Many of you will have seen this screen when trying to access the Battke.net website;
We've been following these problems that have resurfaced in recent days.
Clicking on the "Retry" button above set off a redirect that took us to this Twitter post;
Here's the discussion we found;
Diablo 3 Server Status? General Discussion Conners 4 days ago Diablo 3 Servers down at 12:57 PM on a Friday? Why can't Blizzard do server maintenance at like 3 am on a monday instead? When will the Diablo 3 servers be back up? I'm guessing the Diablo 3 servers are 100% down right now? If I'm wrong someone please post here, or post in this thread when the servers are back up? Rnclock 4 days ago @BlizzardCS 1h1 hour ago We apologize once again for the inconvenience caused by today's outages. We're working to resolve this as quickly as possible! @BlizzardCS 3h3 hours ago We're currently investigating an issue affecting our authentication servers, which may result in failed or slow login attempts.
Here's what else we uncovered;
BlizzardCS- the Americas tweet on 29th of May "We're currently investigating an issue affecting our authentication servers, which may result in failed or slow login attempts." As a result of the authentication servers having issues, players may have trouble logging into their Blizzard-related accounts. Players may be placed in a virtual "queue" to log in. And due to the issues, these queue times are enormous and not accurate whatsoever. Some Overwatch players were notified of estimated queue times ranging from three hours to nearly eight hours. r/Overwatch - 7.5+ hour wait to log-in? Just say the servers are down, Blizzard. r/Overwatch: Subreddit for all things Overwatch, the team-based shooter from Blizzard Entertainment. Initial reports of server outages began appearing at approximately 11:30pm CT on Reddit and other social media outlets. Predictably, within the hour, frustrated players had made some pretty good memes about the server issues. BlizzardCS- the Americas tweet We apologize once again for the inconvenience caused by today's outages. We're working to resolve this as quickly as possible! At 1:50pm CT, Blizzard apologized for the outages and reminded players that the company is working on a resolution. For now, players can keep attempting to log into games, but it may be a lengthy delay before the servers are working as intended. Update June 7, 3:00pm CT: Blizzard Entertainment has released another statement apologizing for the outages and offers no estimated time that they will be resolved. Update June 7, 5:00pm CT: Blizzard Entertainment announced the server issues have been resolved for most customers. They recommend restarting the Battle.net app for optimal performance. The outages lasted upwards of five hours in some areas.
Many people suspect that the login problems are due to DDOS attacks that have taken the server down.
We had a look at some server checkers and found the following;
Clearly Blizzard are having server problems that they are struggling to resolve. Let us know your thoughts!
Ancient items play a pivotal role in Season 17.
Each Ancient you kit out will yield a huge 750% increase to damage inflicted and a 4% decrease in damage sustained.
First, for those of you who've taken a rest from collecting loot, let's step back and take a refresher to clear up any mis-understandings regarding the differences between Legendary, Ancient and Primal Ancient items.
Essentially, Ancient Items and Primal Ancient items are more powerful variations of Legendary items. They are equivalent to Legendary items but for the fact that their essential attributes (damage or armor) and all their potential values can yield boosted results for lowest and highest possible rolls.
Primal Ancients are intended for Diablo III players who have mostly finished their build or finished their Season 17 Journey but want to carry on in this Season. They're also intended for non-Seasonal players who have awesome kit and spend most of their time gaining Paragon Levels and upgrading Legendary Gems. We wanted to extend the excitement of seeing gear drop or spending Blood Shards at Kadala beyond obtaining Ancients in every slot. Primals provide an avenue for dedicated players to complete a build, without feeling like required upgrades. We hope that answers any questions you may have about Ancients and Primal Ancients.
Now off you go!
eSports have grown tremendously over the past one decade and are also bet upon excessively these days. In fact, competitive gaming has never been this popular. It's no longer only a pastime activity, but has transformed into a million-dollar industry, actively indulged-in in every part of the world.
If you're someone who is planning to bet on eSports, you must first ascertain if it is really for you. Are you ready to accept the wins and losses that come inevitably with it? You'd need to learn a great deal about sports betting odds, and how to use them to your advantage. Here's a brief introduction to the world of eSports betting for you.
