originally Posted by skyesfury

How many of the 12 million are legitimate accounts and how many are the farmers/hackers/etc?

^ this indeed

Originally Posted by Baygon

people need to understand that that's 12 million accounts made since WoW was launched, not Active accounts, and most of those are gold farmers as well.

No, you are incorrect.

"World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules."

Originally Posted by Baygon

people need to understand that that's 12 million accounts made since WoW was launched, not Active accounts, and most of those are gold farmers as well.

Here's a quote on how they count the number:

"World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules."

Now you could claim they're simply lying but you'd have no proof of that so you're just making silly and uninformed claims :<

Edit: Ack, beaten to the punch.

What people don't seem to get is this.

Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.

Blizzard makes NEXT TO NOTHING from China. They make about 1.50 USD per sub/mo, because almost all of the money goes to the licensee that runs the game in China. Its the same with other places that do it this way. While its still a massive amount of money, its not anywhere near what people in this thread are saying.

I don't think gold farmers make up as many of the subscriber base as people seem to think. I'd be surprised if it was as much as 10% and I suspect much less. The business model wouldn't be sustainable if the majority of players were gold farmers.

Whatsmore a lot of goldfarming and 'hacking' takes place on compromised accounts these days. In otherwords, legitimate accounts that are temporarily taken over.

Is Mark Twain a new raid boss?

More of the authenticator....yay...not.

Originally Posted by Cattleya

Here's a quote on how they count the number:

"World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules."

Now you could claim they're simply lying but you'd have no proof of that so you're just making silly and uninformed claims :<

Edit: Ack, beaten to the punch.

but like someone said earlier how many of them are gold farming accounts? how many are actually legit? i hardly think most of them would be, and how could this be the case when so many people have stopped playing due to ICC being shit 10 months in

Originally Posted by Milton

ABOUT AUTHENTICATORS..
This is a bad idea that only affects the honest ppl. Hackers can use the JAVA emulator on their PC to generate a new code every time they need to hack a new account. Us gamers, if we have, lets say... 2 accounts and use something like a mobile authenticator we will have to buy a NEW DAM PHONE just to keep the 2nd authenticator.
Can I just ask who had this bright idea.... /facepalm

About the lock changes
I couldn't care less

Wait, so you're saying authenticators can be easily circumvented by java programs that simply generate a code for any account they want to get into? Why have i heard nothing about this, and google turns up nothing

Gz! We are 12 million no lifers! Hazaaaaaaaaaaa! :P.

Originally Posted by Baygon

and how could this be the case when so many people have stopped playing due to ICC being shit 10 months in

A lot less people then you think have quit WoW because of ICC. The vocal minority goes to the forums to complain, but keep playing, and the silent majority doesn't give a shit about ICC and is still playing. Contrary to popular believe, not everyone raids.