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Update: Commodity trading has been activated again in the Diablo III Auction House. Happy auctioneering

I'll state up front that I do think there's a disparity between melee and ranged, and I would like to see that closed. I feel like if I talk a lot about thought processes and design philosophy and don't state this up front people will lose the forest for the trees and conclude we think everything is fine. So I'll say it again: melee vs. ranged disparity is not fine, changes are being made, and even if you disagree with the approach outlined below we can hopefully have the common ground that the current situation needs improvement.

It may not look like it on the surface, but a large number of the changes in 1.0.3 are actually targeted at closing the melee/ranged gap. Let me go through some of them.

Hardcore
I'm going to use Hardcore as a starting point. In Hardcore, there's actually a reasonable distribution of classes, and I don't think the melee vs. ranged disparity is as large. There are a lot of Hardcore players of every class in Inferno without a huge disparity. Why is this important? It's because a significant portion of the melee/ranged disparity is related to a ranged character's ability to progress even while dying. A melee player can throw themselves at a monster and die, doing almost no damage to an elite enemy. A ranged player can do a huge amount of damage to an elite enemy, die, respawn, and basically attrition the enemy down with repeated deaths. In the Hardcore environment where a single bad Mortar, Vortex, Jailer, or Reflects Damage will kill a glass cannon-ranged character, the disparity between ranged and melee is an order of magnitude less.

Repair Costs
One of the more controversial changes in 1.0.3 is the increased repair costs. The design intent of these increased repair costs is to make death more meaningful. One of the top arguments we see against the increased repair costs is "I'm already dying dozens of times to make any progress in Inferno. Don't you see this is going to make this impossible?" This concern is most often brought up by ranged glass cannons. Many melee players respond "increased repair costs seem fine" because they haven't been using death-zerging as a tactic. Melee can't easily death-zerg an enemy down, but ranged can. I don't think the answer is to make death-zerging more attractive for melee; I'd rather make death-zerging a less profitable strategy for ranged.

Enemy Health and Damage
We're also looking to adjust the damage and health of enemies in Inferno Acts II, III, and IV. This is another change that is primarily for melee with secondary benefits for ranged. A lot of ranged are building glass cannon with the mentality "well, I'll just try not to get hit at all." So, reducing incoming damage when they weren't taking any before isn't significant for them, whereas reducing incoming damage for the melee is a big deal. For the ranged classes, I'm hoping that the incoming damage reduction will make some survival stats more appealing to ranged classes. While before the damage was so large it just felt pointless to try and mitigate any of it at all, after the change hopefully ranged classes will think "well, if I just put on a modest amount of survivability, I don't get 1-shot, so that's worth it." There are some ranged players who are already doing this -- stacking survivability so they don’t have to endlessly kite -- and it just feels like the minimum amount of survivability to avoid the 1-shot is so large it's unattainable. That's one of the things 1.0.3 seeks to address.

Damage Reduction in Co-op
Another change which is targeted at improving life for melee is the reduction in co-op damage. Again, since many ranged players just build glass cannon and avoid damage completely, they didn't really care if incoming damage went up as other players entered the game, but the melee characters really noticed. It was very easy for your life-on-hit to have you at a steady equilibrium, but as soon as another player entered the game your life-on-hit was no longer covering the incoming damage and death became imminent.

Additional Changes
And finally, there are always minor polish adjustments designed to help melee -- such as the AI on some monsters (BEES!!!) being tweaked to run away less often, which again helps melee more than ranged. I actually spent some extra time the other day to make sure if a Sand Wasp runs away from you, and you start chasing the wasp, it doesn't turn and shoot 4 bees in your face (hopefully that makes 1.0.3). I'm also working with one of our gameplay engineers to make it so if you sidestep the Dark Berserker’s power hit (where he brings his giant mace down), he doesn’t turn to track you as he swings (though that change probably won't make 1.0.3). These kind of AI adjustments are things ranged players don’t even notice, but are huge for melee.

Another adjustment being made is increasing both the maximum range and the dead zone of Mortar. Mortar was specifically designed to be an anti-range affix, but many ranged players would just stand even farther away, whereas melee would sometimes get caught in the cross-fire of two Mortars. Increasing the maximum range and the dead zone helps with both of these.

