I've finally added that "Essential Reading" list on the right hand navigation column.

It's a list of some of my favorite posts, and I'll be adding more to it later when I get a chance.

By the way, that "World of Warcraft's Alternative Revenue Streams" post was eerily prophetic. :)

During August 2010, here's what TOD considered for future services:

• Checking in-game mailboxes. Inventory, bank, character, and talent management through mobile.
• In-game chat with Guild, General Chat, Trade Chat, etc through mobile/remote.
• Integration with Battle.net to allow chat between accounts (e.g. SC2 and WoW players).
• Further integration with Facebook, linking the virtual world with your profile page.
• Depending on the success or failure of Cataclysm, we might see more non-vanity and game-effecting virtual items being sold. Elite hunter pets for sale? Change all vanity pets so that they can engage in special combat with each other (they level and grow) to sell even more vanity pets. This would be very easy to do.
• Guild Paid services for entire Guild Transfers or group/individual rates for multiple character transfers, realms transfers, renaming, and faction changes.

Here are some other revenue streams that will probable still happen:

• Reduced price structure of existing Paid Account services to attract more players.
• More "community" integration between Battle.net's games and then once you're hooked: paid premium services.
• More virtual pets, mounts, and special character customizations only available for sale (special hair cuts, glowing eyes, imposing skull faces, exclusive dances, flaming horns, jewellery, fashion wear, etc.) I think there would be many people who would pay $5-10 for bright glowing eyes.

I really like the idea of vanity aesthetics instead of the usual mount and pet only. Actually, I think Diablo 3 did something like this for the Collector's Edition.. Tyrael wings wasn't it?

And, here's one idea he had that would be perfect if Blizzard were to introduce it after the "Pokemon" Pet Battle system is implemented:

• Special virtual pets sold with very limited quantities so that people rush for
  the one-time-only "elite pet" or charity pets for those with a soft heart.

Blizzard take note!

This would be a great marketing item. A vanity (Pokemon battle) pet that's available in limited quantities and never to be sold again. Or, only available for a limited time.. that way, it encourages players to re-subscribe just to get the pet. :)

Here's something Lon-ami alerted me to that I didn't know about.

It actually relates to some of my earlier posts (and comments) where I was expecting Diablo 3 to have regional payment restrictions.. even though it's a region free game.

Usually games are region-locked, and can only be installed or used in certain countries. Diablo 3, however, will be region free. You can buy it in China, and then play it in Australia and on Australian servers.. or play it anywhere else you want, who cares. :)

Apparently, Blizzard had already addressed this a long time ago (2009) by way of a minor forum post. This was actually a pretty big deal, with long reaching and long lasting impacts, and it appears that Zarhym intentionally kept it was a "minor" update on the forums to keep it low key.

These were just virtual items, and there were no legal restrictions in place preventing them from selling these "region free" virtual products in any region that players selected. Locking them down to specific regions was a decision made by Blizzard, and it was completely unnecessary UNLESS they wanted more money (players could no longer shop around for better pricing) AND/OR they had future plans to eventually convert the Pet Store into a "Blizzard Store" where they where they could also sell other stuff (like games, expansion packs, digital downloads, or game time) instead of just virtual pets. :)

I don't use this word too often, but that move was just plain greedy.

Most players didn't even know about the cross-region pricing differences, and hardly any players even took the time to take advantage of it. Even with such a small number of players actually buying virtual pets cross-region, and most not even knowing about it, Blizzard still wouldn't leave it alone. They needed to tightly squeeze that sponge just to get a little more water out of it.

This is the main reason why they'll never adopt a global payment system like PayPal. That is, unless, they can develop a new method to truly lock players down to their regions and prevent users from shopping around in other countries. Blizzard wants all players to use their own local payment methods and only purchase "local" games, forcing you to pay more.

You know what's funny about the Diablo RMAH? Blizzard is encouraging players to engage in a global market of selling items back and forth between regions. It's perfectly okay for users to engage in cross-region sales, as along as Blizzard prospers. But if Blizzard sells something to you, it's locked down regionally and players will, on average, pay the absolute most for the product. :)

Yesterday, Blizzard announced their new BattleTag service.

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.

It sounds all very simple, nothing harmful about it.

Now, internally, this was already being used (every user had a unique ID), but Blizzard had no financial use for this information other than internally to Battle.net. They're making it so that their customers can see this unique identifier for themselves now, use it to communicate, and so that they spread the ID around the internet and to other social sites. :)

Right now it's "optional", but they'll eventually make it mandatory for all players.

It has been received very well, players are saying that it's what Real ID should have been, and many are even calling it "Real ID 2.0".

You'll probably notice a very strong connection of this new development to this older post too: "You Are Being Prepared"

This new service, though, is more of a "Real ID 1.5". It's just another stepping stone for player acceptance, and eventually leading to something even bigger that players aren't aware of.

