BNETDocs Redux

BNETDocs Phoenix is now live!

With all of the updates that have been happening to BNETDocs Phoenix lately, I felt it was ready to be promoted to the main site! Don't worry, Redux is still accessible.

Feel free to look around and get familiar with the new UI/UX. There are still places that are work in progress, such as the commenting system. There's also tons of data that needs to be converted to using Markdown instead of legacy HTML/BBCode. As updates continue, this main site will change, so please be aware.

Please also let me know if there's anything broken or something that could be enhanced over on GitHub.

Now that Phoenix is live, I will be archiving Redux and not even syncing data between Phoenix and Redux anymore. It will become stagnant. This should also encourage updates to Phoenix exclusively.

Enjoy!

Warcraft III 1.27a MSVCR120.dll Error

When Blizzard released Warcraft III patch 1.27a earlier this month, it turns out that they had forgotten to include the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package when patching from earlier versions. This is the cause of why some may be receiving the error about `MSVCR120.dll` when launching the game.

Fortunately, Blizzard posted to their forums detailing how to fix the issue.

If you get this error after patching to 1.27a then you have a few options:

1. Reinstall using the new installer
2. Install Visual C++ Redist Package
   • Go here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784
   • Choose your language
   • Choose vcredist_x86.exe
   • Click next
   • Run vcredist_x86.exe
3. Wait for the 1.27b patch. We do not have a definitive date to share at the moment.

U.S. West down for maintenance

[Update 03/15/2016] U.S. West is back online and their forum post has been deleted.

Howdy All,

US West is down for maintenance as we finish work on the War III deploy. We'll post when it's back up.

Thanks,
Classic

Warcraft III 1.27a Patch

Blizzard made an announcement on March 14, 2016 that they've not only updated Diablo II but now they've also updated Warcraft III! The new patch is labeled 1.27a and includes new hashes, a new version byte 0x1B, and some bugfixes just as there were to Diablo II.

Here's a copy of the news post:

Today we will be deploying 1.27a for Warcraft III. As with Diablo II, this patch focuses on modern system compatibility. It’s exciting to bring some additional support to another core Blizzard game, and we thank you for your encouragement and patience as we continue working behind the scenes on these types of updates.

Please be aware that while we are working on a balance change and new map pool, that work is still in progress and is not part of this patch. We’ll have further details on that as development progresses.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

  WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE VERSION HISTORY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.27

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



Specific Changes & Improvements

- Throw away that old PowerPC Mac in the closet, we’ve created a new installer to support Mac 10.10 and 10.11 

- Improved compatibility with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10

- Fixed a crash caused by Chain Lightning



Known Issues



- Windows 8.1 and 10 saved games are still stored in a location that requires running as system admin

- Some graphical issues with the cinematics are still occurring 

- Changes to gamma settings will not take effect in windowed mode

- Cyrillic characters are still not displaying

- Disabled ambient sound while a MIDI issue is being resolved

- Mac 10.9 and earlier are not supported

- Mac build does not support the editor

Why is BNETDocs in read-only mode?

Hey all, I figured it might be time to remind everyone why BNETDocs is in read-only mode, and how to continue serving the community you love.

Earlier in 2014 when I inherited BNETDocs from Kyro, it was given to me with a warning that someone had used SQL injection exploits to delete data. There were holes in the code which allowed malicious parties to inject harmful queries to BNETDocs. Kyro turned off logins to the site after realizing what had happened. This was the state I was given it in.

After inheriting BNETDocs, I analyzed the access logs and mapped them to the code. I realized there were many holes in the code that couldn't easily be fixed in the small time I have to this project. I put the entire site into read-only mode (the SQL user itself can't insert, alter, or delete). This was to safeguard the data from being deleted or tampered with until the holes could be fixed. Move on a couple years later to the present year: 2016, and these holes are still present. I've patched the ones that alert over on New Relic, but I can still see access logs that indicate users trying to break in to specific parts of BNETDocs.

BNETDocs Redux has a lot of unmanageable code that needs to be brought up to date with current technology. It is architecturally a bad design under the hood as well, so bringing it to the future is no trivial task. It is this reason that as the owner of BNETDocs, I decided an entire rewrite of BNETDocs was in order. This is where BNETDocs Phoenix comes in. However, like I mentioned above, I have little time to dedicate to BNETDocs. I've been tremendously busy as of late, and haven't put in the work I'd like to for BNETDocs Phoenix.

Now here comes the fun part. All of Redux and Phoenix are on GitHub, open-sourced so everyone can contribute. Not only that, but any email sent to the BNETDocs domain will arrive to my inbox, so if there's any questions or concerns, I'd love to hear them. If you have something to contribute to the BNETDocs documentation, shoot me an email or message me on IRC, or any other means you have to contact me, and I'll personally update the database that BNETDocs reads from myself. Hell, even creating an issue on the BNETDocs/bnetdocs-web repository will work.

