Update - It appears you now need to input your Authenticator code when logging on to Diablo III if an authenticator is active on your battle.net account
Update - Yep, servers are once again, BACK DOWN!
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(Apologies everyone. We're going to stop here for the evening and resume troubleshooting the issue tomorrow morning. This is what the beta is for, right? :|
We hope to have an update (or the servers live) by tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. PDT, and either way we'll provide an update at that time.
We hope to have an update (or the servers live) by tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. PDT, and either way we'll provide an update at that time.
Official Patch 15 Notes
The Official Patch notes have made their way onto the Diablo III Launcher! Make sure to check below for all the unofficial patch changes such as class changes.
Originally Posted by (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
General
For a full list of documented game and service bugs, please review the Known Issues sticky located in the Beta Bug Report forum.
- All characters have been wiped. Please note that this wipe will also affect gold, items, auctions, achievements, follower, and artisans.
- The gold auction house for Hardcore characters is now available for testing
- A new quest selection feature has been added
- Accessed from the main character screen, this feature will allow players to select which stage of a completed or in-progress quest they wish to start at when resuming a game
- The costs of the first and second Shared Stash tabs have been increased
- First tab cost increased from 50,000 gold to 100,000 gold
- Second tab cost increased from 150,000 gold to 200,000 gold
- The levels at which character skills and skill runes unlock have been adjusted for most classes
- Treasure Goblins now drop slightly better loot and less junk (slay them all!)
- Monk
- Active Skills
- Dashing Strike
- Now converts to Basic Attack if you are out of Spirit
- Witch Doctor
- General
- Mana costs for all skills have been adjusted
- Active Skills
- Corpse Spiders
- Weapon damage decreased from 24% to 16%
- Firebats
- Weapon damage increased from 100% to 150%
- Haunt
- Weapon damage increased from 360% to 575%
- Poison Dart
- Damage Over Time (DoT) reduced from 50% to 40% weapon damage
- Soul Harvest
- Now displays how many targets are affected on the ability’s stack count
- Templar
- General
- The non-hired version of the Templar has had its damage reduced and will now deal approximately the same amount of damage as the hired version
- Skills
- Intervene
- Radius decreased from 10 to 6
- The monster affix "Thorns" has been renamed to "Reflects Damage"
- Jondar Poison damage has been increased
For a full list of documented game and service bugs, please review the Known Issues sticky located in the Beta Bug Report forum.
- Players should no longer receive error messages regarding the Starter Edition of Diablo III
- Buying extra Stash space in Normal mode no longer expands your Stash space in Hardcode mode
- Hardcore characters will now be correctly placed into a separate queue from Normal characters when using Public Games to queue for quests
- The names of a player’s RealID and BattleTag friends should no longer appear as [] when chatting with them
Diablo III Beta - Patch 15 Unofficial Changes
These are the Unofficial Class changes for patch 15. Please keep in mind as with any new patch, some of the data could have been changed, let us know if there are any odd errors. We will be updating with any other goodies, and official patch notes once they are up.
Client Strings Changes
DiabloFans Quote:
Bnet PublicChat
- Looking for Group
- Trade
- Hardcore
- Barbarian Chat
- Demon Hunter Chat
- Monk Chat
- Witch Doctor Chat
- Wizard Chat
- IGR Playtime added - Playtime has been added to your account. Game on! (For when an IGR player adds time)
- IGR Playtime remaining - %d |4minute:minutes; of playtime remaining (Toast to let players know if they are running out of time)
- Error 86 - This account needs maintenance. Please contact customer support for assistance. (Error 86)
- Error 78 - The game is out of date. Please try patching. (Error 78)
- Error 79 - The game is out of date. Please try patching. (Error 79)
- Error 77 - The game is out of date. Please try patching. (Error 77)
- Error 28 - The game is out of date. Please try patching. (Error 28)
- Error 6 - Logon failed, please try again. (Error 6)
- Error 81 - The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error 81) ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_LA
- Error 82 - The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error 82) ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_RU
- Error 83 - The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error 83) ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_KO
- Error 84 - The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error 84) ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_TW
- Error 85 - Your Battle.net account is not able to access the service using the currently selected locale.
