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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos to Receive Upgrade Patch  (Friday, June 27, 2003 By Nowimps)

 As a way of saying THANK YOU to the Warcraft III community, which has been so supportive of the game both during development and after it went live in July of last year, Warcraft III players connecting to Battle.net will receive a significant patch to Reign of Chaos in the days ahead. This patch will add clan support and many of the interface enhancements found in the soon-to-be-released expansion set, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. For a partial list detailing a few of the upcoming upgrades to Reign of Chaos, please read this forum post.
~The Battle.net Team

New Horadric Cube Formulae in Diablo II 1.10  (Monday, June 16, 2003 By Nowimps)

We’ll be adding many new Horadric Cube recipes to Diablo II with the upcoming 1.10 patch. Many of the recipes allow you to upgrade Runes. For instance, Jah Rune + Jah Rune + Jah Rune + Flawless Ruby results in a Cham Rune. This formula only works for Ladder Characters and Open Characters. These screenshots are from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team

War3x Patchs 3.14-3.15 Completed (Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By Nowimps)

 Finally the Patches are completed and are ready for download. Get Them Here.

Skill Rebalancing in Diablo II 1.10  (Monday, June 9, 2003 By Nowimps)

Many of the skills for each character class have been thoroughly revised. For example, take a look at the new Druid Molten Boulder, Volcano, and Hurricane skills. These screenshots are from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team

New Warcraft III Patch 1.06  (Monday, June 2, 2003 By Nowimps)

BALANCE CHANGES


Improved Counterability

  • Unarmored Light Medium Heavy Fortified Hero
  • Normal 100% 150% 100% 100% 50% 100%
  • Piercing 150% 75% 100% 150% 35% 50%
  • Siege 150% 50% 100% 100% 150% 50%
  • Magic 75% 100% 200% 100% 50% 50%
  • Hero 100% 100% 100% 100% 50% 100%

You can find further information related to armor and damage types on our
web site at http://www.battle.net/war3/basics/armorandweapontypes.shtml

Spellcaster Rebalance

  • - Most spellcasters (Sorceress, Priest, Shaman, Witch Doctor, Necromancer, Banshee, Druid of the Talon) have been re-balanced. In general, units with piercing damage rip up spellcasters, while basic melee units, such as Ghouls or Footmen, are weak against spellcasters. The specific changes to the units in question are:
    • * They have a new armor type, unarmored, which takes bonus damage from siege and piercing attacks.
    • * They also have a new damage type, magic, which does reduced damage to fortified and hero armor, but does bonus damage against medium armor.
    • * They had their damage adjusted, typically downwards.
    • * They no longer gain damage as they go up in level, and gain less hitpoints as they go up in level (but start with more hitpoints when initially built)
    • * Many autocast buffs and debuff costs reduced.
    • * Casters, including Dryads, have had their mana regeneration rates boosted by 30%.

Hero Damage

  • - Heroes now have an aptly named hero damage type. It deals 100% damage to everything except fortified armor, to which it deals 50% damage. Hero damage was added so that heroes no longer strongly counter ranged units such as Archers and Crypt Fiends.

Advanced Structures

  • - Most advanced technology structures had their build times reduced. This reduction ranged from 20 seconds for especially underused structures, to 10 seconds for less underused structures. For instance, the Slaughterhouse builds 20 seconds faster now, while the Arcane Sanctum build time was only reduced 10 seconds.

Humans

  • - Flares now cost 75/25 to research, down from 100/50.
  • - Inner Fire cost increased to 35, from 25.
  • - Slow cost reduced to 40 from 50.
  • - Slow duration vs heroes reduced to 10 seconds from 20 seconds.
  • - Thunderclap debuff is 50% at all levels, and lasts 5/3 at all levels.

Undead

  • - Curse now causes a 33% chance to miss, up from 25%.
  • - Curse now lasts 2 minutes, up from 1 minute.
  • - Curse cost reduced to 40 mana from 50.
  • - Web lasts 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds, and has a cooldown of 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds.
  • - Carrion Swarm max damage increased to 375/700/1000 from 300/550/800.
  • - Carrion Swarm no longer hits wards.
  • - Boneyard cost reduced to 250/100 from 350/125.
  • - Acolytes now have 220 health, up from 180.
  • - Necropolis cost reduced to 300 gold, down from 350 gold.
  • - Black Citadel now has 2000 hitpoints, down from 2300.
  • - Halls of the Dead now has 1750 hitpoints, down from 2000.