With all of the above out of the way, I have no plans to ever take Redux out of read-only mode, sorry to anyone who had their hopes up. I want all effort to be dedicated to the new BNETDocs Phoenix site. I consider the Redux flavor to be archived code and only reasonable patches to it will be considered.

Diablo II 1.14a Patch

Blizzard made an announcement on March 12, 2016 that they've finally come back and updated Diablo II after all this time. The new patch is labeled 1.14a and includes new hashes, a new version byte 0x0E, and of course bugfixes for the actual game.

Here's a copy of the news post:

It’s been a long time coming, but today we’re releasing 1.14a for Diablo II.

This update focuses on system glitches introduced by modern operating systems. In related news, you can finally retire those old Mac PowerPCs. Included with the update is a shiny new installer for OSX.

We’ve also begun working to improve our cheat-detection and hack-prevention capabilities. There’s still work to be done, but we’re making improvements every day.

There is still a large Diablo II community around the world, and we thank you for continuing to play and slay with us. This journey starts by making Diablo II run on modern platforms, but it does not end there. See you in Sanctuary, adventurers.

Diablo II v1.14a Patch Notes



Specific Changes & Improvements

- No need to run in XP mode anymore, Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 compatibility complete

- Mac installer and compatibility for 10.10 and 10.11 has arrived

- First client run will migrate saved characters to avoid issues from Windows system 

admin changes



Known Issues

- Mac 10.9 and earlier are not supported

Blizzard Sues Bot Maker For Copyright Infringement

Blizzard Entertainment is taking a stand against popular cheating bots for World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm. The game company is suing the alleged operator(s) of a series of popular bots for copyright infringement and accuses them of ruining the gaming experience for legitimate players.

Over the years video game developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment has released many popular game titles.

However, to the disappointment of the developer and the majority of its customers there exists a small subgroup of players who are happy to deceive their opponents to get an edge in Blizzard’s games. Through hacks and cheats these players are often able to dominate the competition with minimal effort.

In an attempt to stamp out this type of abuse Blizzard has now filed a lawsuit against James Enright (aka “Apoc”) and several unnamed defendants who are allegedly behind a popular series of gaming bots. Enright’s software allows users to cheat in World of Warcraft, Diablo and Heroes of Storm, among others.

In a complaint filed at a California federal court, Blizzard notes that the “HonorBuddy,” “DemonBuddy” and “StormBuddy” bots infringe on its copyrights. In addition, the bots ruin the fun for other players, which causes financial damage to the company.

“The Bots created by Enright and his team have caused, and are continuing to cause, massive harm to Blizzard. Blizzard’s business depends upon its games being enjoyable and balanced for players of all skill levels,” the complaint (pdf) reads.

“The Bots that Enright has programmed and helps distribute destroy the integrity of the Blizzard Games, alienating and frustrating legitimate players, and diverting revenue from Blizzard to Defendants,” they add.

Blizzard believes that the bots cause legitimate players to lose interest, costing the company millions in lost revenue. The bot maker, meanwhile, is generating a significant profit.

“As a result of Enright’s conduct, Blizzard has lost millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue and in consumer goodwill. Meanwhile, Enright and his team have been massively and unjustly enriched at Blizzard’s expense,” Blizzard adds.

Blizzard believes that Enright may have made millions through the bot sales, which start at €24.98 ($27) for the most basic World of Warcraft version.

The WoW Honorbot

Aside from breach of contract, by violating the EULA which prohibits the use of bots and cheats, Enright and his team are accused of copyright infringement.

“Defendants have infringed, and are continuing to infringe, Blizzard’s copyrights by reproducing, adapting, distributing, and/or authorizing others to reproduce, adapt, and distribute copyrighted elements of the Blizzard Games without authorization,” Blizzard writes.

Blizzard asks the court to issue an order against the defendants to prevent them from distributing the software. In addition, they demand actual or statutory damages for the alleged copyright infringements, which could add up to tens of millions of dollars.

The company’s claimed losses are supported by research which has shown that WoW bots can create a massive amount of in-game gold, which raises the prices of items for legitimate users. These users may then lose their motivation and stop playing, hurting Blizzard’s revenue.

At the time of writing the Buddy Forum and the associated website remain operational, claiming that “botting is not against any law.”

Update: Zwetan Letschew, CEO of Bossland GmbH, informs TorrentFreak that his company owns and operates the software Blizzard mentions in the lawsuit.

“Apoc is neither the owner nor the creator of Honorbuddy, Demonbuddy and Stormbuddy. The trademarks belong to Bossland GmbH, the software belongs to Bossland GmbH, a German company created by two shareholders in 2009.”

“Apoc is not a shareholder or a decision giver at Bossland GmbH, Apoc is not even an employee of Bossland GmbH.”

“I find it funny, no not even funny, but ridiculous for a company of this size, to go after and mention publicly people, that are at best random freelancers, keeping in mind that they sued the creator of the software in question in Germany.”

In addition, Letschew refers to an expert opinion which show that Honorbuddy does not harm WOW or Blizzard.

