My StarCraft II beta code came through a few months ago so I decided to log in to my Battle.net account to add the code.  As I tried to log in, the site unexpectedly asked me for an authenticator code.  Blizzard authenticators are devices that are associated with a Battle.net account that produce a code that you have to type in to the web site in order to log in – you may use a similar device for logging in to your online bank account.  As I hadn’t associated an authenticator I was very confused.

I rang Blizzard Europe and discovered that my account had been hacked and that the hackers had associated their own authenticator with my account, preventing me from accessing it.  After they were happy with my identity, they removed the authenticator from my account and advised I associate my own.  They then also advised me that one of my US accounts had been banned and that I had to ring Blizzard US to explain the situation.

To protect my account from further security problems, I decided to download the official Blizzard Mobile Authenticator to my iPhone and used that.  Problem solved, right?

Nope… There has since been a software update for this little iPhone application that has caused it to wipe it’s settings.  This has basically once again left me locked out of my account.  I’ve tried contacting Blizzard Europe by e-mail but I’ve had no response yet.  I’ve tried by telephone and they’re so busy that they’re not even accepting new calls in to their queuing system!

The most annoying thing of all is that the login name for Battle.net accounts are e-mail addresses.  So if you tend to use the same password for various things, such as forums, and someone gets hold of that data then they can look at your e-mail address and the password you used and just use that info to log in to your Battle.net account.

If I can’t rely on the authenticator to work properly then the best idea is going to be to change the password to something I don’t use for anything else at all, and also make it relatively complex since the username doesn’t need to be guessed at all!

The level cap has only been raised by 5 levels to level 85 but that’s cool with me. I hate levelling and I’d much rather devs put their efforts in to real game improvements than more of the same old stuff.  I assume they’ll be obsoleting a ton more content as usual!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDrlyiIv9w

You can learn all about it at their web site but here’s a quick run down of some of the features.

Two New Playable Races
Adventure as one of two new races--the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.

Level Cap Increased to 85
Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.

Classic Zones Remade
Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.

New High-Level Zones
Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj’ir beneath the sea.

More Raid Content than Ever Before
Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.

New Race and Class Combinations
Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.

Guild Advancement
Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.

New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds
Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.

Archaeology
Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.

Flying Mounts in Azeroth
Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

My favourite class is druid but I’m stuck playing Horde unless I want to play on my own.  Maybe I’ll try a troll… I have to say that the Worgen look way cooler though.