The Battle.Net Launcher - Blocking the Ads

[VladimirM]

Uhm.. Block what adds, really? That one/two window bit? That isn't even bad or invasive.

people are looking for things to complain. One guy even said here "that is a BIG issue for me"... WTH, big issue? You see more ads in movies when you go to see something and they advertise before the start. Should we get 3d glasses with preinstalled adblock?

[noadsforme]

Blocked those annoying ads long ago by adding this to my hosts file found in
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

It stops any access to those adresses.
Launcher and game work fine.

127.0.0.1 cache-us.battle.net
127.0.0.1 cache-eu.battle.net
127.0.0.1 *.ttvnw.net ttvnw.net

You need to have administrator rights to edit the file.

Cannot post images because of low post count.

[Toijin]

like this?

oh wow those bring back memories

[MrExcelion]

Blocked those annoying ads long ago by adding this to my hosts file found in
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

It stops any access to those adresses.
Launcher and game work fine.

127.0.0.1 cache-us.battle.net
127.0.0.1 cache-eu.battle.net
127.0.0.1 *.ttvnw.net ttvnw.net

You need to have administrator rights to edit the file.

Cannot post images because of low post count.

Thanks. I figured a host file thing could be the solution. Will this have any other side effects outside of the launcher? Thanks

And thank you to everyone else that replied, thought it was gonna be a long shot to begin with but let's give this a whirl

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oh wow those bring back memories

I'll never forget the deafeningly loud sound that the Play button used to have, haha. Which if I remember was itself a throwback to Battle.net 1.0, which I used to play Starcraft on and had loud clicky sounds

Now I'm feeling old


edit 2: found this https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet...5645454?page=3 based off what noads said. Seems like no drawbacks to this at all, but will check it out now

Thanks again

[PreparedFor]

Another Blizzard deception exposed. Keep fighting the good fight, friend.

[MrExcelion]

<snip>

Thanks man, works perfectly. For anybody else trying it, you might notice that if you close the battle.net app, do this, and reopen the app, the videos/gifs from your previously highlighted game tab might still be cached/there, but all the other ones don't load now, and it should prevent new ones going forward.

One other benefit of this is that it while it doesn't get rid of the main box (it's just empty with a line of text telling you they can't find what they wanted to show you), it does get rid of all the auxillary boxes except for friends

Here's a screenshot of what I mean (removed the friends widget from SS but it's still there and functioning)

[Loveliest]

BUT REALLY, YOU WANT THIS LESS FILLED!?

Yes, he does, he asked for that, didn't he?
I don't see your problem - would it impact you if there was an option to hide the glowing ads, like he requests?

[Zaktar]

people are looking for things to complain. One guy even said here "that is a BIG issue for me"... WTH, big issue? You see more ads in movies when you go to see something and they advertise before the start. Should we get 3d glasses with preinstalled adblock?

There is something specifically annoying about the "I will blink and glow at you until you click me" tactic; it adds this culpability to being advertised to, like I can't just passively tune it out, I have to join in the experience of having trash games advertised to me. It is ultimately the same old shit, but yeah, I get the hate.

Yes, he does, he asked for that, didn't he?
I don't see your problem - would it impact you if there was an option to hide the glowing ads, like he requests?

I doubt they'll ever give us that option - if anything things will just continue to get worse. The better we get at tuning advertising out, the more incentive they have to create new and more obnoxious tactics. It's the nuclear arms race of our times, though obviously the stakes are much higher now.

[FelPlague]

Yes, he does, he asked for that, didn't he?
I don't see your problem - would it impact you if there was an option to hide the glowing ads, like he requests?

there is, you press the X and it gets rid of them...

[Corroc]

Can't you start the game directly from the .exe anymore?

You can put you have to input account name and password. And that's obviously too hard for someone who doesn't want to use launcher.

[haxartus]

Blocked those annoying ads long ago by adding this to my hosts file found in
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

It stops any access to those adresses.
Launcher and game work fine.

127.0.0.1 cache-us.battle.net
127.0.0.1 cache-eu.battle.net
127.0.0.1 *.ttvnw.net ttvnw.net

You need to have administrator rights to edit the file.

Cannot post images because of low post count.

If this changes, you can basically do the following (Warning: heavy IT stuff):

1. Install your own DNS server, could be done in a VM (Ubuntu Server, BIND, VirtualBox, etc)
2. Point the router to it (or Windows, can be done per device)
3. Capture the DNS queries while opening the app, see which domains it connects to
4. Start blocking domains via the hosts file to see what stops working, until you find the domains with the adds

----------
Optionally, you could skip the DNS server thing by just capturing the traffic via Wireshark, but it's a bit more complex since you need to know what protocols and packets you need to be looking for, and Wireshark is not exactly user friendly. https://wiki.wireshark.org/DNS

If you have a good router with an advanced OS (not consumer stuff for like $100) both options can be done within the router - the DNS server or the packet sniffing. The good thing with that is that you can do super cool stuff like blocking adds for all devices on the network. Seems like magic to non-IT people.

I used to block a port for the battle.net app so I could appear offline while playing WoW. Then they removed the option by changing the way it works, and then they added it again, this time officially.

[Lochton]

WoW used to appeal to min/max'ers and people who would fastidiously streamline and optimize their experience.

The old launchers was packed and clotted..

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people are looking for things to complain. One guy even said here "that is a BIG issue for me"... WTH, big issue? You see more ads in movies when you go to see something and they advertise before the start. Should we get 3d glasses with preinstalled adblock?

Honestly, when I look at the app, I see less adds than anywhere else. Heck, Steam has more adds.

Currently on my Battle.net App, I see 2 advertisements, 2 community topics and 1 support article..

[thottstation]

there is, you press the X and it gets rid of them...