Having one nick name (across Battle.net, games, Blizzard websites, and community forums) is definitely very useful.. for Blizzard friends only. But remember that there's always another purpose. Even though it's not your real name, you've been handed a mandatory unique identifier that's now public facing. :)

Players, will of course, have fun with their new nickname and also start to use it to identify themselves on webpages and forums that are outside Battle.net. Players will use this "unique code" on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Who knows where else this will be shared. (Also, you'll notice in their announcement that Blizzard will be creation optional Public Profiles for users, much like Facebook.)

These are just some of the first steps getting more players integrated with Facebook directly, or more importantly, finding a way to link Battle.net players to external websites and social networks. Don't be surprised if a new application is created for Facebook that displays your Blizzard gaming details using your BattleTag.

And, speaking of Facebook applications, remember that they have full access to everything to type. It doesn't matter what security or privacy settings you have.. if you write a confidential secret message to a friend, Facebook has complete access to it, and their marketing partners (Blizzard) will have access to it.

This BattleTag is useful to some players, but it's even more useful to Blizzard marketing (for the future purposes of targeted advertising) because it acts as a tracking ID: *1-12 max characters* # *4 digits*

Consider how useful that unique identifier is when web crawling or data mining. In Twitter for example, you can search for "@name" to find everything they've posted, who has messaged them, what their Facebook profile site is, what Forums they're on (if they share their Twitter account), if they're on Yelp, if they use those "Check In" services (so that you know where they are, what restaurants they go to), etc.

All of this can be fully automated.

Here's a very simple example too. On the first day of the announcement, several MMO-Champion users already posted their new BattleTags. "buggerlugs#2442" was one of them. There are 60 different players in the US called Buggerlugs and 68 in the EU. Out of 128 players in NA/EU alone, I now know exactly which "Buggerlugs" is the same one who posts on the MMO-Champion forums. Just knowing this alone is scary. But I also know that he's a male, complains about WoW every chance he gets (but can't stop playing), thinks that Blizzard Artists are cheap, I'll know what other games he plays when the service goes fully online, I know that he's very likely from the UK, and he really doesn't like the US (he finds it hilarious to make fun of Americans.)

Now, if he had a FB profile and I had a partnership with Facebook (like Blizzard does), I would also have full access to his profile and every private little message he's ever written (or even deleted). I would know where he lives, other sites he posts on, his family (and how to get his family playing Blizzard games), his likes and dislikes, nearby stores or restaurants, what he wants for Christmas, everything he's said about Blizzard (which he thought was anonymous), etc.

Even without a FB profile (or a partnership), all it takes is one slip up to link together dozens of "anonymous profiles" to one single person. This is what the internet does. So.. really, how is this any better than Real ID?

And all of this was done very smart this time around. Players are very positive towards this new change, they're welcoming it, encouraging others to use it ("BattleTags" sounds awesome), and they'll never be aware of how it will be used eventually to bombard them with suspiciously specific advertisements in the future. :)

I think a lot of this will be very useful for Titan, if they can search for and use this information properly Many companies have tried and failed on this front, and everyone thinks they can do better (things tend to get overcomplicated). There may even be ads on their Blizzard public profiles and remember too that the Blizzard/Facebook partnership goes both ways.. that is, Facebook ads using Blizzard data. Data from either FB or Blizzard can be used by either parties or even by affiliates (in any case, it will always be a win-win situation).

Blizzard (Italy) Confirmation Regarding Delay

Here's a very interesting post in the Italian (Battle.net EU) forums.

Basically, the users are talking about the delay of the game due to the RMAH, and a government in another region causing the delay of the game.

Then, Blue posts the following (translated):

"I can tell you that immediately after the delay of the game, it was decided that we no longer speak about possible release dates until we actually have an exact date with 99.99% confidence.

When we do finally announce the release date, you can be confident that it won't be delayed any longer. (Subject to natural disasters, emergencies, blah blah blah.)"

So, Blizzard has just confirmed what I've been writing about. They have no idea what the release date is yet, that it was put up in the air after the unexpected delay, and they don't know what the release date is because it's based on the decision of another government in another region questioning the RMAH. :)

* UPDATE:

Some more related information has been found thanks to our loyal readers. Here's the specific post, and it's full of interesting (new) information. I really like this Blue. :)

If you go through all of the blue posts in this thread, Zhydaris basically says that because of the Diablo 3 delay, the development team has been given more time to add new features and make changes that weren't supposed to be done until after retail.

Before Gold, there's another very important date, which they internally call the "Content Lock" stage. Simply put, that's the day that they finalize the list of features that are present in the game and complete before Gold.

Because the release date has been moved to an undetermined date, the development team can now add additional features like the Simple Tooltips (which were supposed to be added post-retail), and they can also add new features, new items, updated item affixes, balance skills, change graphics of items, etc. But, all of the changes they're making right now were supposed to be done after launch. :)

Having "more time now means having more content", even though the game was finished.

I talked about this before actually.. like how most player balancing, quest fixes, items, and tuning were done after the WoW Expansion Pack releases, and very little changes were made during the beta.