Why are you allowing the RMAH to deteriorate nearly every other aspect of the game? I already know the answer but I want them to endure the discomfort of saying it.
It's a question based around a false pretense. We've repeatedly explained the game design philosophy for our systems many times in the past, easily proving your brash claim to be false.

There's no answer for a question like that.

There is only information, listening and constructive feedback. We'll continue to play our part.

Auction House
Error 31073 indicates the auction house is currently experiencing a lot of traffic, and (to help mitigate that) it is automatically throttling the number of items that can be listed at a given time.

The post below goes into a little more detail: http://us.battle.net...ic/5573699157#2

Same for me! Just bout an item. I got an error message. Lost my cash, cant get my item, and cant see any of my gear in sale screen, nor the gears that I did not sale.
What error did you receive, do you remember?

Just an FYI, depending on current traffic in the auction house, you may experience a delay in having items appear in your Completed tab (or, similarly, having gold transferred from the Completed Tab to your stash). More here:http://us.battle.net...ic/5573699157#1

Fail...
Why not just sort out your DB problems, and lease more hardware, FFS this AH is going to make them millions, throw 10% of that revenue stream at making it work better.
Pass that on PLZ
We're continuing to make a number of improvements to the auction house, but this is an interim solution to improve overall stability. It's not ideal and our goal is to have it so that players don't experience that error at all.

Idk my error message just says, "THE AUCTION HOUSE IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE". Pretty easy for me to understand that.
Is the auction house button grayed out, as well?

So it is working, I just can see why people would jump to conclusions that their stuff is gone and what not, they just need to be a little patient...
That's definitely good advice, but I know it can be hard to heed.

If players are experiencing the grayed-out auction house button, they should ideally wait a few minutes and then try again later. Alternatively, they can enter a game and come back out, or logout and then login again to try again. This is actually another way of limiting traffic on the auction house during peak gaming hours. We don't have a timeframe yet for when we plan to remove this specific type of throttling, but we will be working not only to improve the messaging around it but also to implement fixes and general optimizations that will make it unnecessary to throttle players to begin with.

It's 2012 and you are still exposing cryptic error numbers to users instead of actual helpful messages.
Error 31073 should be accompanied by the following message: "Due to heavy system load your transaction request has not yet been resolved. Please keep this in mind as you consider additional transactions in the auction house. Check the completed auctions tab for more information." Yes/no? If not, that messaging should be going in with a future patch.

Any news on those people with blacked out auction house?
You just quoted the answer to that very question.
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Dyeing Legendaries
I have the same issue. Why hasn't this been hotfixed???
It's unfortunately not that easy.
Andrew Chambers (senior game designer for Diablo III) addressed this question yesterday here:

I just chatted with our awesome artists about this the other day! We currently have some tech restrictions that make it unfeasible for us to [allow players to dye legendaries]. We definitely want to allow this though, and we are looking at solving the tech issues related to it.

(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Aus/NZ Service
Thank you for everyone's feedback we have had on this topic.

As part of improving our service we’ve made further optimisations to our server-selection process for ANZ players connecting to the Americas region that will provide more consistent latency when connecting. Our systems are currently operating to specification; however, we will continue to monitor things in the event that further issues arise on our end.

We recognise that some players are continuing to have latency-related problems possibly due to issues outside of our infrastructure. For players impacted by ongoing latency issues, we are continuing to investigate the potential causes with the help of your feedback here in the Aus/NZ forums. Please note that you should judge the quality of your connection by your actual in-game experience, NOT by the small latency meter in the in-game user interface, which is not always an accurate reflection of your actual connectivity.

We invite players to test out the new optimisations and welcome additional forum feedback on user experience. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Report Spam
This post brings up a great point. If you find gold spammers in the General Chat please use the in-game option to report them.
If you are unsure how to do this, just right click on the player name in the chat and select Report then Spam.

This will help to reduce the gold seller spam for everyone. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Diabloholics
This game is only for "Diabloholics" you whiners should QUIT the game as you said it. If we can play the game, can you not?
But that's not true at all. While Diablo III may not be for everyone, our goal is to make the game as fun as it possibly can be -- for long-time fans of franchise, for players just getting started, and for all those people somewhere in the middle -- and criticism lets us know how we can improve.