Orcs

  • - Bloodlust cost reduced from 50 mana to 40 mana.
  • - Raiders now have light armor instead of heavy armor.
  • - Raider Ensnare lasts 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds, and has a cooldown of 12 seconds, down from 20 seconds.
  • - Bladestorm cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 4 minutes.

Night Elves

  • - Cyclone duration on units increased to 15 from 10.
  • - Faerie Fire cost reduced to 35 from 75.
  • - Chimaera Roost cost reduced to 230/70 from 280/100
  • - Ancients temporarily lose their fortified armor when they uproot, becoming medium armor units.
  • - Dryads now have the unarmored armor type. This change was made to further specialize Dryads as melee killers, but allow piercing damage units, such as Crypt Fiends and Archers, to counter them more effectively.
  • - Dryad hitpoints increased to 435 from 380.

Other

  • - All basic siege units (Mortar Teams, Catapults, etc.) have had their night sight increased to 1100 from 1000.

Creeps

  • - Creep-cast Polymorph duration reduced to 25.
  • - Creep autocast Heal heals 12 hp a cast not 15.
  • - Lightning Lizards, Thunder Lizards and Storm Wyrms no longer friendly fire - their attacks only hit hostile targets.
  • - Lightning Lizard damage reduced from 1d8 + 16 to 1d8 + 14
  • - Thunder Lizard damage reduced from 1d11+30 to 1d8+26.
  • - Centaur Impaler hitpoints reduced to 350 from 450.

Items

  • - Anhk of Reincarnation is now a level 7 item.
  • - Potion of Restoration now heals 500 health and 200 mana, rather than fully replenishing a hero's health and mana.
  • - Scroll of Restoration now heals 300 health and 150 mana, rather than fully replenishing all targets health and mana.
  • - Tome of Experience is now a level 5 item
  • - Scroll of Protection cost reduced to 150

NOTES: Replays are incompatible between major game revisions (1.05 replays cannot be viewed with the 1.06 version of Warcraft III).

New Horadric Cube Recipes in Diablo II 1.10  (Monday, June 2, 2003 By Nowimps)

We’ll be adding many new Horadric Cube recipes to Diablo II with the upcoming 1.10 patch. Some of the new recipes allow you to upgrade your Unique weapons. For instance, 1 Ral Rune + 1 Sol Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + 1 Normal Unique Weapon results in an Exceptional version of that weapon with the same Unique Item bonuses. Using this recipe, an Axe will be transformed into a Cleaver! This is useful for upgrading the damage of your Unique Weapons. You can use another recipe to upgrade to the Elite version: 1 Lum Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Exceptional Unique Weapon results in the Elite version of that weapon with the same Unique Item bonuses. Using these new formulae, players can create new special versions of Unique items that were not previously possible. Players can then further customize these weapons by adding a socket to them and their own favorite gem, jewel, or rune. These screenshots are from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.net Team

New Frozen Throne Patch 314A (Monday, June 2, 2003 By Nowimps)

Bug Fixes:

  • - Fixed a crash with Arranged Team games.

Its Beening Worked on At this Very Moment. wait till its released.

New Frozen Throne Patch 3.14 (Saturday May 31, 2003 By Nowimps)
 
Map Changes:

  • - Turtle rock - Center gold mine creeps now less aggressive
  • - Twisted Meadows - Improved overall balance
  • - Wheel of Chaos - Tweaked aggressive creeps
  • - Tranquil Paths - Removed dragons from random island camps.

Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes:

  • - Mercenaries cost 25% more gold than previously.
  • - Mud Golem availability delayed to second day.
  • - Summoned Doom Guard hitpoints increased to 1600 from 1350.
  • - Howl of Terror % damage reduction increased by 5% at all levels to 30/40/50%.
  • - Zeppelin hitpoints increased to 575 from 500.

