Blizzard Battle-tag announced

16 Dec 2011 at 05:18:28 by Paul Younger

Blizzard has announced what they are calling Battle-tag, a new way to give your account an unique identifuer without using RealID.

Blizzard fans got rather upset when they thought RealID would be compulsory on accounts and it caused a mass protest which saw Blizzard eventually back down and make it optional.

This new Battle-tag system is an alternative way of allowing gamers to have a name they can pass to players they make friends with in-game without having to give up their real name. Gamers can choose any name which is then appended by unique four digit identifier.

Testing will start in the Diablo 3 Beta and Battle.Net users can set their tag on their account pages on Battle.Net.

A full FAQ has been released but here's the main sause from the FAQ which should explain it.

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.

When will BattleTags go live?
We will soon begin limited testing of some features and functionality of BattleTags in the Diablo III beta test, and the feature will be available to Diablo III players at launch. BattleTags will be integrated into other Blizzard games and services such as World of Warcraft and StarCraft II at some point in the future, but we don’t have exact rollout plans to share just yet.

Will my BattleTag be unique?
A player’s BattleTag is not unique, so you won’t need to worry about whether your preferred name is available. You can use any name you wish, as long as it adheres to the BattleTag Naming Policy. Only one BattleTag can be associated with each Battle.net account.

If my BattleTag isn’t unique, what makes me uniquely identifiable? How will I know I’m adding the right friend to my friends list?
Each BattleTag is automatically assigned a 4-digit BattleTag code, which combines with your chosen name to create a unique identifier (e.g. AwesomeGnome#3592). Your BattleTag and code are viewable when you log in to the Battle.net website and within the Diablo III beta client, and can be shared with other players who want to send you a friend request manually. You will also be able to send BattleTag friend requests list within the context of a game (by clicking a person’s BattleTag when he or she sends you a message, for example) without knowing their BattleTag code. In either case, each player must mutually agree to become BattleTag friends.

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