No one should be advised to "quit" the game simply because they don't play the same way you do. Constructive discussion, good. Vitriol, bad. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Heads up to all of you who are Boston-bound, Crithto and I (Bashiok) will be cozying up with NVIDIA in the NVIDIA Freeplay & Tournament Area at PAXEast! We’ll be showcasing the Diablo III and Mists of Pandaria betas on NVIDIA hardware, chatting you guys up about the games as you saunter by, and holding Diablo III beta signups.

Come for the games, stay for the witty banter! ... Or beta keys. You probably care more about beta keys.

Q. People keep asking about the wings perk from the Collector’s Edition:

• How will your character receive this item?
• Will each character have the item, or does it have to be shared across your characters (like heirloom items did in WoW)?
• If a unique item, how will transferring the wings work?
• Can the wings be accidentally sold or destroyed?
• How will these wings work on a HC character when they die -- do you lose them?

Each character you make will receive CE items in their inventory. They cannot be dropped, but can be destroyed if you want the inventory space, for example. If you want them back you can transfer through the shared stash from another character.

Q. Also will there be items similar to the wings (fluff items) that drop in game later?
No plans for any right now, but we’re not opposed to it. The amount of equippable items we have is pretty intense.

Q. Some players are starting to suggest that the use of “yards” in elective mode skill descriptions is a bit misleading. Players feel that the area of effects are much smaller than the tooltips indicate and joke that their characters must be at least 15 feet tall if the tooltips are accurate. Have we put any thought into changing the unit of measurement or reducing the numerical values to better the distance of the abilities?
We’re well aware that it’s not entirely accurate, but once you use the ability once or twice you understand how it’s supposed to perform. With the fast and furious action of Diablo III, the exact measurements really aren’t as important as how you actually understand and use the skill.

Q. Will the Collector’s Edition dyes have any sort of "particle effect" on the items, or are they simply dying them with a unique color?
No they don’t have particle effects. For now they can technically only be single color gradients.

Q. Will dyes be shown on gear on the AH? (For example: "This gear is dyed 'Off-White.' ") This is semi-important because of Collector’s Edition dyes. Players anticipate that since this dye will be rare, it will carry more value within the community.
No, dyes are removed from items when you put them on the AH.

Q. As a follow up to that, can items dyed with Collector’s Edition dyes be placed on both auction houses?
Absolutely, but the dye color is removed. Dyes are not removed if an item is dropped/traded, though.

Q. Will the AH be a part of the game world (find an auctioneer in the city to do it) or is it staying in the game menu?
We think it’d be cool, but no it’s only within the Battle.net menu.

Q. Can we expect any achievements that aren’t strictly focused on game mechanics? For example, there’s rumor that finding and killing Bashiok in game is an achievement. Are these going to be similar achievements that are more Easter Egg-like and inspired by the community?
Yes, we have many achievements that ask you to do something weird or crazy or just difficult to pull off.

Q. We’ve already shared that cosmetic rewards will be coming with some achievements. We know about the banners, but are there any other rewards we haven’t yet mentioned that we could also share with the community?
We don’t have any now, no. Titles and cosmetic item rewards would be cool but it’s a wish list item for the future. All achievement rewards are banner related, which we think is pretty cool as it displays very prominently when forming groups, as well in-game at the waypoint hubs.

Q. Will there be feat of strength achievements (I.E. first person to hit 60)?
We do have feats of strength but not one specifically for first to 60.

Q. Will you be able to bind Force Move to a mouse key?
You can bind it to anything but primary and secondary mouse buttons, but it can be bound to any other mouse buttons.

Q. Since there seems to be a cap for adventurer stats ( +MF/+GF), will the stacks refresh on a Rare or Champion kill after you hit stack cap? Example: Say a stack cap of 5, on the 6th Rare/Champion kill, will the whole stack refreshes?
The whole stack refreshes.

Q. Will there be difficulty-exclusive random events/quests?
We don’t have any, no. It’s not a bad idea so maybe it’s something we could look into for the future.

Q. When does the exit indicator appear on the mini-map? When you are within range or when your character can see it (line of sight)?
When you’re within range.