- Error 21 - There was a problem with an authentication module. (Error 21)
- Error 22 - There was a problem with an authentication module. (Error 22)
- Error 23 - There was a problem with an authentication module. (Error 23)
- Error 24 - There was a problem with an authentication module. (Error 24)
- Error 43 - You have applied a mobile phone lock to your account. You can change your locked status by calling your account lock phone number.
- Error 42003 - Our login system has detected a change in your access pattern. In order to protect the account, we require you to verify your identity via a message sent to the e-mail address associated with this account. For more information, please visit [us.battle.net/account/support/password-reset.html]. (Error 42003)
- Error 42002 - You have logged in too soon after being disconnected. Please wait a moment and try again. (Error 42002)
- Error 73 - There is a temporary outage of the Battle.net service. Please try again later. (Error 73)
- Error 74 - There is a temporary outage of the Battle.net service. Please try again later. (Error 74)
- Error 75 - There is a temporary outage of the Battle.net service. Please try again later. (Error 75)
- Error 76 - There is a temporary outage of the Battle.net service. Please try again later. (Error 76)
- Error 62 - Disconnected due to account data changes, please try reconnecting. (Error 62)
- Error 71 - The server is down or is going down for maintenance. (Error 71)
- Error 72 - The server is down or is going down for planned maintenance. (Error 72)
- Error 42 - You have attempted to connect to an invalid server. If this problem persists, please contact customer support. (Error 42)
- Error 316803 - Unable to find chat channel to join. (Error 316803)
- Error 61 - You were disconnected from the service. (Error 61)
- Error 5015 - Your friends list is full. (Error 5015)
- Error 5016 - The inviter's friends list is full. (Error 5016)
- Item_Indestructible - Indestructible
- Damage_Percent_Bonus_Vs_Elites - Bonus vs Elites
- Item_Level_Requirement_Reduction - Reduced Level Requirement
- Weapon_On_Hit_Bleed_Proc_Chance - Bleed Chance
- Vitality_Item - Vitality
- Intelligence_Item - Intelligence
- Dexterity_Item - Dexterity
- Strength_Item - Strength
- Weapon_On_Hit_Bleed_Proc_Damage_Base - Bleed
- Nephalem Valor - Now resets when skills are switched
AuctionHouse Notification Icons
Two new icons were added dealing with the AH
Unofficial Class Changes
DiabloFans Quote:
Barbarian
- Inspiring Presence The duration of your shouts is doubled. After using a shout you regenerate 1% of your maximum Life per second for 60 seconds. / Your shouts are: / *Battle Rage / *
ThreatningThreatening Shout / *War Cry - Furious Charge
- http://diablowiki.com/
JuggernautDreadnought" class="wiki-link">http://media-diablofans.cursecdn.com/attachments/16/736/wiki2.gif" alt="DiabloWiki.com -JuggernautDreadnought"/>JuggernautDreadnought : Regain 8% of your maximum Life for each target hit by Furious Charge. - Frenzy
- http://diablowiki.com/
RelentlessVanguard" class="wiki-link">http://media-diablofans.cursecdn.com/attachments/16/736/wiki2.gif" alt="DiabloWiki.com -RelentlessVanguard"/>RelentlessVanguard : While under the effects of Frenzy, you gain 15% increased movement speed. - Smite : Add a
2010% chance to call down a bolt of lightning from above, stunning your target for 2 seconds. - Whirlwind
- http://diablowiki.com/
Eye of the StormWind Shear" class="wiki-link">http://media-diablofans.cursecdn.com/attachments/16/736/wiki2.gif" alt="DiabloWiki.com -Eye of the StormWind Shear"/>Eye of the StormWind Shear : Gain 1 Fury for every enemy struck. - Revenge
- Best Served Cold : After using Revenge, your Critical
StrikeHit Chance is increased by 10% for 12 seconds.