Original Post

Blizzard Nukes Popular HTML5 Version of StarCraft Game

Blizzard has taken down a browser-based version of the classic game StarCraft, citing multiple copyright infringements. The game and dozens of forks were hosted on GitHub for less than a month. The developer said he created the HTML5 game because he loves Blizzard and StarCraft, but the feeling clearly isn't mutual.

Browser-based copies of popular games, both new and old, have become quite popular over the years.

With Javascript and HTML5 it’s possible for “hobbyist” developers to mimic the look and gameplay of their favorite games and share them among friends and other enthusiasts.

The problem is that the use of trademarked names and copyrighted images generally isn’t accepted by large game companies such as Nintendo and Blizzard, who see it as direct competition.

Developer “Ryuta” has just learned this the hard way after his HTML5 version of StarCraft was pulled offline. Ryuta hosted the game on GitHub and actively promoted it on Hacker News last month.

While his work was praised, several commenters pointed out that its success would be short-lived because of the apparent copyright issues.

“The Blizzard legal team will come knocking on your door very soon. If I were you and if you’re serious about continuing working on this, I would take this down immediately..,” one warned.

“I recommend you to remove all proprietary Blizzard graphics from GitHub and possibly just recreate the repository without it,” said another.

The warnings were not in vain. A few days ago Blizzard’s copyright protection partner Irdeto urged GitHub to remove the repository, as well as the 50 forks that were created from it.

“This repository is a blatant, direct, literal copy of the StarCraft software and is disturbing [sic] source code and artwork assets owned by Blizzard without permission,” they write.

Fast forward and Blizzard indeed managed to take down the repository.

TF reached out to “Ryuta” who is disappointed that GitHub decided to take down the entire project, even the JavaScript files he spent hours on coding.

“Removing just the copyrighted assets is acceptable, but they shouldn’t have removed the whole project. The JavaScript code is written by me, they have no right to remove these files too,” Ryuta says.

The developer doesn’t think he’ll be able to get the files back on GitHub, but he is not giving up on the game just yet.

“It will be difficult to get my files back on GitHub, but I plan to continue developing the project and host it on my own site,” he explains.

Ryuta has no plans to monetize the browser game. He’s just a fan and simply created it because he loves Blizzard and StarCraft, and wanted to play it in the browser.

For now, however, play time has ended until the project is revived somewhere else.

Original Post

emNet is back!

JoYkiLLaH has announced that emNet is officially back and better than before. It's already shaping up with a lot of familiar faces coming online and chatting with everyone.

I've gone ahead and updated the server list on BNETDocs with the updated servers. There are now 4 different servers:

• cali.emwar.com (San Francisco, CA)


• dallas.emwar.com (Dallas, TX)


• kc.emwar.com (Kansas City, MO)


• ny.emwar.com (New York City, NY)

The servers each talk to each other and emulate Battle.net sync, server splits and all.

I've heard word that the Dallas server is the main hub where they each connect and that it is also where the MySQL database is at.

Happy warring!

Original Post

Performance updates

The new site's development has been on hiatus for the last few months. I put small changes in every now and then, but it's definitely not something I'm dedicating time to, since my new job as of March stifles things a bit.

Regardless of that, I have been making performance updates to this current site off and on. I recently got rid of Google Analytics and Google Adsense, and added New Relic to both the server and this site's code, for analytics of both server and browser. In doing so, New Relic was able to highlight errors in this site's code that bots were finding, as well as pages that were slow in general compared to others. If you haven't heard of New Relic before, I suggest you take a look, they have some pretty neat stuff that really help in not only recording metrics but actually understanding and making use of said metrics.

A few performance and security updates done since March:
- Nginx is used on the server instead of the previous server's Apache software. This has performance and security benefits all around. Google Nginx vs. Apache if you're curious for more detail.
- An SSL certificate was gifted from Namecheap as part of the domain transfer from Kyro back in March. The site has been forced to use SSL with all http links redirecting to https.
- Gzip compression was turned on for clients/browsers that indicate they support it via the Accept-Encoding HTTP request header. This saves a lot of bandwidth and load times on slower networks.
- Stopped using Namecheap's DNS and started using CloudFlare's DNS. Sped up resolve times for the site from ~50ms to under 5ms from my tests.
- Google Analytics and Google Adsense were removed, speeding up browser page load times by nearly 700ms on average.
- New Relic identified that a MySQL table was being queried 401 times for each page request. I restructured that part of the code to only query it once per page request. Browser page load times increased by about 50ms.
- Reconciled duplicate core files in the site's code. Previously some of the site code was using one version, and other parts of the site was using another. This caused some errors to bubble up to end users when viewing certain pages.
- Removed unused/unnecessary pages from the code, there wasn't any end user benefit to this unfortunately, but it makes managing the site easier.
- Created the cache/ directory on the server, speeding up the generatedocs page (Download BNETDocs as Text) from ~2,000ms to a mere ~50ms, or basically the average load time for any other page on this site (excluding other resources or full page loads).