Q. Will weapons with elemental affixes get extra damage against their elemental counter-part (e.g. Holy weapons get more damage against undead)?
No, we don’t want people to feel like they’re forced to carry around a bunch of weapons with each damage type and swap them in and out to remain effective. We actually had it in the game at one point where each damage type had a secondary effect, and we were super excited about it, and then we played it and it just sucked. It sounds super cool, but in practice it just forces too much on the player and makes decisions for them on which types of items are best based on the damage type.

Q. Will poison damage stack?
DoTs can stack, and the DoT can be poison based, but poison is not inherently a DoT.

Q. In Hardcore Mode, will players receive damage from collapsing/destroyed walls and/or parts of the décor (as it is not the case in Normal Mode)?
No. Hardcore is the exact same as “softcore” in every way, you just can’t die more than once.

Q. Will the Scroll of Companion (if/when it returns) be cute and cuddly or will it be more visually gritty and dark (keeping in line with the rest of the creatures in D3)?
If companions return, we have no idea. There may be some cute and cuddly things. Cute and cuddly things can and do exist in Sanctuary. They just may get stepped on by a demon. We’d make an effort to create more dark and gritty companions though, if we do revisit the system.

Q. Will you be looking at the visuals of the Wizard skill "Blizzard" and “Meteor” after the community's negative reaction to it? Players aren’t impressed with their current visuals as compared to those in D2.

There are plenty of people that like them, and plenty of people that like one or more of the rune variants. No, we don’t have any plans to make changes to any skill visuals.

Q. Are you guys happy with where the Witch Doctor is as of patch 15? We noticed as of the last few patches, particularly 14 to 15 the WD has received an enormous amount of tuning compared to the other classes and currently feels a little overpowered at early levels.
Balance is always ongoing. It’s possible the build for patch 15 caught us at a point where we had made a lot of witch doctor changes and not changes to other classes? We generate beta patches to test ongoing updates, and don’t wait to make sure each class has had equal attention. We’re very happy with class balance on our internal builds.

Q. Since arena is temporary out of picture. Is there any other way to take participate in PvP after D3 launch? Do you plan to implement world pvp mode like D2?
No. There are many reasons why we’re focusing PvP into the arenas and not bringing back hostility. PvP Arenas will only be a few months after release, and in that time people will be trying out classes and perfecting their gear and builds. When they do arrive they’ll be an awesome addition to the game, and players will be ready to face off in some awesome PvP action in a designed and crafted experience.

Q. How does the new “Nephalem Valor” mechanism work in multiplay game? Say if 4 player kill rare creatures separately, will they receive buffs from other players’ killing credit? Or the buff will be counted separately.
Everyone in the game gets the buff when a champion/rare is killed.

When you say extra loot, do you mean, extra loot. Or do you mean extra loot that is on par with what elite/champs drop. I remember from the article before, bosses do not drop gear that is as good as champs/elites.
They will drop gear as good as champions and elites with this buff (because you have to kill champions and elites to get it, which was the point). With the buff active you’re guaranteed one extra item drop from the boss, and it’s likely that it’ll be 1 item per stack of the buff. Up to X stacks. We don’t know how many it’ll be, probably a handful.

How many stacks will there be if any?
We're not totally sure but probably a number you can count on one hand.

Do you lose the buff when you die?
It lasts through death currently, and we like it. I know some people will also want it to be a punishment for death, but repair costs are already extremely impactful.

Does the buff split between players?
Like someone joins after you've been killing and they have less stacks? It's a direct increase to your MF/GF, so it uses the same mechanics.

Do you lose it on disconnect?
There's a small grace period, similar to WoW where you can get back into the game before your character is actually logged out (ie a timeout), but yes if your character times out you would lose the buff.

What is the Time limit on the stack, if any?
We're messing with times from about 15 minutes to an hour. We don't know yet.

Do Stacks get removed after a boss?
We don't really think it needs to. Your focus is still going to be seeking out champions and rares. If you want to get full stacks, kill a boss, and then try to rush to kill another boss before the buff falls off... have fun? It's not going to be the most lucrative way to play, so it's likely a non-issue hypothetical.