"Why do people use an Adblocker on their web browser? Why not just ignore the ad, or click the X?"

Seriously?

Well done on finding old images of the Launcher. But I get the subtle impression that you just might be more interested in admonishing "entitled gamers" and the dopamine hit that comes with elevating yourself above your unwashed peers, rather than concede that just maybe there's a difference between the WoW launcher saying "a new WoW expansion is out!" and the modern Battle.Net launcher and it's continually erupting plethora of commercials for Destiny, clothing, and forced scarcity toys utilizing glowing buttons, pulsing icons, and animations where the is so cleverly camouflaged that people in this thread admit they didn't even see it.

I may be wrong. It's just what I sense from reading between the ̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶ pixels.

For myself, I'm glad there's now more people out there who are now aware of things they can do to prevent unwanted ads and customize their online experience. I've always said, the more people who know they may not necessarily have won an iPad because a popup says they're the 1,000,000,000th visitor, the better.

[FelPlague]

"Why do people use an Adblocker on their web browser? Why not just ignore the ad, or click the X?"

Seriously?

Well done on finding old images of the Launcher. But I get the subtle impression that you just might be more interested in admonishing "entitled gamers" and the dopamine hit that comes with elevating yourself above your unwashed peers, rather than concede that just maybe there's a difference between the WoW launcher saying "a new WoW expansion is out!" and the modern Battle.Net launcher and it's continually erupting plethora of commercials for Destiny, clothing, and forced scarcity toys utilizing glowing buttons, pulsing icons, and animations where the is so cleverly camouflaged that people in this thread admit they didn't even see it.

I may be wrong. It's just what I sense from reading between the ̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶ pixels.

For myself, I'm glad there's now more people out there who are now aware of things they can do to prevent unwanted ads and customize their online experience. I've always said, the more people who know they may not necessarily have won an iPad because a popup says they're the 1,000,000,000th visitor, the better.

Because on some websites like youtube you cant click X you cant just close an add you have to wait, or adds take up place other things could.
on the wow launcher there is literally fucking nothing in the way.

[Forogil]

Currently on my Battle.net App, I see 2 advertisements, 2 community topics and 1 support article..

I agree.

On my launcher there are 5 sub-windows: "Battle of Dazar'Alor preview", "Breaking News about game restart", CoD ad, friends list, PvP season 2 announcement.

However, as previously stated I have made the window smaller - so I only see
"Battle of Dazar'Alor preview", "Breaking News about game restart"
and a big "Play" button.

So to people getting annoyed: Why would you need a bigger launcher window? To show that you can block ads?

[WowIsDead64]

Has anyone seen if you can block the adverts and maybe even the ability for icons to "glow" from the launcher?

Wondering if you can add something to your Hosts file or along those lines. I patched AOL Instant Messenger to block ads back in the day using a similar process.

Thanks for looking into this.

You can't block this crap, because launcher probably uses battle.net to load this ads and you obviously can't block battle.net. Solution is pretty simple - if you play Wow only, then just DON'T USE LAUNCHER! You can launch Wow via it's exe file directly.

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Thanks man, works perfectly. For anybody else trying it, you might notice that if you close the battle.net app, do this, and reopen the app, the videos/gifs from your previously highlighted game tab might still be cached/there, but all the other ones don't load now, and it should prevent new ones going forward.

One other benefit of this is that it while it doesn't get rid of the main box (it's just empty with a line of text telling you they can't find what they wanted to show you), it does get rid of all the auxillary boxes except for friends

Here's a screenshot of what I mean (removed the friends widget from SS but it's still there and functioning)

Wow. If Blizzard are so stupid to load ads from external locations and therefore this method works, then great! Cache should be stored somewhere in /Users/<Your user>/AppData/Local/Battle.net folder.

[Zka]

This is the firstworldproblemest firstworldproblem I've ever heard of.

[MrExcelion]

Whoa this is still going, kind of

This is the firstworldproblemest firstworldproblem I've ever heard of.

Yup pretty much, ngl. (am original thread creator). Only really asked in the first place because I figured there was a chance it'd be possible, and it turns out someone here had been doing it already.

Truthfully speaking, I've never had a huge desire to block them, but the idea really only entered my head last month when they were doing that "See You Later Bundle" and the "Buy The Virtual Ticket for 20% off that you already bought a month ago for full price" (granted only did it because of WoW tokens, but yeah).

Unfortunately I can't confirm or deny if it stops glowing icons because I already clicked on the Destiny one. If I don't see anything for the next couple of months I'll assume that also got blocked with this too.

After a few tests, it does look like the Battle.net launcher itself is using very slightly less memory now without a loaded window but its some really trivial amount that doesn't matter, and I already have it set to "Exit Battle.Net" when I launch WoW

Don't think there's anything else I can say on the matter, thanks all

[Ophenia]

Because on some websites like youtube you cant click X you cant just close an add you have to wait, or adds take up place other things could.
on the wow launcher there is literally fucking nothing in the way.

I'll be glad this topic exists in a few years when we'll have 25 ads about whatever Youtuber, made-in-china Clothes, an add for Diablo:Immortal on WoW's tab, and 50 glowing icons begging me to click on them.

You know, Website Ads also started as "not really bothering, just ignore it you dummy". Until the point we're now in, with a mandatory AdBlocker to be allowed to peacefully navigate on the Internet.

[FelPlague]

I'll be glad this topic exists in a few years when we'll have 25 ads about whatever Youtuber, made-in-china Clothes, an add for Diablo:Immortal on WoW's tab, and 50 glowing icons begging me to click on them.

You know, Website Ads also started as "not really bothering, just ignore it you dummy". Until the point we're now in, with a mandatory AdBlocker to be allowed to peacefully navigate on the Internet.

Nice slippery slope.