Some noteworthy changes, but not related to performance or security:
- Server statuses are being updated every five minutes by a cronjob on the server.
- The BNETDocs Redux code, the Labs code, and the current "new site" code dubbed BNETDocs Phoenix are all stored in private Git repositories, which may become open-source in the future. This means that any changes to the code are either dirty changes or they're tracked in the commit history. Yes, this is me telling you that BNETDocs hasn't ever been version controlled before. Hard to believe, I know.

There may have been some other enhancements to the legacy code that I may have forgotten since March, but that really covers the bulk of it all.

Again, development hasn't stopped on the new site, but it certainly isn't going fast either. Cheers!

More updates on the security intrusion

I have further investigated the security intrusion given the data I have in the database as well as the server access logs.

At this time, it is my belief that there may be more data deleted than what was originally estimated. The intruder attempted to cover their tracks, but didn't cover them all, which is how Kyro noticed them in the first place. When anything gets deleted, the content is put into a logs table as part of the logging documentation, but it looks like they deleted logs from the table too, just not all of their logs. I know this because the access logs show that they executed deletions on some logs, and the logs don't exist in the table when they clearly should.

In any case, I've looked at the code a little closer and found SEVERAL security holes everywhere. I am uncomfortable with this after inheriting this website. To that end, I am committed to creating a newer website, with probably the same interface but at the very least a new core with far less security holes. To aid in any security holes that weren't found and I've tried to patch, I have set the database user to read-only mode; so if a security hole is found and tried to be taken advantage of, at most is they will get to know how things look, but won't be able to modify or execute anything.

There will be two servers for the new website. The "production" server, which will be at http://dev.bnetdocs.org, and then also my "local" server, which won't be available to the public. The code will also be open-sourced, available at https://github.com/BNETDocs/bnetdocs-phoenix. I've already committed some code there if you wish to check it out, and the production server is also up and running with the code. I feel that having the code open-source won't be a security issue, since I am taking precautions to salt everything as well as provide options to change the hardcoded salts via a config file (so the real salt isn't available from the code necessarily).

I have also disabled the 503 Service Unavailable error page so that bots and users alike will be happy visiting this website again (the notices and emails were pretty annoying).

Bnetdocs ownership and a security intrusion from earlier

Kyro has stepped down as manager and owner of Bnetdocs as he is pursuing other life events and as such, no longer has time for this project. The new manager and owner of Bnetdocs is Jailout2000.

In addition to this change, the Bnetdocs content (html, css, images, javascript, mysql, php, etc.) has moved to Jailout2000's server, and the domain name will be transferred into Jailout2000's hands later within the next couple of months.

While transferring the Bnetdocs mysql content from Kyro's server to Jailout2000's, Jailout2000 noticed that the text encodings were broken after exporting (rather than after importing). A solution was found which seems to have fixed the issue that was double encoding, however please make an effort to point out any encoding flaws if there are any. In an effort to remedy this permanently should it possibly happen in the future, a change was made to the Bnetdocs code that will set the encoding directly after connecting to mysql.

In another note, a couple of months ago Kyro noticed that there was a security intrusion to Bnetdocs which caused data to be deleted. A temporary solution was put in place that disables logins until the problem can be further investigated and patched. There are logs with the original content of such deleted data, so the data is recoverable, however if there were any comments/notes, those are lost.

Happy coding!

Battle.net Desktop App

Blizzard has finally released their Battle.net "Steam" Client; a launcher for all of their games with what looks to eventually support RealID/BattleTag Chat.

"We're continuing the Battle.net®-related testing we mentioned previously. As part of this, we're now inviting beta testers to help test and refine a new desktop app for Battle.net designed to improve the launcher experience for all Blizzard games and streamline the ability for players to get into their games.

If you’d like to help us with the testing, head to your Battle.net Beta Profile and opt in to at least one of the game universe beta tests (if you haven’t done so already). We’ll be inviting players to the beta test in waves—if you’re selected, your Battle.net account will be flagged automatically and you’ll receive an email with additional details.

For more information, check out the FAQ or visit the beta test forums."
Source

I've also setup a subreddit for anyone interested in discussing it, ^_^.

USEast/Azeroth Maintenance - Clan Data Rollback

Blizzard has taken the USEast/Azeroth realm down to do some maintenance to their clan data.

They will be performing a 6 hour maintenance on USEast/Azeroth tomorrow morning, July 11, beginning at 9:00 a.m. PDT.

During this time they will be rolling Warcraft III clan data back to its state before the USEast migration on June 20, reinstating the wiped data. No other changes should occur with this clan data rollback, and they will provide updates should the maintenance timetable change.

Original post by Bashiok

Best of luck to everyone wishing to get back onto the USEast realm!

Server Upgrade

The BNETDocs server is now undergoing an upgrade, so there may be temporary downtime.

This downtime should be extremely brief.

Thanks for your patience at this time!

USEast/Azeroth Scheduled Downtime

The USEast/Azeroth realm will have scheduled maintenance from Blizzard this week.

