Battle.net accounts required by November 11th
by Matt Low 
Oct 12th 2009 at 3:25PM
If you haven't merged your World of Warcraft account with a Battle.net account yet, you better do it soon! As a bonus incentive, players who do merge their accounts will receive Oswald the penguin! Those who already have merged their accounts need not worry as they will also get Oswald. Players that were involved with the Wrath beta may remember receiving one of these in the mail except he was known as Mr. Chilly then. I'm sure Oswald will make an excellent companion to Pengu (another penguin pet). Receiving Oswald is going to be a limited time offer. Blizzard hasn't officially announced a date yet, but they do plan on removing the ability to get him at some point.
Of course, not being allowed access into the game might be incentive enough to begin the account merging process!
For additional information, check out the Battle.net account FAQ, Instructions on creating a Battle.net account, a video tutorial on how to convert your account, or just make your account a Battle.net account now (US) (EU).
Note: There is a blue post saying November 12th, and the in-game announcement saying November 11th. If appears that EU players need to convert by the 12th, and NA/US players need to convert by the 11th. But be on the safe side and just convert your account now.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Mike Oct 12th 2009 3:36PM
Finally.
Tom Oct 12th 2009 3:34PM
So, I just merged my account like 3 hours ago. I'll still get the in-game penguin pet right?
Extrox Oct 12th 2009 3:40PM
From the FAQ that appeared on the EU page you have until around November 10th to convert and still recieve the pet.
They've taken the page down since then, but MMO-Champion has a post about it. It's a few days old but should still be on the front page.
Extrox Oct 12th 2009 3:42PM
Actually, having just re-read that post. It looks like you'll get the pet even if you wait until after Nov. 12th date. They're going to quit giving out pets sometime in the future, but no date is set.
Extrox Oct 12th 2009 3:33PM
I'm rather interested to see whether they make them Bind on Account item like the Polar Bear pet or go with an actual attachment to the account (Mountain Dew Pet for example).
Vangelis Oct 12th 2009 4:34PM
I have just had my girlfriend merge her account but she is away working and doesn't put time on her account very often.
If she doesn't log in do you think she will lose the pet?
eg when we got the Polar bear cub it got sent to your mail and if you didn't log on that character within 30 days it got returned to sender.
She'll be mad if she misses out. If worst comes to worse i'll just have to add time to her account for the pet.
*fingers crossed* it coincides with the ony 5th birthday whelpling pet!
jurandr Oct 12th 2009 5:21PM
From MMO-Champ:
"Q: How can I obtain the penguin pet?
A: Once you’ve successfully merged a World of Warcraft account with a Battle.net account, the penguin pet will be sent via in-game mail to all existing characters on the merged World of Warcraft account, along with all future characters on that World of Warcraft account. [. . .]"
artifex Oct 13th 2009 10:46AM
I love the latter. It means that no matter what faction, no matter what new server I may start an alt on, I get a sort of welcome package when I manage to get to a mailbox for the first time.
Silly little bot, I love you. And I'll love the penguin, too :)
Sarah Oct 12th 2009 3:33PM
Those of us who converted back in the summer will have had the possibility of obtaining two companion pets. Score. :)
Aaron Oct 12th 2009 3:41PM
I'm excited... now if I could only have some battle juice. x-D
Coldforge Oct 12th 2009 3:34PM
I hope this somehow stop the rampaging gold framers and gold spammers.
Plastic Rat Oct 12th 2009 11:17PM
I'm struggling to understand HOW it would slow down gold farmers.
Starsmore Oct 12th 2009 3:37PM
I guess this answers the question I twittered for the Queue.
Scard Oct 12th 2009 3:40PM
Coincidence?
Just as Blizzard announces this, I can no longer log into my WoW account, indicating that my account is now associated with a battle.net account and I should now log in using my battle.net account.
The problem? I never created a battle.net account and never merged my WoW account to it.
So I can't log into WoW, the WoW account management page, can't do a password recovery, nothing.
Just a coincidence? Or am I looking at an account hack?
Julianne Oct 12th 2009 3:44PM
Sounds like someone hacked your account and merged. Contact blizz asap.
Grock Oct 12th 2009 3:44PM
You were hacked. Definitely.
Auto Oct 12th 2009 3:40PM
MASSIVE QQ incoming......
Aaron Oct 12th 2009 3:42PM
I'm actually scared to visit the forums right now.
Dragundam Oct 12th 2009 4:39PM
@Aaron:
You may be scared but I'm gettin' a cushy chair and making 4 different kinds of popcorn. Butter, cheddar, peanut toffee, and TEARS.
Bravofox Oct 12th 2009 6:37PM
My only problem is the fact that your sign-in is in fact your email address. While not a tremendous security risk, it is nice to have the added security of a separate log-in that isn't public knowledge.
I guess I will make a "Special" email account just for my WoW log-in.