Undead Changes:

  • - Gargoyles now require Halls of the Dead instead of Black Citadel.
  • - Obsidian statue Aura of Blight effect reduced to 10 hp/sec from 12 hp/sec.
  • - Halls of the Dead and Black Citadel deal one quarter as much damage as previously, but now possess a frost attack similar to that of NerubianTowers.
  • - Nerubian Tower damage reduced to 1d2 + 8 from 1d2 + 10.
  • - Orb of Corruption cost reduced to 375 from 400, and armor debuff increased to 5 from 4.
  • - Boneyard cost changed to 175/200 from 125/250.

Human Changes:

  • - Gryphon Aviaries now require a Keep instead of a castle. However, both the Cloud upgrade and Gryphons require a castle to access.
  • - Mana cost of spell steal increased to 75.
  • - Spell Breaker armor type changed to medium.
  • - Orb of Fire cost reduced to 375 from 400 and splash radius increased to 140 from 125.
  • - Gryphon Aviary cost changed to 170/190 from 120/240.

Night Elf Changes:

  • - Mountain Giant base armor increased to 4 from 0 and hitpoints increased to 1650 from 1400.
  • - Hardened skin upgrade cost reduced to 100/175 from 100/250, and damage reduction reduced to 12 from 15.
  • - Orb of Venom cost reduced to 375 from 400 and poison damage/sec increased to 7 from 6.
  • - Chimaera Roost cost changed to 140/190 from 100/230.


Orc Changes:

  • - Feral Spirit mana cost reduced to 75 from 100 and cooldown increased to 25 from 15.
  • - Purge has been improved. It no longer slows friendly units when used on them and causes units to stop for a brief moment when first cast (in addition to slowing them later).
  • - Wyverns no longer require a Fotress to be built.
  • - Orb of Lightning cost reduced to 375 from 400.
  • - Tauren Totem cost changed to 135/155 from 90/200.

Other:

  • - Tier 3 town halls all cost 20 lumber and 20 gold less.

There working on converting the Patch to standalone at this very second, and we'll let you know when it is ready for download. Stay tuned 8)

New Diablo II 1.10 Vendor Stock (Thursday, May 29, 2003 By Nowimps)

In direct response to thirsty spell-casters everywhere, Vendors across the land have secured distribution rights for Mana Potions in the 1.10 patch for Diablo II. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.

Skill Rebalancing in Diablo II 1.10  (Tuesday, May 27, 2003 By Nowimps)

Many of the skills for each character class have been thoroughly revised. For example, the Assassin’s Phoenix Strike now receives numerous bonuses from other skills. Too good to be true? See it in action for yourself!
BONUS INFORMATION: The Assassin pictured in battle is ethereal in appearance. This is a new effect gained when equipping a completed Natalya's Odium set.

New Frozen Throne Patchs 3.12 & 3.13 Released  (Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By Nowimps)

As Promised,  the new Frozen Throne patchs are done. You can download them here.

Diablo II 1.10 Rune Word Redux  (Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By Nowimps)

The Rune Word Melody now works with bows in the 1.10 patch for Diablo II. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.net Team

New Frozen Throne Patch 313  (Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By Nowimps)
 

  • - Fixed a resource exploit with constructing queued buildings.
  • - Drunken Brawler is available again on the Pandaren Brewmaster.
  • - Tranquil Paths creeps fixed.

Waiting on a release,  stay tuned.

New Rune Words in Diablo II 1.10  (Monday, May 19, 2003 By Nowimps)

Many new combinations of runes have recently been unearthed in the arcane vaults of the Vizjerei. Exile is only one of the many new Rune Words added in the 1.10 patch for Diablo II. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.net Team

New Frozen Throne Patch 3.12  (Tuesday, May 13, 2003 By Nowimps)

Maps:

  • - Adrenaline, Rice Fields, Bridge Too Near, and Turtle Rock have been updated with improved item balance, creep balance, and creep placement.
  • - Tranquil Paths has been added to the beta. Its key difference from the Classic version is that it has random creeps. For the most part, creep camps are of the same power and type of capabilities (with slight differences), though some vary radically.
  • - A significant number of new maps have been added: Floodplains (1v1 version), Jungle Fever, Avalanche, Twisted Meadows, Paradise Islands, The Two Rivers, and Desert Strife. The final four of these are map contest winners.
  • - 1v1 template changes: Hailstone, Ice Flow, Whirlwind and Floodplains removed; Floodplains (1v1 version), Twisted Meadows, Desert Strife, The Two Rivers, Tranquil Paths added.
  • - 2v2 template changes: Tanaris, Islands, Plains of Snow removed; Jungle Fever, Paradise Islands, Avalanche added.

Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes:

  • - Forked lightning damage reduced to 85/160/250 from 100/175/250.
  • - Tornado now deals 7 damage a second to buildings in its general vicinity (down from 10), and 50 damage to buildings it is over (down from 80) and costs 250 mana to cast, up from 150.
  • - Silence area of effect increased from 150/250/350 to 200/275/350.

 Item Changes

  • - Scroll of Restoration is now a level 5 item instead of a level 6 item.

Undead Changes:

  • - Crypt Fiend damage reduced from 28-33 to 26-31.
  • - Burrowed Crypt Fiends now heal 5 hp/sec down from 10 hp/sec.
  • - Rod of Necromancy cooldown increased from 15 to 22.
  • - Ghoul hitpoints upgraded to 340 from 330.
  • - Carrion Swarm max damage reduced to 300/600/1000 from 375/700/1000 and damage per target reduced to 75/125/200 from 100/150/200.
  • - Impale Area of Effect width reduced to 250 from 300.
  • - Obsidian Statue hitpoints reduced to 700 from 800.

Human Changes:

  • - Spell Breaker hitpoints reduced to 600 from 650.
  • - Scroll of Regeneration now heals 225 hitpoints over its 45 second duration, up from 150 hitpoints.
  • - Thunderclap damage reduced to 60/100/140 from 70/110/150.

Night Elf Changes:

  • - Archer hitpoints reduced to 300 from 310.
  • - Hippogryph Rider hitpoints decreased to 825 from 835.
  • - Entangle duration vs heroes reduced to 3/4/5 from 3/5/7.
  • - Chimaera splash increments reduced by 50 for quarter, 25 for half. This effectively means that Chimaeras will do less splash damage than previously.
  • - Mana Flare has had a bug fixed that was preventing multiple mana flares from attacking multiple targets at the same time. As a result, Mana Flare has been rebalanced, and deals up to 90 damage to targets in a 250 area when a unit casts a spell, down from 125 damage.
  • - Fan of Knives maximum damage reduced to 275/575/950 from 350/675/950, and damage per target reduced to 70/115/180 from 90/135/180.
  • - Dryad damage increased from 15-17 to 16-18.

Orc Changes:

  • - Catapult damage reduced from 82-102 to 76-94
  • - Kodo Beasts are now unarmored.
  • - Ensnare duration increased to 15 from 12, and range increased to 500 from 400.
  • - Raiders now have a base armor of 1, up from 0.
  • - Shockwave area of effect width reduced to 250 from 300.
  • - Chain Lightning base damage reduced to 85/125/180 from 100/140/180.
  • - Tauren Chieftan speed increased to 270 from 250.

Other:

  • - Town Portal now takes 5 seconds to activate, up from 3.
  • - Units killed in a transport will "spill out" over a wider area. This means that surrounding a webbed transport and killing it will generally not kill the passengers.
  • - Tavern instant revive costs three times more lumber than previously.
  • - Heroes revived at the tavern now are brought back to life with 0 mana and 50% health.

Thereworking on converting the Patch to standalone at this very second, and we'll let you know when it is ready for download. Stay tuned 8)
 

Diablo II 1.10 Graphic Update  (Tuesday, May 13, 2003 By Nowimps)

The animation for the Barbarian's Whirlwind skill has been changed to make it even more frightening on the battlefield. Attentive players will also note that there are monsters in this screenshot where one might not normally expect to find them... This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team

New Members Only Hacks and Bots for War III and War III Expansion  (Tuesday May 13, 2003 By Nowimps)

We Now have the newest, Up to date, Diablo 2, D2 Lod, War3, and War3x Hacks and Bots for all our Clan Members. If you are not a member, and wish you were so you can enjoy all this kick ass stuff. JOIN TODAY, and you can.