The new hardware that they were testing with the USTest/Stratholme realm has gone through the successful benchmarks that they sought after, and they are now upgrading the USEast/Azeroth realm to the new hardware. This is the reason for the downtime.

Apparently the USEast/Azeroth will also have "a potential for connection and stability improvements" after the upgrade.

It is unknown as of the time of this post if the USTest/Stratholme realm will continue to stay up after the upgrade is complete. The USTest/Stratholme realm will be taken down after 24 hours of the upgrade on USEast/Azeroth. Blizzard has made it clear that the data on USEast/Azeroth will be moved over to the new hardware, instead of starting fresh.

Maintenance:
10:00 a.m. PDT, Wednesday June 20 – 10:00 a.m. PDT, Thursday June 21
Expected ~24 hour maintenance duration

Also note that Blizzard may extend the maintenance time period if they need to and if they do then the realm will stay down longer than what they have outlined above.

You can see the original post by Bashiok on the Blizzard forums by clicking this link.

Legacy Battle.net Upgrade

Blizzard has installed new server hardware and they wish to run some benchmark tests on it. They have chosen the Azeroth/USEast realm for this purpose (probably due to its popularity) and will be taking down all servers that host that realm so they can clone the database it uses. When they are finished testing, they plan to roll out the new hardware across all four realms.

Once cloning of Azeroth/USEast is complete, the realm will return and a new realm using the cloned data will be available in all clients seen as Stratholme/USTest in the gateway list.

The scheduled downtime is as follows:
~9:30 a.m. PDT, May 29 – Azeroth/USEast unavailable for four hours to copy data to PTR
~1:00 p.m. PDT, May 29 – Azeroth/USEast returns, and Stratholme/US Test becomes available for testing with copied data

Update from Bashiok: "Azeroth/USEast is once again available, but we've delayed the test environment until tomorrow morning, May 29 at 10:00 a.m. PDT."

You can see the original post by Bashiok on the Blizzard forums by clicking this link. There is also a new feedback forum specifically for the tests they will be running, located at this link.

I would also like to add that while these tests are going on, I will be running my server checker. This means that the servers on the right of BnetDocs's pages will be updated as to their online/offline status on a periodic interval.

The PTR domain name address (ustest.battle.net) and relevant IPs have been added to the Battle.net Server List document, credit to Sixen.

BNETDocs Administration Changes

First off, Jailout2000 is no longer maintaining BNETDocs. What this means is: the status update checker at the right will no longer be refreshed, as those were maintained by him. He will still have editor access, although he won't be posting at BNETDocs as often as he used to.

Secondly, I am announcing that BNETDocs is now seeking a new owner/administrator for BNETDocs. The reason for this is because due to life events, I no longer can maintain BNETDocs, and would like to pass it on to someone who has both the time and capability. Knowledge of PHP, MySQL, CSS, and Javascript is essential. Knowledge of Battle.net programming also would be preferred. If you're interested, please head on over to www.doncullen.net and send me a message via the 'Contact Me' page.

Update from Jailout2000

I no longer run a status update checker for this website. Those server statuses on the right are stale, and will probably not be refreshed by me anytime soon. You can also keep track of servers using toshley.net. That place not only keeps track of Battle.net and BNLS, but also Ventrilo, Minecraft, and other server software. I'd bookmark them if you haven't already.

Before 2012 really gets started, I need to clarify one thing: I hardly visit this site myself anymore. I probably visit once every 2 months now. The only reason I remembered this time was because I had the urge to check out the ol' Battle.net community.

That said, I wish the best of luck to those who still develop for the Battle.net community as a whole.

Sorry about that...

As some of you may know, BnetDocs was down from Nov 10, 2011 - Nov 14, 2011.

There was issues with the domain registrar. Those issues has been resolved and will not occur again.

Providing that everyone's DNS cache is friendly to them, they should see this page immediately, otherwise give it time to update.

We at BnetDocs sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

And rest assured, all data remained untouched; that is to say no data was lost during this period, it was just inaccessible.

Regards,
- Jailout2000

Beta servers are online again?

Just a few minutes ago of this post, I was logged on to the beta servers with my very own BNRBot, along with some other people: Vector using StealthBot, Arqtekvet using MirageBot, and ColdFear using his unnamed bot. This sums up to a total of four people, not including anyone that may have been online but not in the same channel (/users didn't work and nor did /who).

This is to say that the Battle.net servers, beta.battle.net and classicbeta.battle.net, were accepting client logins (actual packets), instead of just disconnecting you immediately like they normally did 8-12 months ago.

I felt this was news worthy because both servers have been offline for the past 8-12 months, and I spotted them being online here on my daily checkup of BnetDocs, so I went to investigate it further, and invited some friends to come along. Turns out, Blizzard disconnected all four of us after about 10-15 minutes, and the servers are now back to how they were when they were once online 8-12 months ago.

I do not have any snapshots, but I hear Arkteqvet does, and Vector might possibly have one or a few, so contact both of them for proof.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

For the lack of better words, let me simply say this.

You will be missed.

