A bit more information is also available here: http://beta-us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/13531371?page=1#6

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Q u o t e:
Will there be unique codes for shipped games vs digital games?

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Yes, both game client types (digital and physical) possess unique game activation methods.

If a player purchases the digital game client, the player will not receive a copy of the game activation key. Instead, the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game license will be added to the purchasing Battle.net account automatically. This is how World of Warcraft digital game clients function, as well.

If a player purchases the physical game client, the player will need to manually add the game activation key included in the boxed set to his or her Battle.net account. By adding the game activation key, the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game license will be added to the Battle.net account.

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Q u o t e:
What exactly is region specific for activation?

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Game clients that are downloaded online or installed from the physical box set will only connect to the region for which they're made. Therefore, in order for a player to log in and begin playing, both the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game license and the installed game client must be from the same region. If the game license and the game client don't match, the player will be unable to login.

For this reason, we do not recommend using the early digital download option if you're also purchasing the physical game client, as the risk of ending up with a game client that doesn't match your game license is much higher. Please also note that the time saved by unlocking and installing the digital download is negligible when compared to the time required to install the game using the physical DVD.

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Q u o t e:
Will I be able to use my shipped SC2 activation code on the digital installer?

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Once the game activation key is added to your Battle.net account and your game license is active, the option to download the client online will become available.

Please keep in mind, though, that if you try to download the game client early via the digital download option, you will want to make sure that the region of the game client you’re downloading matches the region of the game license that will be shipped to you later on. If your game license region doesn’t match the downloaded client’s region, you will not be able to login.

To clarify further, if a player purchased the North American version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty from a store on July 27, he or she would need to ensure that the digital game client downloaded is also from the appropriate region (in this example, from North America). Otherwise, that player would be unable to login until the North American game client is installed.

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Q u o t e:
Are there any differences between a physical copy of the game and a digital downlaod?

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I saw this question elsewhere, and thought it was worth answering here.

There are no differences in what each version of the game provides. All the files are exactly the same, but you obviously don't get the box, DVD, or manual.

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Q u o t e:
Is the activation code tied to its game client region, or is it just the game client that is region specific?, and if so, which is the key for matching it with your Battle.net account region?

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Game activation keys, game licenses, and game clients are all region-specific. As noted above, if your game license and installed game client regions don’t match, you won’t be able to login.

If the country associated with your Battle.net account (viewable in Battle.net Account Management: https://www.battle.net/account) is accurate, you should be directed to the correct regional download when visiting this page: http://beta-us.battle.net/en/info/digital-purchase

If you have already purchased a physical copy of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, but still wish to download early, you will need to make sure that the regional download matches the region for the physical game you purchased.

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Q u o t e:
Hey cool whip..

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Sup?

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Q u o t e:
Will uninstalling the beta after installing the retail screw it up? It'd be good to know that ahead of time.

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Probably not, but uninstalling beta a second before installing retail shouldn't really be an issue should it?

Yup. The beta client is of no further use and can be safely uninstalled. In fact, it's recommended that you uninstall it before install the retail release.

With the launch of the new StarCraft II community site these forums will be closed on July 27. Any previous sticky topics or information that you’d like to keep will need to be backed up and transferred to the new site or they will be lost. To clarify: the forum is being removed and posts deleted on July 27.

Once the beta comes to an end on July 19 we’ll be wiping all beta information which means that posting on the StarCraft II beta forums here, and the new StarCraft II community site will not be possible until the game’s release. Posting on the general non-beta StarCraft II forums will continue to be available until July 27, though

To post on the new StarCraft II community site you’ll need to purchase StarCraft II, log in on launch day, and create a character. Logging in to the retail game to create a character won’t be possible until the game launches on July 27.

We’d like to thank everyone for their participation here, feedback, and assistance in testing the game. It’s been an amazing process for us, and we’re looking forward to seeing you on the new site once the game releases. StarCraft II is all of ours to be proud of, and the quality and fun of the game reflects the dedication of the community and testers. Thank you again.

Check out the StarCraft II community site if you haven’t already, and we’ll see you online July 27!

http://beta-us.battle.net/sc2/en/

We would like to thank everyone who has participated in the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty beta test. You've done an admirable job of testing, and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback you provided during this critical phase of development. It's been a lot of fun; however, all good things must come to an end.