The Moment You All Have Been Waiting For...  (Tuesday May 13, 2003 By Nowimps)

WE ARE NOW A DIABLO 2, WARCRAFT III AND WARCRAFT 3X CLAN!!!
As of today, I have added everything you will need to install the new Warcraft III Expansion - The Frozen Throne. Also As of today i will be posting news, updates, and info about War3 things. You can access our War3x page by clicking the War3x logo below the menu..or if your really, really, really lazy you can get there by clicking here.

New Skill System in Diablo II 1.10  (Monday May 12, 2003 By Nowimps)

The skills of each character class have been thoroughly revised. On top of that, a new system of "synergies" has been added to each character’s skill set. Allotting a point to certain skills will result in synergy bonuses to one or more of that character’s corresponding skills. Only the points you assign, and not those granted by items, give synergy bonuses. See the new stats for the Necromancer's Bone Spear skill. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team

Diablo II 1.10 Patch Update (Friday, May 9, 2003 By Nowimps)

In the process of upgrading our Web servers, some incomplete and partially inaccurate information pertaining to the upcoming Diablo II 1.10 patch was uploaded to the Arreat Summit. This information reflected changes to Diablo II that in reality have not taken place and may not take place at all, because the 1.10 patch is still a work in progress. We have since restored the correct information to the Arreat Summit, which is accurate as of the most recent patch (Diablo II 1.09). Because some of the incorrect information has started to circulate around the Web, we felt it would be best to post an update highlighting our current plans for the Diablo II 1.10 patch. Please note that this information is accurate as of now, but it might not reflect what will be found in the final version of the patch.

Seasonal Ladder Characters - A new ladder system will let players compete on a seasonal basis. At the beginning of each season, the ladder-based world of Diablo II will be "reborn" and players will be able to create new characters to start their climbs again on equal footing. For the duration of the ladder season - which has yet to be determined - these ladder characters will exist in a new economy, separate from the other non-ladder Battle.net Realm Diablo II characters. When a ladder season ends, all ladder characters from that season will join the pool of non-ladder Battle.net Realm Diablo II characters.

More Challenging Gameplay - Diablo II players who adventure in the Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels will experience a world in which the monsters have become more powerful and substantially harder to defeat. Players may need to develop new tactics or enlist aid from others in order to face these strengthened minions. The monster improvements include enhanced AI, more skills, greater damage, and higher resistances.

A New World - Players can expect to encounter more randomly distributed unique monsters in every locale and even a few guest monsters where players wouldn't normally expect them. In addition, characters above level 70 will require increasingly more playtime in order to gain levels.

Enhanced Skills - The skills of each player-character class have been thoroughly revised. On top of that, a new system of "synergies" has been added to each character's skill set. Allotting a point to certain skills will result in synergy bonuses to one or more of that character's corresponding skills.

Item Improvements
Enhanced Class-Specific Sets - The class-specific sets in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction have been significantly improved - some with abilities never before seen in the game.

  • New Unique Items - Around 100 new unique items have been added to the world (many being elite uniques), some of which can be found only in either single-player, TCP/IP, and Open games or in 1.10 Ladder games.
  • New Unique Item Properties - Some of the all-new unique item properties introduce entirely new twists to the world of Diablo II. Imagine a Barbarian who can shape-shift into a Werewolf.
  • New Rune Words and Horadric Cube Recipes - The patch will introduce new Rune Words and new Horadric Cube recipes. Some Horadric Cube recipes will work only in either single-player, TCP/IP, and Open games or in 1.10 Ladder games.
  • Improved Treasure Drops - The quality of items dropped by regular monsters has been greatly increased.
  • Improved Quest Rewards - The first time a player defeats an Act-ending boss monster, the creature will yield significantly better treasure than in subsequent encounters. Some of the other quest rewards have been improved as well.
  • Better Gambling Odds - The average quality of items won via gambling has been improved.

New Anti-Cheat Measures - We have addressed some of the ways that "grief" players have used hacks or exploited features/bugs in Diablo II to unfairly attack others. We have taken measures to address a number of existing cheats, hacks, and illegal items with an eye toward preventing such cheating in the future.

Bug Fixes and Other Enhancements - Once the patch has been released, refer to the final patch text for a more detailed list of bugs fixed, changes made, and new features added.