- Deadly Reach
- Strike from Beyond : Critical
hitsHits generate an additional 10 Spirit. - Cyclone Strike Cost:
7550 Spirit / Pull all enemies within 24 yards towards you, followed by a furious blast of energy that deals150100% weapon damage as Holy. - http://diablowiki.com/
ConflagrationSunburst" class="wiki-link">http://media-diablofans.cursecdn.com/attachments/16/736/wiki2.gif" alt="DiabloWiki.com -ConflagrationSunburst"/>ConflagrationSunburst : Changes the blast into an explosion of fire thatplaceshas a 25% chance to Feareffect onenemies for1.52 seconds. - Soothing Breeze : Cyclone Strike heals you and all allies within 24 yards for
23261240 Life. - Eye of the Storm : Reduces the Spirit cost of Cyclone Strike to
4530 Spirit. - Serenity Cost: 10 Spirit / Cooldown:
4520 seconds / You are enveloped in a protective shield that absorbs all incoming damage for 3 seconds and grants immunity to all control impairing effects. - Peaceful Repose : When activated, Serenity heals you for
139546202 -170557752 Life. - Ascension : Increases the duration of Serenity to
54 seconds. - Tranquility : Extends the protective shield to allies within 45 yards for
32 seconds, and makes them immune to control impairing effects like Slow and Frozen. - Crippling Wave
- Rising Tide : Critical Hits generate an additional 5 Spirit.
- Mantra of Healing
- Boon of Protection : Mantra of Healing shrouds you and your allies with a mystical shield for
1 second2 seconds that absorbs up to1015% of each target's maximum Life in damage. - Sweeping Wind Cost: 75 Spirit / Surround yourself in a vortex that continuously deals 15% weapon damage to all enemies within 10 yards. The vortex lasts
56 seconds and is refreshed each time you strike an enemy with a melee attack. Landing a Critical Hitincreaseshas a chance to increase the vortex effect up to 2 times for a total of 45% weapon damage to nearby enemies. - Cyclone : While your vortex is at the maximum stack count, Critical Hits have a chance to spawn a lightning tornado that periodically electrocutes nearby enemies for 20% weapon damage as Lightning. Each spawned lightning tornado lasts 3 seconds.
- Inner Storm : As long as your vortex is at the maximum stack count, you gain
53 Spirit per second.
- Summon Zombie Dogs Cost:
3049 Mana / Cooldown: 60 seconds / Summon 3 Zombie Dogs from the depths to fight by your side. Each dog deals 9% of your weapon damage as Physical per hit. - Poison Dart Cost:
610 Mana / Shoot a deadly Poison Dart that deals 100% weapon damage as Poison and an additional5040% weapon damage as Poison over 2 seconds. - Flaming Dart : Ignite the dart so that it deals
170160% weapon damage as Fire at once. - Spined Dart : Gain
925 Mana every time a Poison Dart hits an enemy. - Corpse Spiders Cost:
485 Mana / Throw a jar with 4 spiders that attack nearby enemies for2516% weapon damage as Physical before dying. - Blazing Spiders : Summon fire spiders that deal
3321% weapon damage as Fire. - Spider Queen : Summon a spider queen that births spiderlings, dealing
2016% weapon damage as Poison to enemies in the area. Lasts 15 seconds. / You may only have one spider queen summoned at a time. - Leaping Spiders : Summon jumping spiders that leap up to 25 yards to reach their target and attack for
3019% weapon damage as Physical. - Widowmakers : Summon widowmaker spiders that return
53 Mana to you per hit. - Haunt Cost:
998 Mana / Haunt an enemy with a spirit, dealing360575% weapon damage as Arcane over 15 seconds. If the target dies, the spirit will haunt another nearby enemy. - stat : Increases damage to
5486 Arcane damage over 15 seconds. - Draining Spirit : The spirit returns
18.2 Mana per second. - Resentful Spirit : Summon a vengeful spirit that does
180288% weapon damage as Arcane over 3 seconds. - Grasp of the Dead Cost:
75123 Mana / Cooldown: 8 seconds / Ghoulish hands reach out from the ground, slowing enemy movement by 60% and dealing 20% weapon damage as Physical for 8 seconds. - Hex Cost:
3049 Mana / Cooldown: 10 seconds / Summon a Fetish Shaman for 8 seconds that will hex enemies into chickens. Hexed enemies are unable to perform offensive actions and take 10% additional damage. - Soul Harvest Cost:
3659 Mana / Cooldown: 15 seconds / Feed on the life force of up to 5 enemies within 16 yards. Gain 130 Intelligence for each affected enemy. This effect lasts 30 seconds. - Swallow Your Soul : Gain
2439 Mana for every enemy harvested. - Sacrifice
- Pride : Regain
180294 Mana for each Zombie Dog you sacrifice. - Locust Swarm Cost:
75392 Mana / Unleash a plague of locusts that swarms enemies, dealing150320% weapon damage as Poison over38 seconds. The locusts will jump to additional nearby enemies. - stat : Deal
