Just saw the news on the WoW transition site — NetEase is about to roll out a brand-new Battle.net account system in mainland China:
“With a single, unified Battle.net account, you’ll no longer be limited by region — you can log in and play on any World of Warcraft server in mainland China, and any game time you purchase will be valid across all World of Warcraft servers, with no need for extra activation verification.”
That’s genuinely exciting. It makes me wonder: will the StarCraft II Battle.net down the road share this same Battle.net account?
Here’s the full text of NetEase’s announcement:
An Introduction to the World of Warcraft Battle.net Account
Dear players:
You’ve all been following the new account system closely, and wondering how you’ll log in to World of Warcraft once it comes back online. Today we’re happy to tell you: to make it easier for everyone to manage their World of Warcraft game and enjoy a better experience, we’re rolling out a brand-new Battle.net account system in mainland China.
With a single, unified Battle.net account, you’ll no longer be limited by region — you can log in and play on any World of Warcraft server in mainland China, and any game time you purchase will be valid across all World of Warcraft servers, with no need for extra activation verification.
Work on creating China Battle.net accounts and linking World of Warcraft accounts has not started yet, but we will make sure players can create their own Battle.net account before the servers reopen. We’ll update you with more information as soon as possible, so keep an eye on the World of Warcraft transition site (http://wow.163.com). Below is a walkthrough of creating a Battle.net account and linking your World of Warcraft account:
Step 1: Create a Battle.net account
Log in to the official Battle.net China website (launching soon) to create a Battle.net account. You’ll need a regularly used, valid email address to serve as your username.
Step 2: Verify your email address
A verification email will be sent to the email address you registered with. You’ll need to click the link in that email to verify your address.
Step 3: Link your World of Warcraft account to the new Battle.net account
Enter your previous World of Warcraft account and password, and link them all to your new Battle.net account — no matter which region your previous characters were on. Going forward, World of Warcraft will not require region activation verification.
Once the servers reopen, you can use your unified Battle.net account to log in to World of Warcraft and play.
We hope to keep sharing more information with you throughout the transition via the transition site and temporary forums. The address of the World of Warcraft temporary forum is http://wowbbs.163.com.
The World of Warcraft Transition Team
June 12, 2009