In preparation for the launch of the game on Tuesday, July 27, the beta servers will be brought offline by Monday, July 19. At that time, all beta accounts and character information will be reset and the ability to create forum posts and comments on the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty website (http://beta-us.battle.net/sc2/en/) will be unavailable until launch. In the meantime, we still encourage everyone to stay tuned to the website for exciting news and updates regarding the upcoming release.

Thank you again for your participation, and we'll see you soon on Battle.net!

[ Post edited by Lylirra ]

Answers to Common Community Questions About Real ID™

Since the launch of the Real ID™ system in World of Warcraft®, we’ve received a number of questions from the community about our plans for the service, features like StarCraft® II’s Facebook® integration, and how we see Real ID evolving in the future. We've been keeping tabs on the conversations on our forums, social media sites, and fansites, and have compiled some of the most common questions to answer for you here. We hope you find this information helpful, and we look forward to hearing your feedback and continuing the conversation in the thread below.

Q: Do you have any plans to allow players to not show their real name to friends of friends while using the Real ID system?
A: As with any new feature we add to our games, we've been evaluating how Real ID has been used since its release to identify new functionality that would help improve our players’ experience. The in-game Real ID “friends of friends” list is designed to give players a convenient way to populate their Real ID friends list with other players they know and trust in real life, allowing them to quickly and easily send Real ID friend requests to these people without having to enter their Battle.net® account names. However, we recognize that some players would prefer not to be displayed on friends lists in this fashion, so we plan to include an option that will allow players to opt out of appearing on their Real ID friends’ “friends of friends” lists. We're anticipating this feature to be available for StarCraft II shortly after release of the game, and World of Warcraft at around the same time -- we’ll have more information for you in the coming weeks.

Q: What are your plans for Facebook integration?
A: With regard to Facebook, our goal is to help Blizzard gamers on Battle.net more easily connect to their real-life friends and family. For the launch of StarCraft II, we are introducing an optional Facebook friend finder feature to help achieve this goal. The friend finder enables players who decide to use it to easily populate their Battle.net friends list by sending Real ID friend requests to the people on their Facebook friends list who have Battle.net accounts. We hope players will find this feature convenient, but it's completely optional. In the long term, we hope to give players who use Facebook some fun, and also optional, ways to share what they're doing in Blizzard games with their friends, similar to the optional World of Warcraft Armory integration now available, but we don’t have any specific plans to share at present.

Q: How does the friend finder in StarCraft II work? What's sent to Facebook?
A: When you use the Add a Friend feature in StarCraft II, one of the options you’ll see is to search your Facebook friends list for people who also have Battle.net accounts in order to quickly send them Real ID friend requests. When you click this button, you'll be asked to enter your Facebook login information, and you’ll then see a list of your Facebook friends who also have Battle.net accounts. You’ll then have the option to send any of these Facebook friends a Real ID friend request in-game. (Keep in mind that for someone to appear on the list, their Battle.net account email address must match their Facebook email address. In addition, you’ll see the names of any Facebook friends who have registered Battle.net accounts, regardless of whether they have Blizzard games attached to their account or just, for example, created the Battle.net account to make a purchase on the online Blizzard Store.)

It’s important to note that Blizzard Entertainment does not share any personal information with Facebook as part of this process. Keep in mind that as with other Real ID features such as the “friends of friends” list, our goal with the friend finder feature is to create convenient options to help players easily find people they know in real life on Battle.net without having to remember email addresses or account names. We hope players will find the feature easy to use and convenient.

Q: How can I prevent World of Warcraft add-ons from accessing Real ID first and last names without my knowledge?
A: As always, we recommend that you get your UI add-ons through reliable sources. It’s important to note that without installing a UI add-on specifically designed to retrieve that information, there’s no risk of it being accessed. On our end, we’re looking into the issue and are at work on some changes that we can make to help protect against these types of add-ons. We’ll provide further details as soon as we have more information to share.

Q: Are you secretly trying to build a social gaming platform with the new Battle.net?
A: It’s no secret -- as we’ve discussed openly since we first started sharing our plans about the new Battle.net, one of our goals is for it to serve as a social gaming service for Blizzard gamers. This was a deliberate and open design decision, driven 100% by the desire to create an even better online experience for our players by giving them powerful tools to compete with and stay connected to their real-life friends and family.