10 Poison damage per second for38 seconds. - Searing Locusts : Engulf the target with burning locusts that deal
195416% weapon damage as Fire over38 seconds. - Pestilence : Locust Swarm has a
25100% chance to jump to two additional targets instead of one. - Cloud of Insects : Increases the duration of the swarm to
410 seconds. - Devouring Swarm : Gain
1537 Mana for every enemy affected by the swarm. - Spirit Barrage Cost:
66108 Mana / Bombard a target with a spirit blast that deals 190% weapon damage as Physical. - stat : Each bolt deals 1 - 16 Physical damage. / Cost:
66108 Mana - The Spirit Is Willing : Gain
2744 Mana every time Spirit Barrage hits. - Horrify Cost:
2337 Mana / Cooldown: 20 seconds / Don a spectral mask that horrifies all enemies within 12 yards, causing them to run in Fear for 4 seconds. - Ruthless Terror : Gain
1727 Mana for every horrified enemy. - Firebomb Cost:
610 Mana / Lob an explosive skull that deals9085% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 8 yards. - stat : Increases damage to 1 - 1 Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards. / Cost:
610 Mana - http://diablowiki.com/
ConflagrationGhost Bomb" class="wiki-link">http://media-diablofans.cursecdn.com/attachments/16/736/wiki2.gif" alt="DiabloWiki.com -ConflagrationGhost Bomb"/>ConflagrationGhost Bomb : In addition to the base explosion, the skull creates a larger blast that deals an additional 20% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 28 yards. - Fire Pit : The explosion creates a pool of fire that deals
98% weapon damage per second as Fire for 3 seconds. - Pyrogeist : Create a column of flame that spews fire at the closest enemy for
150140% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds. - Acid Cloud Cost:
120172 Mana / Cause acid to rain down, dealing an initial85100% weapon damage as Poison, followed by6075% weapon damage as Poison over 3 seconds to enemies who remain in the area. - Corpse Bomb : Raise a corpse from the ground that explodes for
204200% weapon damage as Poison to enemies in the area. - Lob Blob Bomb : The acid on the ground forms into a slime that irradiates nearby enemies for
2025% weapon damage as Poison. The slime dissipates after 5 seconds. - Kiss of Death : Spit a cloud of acid that inflicts
94110% weapon damage as Poison, followed by2283% weapon damage as Poison to enemies who remain in the area. - Gargantuan Cost:
90147 Mana / Cooldown: 60 seconds / Summon a Gargantuan zombie to fight for you. The Gargantuan attacks for 25% of your weapon damage as Physical. - stat : Summon a large zombie follower to fight for you. / Cost:
90147 Mana - Wrathful Protector : Summon a more powerful Gargantuan that only lasts for 15 seconds
, but is more powerful. The Gargantuan's fists burn with fire, dealing an additional 55% of your weapon damage as Fire andknocksknocking enemies back. - Mass Confusion Cost:
4574 Mana / Cooldown: 60 seconds / Incite paranoia in enemies, confusing them and causing some to fight for you for 12 seconds. - Spirit Walk Cost:
3049 Mana / Cooldown: 15 seconds / Leave your physical body and enter the spirit realm for 2 seconds. While in the spirit realm, your movement is unhindered. / Your link to the spirit realm will end if you cast any spell or your physical body sustains 50% of your maximum Life in damage. - Zombie Charger Cost:
86140 Mana / Call forth a reckless, suicidal zombie that deals165205% weapon damage as Poison to all enemies in its path before decomposing. - Zombie Bears : Summon zombie bears that stampede towards your target. Each bear deals
190236% weapon damage as Poison to enemies in the area. - Wave of Zombies : Summon 3 Zombie Chargers that each deal
5872% weapon damage as Poison. - Leperous Zombie : The Zombie Charger leaves behind a cloud of noxious vapors that deals
2025% weapon damage as Poison to enemies caught in it. - Undeath : If the Zombie Charger kills any enemies, it will reanimate and charge nearby enemies for
165205% weapon damage as Poison. This effect can repeat up to 2 times. - Explosive Beast : Summon an explosive Zombie Dog that streaks toward your target before exploding, dealing
215236% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 9 yards. - Firebats Cost:
27123 Mana / Call forth a swarm of fiery bats to burn enemies in front of you for100150% weapon damage as Fire. - Dire Bats : Summon fewer but larger bats that travel up to 40 yards and hit for
170220]% weapon damage as Fire. - Hungry Bats : Rapidly summon bats that seek out nearby enemies and engulf them in flames for
200280]% weapon damage per second as Fire. - Plague Bats : Diseased bats fly towards the enemy and infect them. Damage is slow at first, but can increase over time to a maximum of