There's another really fun quote in there too. They are aiming for a global release (like what I speculated) and Zhydaris said that although older Blizzard games (region-locked) may have had regional legal issues, they did not impact other regions. But, he/she never denied that the current Diablo 3 (region-free) is being delayed due to one region. It was actually just like "Tom Chilton's denial"; "Well.. if you look at traditionally (or historically) how we've handled that.." Brilliant. :)

Top Posts on the Diablo Forums

On the major forums (especially the US), you'll notice that Blizzard has been addressing many concerns and questions on the forums.

They'll spend a lot of time defending the new Simple Tool Tips feature, they'll address questions about the Book of Cain delay, they'll talk about how "diablo looks like 2008 game", they get involved in troll posts, they'll keep talking about inferno being soloable, they'll talk to people who are refusing to use the RMAH (on strike), they'll talk about the RMAH or AH bugs, and they'll even address mass layoff rumors on the forums.

But, for some reason they're avoiding the TOP POSTS on the forum that ask if Diablo 3 is being delayed because of Korea.

They'll talk about everything else, even the RMAH, but they're not touching the subject of Korea approvals holding back the game. It's what they're not doing that interests me. :)

Oh, by the way, there are no current plans for Daily Quests in Diablo 3. Something that blue just posted.

Interplay VS Bethesda Progress

The Interplay vs Bethesda trial (fight over rights to Fallout) started yesterday morning, and the trial is expected to last 2 to 2 1/2 days. So, keep watching the headlines on DuckAndCover and we'll probably find out more about the battle either today or tomorrow.

I'm really excited about this. I've been leaning towards Interplay during this battle, but only because I still remember Interplay as the "Brian Fargo Interplay". Unfortunately, it's now the "Caen Brothers Interplay", and knowing their poor decision making skills, I'm inclined to believe that Interplay has just been performing a whole Dog & Pony Show. I think that their real intention is to hold the Fallout IP hostage after winning their legal battle, so that they can sell it back to Bethesda at a substantially higher price (or even sell to a competitor who might be interested in a post-apocalyptic MMO.) :)

I think they'll also sell off all of their other highly valuable IPs too. The next couple days will be very exciting indeed.

Why You No PayPal Blizzard??

Blizzard post regarding payment methods for Digital Downloads, confirming what I wrote the other day. (Thanks Ichigo!)

BlackReaper4: "PAYPAL,Paypal...EU can't use paypal to buy CD keys add subscription etc"

Nakatoir: "We are always looking into new payment methods to use, if a certain payment method is not available in a particular region, there is a reason for it. If we are able to make a certain payment method available, then we will try our best to make it so."

This is their standard response. And they say they're always looking for new payment methods.. and yet, they haven't changed in years. Regarding the "reason for it" (e.g. not using PayPal, even though they're partnered that their systems are fully integrated together), it's because they want players to be restricted to their own regions to buy games where they pay the most. Even for region-free games. So, I'm not going to be shocked if Diablo 3 can't be sent as a gift during the opening month, even though every other game can.

Blizzard/NetEase Rumors

Apparently, there's a rumor going around that Blizzard might be ditching NetEase (whose contract will be expiring next May) and they're shopping around for another service provider in China. (Thanks again Ichigo!)

Tencent, although very big and may have offered a handsome deal to Blizzard, has a lot of competing games, their own (and possible problematic for Blizzard) QQ Coins currency system, and current Chinese players prefer NetEase, so they're not the most ideal candidate. This rumor could just be a power play by Blizzard to update their NetEase contract for a better deal on Blizzard's end. :)

Blog Direction

Just a heads up that when Diablo 3 finally goes live, the blog will be taking a slightly different direction. I intend to focus on practical applications within Diablo 3.. specifically gold making strategies, even though they'll be rather difficult to make. I might take it in some interesting directions though that others might not have considered.. at least I'm hoping.

I'll still have some speculative or theoretical discussions about Titan and their future paid services though. Maybe even some progression into Guild Wars 2 once the game is finally out.

Diablo's New Anniversary

December 31st is Blizzard's "new" Diablo Anniversary, so you can expect something nice to happen that day. Apparently, it was just a coincidence that there was a ton of "Diablo News on November 30". November 30th just happened to coincide with Blizzard receiving a major update from the GRB. Still.. a very nice and convenient coincidence. (Those happen a lot here.) :)

The Blizzard_ANZ Twitter contest also ends on December 31, 2011 at which point the beta key winners will be announced. By then, the D3 beta would have been running for 4 months, and will be running at least another month (for a total of 5) for those beta key winners.

Jay Wilson originally expected that the Diablo 3 beta would run for 6 months ("six months before we release", quoted often by other blogs).. but that was for the FULL game. They changed it into the much shortened tech demo (a fraction of Act 1) that we see now, and planned on a 2-3 month release date so that they could release before Christmas. That's just how excellent the progress on D3 was, why they admitted to their intention for a Christmas release (the game was done), and how their plans were ruined due to the unexpected Korea GRB troubles.

This beta key contest is just another way to keep players busy and occupied until things get settled. (If things are approved by Jan 10th, they'll have a short beta period.) :)

* UPDATE: Bashiok later tweeted that they would have the anniversary activity during the following week, instead of on the anniversary day.