New Diablo II Game World Event  (Friday, May 9, 2003 By Nowimps)

Players can trigger a new, secret quest in Hell difficulty games. While we don’t want to spoil the surprise, we did want to give you a clue to get you started when the 1.10 patch for Diablo II releases. Note: this event is ONLY available to realm characters and does not trigger in single-player or open games. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team


Unique Class-Specific Barbarian Helm Revealed  (Friday, May 9, 2003 By Nowimps)

Wolfhowl is a Unique Item created specifically for the Barbarian that has been added in the 1.10 patch for Diablo II. This ancestral helm allows the Barbarian to transform himself into a Werewolf while gaining the skills Lycanthropy and Feral Rage. He also gains the ability to summon Dire Wolves to fight by his side. This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.Net Team

New Diablo II 1.10 Item Revealed  (Tuesday, May 6, 2003 By Nowimps)

The legendary blade Azurewrath has been redesigned to better reflect its awe-inspiring nature, and is now one of the new Elite Unique items in the 1.10 patch for Diablo II. This powerful weapon grants any character numerous magical bonuses, including the Paladin Aura, Sanctuary! This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.net Team

New Diablo II 1.10 Item Revealed  (Wednesday, April 30, 2003 By Nowimps)

Check out the Rainbow Facet, one of the new Unique Jewels in the upcoming patch for Diablo II.

This screen shot is from the latest release candidate for the 1.10 patch of Diablo II that is currently being run through our QA testing procedure. Although we do not have a release date set for this patch, we are working hard to get it out as soon as possible.
~The Battle.net Team


 Bill Roper Interview  (Friday, April 25, 2003 By Nowimps)

As we posted about earlier this week, there was an interview with Bill Roper on MacRadio.com. The interview is archived on their site, but most people (including myself) have found it impossible to connect to. The only actually "new" info is that Blizzard is considering adding some sort of hostility timer, so PKs couldn't go hostile and attack instantly. That's only been the #2 player request (#1: yes/no button to allow/prevent PVP at game creation) for the last 3 years, so nice to see them taking notice of it. Whether it will actually be in the patch is unknown, but since the patch has been basically feature-locked for weeks while undergoing final QA, they must have decided on the timer long before this recent interview.

Patch 1.10 Items  (Friday, April 25, 2003 By Nowimps)

 I found this interesting thread on the B.net forums in which Blizzard webmaster G. Fraizer makes a few teasing mentions of the v1.10 uniques updating progress. He says he's updating them, then that he's done 50%, then hours later that he's done 84 of them, and then a while later says they are all done. (He posted 50% first, and then 84 hours later, so I don't think this is an indication there are 168 new uniques.) None of these are online yet, and probably won't be until the patch is released, which looks like it will happen in the first week of May, at the soonest. The items are obviously finalized; the QA testing still going on now is to fix game play bugs due to the programming changes, monster changes, skill changes, etc.

There is no final tally of how many new v1.10 uniques, but by my count there are 120 elite item types, plus 38 class elites. There are 19 elite uniques in v1.09, non class-specific, but with just 9 class uniques in the game now (all excep, 1 per char with 3 amazon) it seems unlikely that bliz would make too many elites. However they could be making more unique rings/amulets, or normal/exceptional class stuff. So we know there are at least 84 new uniques, and possibly as many as 150. Nearer 100 seems a safer bet though. Lots, in any event. And all will be coming soon in massively-duped quantities to an item sales site near you! *cough*

 Update: G Fraizer has added to the thread a day later:

          Looks like about 100 new Unique Items.

          There are no totally NEW set items but many old items of various types are changing.
 

Bill Roper Interview Tonight (Monday, April 21, 2003 By Nowimps)

 A quick reminder has come in from Gamesome Mac that they will air the Bill Roper interview tonight at 6 - 8PM PST, 9 - 11 pm EST, Tuesday 1AM - 3AM UST or 2AM - 4AM GMT, and also on demand thereafter. To tune in head here at those times where Bill will be discussing the worlds of Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft.