150225% weapon damage as Poison. - Cloud of Bats : Call forth a swirl of bats that damage nearby enemies for
130195]% weapon damage as Fire. The damage of the bats increases by 10]% every second, up to a maximum of 50]%. - Plague of Toads Cost:
2134 Mana / Release a handful of toads that deal 130% weapon damage as Poison to enemies they come in contact with. - Rain of Toads : Cause toads to rain from the sky that deal
200130% weapon damage as Poison to enemies in the area over 2 seconds. - Big Bad Voodoo
- Rain Dance : The ritual restores
75123 Mana per second while standing in the ritual area. - Wall of Zombies Cost:
63103 Mana / Cooldown: 25 seconds / Raise a line of zombies from the ground that attacks nearby enemies for 80% weapon damage as Physical for 5 seconds. - Vermin
Vermin - stat :
Your Plague of Toads, Corpse Spiders, Locust Swarm, and Firebats abilities do 20% more damage. - desc :
"You think the creatures a nuisance, but they are legion and you are alone. What will you say when they come for you?" ???Seera the Weaver
- Critical Mass Critical Hits have a chance to reduce the cooldown
durationof your spells by 1 second. - Spectral Blade This is a Signature spell. Signature spells are free to cast. / Summon a spectral blade that strikes all enemies in your path for
105135% weapon damage. - Explosive Blast Cost:
4520 Arcane Power / Cooldown:1 second6 seconds / Gather an infusion of energy around you that explodes after 1.5 seconds, causing115205% weapon damage as Physical to all enemies within 12 yards. - stat : Increases damage done to
12 -1314 Physical damage. - Short Fuse : Immediately release the energy of Explosive Blast for
115205% weapon damage as Physical. - Obliterate : Increases the explosion radius to 18 yards for
115205% weapon damage as Physical. - Time Bomb : Explosive Blast detonates from the point it was originally cast after 2.5 seconds for
150267% weapon damage as Physical. - Unleashed : Reduces the casting cost of Explosive Blast to
3510 Arcane Power. - Chain Reaction : A chain of 3 consecutive explosions cascade off you, each causing
4089% weapon damage as Physical. - Diamond Skin Cooldown: 15 seconds / Transform your skin to diamond for
36 seconds, absorbing up to465110853 damage from incoming attacks. - stat : Increases damage absorbed to
465110853 damage. / Cooldown: 15 seconds - Enduring Skin : Increases the duration of Diamond Skin to
58 seconds. - Crystal Shell : Increases the maximum amount of damage absorbed to
930321707 damage. - Hydra Cost: 40 Arcane Power / Summon a multi-headed Hydra for 15 seconds that attacks enemies with bolts of fire dealing
2233% weapon damage as Fire. You may only have one Hydra active at a time. - Frost Hydra : Summon a Frost Hydra that breathes a short range cone of frost, causing
2436% weapon damage as Cold to all enemies in the cone. - Lightning Hydra : Summon a Lightning Hydra that electrocutes enemies for
2640% weapon damage as Lightning. - Venom Hydra : Summon a poison breathing Hydra that leaves a pool of acid that causes
1421% weapon damage per second as Poison to enemies who remain in the pool. - Mammoth Hydra : Summon a Mammoth Hydra that breathes a river of flame at nearby enemies, dealing
1826% weapon damage per second as Fire to enemies caught on the burning ground. - Arcane Hydra : Summon an Arcane Hydra that spits Arcane Orbs, which explode on impact, causing
2233% weapon damage as Arcane to enemies near the explosion. - Blizzard Cost: 45 Arcane Power / Call down shards of ice to pelt an area, dealing
130255% weapon damage as Cold to all enemies in the area over36 seconds. Multiple casts in the same area do not stack. - stat : Call down shards of ice to pelt an area, dealing
13 -13 Cold damage per second for48 seconds. - Unrelenting Storm : Increases the duration of Blizzard to deal
173340% weapon damage as Cold over48 seconds. - Stark Winter : Increases the size of Blizzard to cover 22 yards, dealing
130255% weapon damage as Cold over36 seconds. - Grasping Chill : After the Blizzard ends, the ground is covered in a low lying mist for 3 seconds that Slows the movement speed of enemies by
8060%. - Snowbound : Reduces the casting cost of Blizzard to
2520 Arcane Power. - Magic Weapon
- Force Weapon : Increases the damage bonus of Magic Weapon to
2015% damage, and gives up to a 2% chance to Knockback any enemies hit. - Familiar
- Sparkflint : Summon a fiery Familiar that increases the damage of all attacks by
1512% while Familiar is active. - Arcane Torrent
- Arcane Mines : Instead of firing projectiles, lay Arcane mines that arm after
1 second2 seconds. These mines explode when an enemy approaches, dealing200150% weapon damage as Arcane. Enemies caught in the explosion have their movement and attack speeds reduced by 30% for 3 seconds.