-BNETDocs crew

Diablo III BETA Client Leaked

As some of you may already know, the Diablo III BETA client has been leaked as of four days ago (2 September 2011). It only recently went hot within the Battle.net dev. communities. (6 September 2011)

Please use Google as your reference. I will not post links here for copyright or other trademark reasons. As for other references, you can also visit DarkBlizz.org for a good amount of info (including a link to the installer), though you must navigate yourself to the respective posts.

As far as I know, the installer is released in Chinese and English (US), but there may be others floating around that I have not seen or searched for. Both installers were digitally signed by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. on Friday, August 19, 2011, you can check for yourself if you download one; this is proof that they're legit.

Use all of this at your own discretion. I have not seen any videos or screenshots of anyone being past login; that is to say I have not seen anyone actually playing the game yet. All I've seen so far is people being at the login screen with changeable options such as video/sound and gameplay.

As always, have a wonderful time ;)

Starcraft II Starter Edition

Blizzard has recently (within the last 2 weeks) released a new edition to Starcraft II.

This new edition allows anyone to download the full Starcraft II client and be able to play online with their account, even if they don't own the game.

When you logon with an account that does not have the game, Battle.net will automatically give you a Starter Edition license, and you will be able to play online for unlimited amounts of time, but only up to certain scenarios/levels and you will be without chat channels.

Of course, you can always logon to your account through the Battle.net website and get yourself a Starter Edition license from there, but you do not have to. If you do not currently own the game or do not have the full client, you should do this anyway so that you can get the download from Battle.net's online download system.

As always, enjoy the website! :)

Regular news...

Here's some regular news that some may have been waiting for...

Concerns:
This site is still active; we just don't update as much as we used to. A lot of the admins have become busy with their lives so they haven't been able to do much real updating here. However, when one finds time, they put a little effort in.

Core Updates
- A small update has been made to the Logs RSS in regard to what it spits out to the public.
- Logs are no longer made for users who do not respond to their registration e-mail.
- Cleaned up some code in the overall functionality of the site.
- Re-enabled authorization for the server checker code.
- Fixed news submissions (new or edited) containing apostrophes in them so that they will work properly.

As for anything else, stay tuned. :)

Edit: Somehow, some site files got pushed back to their older version. As such, user submission bugs containing apostrophes (') were present. I have re-fixed that error now. I have also fixed the news submitter since it was sanitizing twice after the re-fix. [07/05/2011]

Server Status Re-enabled

The statuses on the right-hand side of this website are now accurate down to the last 5 minutes.

Jailout2000's computer is still in a hot-fix situation, but is stable enough to host his JBLS server, along with the script that checks all of the servers for this website. Downtimes will be seen with both his JBLS and the updater script; you'll just have to live with the inaccuracies during these times. Jailout2000 normally keeps his PC on 24/7 unless he's doing work to it, which is always in the day (and almost never on the weekdays as well).

Also, there have been two new entries added to the Battle.net server list: uswest.bnet.cc and useast.bnet.cc. These two servers used to be one running PvPGN and one redirecting to Jailout2000's RBNETD server; however, that is no more and they are both now simply redirects to his server. If vps.clan-warp.net is down, these two will be as well, and vice versa.

Anyways, have a safe trip around the website and keep track of your favorite servers on the right as they appear on or off throughout the weeks to come.

Minor BNETDocs v2 Update

Decided to put v3 on hold, and give v2 a bit of love. Here's the updates:

- Removed registration spam from logs
- Cleaned up logs so it only displays relevant info
- Renamed BNETDocs Redux to BNETDocs (ignore the logo @ top left)
- Updated TOS
- Fixed bad links in emails that BNETDocs sent for registration, password changes, etc
- Removed all references to the Demented Minds (that organization is defunct as of a couple years ago)
- Fixed Custom CSS Theme bug that prevented certain users from being able to save custom CSS.

On a side note, Jailout2000 has also fixed submission bugs, so there will be no more glitches resulting from usage of ' in any submissions.

Server Updater Script Down Indefinitely

Due to some problems with Jailout2000's machine, the script that updated each server's status on this website has been down for about 3-4 weeks.

The script may stay down for even longer as things get worked through on his machine, but it will surely be up again in the near future.

So for now, ignore the statuses for each server on the right-side of this website as they are ALL inaccurate.

Thanks,
- Jailout2000

We're still here...

Yes, our site has been deemed as inactive by some, but believe us, it is still used quite a bit.

Currently our website is still the only place for a near-complete Battle.net documentation, even so it is no doubt that others will go to other places for some of our missing information such as Battle.net v2 or the Starcraft In-Game Protocol.

I assure you, as soon as our contributors are less busy (I cannot give you an estimate when that will be), we will continue to work on getting missing information put up, the website fixed and/or revised, and other updates to the site itself.

BNET.cc - Battle.net Wiki

The website BNET.cc which used to house forums is now hosting the Battle.net Wiki.