Simply put, placing bets on the various outcomes of eSports matches is referred to as eSports betting. As highlighted above, with the massive popularity of eSports, eSports betting has also grown tremendously over the past one decade.
eSports are no longer only about playing to win, but are also about banking on other people's plays. A great number of reputed bookmakers today offer attractive odds on outcomes of eSports matches, and a huge number of punters bet actively on them. In fact, there are millions of people out there, who although don't play eSports, are constantly fixated on the online video gaming portals, as they have bets on the digital sportsmen.
Not every bookmaker offers eSports bets, but there are some who are seasoned campaigners in this domain. We have done all the hard work and research for you, and have figured out some of the bookmakers you must definitely check out. Bet365, Sports Interaction, Betway and PowerPlay are a few that definitely deserve a mention.
Betting on eSports is a lot of fun, as there's plenty of cash on the table. However, as is the case in any betting endeavour, you must know about some important things before starting to place your punts. These are:
The games to bet onSome of the most popular eSports games that people actively bet on are:
Read up well about the teams and players before putting your money on them. You should constantly stay on top of the latest news stories related to the eSport and become a part of the social network gaming communities on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter etc. For instance, Saahil Arora is a well-known eSports player who nets around $ 1 million per year and travels all over the world. You can reap great rewards by following him online and betting on his matches.
Gain a good understanding of the gameIt will become very hard to predict the outcomes of the eSports matches if you're not much of a gamer yourself. Please note, you don't necessarily need to be a top-notch gamer; all you need is a good knowledge of the basics. The idea is to not feel completely lost when you see the live streams on Youtube or Twitch.
Patch 2.6.5 has been released for the start of Season 17. Here are some of the new features:
Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) launches today simultaneously with the latest Diablo III patch. There are also legendary item updates, new levels of Torment, and a host of quality of life changes along with a ghoulish Seasonal buff!
The other great news is that Diablo III Season 17 players will benefit from the Set bonus provided by the previous season's Legacy of Nightmares. In other words, all can enjoy the advantages of the "no Set" Set and all Ancient Legendary you come across becomes a lot more valuable.
Any classes with particularly strong Legacy of Nightmare builds will have the ability to test new combinations, and especially combinations focussed on the Ring Slots.
At the same time, classes that have historically relied extensively on survivability from their ring slots, will have more leeway to test building-altering Legendaries that don't depend on a given Class Set.
In a first, Blizzard are re-introducing legacy Seasonal Rewards for players who might have missed them the first time. Awards that were previously exclusive to Season 5 will become available to Season 17 participants who progress through this Season journey.
Also, as well as the Pants and Boots slots of the select, Conqueror Set, Diablo III participants will be able to gain a series of portrait frames based on the ghoulish Greyhollow Island.
For pet collectors, in Season 17 you will be able to add the scary but cute Wickerman to your collection.
Players who complete all nine chapters of the Season Journey will be rewarded with a new cosmetic item, which means the Galactic Wings could be yours!
For people in a hurry, the Sprinter and Speed Racer characters return in this season, challenging you to complete all 5 Acts of the campaign in under 1 hour. Greedy Nephalem might be more suited to completing Avarice or Avaritia, where you'll need to rack up a gold streak of 50,000,000 outside of The Vault. The Thrill and Superhuman request that you complete a Greater Rift Level 45 without the assistance of any equipped Set Bonus. It'll be a Season for alt-aholics, as Years of War and Dynasty requires completing a Greater Rift Level 55 with the set bonuses of six different Class sets, while Masters of the Universe and Masters of Sets ask you to complete eight different Set Dungeons.
If you complete Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey, you will be rewarded with three of Haedrig's Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore.
Here are the sets granted by Haedrig's Gift in Season 17:
First, three new Torment levels are added to the game, so that there's more variety and efficiency in farming for players deep in late-game content.
Higher Torment levels means more experience, gold, and Blood Shards, along with improved rewards from activities like Bounties and Nephalem Rifts. New search functionality added to the Stash (on PC only).
There are a few other small changes coming, such as an Expand/Collapse All button for recipes on Crafters (PC only), most Bounty indicators appearing immediately after entering the Bounty area, and Death's Breath now dropping from Horadric Caches. Season 17 is sure to be the greatest Season yet!