Happy April Fools' Day from Blizzard Entertainment  (Tuesday, April 1, 2003 By Nowimps)

As many of you have already guessed, we have not changed your hard-earned Warcraft III Battle.net icons into Lost Vikings permanently. The change is only temporary; the icons will revert back to their normal appearance around 12:00 AM PST on April 2nd. For those of you who haven't had a chance to see the new icons in action, fire up your copy of Warcraft III and log on to Battle.net. We hope you've enjoyed this little diversion; happy April Fools' Day!
~The Battle.net Team



Warning about Battle.net Hack Programs (Tuesday, April 1, 2003 By Nowimps)

Blizzard Entertainment considers any third-party program designed to affect the way that a Blizzard game interacts with Battle.net -- including seemingly harmless programs designed to make doing things easier, such as changing hotkeys -- a hack program. In addition to jeopardizing the user’s continued access to Battle.net, many of these hack programs contain "Trojan" code that subjects the user’s account or CD key to the risk of being banned from Battle.net for reasons they might not even be aware of.



Warcraft III and Diablo II Accounts Closed, CD Keys Banned (Tuesday, April 1, 2003 By Nowimps)

UPDATE: This is no April Fool's Joke.

Numerous additional accounts and CD keys were tied to the use of a hack or cheat program while playing Warcraft III or Diablo II on Battle.net. In keeping with our aggressive stance against hacks and cheats, we have permanently closed over 12,000 Warcraft III accounts and over 131,000 Diablo II accounts. We have also banned over 7,000 CD keys from ladder play for one month and banned over 1,000 Warcraft III CD keys from ladder play permanently. Please note that repeat offenders risk having their CD keys disabled, which results in permanent removal from Battle.net for their copies of Warcraft III or Diablo II.
We continue to monitor the Warcraft III and Diablo II realms for malicious players. We regret having to employ these extreme measures; however, certain unscrupulous players have impaired the game play of the Warcraft III and Diablo II communities as a whole, and severe action continues to be warranted and required. We would also like to reassure everyone that a false report filed by one player against another will not result in the actions described above.
~The Battle.net Team
 


MORE NEW FROM BLIZZARD (Tuesday, April 1, 2003 AM by Nowimps)

Judgment Day: Cheaters Lose Accounts


Over 100,000 accounts closed. Now comes the "I didn't cheat", "it must be a mistake", or "my brother did it not me" =) These people were caught cheating. People who cheat often are very reluctant to admit they cheat. Any program that modifies the game, including map hack, is a cheat.
This is not an April Fool's joke although it's funny it falls on the same day (chance?).
 



Diablo II accounts closed (Tuesday, April 1, 2003 AM by Nowimps)

Approximately 1% of active Diablo II accounts were closed this evening for running hacks. Full details will be posted in a few hours.
On March 3, 2003  I disabled downloads.  To all of you that have pleaded with me to put them back up, please be thankful that I didn't.
I will be enabling downloads once again, its a war-zone out there, so use with caution. I absolutely am not responsible for anything that happens to your chars, or your accounts. So I don't want to see any e-mails about this matter.


Patch 1.10 Character Rumor  (Sunday March 23, 2003 By Nowimps)

Rumors about the version 1.10 patch have been circulating around the community for some time, as the patch has been in development for many, many months and will be making a considerable amount of changes to the game. The latest large-scale rumor appearing on the Internet is that it will include a new character class that, apparently, was originally part of a second expansion set for Diablo II that was cancelled.
Obviously, the prospect has been raising some eyebrows. However, keep in mind that this rumor is simply a rumor as of now, but as soon as we have confirmed with Blizzard Entertainment as to whether or not this is valid, we will make an update.

 

1.10 Update (Saturday March 22, 2003 By Nowimps)

Bill Roper on his annual Euro tour this time of year gave a presentation at Vivendi Universal yesterday. Details were reported on German site Gamesurf and a rough translation in part reads:

As Blizzard frontman Bill Roper confirmed for us yesterday during a Vivendi Universal event, the coming patch is more like a second expansion set. Almost everything has been changed; only the character classes and the acts remain the same. The Californian manufacturer has turned everything inside out, from unique items to character skills to monster AI. A complete test cycle of the patch would last about 3 weeks, and the bugfixing makes many many such test cycles necessary. A main focus: the problem of "duped" (illegally copied) items.
The whole thing should be wrapped up by E3 in May. We're waiting.
 


