It has just been brought to our attention by our development team that a hacker had gained access to one of our sister sites in the Curse network. The intrusion was stopped before any real damage could be done.
However, the hacker was definitely able to access the database of at least one Curse website and could have accessed other websites of the network running the IPB software, including this one. Sensitive information such as passwords were fully encrypted and should be safe, however they did gain access to the emails used to register forum accounts.
These can be used immediately in order to send phishing emails that mimic official Blizzard emails. As always please check all links in emails. Remember blizzard will never ask for your password, offer you free games or free items, and that any login to Battle.net should be done by typing the URL yourself in your browser instead of clicking links.
Though forum passwords were fully encrypted and more than likely safe, it never hurts to change your passwords and change them every now and then.
We greatly apologize for the inconvenience, measures are already in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Rare and Champion Pack Kills Tied to Boss Kills
With bashiok posting awhile back about Champions and Rares dropping the loot we will be looking for, some were worried about the fate of bosses. It looks like the designers are on the issue, and we might have more information on it at some point. (Edit: he has added "...SOON")
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(The designers have been working on and testing a system that actually ties the rare/champion pack kills to boss kills quite nicely. It seems like it's solid enough for us to talk about the intent and goals even though it's still in testing, we can look into sharing more about it .... SOON.
+Skill Affixes Confirmed
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(Level by level the choices are only limited by your skill and runes; my monk will be identical to yours.
In the final version of the game you will have ample choices of personalization; there will be affixes and legendary items that will modify the effects and abilities of your character. Obviously those items can be found towards the end of the game, so they are not available in the current beta.
Items that modify spell effects? So are they really "rune skills" or do they just increase the damage, like Cleave can be modified to do 150% WD instead of 120%?
Yes, let's say that they are the new runes. The developers wanted to implement an alternative to the removal of quality levels of runes to customize the abilities of your character.
[...] I think you can wear those items, but I'm not sure and I have no further information at the moment; since the game is in beta, anything can change before the final release
In the final version of the game you will have ample choices of personalization; there will be affixes and legendary items that will modify the effects and abilities of your character. Obviously those items can be found towards the end of the game, so they are not available in the current beta.
Items that modify spell effects? So are they really "rune skills" or do they just increase the damage, like Cleave can be modified to do 150% WD instead of 120%?
Yes, let's say that they are the new runes. The developers wanted to implement an alternative to the removal of quality levels of runes to customize the abilities of your character.
[...] I think you can wear those items, but I'm not sure and I have no further information at the moment; since the game is in beta, anything can change before the final release
Diablo 3 Beta Now Available in French and German
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(The call for heroes goes out once more! The French and German Diablo III beta clients are now available, and battle-hardy warriors are needed to rigorously test them. Do you have the mettle to accept the challenge?
Players who already have access to the beta can download the new clients from the Battle.net account management page. Once you have installed your chosen game, let the demon slaughter begin. But be aware – we want your feedback! Any comments you have on these clients should be made on the Beta Feedback forums and would be very much appreciated.
If you would like to test Diablo III in French or German but do not yet have beta access, be sure to visit the opt-in FAQ. There you will find full instructions on how to sign up for the chance to be selected as a beta tester.
The denizens of Diablo III’s Burning Hells await you. Go forth and cleanse Sanctuary of this blight, then return to report your findings.
Players who already have access to the beta can download the new clients from the Battle.net account management page. Once you have installed your chosen game, let the demon slaughter begin. But be aware – we want your feedback! Any comments you have on these clients should be made on the Beta Feedback forums and would be very much appreciated.
If you would like to test Diablo III in French or German but do not yet have beta access, be sure to visit the opt-in FAQ. There you will find full instructions on how to sign up for the chance to be selected as a beta tester.
The denizens of Diablo III’s Burning Hells await you. Go forth and cleanse Sanctuary of this blight, then return to report your findings.
sigh.... god i hope not. i hope the new system basically gives you a choice of doing either and both are equally effective
but after you beat the game, you can go anywhere, (just change our quest/act) which is why I think this is more about loot during the farming time...
I really hope thats what it is, and not just "makes them easier for progression" that would make me rather sad =/
for me it looks as if they will make only doing one ineffective and that you have to do both to achieve maximum efficiency.
otherwise there really wouldn't be any point in 'tying' rare/champions and bosses in the first place.
ya thats what im afraid of. ugh ugh ugh. ruining end game for me.
I dont think thats it at all, Champs/rares right now ARE the source of loot, bosses are worthless, this simply makes bosses worth something. I really dont think it will make bosses so important you are forced to do them after searching for champs, I just think it makes the bosses worth it.
But who knows... im looking forward to more info on this more than I was runes =P
i hope so molst. if your wrong i get to mushroom stamp you tho. its only fair
True, probably something silly like tokens required to make certain gear - some only drop from bosses, some only drop from champ/rares.
Let's say a boss has a value of a 100 for dropping better loot the first time you kill it, and the next time that has dropped to 1. Champion mobs might have a value of 100 every time you face them, since they are essentially always "new bosses", because they are randomly spawned when you create a new game. When killing a said number of champion mobs, the value of the boss tied to the area, meaning the champion mobs only ties to once boss at a time, is again increased to a 100, giving him the same value as any other champion mob, but not making him superior, when it comes to farming, thus not a must kill. Then those who like the challenge of a boss fight can attack and it'd still be worthwhile in the end, while those who don't can skip it.
That's how I think it could work out.
Simple have an account that has no ties to any other websites as your battlenet account and never use the same password on a forum for your bank or gaming accounts.
Blizzard wants to do a few things that I did not see happening:
So you have some… but not all rares/champs that are difficult to take out solo, and you have end act bosses who has a chance to drop higher tiered loot stuff the more you clear. This would end up being a mechanic that encourages you to group so you have a chance of higher tiered loot. It encourages you to find all the rares and champs, and gives the player a sense of progression in the late game.
Now, if you add this to the fact that Blizzard has tried to pace the game so that you are max level by the time you reach Inferno, then idealy people will only be running through normal/nightmare/hell once each. So if Blizzard has made killing champions/rares increase the boss loot table, it only makes sense that you would do the entire level, along with bosses because you will be forced to kill the bosses any way (assuming you want to progress, and thus get even better loot).
Though your correct in the point "we just don't know" I have to say I'm pretty sure won't be like that at all, the whole point of doing it this way is so you can farm what you want, also they want to keep it social and make sure you can play with your friends at any time, if they beat inferno, they need to be able to jump into your game, regardless of where you are
That has nothing to do with hacking, just spam bots