5000 Accounts Banned
The hackers are finally getting what they deserve. Blizzard recently dropped the ban hammer on 5000, probably unsuspecting, Starcraft II players. This is the first of many waves of bans that Blizzard will be throwing out and, obviously, I think it’s a good thing. You can find the full quote from Blizzard below. Enjoy!
We recently took action, including suspensions and bans, on over 5,000 StarCraft II players who were in violation of the Battle.net Terms of Use for cheating and/or using hack programs while playing. In addition to undermining the spirit of fair competition that’s essential to play on Battle.net, cheating and hacking can lead to stability and performance issues with the service. Maintaining a stable, safe, and secure online-gaming experience for legitimate players is a top priority for us, and we’ll be continuing to keep watch on Battle.net and take action as needed.
Blizzard Entertainment (Source)
StarCraft II Players Banned – Battle.net
New Real ID Settings Available
A new set of Real ID options have been unlocked by Blizzard. These were instated because of all the complaints about the dangers of having your full name and surname available for all to see on Battle.net. You can now disable the friends of friends adding feature aswell as the facebook friend adding feature on you Battle.net account. You can also totally disable the Real ID feature, if that tickles your fancy. See the official quote below.
New Battle.net Privacy Settings
We’d like to make you aware of the new Real ID-related privacy options we’ve introduced to Battle.net. These options provide Real ID users with additional tools for customizing the service based on their preferences, enabling the ability to opt in or out of the Real ID “Friends of Friends” and “Add Facebook Friends” features or to turn off Real ID altogether.
To access these settings, log in to your Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net/account. From there, click on the “Settings” tab located at the center of the Account Management menu and select “Communication Preferences” from the dropdown list. The new settings can be found in the “Privacy” section of the Communication Preferences page.
Blizzard Entertainment (Source)
Blizzard Alienware Competition
Alienware and Blizzard have set up a StarCraft II diorama contest where they want artists to submit models of StarCraft II units and buildings. The entrants who submit the best dioramas will be given a ton of cool prizes from Alienware worth up to $3,000 USD. I am pretty keen to see what people come up with for this. Starcraft II arts and crafts are always good to see! Find the competition page and entry links below. Enjoy!
Starcraft II Diorama Contest – Blizzard
Diorama Contest Entry Page – Alienware
The Happy Ultralisk
An interesting thread was posted on the TeamLiquid forums recently containing some very, um, unique artwork. The artwork in the thread is a cartoon of sorts about an Ultralisk and his adventures through the various balance changes afflicting it’s kind recently. It’s really entertaining and quite touching and definitely worth checking out. I must warn you all though, it’s pretty long. See the link to the thread below!
“Another Korean (적당새) has decided to pull at our heartstrings by drawing an incredibly cute ultralisk and putting him through unbearable trials and tribulations”
The Happy Ultralisk – TeamLiquid
Fruitseller (Cool) Wins GSL
The long running Global Starcraft League has finally come to an end with the Korean Kim “FruitDealer” Won-Gi taking the first place. The Zerg player faced off against the Terran HopeTorture in the finals and managed to take it with an impressive 4-1. With the win, Kim takes around 85,000 US Dollars home and the second place finisher around 30,000 US Dollars. Impressive! I watched the livestream of the finals and I have to say the games were absolutely amazing. A definite must see. You can find the VOD’s from the event below along with links to the official GSL Site.
GSL Finals VOD’s – SC2Rep
GOMTV GSL Website – GOMTV
Socke Wins Craft Cup #8
The Protoss playing Socke won the 9th Craft Cup this past week by taking the Zerg Kuba down with a score of 3 to 2.
Kas Wins Go4SC2 Cup #42
The Terran player Kas managed to take fellow Terran Goody down in the finals of the Go4SC2 Cup #42 last Wednesday. He won it with a rather close score of 3-2.
Naama Wins Go4SC2 September Finals
Naama took the Go4SC2 Monthly final of September this past week by defeating HasuObs in the finals with a score of 3 to 1. That means the Finnish Terran player walks away with a nice and neat 500 Euro.