There was an older BnetWiki hosted by Spht, which failed. It ended up dying and was later cancelled. Tagban now hosts the BnetWiki on BNET.cc as the main website.

BNET.cc will house the wiki information for the Blizzard/Battle.net communities. It is sought to hold information, packets (an "Open BNETDocs"?), clans, bots, and other Battle.net-related topics. Of course, as time goes on, different information will be added and changed on the wiki. It is also the home for the Superiority bot and the Invigoration bot.

Anyways, we'll see how Tagban's wiki goes.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.1.2

---Via Blizzard---

General

- Players will no longer receive achievement toasts while their status is set to "Busy."
- The messaging when attempting to load a saved game or replay from a previous version has been clarified
- Adjusted the amount of points earned and lost by random team participants to properly reflect the strength of a player's teammates.

Balance

PROTOSS

Buildings:

- Nexus life and shields increased from 750/750 to 1000/1000.
- Void Ray:
... Damage level 1 increased from 5 to 6 (+4 armored).
... Damage level 2 decreased from 10 (+15 armored) to 8 (+8 armored).
... Flux Vanes speed upgrade bonus decreased from 1.125 to 0.703.

TERRAN

Buildings:

- Barracks requirement changed from Command Center to Supply Depot.
- Supply Depot life increased from 350 to 400.
- Medivac:
... Acceleration reduced from 2.315 to 2.25.
... Speed reduced from 2.75 to 2.5.
- Reaper:
... Nitro Packs speed upgrade now has a Factory Requirement.
- Thor:
... Energy bar removed.
... 250mm Strike Cannons is now cooldown-based on a 50-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown available (useable immediately after upgrade is researched).

ZERG

Buildings:

- Hatchery life increased from 1250 to 1500.
- Lair life increased from 1800 to 2000.
- Spawning Pool life increased from 750 to 1000.
- Spire life increased from 600 to 850.
- Ultralisk Cavern life increased from 600 to 850.
- Corruptor:
... Energy bar removed.
... Corruption is now cooldown-based on a 45-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown expired (must wait for full 45-second cycle before usable).
- Infestor:
... Fungal Growth now prevents Blink.
- Roach:
... Range increased from 3 to 4.

Bug Fixes

- Fixed an issue where players could not cast the Feedback spell on Point Defense Drones.
- Fixed an issue where the Phoenix would continue to channel Graviton Beam after the target died.
- Fixed an issue that would cause Larvae to spawn and be hidden behind Zerg eggs.
- Fixed an issue where players were unable to navigate to the Single Player page or watch replays after canceling map downloads from the queue.
- Fixed a desync that could occur on user-created maps with custom mod dependencies.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Patch 1.1.1

Via Battle.net (Blizzard):

Bug Fixes:

- Fixed an issue where Ultralisk cleave range was being unintentionally extended by larger targets.
- Fixed an issue where the Phoenix's Graviton Beam was automatically canceled if you used it just after the Phoenix reached 50 energy.
- Fixed an issue where queuing Return Cargo on a worker would cause it to ignore the built-in delay after it finished gathering.
- Fixed an issue where players watching older replays or saved games would experience stuttering.
- Fixed an issue where some Mac users were unable to join games properly.

Added some missing packets

I have found a relatively old thread on darkblizz.org (August 6th, 2010) which seems to have stemmed from this thread on vL by Hdx, which outlined some packets that our documentation was missing.

As such, I have added these packets to our documentation:

S>C 0x17 SID_READMEMORY
C>S 0x17 SID_READMEMORY
S>C 0x20 SID_ANNOUNCEMENT
S>C 0x23 SID_WRITECOOKIE
S>C 0x24 SID_READCOOKIE
C>S 0x24 SID_READCOOKIE
S>C 0x43 SID_WARCRAFTUNKNOWN

- Jailout2000

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.1.0

Via Battle.net (Blizzard):

To get the latest news and interact with the community, visit our StarCraft II website. Be sure to check out our Game Guide for an in-depth look at StarCraft II gameplay. We wish you all the best on your journeys through the embattled Koprulu Sector!

General

- The Standard (US) and Standard for Lefties (US) hotkey configurations are now available in all regions.
- A new game clock has been added. Players can now instantly see how long they've been in their current mission or match. This feature can be turned on or off in the Gameplay Options menu.
- A new Quick Save option is now available for the single-player campaign. Players can now quickly save their mission progress by pressing Ctrl + Q.
- A new System Panel has been added. Players can now view their local time and FPS while in game by mousing over the Menu (F10) button in the upper-left hand corner of the game screen. Laptop users can also view Wi-Fi signal strength and battery levels.
- Sight granted by death reveal no longer lifts Fog of War. Units revealed in this manner are not targetable.
- (Mac only) Moved StarCraft II data files and settings from the Documents folder into the Application Support folder.
- Support for NVIDIA 3D Vision has been added. To experience StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in 3D on your desktop or notebook, you will need 3D Vision. For more information, visit www.nvidia.com/Starcraft3D

Balance Changes

PROTOSS
- Zealot Build time increased from 33 to 38.
- Warp Gate cooldown increased from 23 to 28.