he client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error_81)
string2: ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_LA
ERROR_82
string1: The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error_82)
string2: ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_RU
ERROR_83
string1: The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error_83)
string2: ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_KO
ERROR_84
string1: The client does not match the account's native language. Please use the game's original client. (Error_84)
string2: ERROR_LOCALE_RESTRICTED_TW
they are locals only (some)
They simply made Cylcone Strike more useable, which I appreciate since I planned on playing with it plenty. But I just wish the monk would have more abilities that would do more than 125% weapon damage. Wave of Light does 300% (150% initial, 150% line) total, and seven sided strike does 777% totla (111% per hit however). The only definitive ability that does more than 125% weapon damage is Lashing Tail Kick at 200% (but with tiny area being affected).
(Numbers taken from the D3 skill calc, which hasn't been updated with patch 14 changes, so some abilities have been changed, such as Exploding Palm)
130255% weapon damage as Cold to all enemies in the area over36 seconds. Multiple casts in the same area do not stack.Ummm... blizzard got NERFED everyone, not buffed. Unless I'm misreading it. It now does 255% damage over 6 seconds... which would be 42.5 per second. Before it did 43.3. Blizzard still sucks.
It's nice to see explosion, spectral blade and diamond skin to get buffs though.
TW = ?
Seems to be, to prevent purchasing "cheap" russian game copies and using them in western countrys.
But the thing with IGR playtime is still disturbing
This...
Blizzard sucks because I'd rather use Ray of Frost (Sleet Storm Rune) to get 200% per second damage compared to 32%. It's the same reason haunt just got a big buff. DoTs in D2 aren't that useful unless they do a ton of damage per cast. It's much better to kill something quickly. A dead mob does no damage to you. I could see blizzard being useful for the slow to help kite, but the damage is pretty low.
The change was a change... it wasn't a buff or a nerf. Positive=It does more damage per Arcane power spent. Negative=It does less damage per second.
this^. people tend to see damage nerfs / mana ups and immediately freak out and say they are negative before thinking it through. looking at the big picture. and seeing that some skills completely changed.
I already explained its most likely for people in third world countrys that pay to pay rather than pay the $60 (USD) or more (foreign) cost to purchase the game.
Keep in mind that the damage is almost identical; a total of 5% weapon damage over the full duration, or less than 1% per second. It's less, yes, but not significantly so. Further, the AP cost hasn't changed, so the damage per AP ratio has improved. Lastly, note that if you're figuring this out all mathematically, note that any damage dealt with the new blizzard after the three second mark is all bonus damage; even if an enemy only stays in for four seconds, they're taking more damage than they would have taken under the old blizzard for three seconds. It also means you have more time to cast the blizzard and then lure enemies into it, as opposed to casting it in the middle of a fight. Basically, it's overall a better skill, and the only drawback is a slight decrease in DPS, but a significant increase in total damage for any enemy in it longer than 3 seconds.
It is a Korean concept that some US publishers began to support around the turn of the century. They can go to essentially an Internet Cafe, but for gaming, and rent gaming machines (with internet access and the latest games) that you wouldn't be able to afford/access otherwise to play the newer games available. The strings were added simply so that those cafes can do their job easier -- it's a lot better when the game itself understands that it's being rented.
Edit: clarity.
That isnt for region restriction. Its for using the right client for your region. For example using the LA client if you are from South America, just like sc2. Dam if thats the case i wont be very happy