We’re working hard on balancing and testing Diablo III, and one of the major components is making sure that the end game experience is fun and exciting. We’d like to share a few of our goals for end game:

• We have an enormous number of skill build combinations, and we want a lot of those skill builds to be viable and interesting
• While there are millions of skill builds available to players, we don’t want players swapping skills regularly to beat specific encounters as they come up
• We don’t want repeatedly running specific three-minute chunks of the game to be the most efficient way to acquire gear for your character
• While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play
• Bosses should still feel worth killing

Nephalem Valor is one of the major new systems in Diablo III and it kicks in at level 60. Keep in mind that this is still in testing and we’re still working out the details. Here’s how it currently works internally: Rare and Champion packs already have great loot on them. By killing a Rare or Champion pack, not only do you get their loot, but you’ll also receive a buff granting you increased magic find and gold find. However, if you change a skill, skill rune, passive, or leave the game, the buff disappears. As an extra reward, if you kill a boss while this buff is active, you’ll receive extra loot drops from that boss.

The exact amount of magic find and gold find provided by the buff is still being reviewed, as is the amount of extra loot you get from a boss while the buff is active. We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks, what the duration should be, and whether or not it should persist through death. We want to make sure the buff is strong enough to make staying in your current game more rewarding than creating a new game. At the same time, if the buff is too strong, it risks making shorter play sessions feel not worthwhile.

We expect this system will encourage players to stick with a skill build of their choice, select an area of the game they enjoy, and sweep it for rare and champion packs on their way to a boss, finishing off a run with a boss that’ll be worth killing. If you wanted a shorter play session you could be done at that point, but if you have more time, the path of least resistance would ideally be to stay in the same game and make your way towards the next boss.

Casters and weapon damage
We have no plans to make it so that Wizard and Witch Doctor spells will scale off of anything but weapon damage at this current point. Previously we did not have a very strong synergy between weapons and the caster classes.

We want everyone to get an awesome feeling whenever they upgrade their weapons. That is why we went in this direction; to ensure that Wizards and Witch Doctors would be greatly pleased about weapon drops, as it was not that exciting in the previous Diablo games for casters. (Official Forums)

RMAH Fees
I don't mind the sensationalism in an article but that graphic is just devoid of any attempt at being truthful. Also they don't seem to understand how percentages work.

In any case, the listing and transaction fees, which are flat fees, are being kept as low as we possibly can keep them. Right now in beta it's 0.80 'Beta Bucks' total if you list and sell an item, and it's possible it'll be around that in USD for North America at launch. We still don't know yet, though, but we're trying to keep it as low as possible. And of course keep in mind that we still intend to offer a number of free listings per week. If someone wants to just use their free listings every week, they're more than welcome to. We anticipate a lot of people will go this route as it's a no-risk situation and no fees are taken if the item doesn't sell.

People selling items beyond those free listing will indeed want to make sure their items are of a quality the market deems is worth more than the flat posting and transaction fees, and in fact the game just won't allow you to post under a certain amount. Otherwise they may want to go the gold route, build up some gold, and then sell that through the currency-based auction house.

If you do decide that your sale is something you want to cash out, a percentage will indeed be taken, but we haven't announced any details regarding what the PayPal cash out fees will be yet. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Companions
Well, I like to see great discussion and feedback on our forums here, lets provoke to you all a question since I want to see what you all think.

If you had to choose one critter-type creature to have as your companion that only has the purpose of picking up gold in a short area around you, what would you want it to be?
Lets see what you can all come up with! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Need logs for DC on Channel Spells
Hey all, Please use this thread to report disconnects caused by channeled spells post-Beta Patch 8. What I would like you all to please do is reproduce this bug and immediately copy your D3Debug.txt file to your Desktop (it is located in the main Diablo III folder). Then edit out your e-mail address and upload the D3Debug.txt file to pastebin.com. Finally, link your file back to this thread.Thank you! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

General

• Battle.net BattleTags are now live! To learn more about BattleTags and how to set up yours today, check out the official FAQ (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4132437). Please note that in order to log into the Diablo III beta, you must create a BattleTag via Account Management.
• Due to a change in the way we store character data, all characters have been wiped. Please note that this wipe will also affect gold, achievements, followers, and artisans.
• Achievements have been temporarily disabled and will not be available again until a future patch. During this time, characters will be unable to earn new achievements or complete any additional objectives of achievements in progress.
• Players will now see recommended items for their active character when accessing the auction house Search tab.