Fury Wins Craft Cup Lite #3
The Terran player Fury won the third Craft Cup Lite last Tuesday. He took the Protoss player Seiplo out in the finals with a score of 3-2.
Champions Trophy: Ready To Roll! (Tonight!)
The very first Starcraft II Champions Trophy, organized by SK Gaming, will be kicking off this Saturday, 2nd of October 2010 (Yes, tonight!) and will be featuring some of the finest players from around the world. GameSports.de will be streaming the tournament live for our viewing pleasure and there are no doubt going to be a ton of really, really good games! You can head on over to the links I’ve listed below to see a full list of the players competing, as well as a link to the live stream. Enjoy, I know I will!
Champions Trophy: Signup closed, grid up – SK Gaming
Champions Trophy: Livestream and IRC Channel – SK Gaming
Justin.tv Charity Tournament
Justin.tv has organized a special Starcraft II tournament that is set to collect money for the Child’s Play Organisation. The tournament is happening tomorrow and will be running 4v4 and 2v2’s. it seems like they have also picked up some amazing sponsors for the event including Alienware, Razer, Astro Gaming, Jinx Clothing. The teams taking part will come from companies such as Yammer, Smule, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, IGN, Justin.TV and more. I think this is really a great thing that Justin.tv is doing. It may not be the highest skilled tournament but it will probably be tons of fun and is definitely for a good cause.
Naniwa And Goody Continue To Dominate EPS Germany
This coming Tuesday, the 5th of October, the EPS Germany will be having its 7th play day. Currently both Naniwa and Goody are looking good for the win and winning most of their games. You can follow the links below to the ESL Site and check the full standings thus far as well as the dates for the upcoming play days. The next play day will take place next Tuesday, 5th October 2010, at 19:30 CET
Results And Upcoming – ESL.eu
Current EPS Germany Standings – ESL.eu
World Cyber Games – Starcraft: Brood War
As you may have guessed, or know, the World Cyber Games are currently underway and there are a lot of amazing Brood War games being played by a lot of really amazing players. The group stages are over and, as expected, the Korean trio, Jaedong, Flash and Kal, qualified for the playoffs. Other names you may well know that are present in the brackets are White-Ra and Brat_OK. You can find the full list of players in the playoffs below.
World Cyber Games – Starcraft: Brood War – MyM
I will no doubt have more results and news from this most interesting of events soon, stay tuned!
New Korean SC2 Team – IM
A new Korean Starcraft II team has been created. Its name is IM, which stands for “Incredible Miracle.” It includes four ex-Starcraft 1 pro-gamers: ZergBong, MVP, TT, and Losira. Apparently these players not the biggest of names in Starcraft 1 but there are hopes of big things for them in Starcraft II. See more over at TeamLiquid, below.
New Korean SC2 Team — IM – TeamLiquid
BoxeR vs IdrA
I also didn’t believe it at first but it seems like Boxer, The Genius Terran, The Emporer himself is playing Starcraft II. Artosis recently got his hands on a replay of IdrA facing off against him on the ladder. The game is amazing and Boxer… well let’s just say I don’t think anyone has a chance when Boxer starts playing Starcraft II properly. Check it out below!
BoxeR vs IdrA – TeamLiquid
ClouD Interview
After celebrating the IFNG victory last night MyM sat down with ClouD and had a talk about the games he played, his thoughts on the event and his feelings post-event!
White-Ra Interview
Hear the recently wedded White-Ra’s thoughts on this years WCG and how he prepared for it. He was recently interviewed by Rakaka.se and you can just click the link above to watch the video.
Jaedong Interview
One of the biggest names currently in Starcraft 1, Jaedong, was recently interviewed at WCG after one of his first games. He had the following to say:
“I sent 6 lings early on, and game just ended,” says Jaedong to Fomos.kr. “The opponent played like the computer.”
After reading that, how can you not want to see the rest of the interview?
Replay Packs
Go4SC2 Monthly Finals – September Replay Pack
Woah. How did this post get as long as it is? Damn Starcraft news. Oh well, if there are mistakes in the post you will just have to live with it! If there’s any news I missed you will just have to inform me by leaving a comment! Enjoy!
mitarn 