There is now an update on that story, but before you pick up your torches and pitchforks, it appears that Blizzard has taken the criticism in stride this time and scaled down the severity of the holds placed on new players’ accounts.
Previously, anyone who bought the game online would only be allowed access to the equivalent of the Starter Edition of Diablo 3 until their credit card information had been verified. In other words, a customer could have to wait up to 72 hours to have full access to the game they already paid for.
According to a recent forum post by a Blizzard community manager, the specific restriction that enraged players so much was actually a mistake:
As gamers, we always want to expect that patches and updates are thoroughly tested before being released for public consumption. Unfortunately, as we saw earlier this week with Fez, and for months on end with Skyrim, that is not always the case.
Below are the “standard security-related restrictions” that have stayed intact after the 1.0.3a patch mended the Act 1 and level 13 caps previously enforced on all digital purchasers:
Although a player’s experience with Diablo 3 will still be temporarily stunted, this is clearly preferable to being unable to progress past the first Act while waiting for Blizzard to verify one’s transaction. Lylirra, the community manager, made sure to stress that the typical response time is much shorter than 72 hours, usually closer to a single day for most players.
Now that the “unintended consequences” of patch 1.0.3 have been lifted, have your feelings changed on Blizzard’s restrictions for digital purchasers of Diablo 3? Let us know in the comments below.
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Source: Kotaku