Classes

• Barbarian
• Active Skills
• Cleave
• Ability will now deal 115% weapon damage to all targets caught in its swing, rather than 120% weapon damage to the primary target and 90% weapon damage to secondary targets
• Revenge
• Radius increased from 8 yards to 11 yards
• Demon Hunter
• Active Skills
• Bola Shot
• Hatred generation increased from 2 to 3
• Damage reduced from 105% to 100%
• Elemental Arrow
• Hatred cost increase from 5 to 10
• Damage increased from 125% to 145%
• Fan of Knives
• Speed reduced from 200% weapon speed to 140% weapon speed
• Grenades
• Hatred generation increased from 2 to 3
• Hungering Arrow
• Hatred generation increased from 2 to 3
• Damage reduced from 90% to 85%
• Rapid Fire
• Initial Hatred cost reduced from 30 to 20
• Monk
• General
• A new skill has been added: Cyclone Strike
• Available at level 7
• Costs 75 Spirit
• Pulls all enemies within 24 yards towards you, followed by a furious blast of energy that deals 275% weapon damage as Holy
• Active Skills
• Breath of Heaven
• Spirit cost increased from 25 to 50
• Healing amount increased by 200%
• Crippling Wave
• Base effect duration increased from 4.5 seconds to 5 seconds
• Lethal Decoy
• This skill has been removed
• Mantras
• Mantra of Conviction, Mantra of Evasion, Mantra of Healing, and Mantra of Retribution
• Cooldown removed
• Now costs 25 Spirit
• Duration increased from 1 minute to 3 minutes
• Wizard
• General
• Signature spells no longer cost Arcane Power, regardless of level
• These spells include: Magic Missile, Electrocute, Shock Pulse, and Spectral Blade
• The order in which skills are awarded from levels 1 to 13 has been slightly adjusted:
• Arcane Orb is now available at level 3
• Disintegrate is now available at level 8
• Electrocute is now available at level 13
• Shock Pulse is now available at level 5
• Spectral Blade is now available at level 6
• Active Skills
• Diamond Skin
• Cooldown reduced from 25 seconds to 15 seconds
• Duration reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds

Items
• The introduction of magical items into the game has been slowed

Monsters
• General
• Baby Quill demon health increased from 1% to 25% of normal Quill Beast health (they grow up so fast)
• Affixes
• Arcane Enchanted will now appear at level 7, up from level 1
• Mortar will now appear at a level higher than current beta content
• Plagued poison cloud duration reduced from 12 seconds to 9 seconds

Quests and Events
• All quests and events have had their item and recipe rewards removed and will now only award gold and experience on completion
• This does not affect treasure received from event objects for events like the "Jar of Souls”"and only applies to rewards obtained through the quest UI
• Gold rewards from quests have received a tuning pass

User Interface
• The Options UI has undergone several improvements, but remains a work-in-progress. Please report any issues in the Beta Bug Report forum.
• The Friends List has been redesigned to be smaller and more accessible while in other menus and screens
• The Banner Customization menu has been reworked to improve navigation and usability

Miscellaneous
• Fire gate damage has been reduced

What is a Battle.net BattleTag?
A BattleTag is a unified, player-chosen nickname that will identify you across all of Battle.net – in Blizzard Entertainment games, on our websites, and in our community forums. Similar to Real ID, BattleTags will give players on Battle.net a new way to find and chat with friends they've met in-game, form friendships, form groups, and stay connected across multiple Blizzard Entertainment games. BattleTags will also provide a new option for displaying public profiles.

When will BattleTags go live?
We will soon begin limited testing of some features and functionality of BattleTags in the Diablo III beta test, and the feature will be available to Diablo III players at launch. BattleTags will be integrated into other Blizzard games and services such as World of Warcraft and StarCraft II at some point in the future, but we don't have exact rollout plans to share just yet.