Q: If my account was compromised, what information about my Real ID friends would a hacker have access to?
A: We take account security very seriously, and we offer a number of ways to help players keep their account secure, including the Battle.net Authenticator and the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator app, available for a wide range of mobile devices (visit https://us.battle.net/account/support/mobile-auth-download.html). Aside from your friends’ first and last names, no other personal information is shared through the in-game Real ID system.

Q: What’s a StarCraft II "character code"?
A: When you first log in to StarCraft II, you’re prompted to choose a single character name. This is the only name you’ll use on Battle.net, and it’s tied to your StarCraft II license. In order to allow players to select any name they wish regardless of whether another player is already using the same name, we then generate and assign a three-digit character code that uniquely identifies the player. When posting on the forums of the new StarCraft II community site, players will be posting using their StarCraft II character name and character code.

Q: Will the new StarCraft II forum posting name format (character name + character code) carry over into the forum communities of other Blizzard games?
A: Following our recent decision to no longer use real first and last names on Blizzard forums, we’re still evaluating how we’ll move forward with our other forums. Our ultimate goal is still to promote constructive conversations and improve the overall forum experience for our players, and we think increasing accountability is an important part of achieving that. StarCraft II already uses a character name and character code combo in-game, which serves as a unique player identifier and fits well with our goal for the forums. World of Warcraft handles player identification differently, so we still need to determine whether adding a character code system like in StarCraft II is the best solution. Ultimately, we want to come up with a system that makes sense for each community and fits our long-term vision for the forums.

Q: Are there any plans to change the in-game Real ID system so that players will have the option to display an assigned user name instead of their real names?
A: The Real ID system is designed to help real-life friends and family who decide to use it keep in touch with each other across Blizzard games, and our goal in using real names is to ensure that players will be able to maintain long-term, meaningful relationships on the service for years to come. One way it helps make that happen is by eliminating the need to remember who, for example, "Thrall123" really is when you see him or her pop up on your friends list again after months -- or years -- of being offline. Ultimately, we think this is the best way to ensure players who use Real ID are able stay connected with the people they enjoy playing with most in the long-term, and we don’t currently have any plans to change the system so it can be used with character names or alternate handles instead. That said, Battle.net is a living, breathing service that we will continue to evolve over time as we evaluate how players are using it and identify new ways to improve the experience.

Q: What plans are there to improve moderation since the use of real names on the forums has been changed?
A: Our new community sites’ forums, beginning with the StarCraft II site, will have an improved moderation system as well as a post-rating system which will help our players promote the conversations they find the most constructive, as well as help forum moderators identify quality discussions. This, coupled with the unique StarCraft II character name and code, will help us to create a more positive atmosphere based on community interaction and accountability.

[ Post edited by Zarhym ]

The StarCraft II Propaganda Poster Contest submissions are in, and now we need your help picking the winner. Visit the propaganda art gallery and click the Facebook Like button to vote for your favorite entries. We'll be taking votes until July 15, and the poster with the most Likes wins!

Head over to the Propaganda Poster Contest page and start voting.

http://us.starcraft2.com/dominion/propaganda-contest.xml

I think it is a good balance of decision making when it comes to OC and PF. Remember that in SC:BW you didn't have too much of a choice, as you would normally be getting a Comsat Station early and no other options until late in a game. While it is almost always better to get an OC, PF comes handy when you expand a lot, want to protect your expansions, but cannot afford to distribute units all over the map in tight situations. It will usually cost you resources in the long run, but for example if there is a remote expansion you would have problems defending (like a corner gold mineral one), a PF is definitely a good choice, as it will greatly decrease a risk of losing it, thus making your more money. It is a kind of a choice that we like our players to have. You will also see more PF use in lower level games, so the usefulness varies. On the other hand you will quite often encounter Planetary Fortresses in "pro" games as well!

"All you need is just a little patience."

What I do in those situations is when I am finishing my opponent I already get the necessary tech and scouting in place just in case! :D It is a habit, cannot help it.

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Q u o t e:
-1 Remaining games until being placed into leagues.

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af56/7xJoey/Hilarious.jpg?t=1278622417

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Hi :)
It is a known bug and it is going to be fixed soon. Also it would be most efficient for both you and us, if you used the Bug Report forum in the future :) We also have other cool forums dedicated solely to StarCraft II Beta there!