Ping and Trace route no longer supported on bnet (Wednesday, March 12, 2003 By Nowimps)

Battle.net servers no longer support the PING or TRACERT (trace route) commands. This is due to abuse of these utilities in malicious attacks.
To test connectivity to Battle.net follow these steps:

1. Run "telnet uswest.battle.net 6112" (replace uswest with the appropriate Battle.net gateway name).

2. Once connected, press "c". Battle.net will respond with a login prompt.

If you fail to connect with this method, you may have a connectivity issue.
~The Battle.net Team




Re: Cant make games (Friday, March 07, 2003 By Nowimps)

Most likely you have a firewall that is blocking the ports needed to create a game.
Blizzard does not offer support for proxies (Internet connection sharing), firewalls, or routers. The settings provided are suggested settings only. You may need to contact your ISP or network administrator for assistance if you have opened the correct ports but still cannot connect or get others connected to you.
Here are some common questions and answers regarding proxies, firewalls, and routers.
What do I need to know about ports?
Anytime your computer receives incoming data, it is sent to a "port". Your computer has many ports that can receive data, and different activities will utilize different ports.
How are ports restricted when using a proxy, firewall, or router?
Most proxy servers, firewalls, and other Internet connection sharing methods can restrict port access. Your configuration may be restricting packets from "unknown sources". In this case an "unknown source" would be defined as any IP address that you have not initiated the contact with. Once you contact the IP address, your proxy and/or firewall considers it "safe", or a "known source", since you initiated the contact. When you create a game on Battle.net, other users need to be able to contact you in order to join. In other words, they need to be able to initiate the contact. This becomes the real problem if your connection is restricting them from contacting you.
What ports need to be open for Blizzard Entertainment games?
In order to connect to Battle.net and allow others to connect to you the following ports need to be opened:

Diablo: TCP and UDP Port 6112

StarCraft/Broodwar: TCP and UDP Port 6112

Warcraft II:Battle.net Edition: TCP and UDP Port 6112

Diablo II/Lord of Destruction: TCP Port 4000

Warcraft III: TCP Ports 6112 to 6118, unless you have changed the default in the Options/Gameplay screen for port forwarding.

Some firewall programs have preset ports available in their configurations that are often necessary to be open. One in particular is a connection to your DNS server. This usually takes place on UDP port 53.
Please go to this link for more information on how to open the appropriate ports for your proxy or firewall: http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=msi0423p
What do I do if I am still having problems connecting using a firewall, router, or proxy?
If you need further help configuring your firewall, router, or proxy you will need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael N.
Forum Moderator
Blizzard Entertainment




Re: bad dead bodies on east? (Friday March 07, 2003 By Nowimps)

We are aware that using a hack program, trying to dupe, or carrying hacked/duped/corrupted items can cause corruption on your character. You may submit your character information to http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=eD2status000 , but there will be a slim chance of us being able to restore this character.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael N.
Forum Moderator
Blizzard Entertainment




We have recently closed the duping method on Battle.net (Thursday March 06, 2003 By Nowimps)

We have recently closed the duping method on Battle.net and we are currently discussing what to do with the hacked/duped items.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael N.
Forum Moderator
Blizzard Entertainment
=============
Closed until the next one...MUWHAHAHAHA


1.10 patch (Feb 31, 2003 By Nowimps)

This dates back to April 16, 2002! Still no patch though!!

Some Diablo II patch 1.10 details
We are currently working on a significant Diablo II patch, the full details of which will be released when the patch is ready. At this time, we can release a few specific details about a new feature in the 1.10 patch. We are introducing a new type of character, called a ladder character. There will now be two types of characters: normal and ladder. All characters created before 1.10 will be considered normal characters. Characters created before 1.10 will not have the option of being ladder characters. You must create a new character after patch 1.10 is released, and mark it as a ladder character to create a ladder character.
Characters created before patch 1.10 will not be able to join games with these new ladder characters, although they will be able to play with other normal characters that predate the 1.10 patch or characters created after 1.10 that are not created as ladder characters. This means that for the duration of the ladder season - which is yet to be determined - these ladder characters will exist in a new separate economy from the other Battle.net Diablo II characters. No legitimate characters or items will be deleted with this patch, although we continue deleting hacked or duped items, as well as characters that are part of accounts used to attack the Battle.net servers.


We're still waiting...