Will my BattleTag be unique?
A player's BattleTag is not unique, so you won't need to worry about whether your preferred name is available. You can use any name you wish, as long as it adheres to the BattleTag Naming Policy. Only one BattleTag can be associated with each Battle.net account.

If my BattleTag isn't unique, what makes me uniquely identifiable? How will I know I'm adding the right friend to my friends list?
Each BattleTag is automatically assigned a 4-digit BattleTag code, which combines with your chosen name to create a unique identifier (e.g. AwesomeGnome#3592). Your BattleTag and code are viewable when you log in to the Battle.net website and within the Diablo III beta client, and can be shared with other players who want to send you a friend request manually. You will also be able to send BattleTag friend requests list within the context of a game (by clicking a person's BattleTag when he or she sends you a message, for example) without knowing their BattleTag code. In either case, each player must mutually agree to become BattleTag friends.

I'm not in the Diablo III beta – can I choose a BattleTag now anyway?
Sure! You can pick your BattleTag now through Battle.net Account Management, regardless of whether you're participating in the Diablo III beta test. Simply visit the BattleTag creation page (http://www.battle.net/account/management/battletag-create.html) to get started. Make sure to choose a handle you will be happy with in the long term and that abides by our BattleTag Naming Policy, as you will be unable to change your BattleTag once you've selected it. We plan to provide a way for players to change their BattleTags in the future, but we don't have any further details to share just yet.

Where will my BattleTag be seen?
During the Diablo III beta test, your BattleTag will be seen in the Diablo III client (on friends lists and in chat), on the Diablo III forums, and in Battle.net Account Management. In the future, expect it to be displayed in other Blizzard games like StarCraft II and World of Warcraft on friends lists, in chat, or when making posts on their associated forums. We'll have further details on how and where your BattleTag will be displayed in the future.

When will World of Warcraft and StarCraft II support BattleTags?
Our plan is for all current and future Blizzard games to support BattleTags eventually. However, we don't have any announcements to make regarding when BattleTags will be integrated into World of Warcraft or StarCraft II at this time.

Do I need to choose my BattleTag now?
You will only be required to create a BattleTag now if you'd like to log in to the Diablo III beta client (beginning with an upcoming patch) or to use a Diablo III-related identity on the Diablo III forums. You will still be able to post on these forums using a World of Warcraft or StarCraft II character name if you wish.

Will I still be able to display my character on my profile or Armory page?
Armory profiles will be unaffected by the introduction of BattleTags. We'll have more information on how BattleTags will be integrated into existing games in the future.

How will this affect World of Warcraft?
BattleTags will add a new way for you to make friendships and communicate in World of Warcraft. For example, you'll be able to create cross-game, cross-realm friendships with your BattleTag, similar to the way Real ID works now. We'll have more details to share closer to the feature's launch.

Will this affect my existing Real ID friendships?
No. Your Real ID friendships will continue to exist, and all of the features and benefits of Real ID will remain available to you. BattleTags will simply give players another way to connect and communicate across Blizzard games. For example, if two players aren't Real ID friends but want to stay in touch across Battle.net, they'll be able to establish a BattleTag-based friendship; in the future, BattleTag friends will have access to many of the communication benefits (such as cross-game chat) currently available to Real ID friends.

Do BattleTags replace Real ID? Can I create new Real ID friendships?
BattleTags are a new feature separate from Real ID. Real ID will continue to work as it always has, and you can continue to create Real ID friendships with people you know in real life.

Will this affect my World of Warcraft or StarCraft II character names in any way?
Your World of Warcraft character names will continue to exist and work as they currently do. We're still in the process of determining how we will handle StarCraft II character names once BattleTags are integrated into the game.

How does my BattleTag work in the Diablo III beta?
Only some BattleTag features will be available during the Diablo III beta test. At first, players will be able to add friends to their friends list using their BattleTags, though new or different features may be available at different times during the testing process. We'll have more information on all of the features of BattleTags in Diablo III with the launch of the game next year.


To add a friend via their BattleTag manually in the Diablo III beta client, simply type their BattleTag and code (e.g. DemonStomper#1537) into the Add a Friend field in the Add Friend interface. This will send the player a BattleTag friend request; if the other player accepts your request, your BattleTags will appear on each other's friend lists.