You can find it here:
http://forums.battle.net/board.html?forumId=25498616&sid=5000

Thanks!

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Q u o t e:
My cousin and I share a wow account; if I get on SC2 while he is on wow, will I get booted?

Edit: The reason I ask is because Battle.net and WoW are connected now... right?

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Please remember that...

"Our Terms of Use prohibits the sharing of accounts except in the situation where a parent or guardian authorizes access to one child."

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=20576

Please report any issues you have in the StarCraft II beta technical support forums or bug report forums. The problems might be missed if you do not report in the right forums, as there are people specifically looking out for these things there.

Thanks. :)

We apologize for the login problems. This was indeed affecting both StarCraft II beta and World of Warcraft. The issue should now be resolved and you should be able to log in and play.

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Q u o t e:
I'm still having trouble with this problem. Should I email the above blizzard email address stated from above?

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Not at this time, Cbass, but thank you for the offer. Should we need additional information at a later time, we will request it. Until then, hang tight and we'll get you into beta phase two just as soon as possible. :)

Beta phase two is now available for European servers. Welcome back to beta, and we'll see you on Battle.net!

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Q u o t e:


Please refrain from creating threads in ALL CAPS, seeing as they are against the forum guidelines.

Thanks!

Forum Guidelines:
(http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=10867009149).

Forum Code of Conduct:
(http://forums.battle.net/forum-coc.html).

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That's it, you're barred from the bridge.

(Thread title fixt!)

We are still screening and processing the final entries up until the deadline. There were really so many excellent entries so it takes a bit of time to go through them all. All voting will occur on the propaganda poster gallery, so be aware that any likes on the StarCraft Facebook page will not count. We will let you know when the voting starts.

For all of you who haven't done so yet, check out some of the submissions we have gotten:

http://www.starcraft2.com/dominion/propaganda-contest.xml

You have to scroll down a bit, so it's hidden. But totally worth having a look.

Please stick to existing threads, where this question has been answered. :)

http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25968837163

Hello everyone,

I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.

Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment


//ed - Post edited to update the list of new forum features that will be implemented.

[ Post edited by Bashiok ]

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Q u o t e:
i have a really sacry feeling it won't be out till monday...i REALLY hope i'm wrong tho was really lokoing forward to playing this weekend,

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We're currently doing our best to make this happen, we would like to open the EU beta before the weekend as well. We'll keep you informed!

Thank you, but can you please remember to report bugs on the bug report Beta forum? :)

http://forums.battle.net/board.html?forumId=25498616&sid=5000

Thanks :)

Right now, after a player has played 2 placement matches, the UI will display that he or she has 0 matches to go until being placed in a league. If that player then completes two additional matches, the UI will update to show the remaining number of matches as -1 and then -2. After completion of the fifth match, the player will be placed in the appropriate league. So, while the number of placement matches is currently incorrectly set to 2, once a player has completed a total 5 games, normal placement in a league should still occur.

We're definitely aware of this issue and are working to have it resolved in an upcoming patch.

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Q u o t e:
Blizzard no one cares about your stupid Join Dominion!

Blizzard no one cares about Facebook integration.

Blizzard no one cares that you call this an eSport. LOL

Blizzard no one cares about wanting to know everyone's first and last name of every person I talk too.

All we want to do is escape reality and just play a computer game.

If I want to be socialize with people, I just leave my house. Otherwise, I am going to play video games all day and ignore the rest of the world.

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And while you post on behalf of every single player in the world we surprisingly have data showing otherwise. Please stick to the designated thread here:
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000&pageNo=1

Thank you!

Good evening!

Creating redundant threads concerning the our recent Real ID announcement is something we are trying to deter because it is much easier to keep up with those discussions (and various points of view) when they are condensed into one focused location.

To help keep feedback constructive criticism in a centralized location, please feel free to join in on the discussion regarding this issue on the following thread: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

Thank you for your understanding!

Good evening!

To help keep constructive criticism and feedback in a centralized location please feel free to join in on the discussion regarding this issue on the following thread: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

Thank you.

Please consolidate/review Real ID threads here: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

Please consolidate Real ID threads here: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

Please consolidate Real ID threads here: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000

Please consolidate Real ID threads here: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000