TERRAN
- Battlecruiser Ground damage decreased from 10 to 8.
- Bunker Build time increased from 30 to 35.
- Reaper Build time increased from 40 to 45.
- Siege Tank Siege mode damage changed from 50 to 35 (+15 armored).
- Upgrade damage changed from +5 to +3 (+2 armored).

ZERG
- Ultralisk Ram ability removed. Ultralisk will now use normal attack against buildings.
- Damage decreased from 15 (+25 armored) to 15 (+20 armored).

Maps
Desert Oasis:
- Destructible Rocks have been added to make natural expansions easier to protect.
- Center Xel'Naga Tower area has been narrowed.

StarCraft II Editor Improvements

- Added new requirement types: Odd, Divide, Mod, Multiply.
- Added a chance field to effect data.
- Added support for the Slider dialog control type.
- Added a trigger to deal damage from a unit.
- Added a trigger event response to provide the amount a player or unit property changes.
- Added a trigger event when an effect executes.
- New Trigger Editor functions:
- Save Data Conversation State Value (Action).
- Load Data Conversation State Value (Action).
- Players On Team (returns Player Group associated with teams in game lobby).
- Unit Owner Changes (Event).
- Old Unit Owner (returns player ID in response to Unit Owner Changes).
- New Unit Owner (returns player ID in response to Unit Owner Changes).
- XP, Level, and Bounty unit properties can now be modified by triggers.
- Banks now save/restore XP, learned abilities, and items.
- Message Window now includes a time stamp for each message.
- An actor event is now dispatched when a missile cannot hit its target.
- When loading documents with Battle.net-only dependencies, you will now be prompted to log in and download the dependency data, rather than failing to load.
- Game variants now automatically use the default melee variants for new maps, without requiring manual generation. This will not take effect for maps created prior to this patch.
- The Custom game variant is no longer automatically included when other non-default variants are defined.
- Increased the maximum recharge vital rate for heal effects.


Bug Fixes

Battle.net
- Chat windows no longer vanish when exiting a multiplayer map or campaign mission.
- Fixed an issue where players would still receive toasts when their status was set to busy.

Custom Games
- Default race in a game lobby is now properly set to Random.
- Players can now configure the lobby for 1v5 matches.
- The search functionality for map searches has been improved.
- Lobby hosts will now receive a toast when an invited player declines an invitation.
- Custom game lobbies will now remember the game mode chosen under a category.
- Fixed an issue where changing the category to "Custom" would default the teams to 5v3.
- Fixed an issue where custom maps could not be reported from the map preview screen.

Gameplay
General
- If a unit loads into a transport, missiles targeting it will no longer target similar units in the area.
- Structures damaged during construction will no longer count towards structures lost.
- Fixed an issue where builders waiting for an area to clear could block units trying to leave the area.
- Fixed an issue with inventory drop range checks.
- Fixed an issue that, in certain cases, allowed a command to be issued that did not appear on the command card
Interface
- Queue tooltips now display information about what is in progress.
- Fixed an issue where the back button would not always return players to the score screen properly.
Terran
- Marines trained at multiple Barracks will now prefer a Barracks with a Reactor over one with a Tech Lab or no attachment.
- SCVs will now load into the closest Command Center if multiple are within range.
Zerg
- Creep now recedes properly when an AI-controlled Hatchery, Lair, or Hive is destroyed.

StarCraft II Editor
- The Player Leaves Game event now fires when a player leaves or they are defeated/victorious.
- Loading screen progress bar option now works when using Melee loading screen type.
- Test Document now works properly on maps with Battle.net-only dependencies.
- Publishing a new file using Major revision will now properly set the document version to 1.0.
- Publish dialog now properly remembers the Show Real Name setting from previous publish.
- File preview panel now displays author's real name if that option was set during publishing.
- The Import module will now allow importing an override Assets.txt file.
- Undoing a terrain object modification will now also undo associated terrain changes.
- Editor will display document text from another locale if no text for the active locale exists.
- Copying points with custom models will display the model properly on the pasted point.
- It is no longer possible to have multiple default variants in the Game Variants dialog.
- Removed icon support for attribute and variant definitions, as Battle.net does not display these.
- Fixed issues with invalid map bounds when creating 32x32 maps.
- Fixed issues with poor performance in the Terrain Editor when scroll bars are visible.
- Fixed issues with drag-and-drop in Trigger Editor when tracking is not enabled.
- Fixed an issue that would cause a crash if multiple unit forms had too many abilities.
- Fixed an issue with temporary publish names in the Publish dialog still verifying the original name.
- Fixed an issue with the Unit Manipulates Item trigger.
- Fixed excessive delays on some systems when saving files using the Smaller Files option, and also when publishing Locked files.
- Fixed preview panel display in Terrain Editor palettes.
- Fixed performance issues in Terrain Editor when modifying terrain with many road tiles on the map.
- Fixed initial display of variables in the Trigger Debugging Window.
- Fixed generated script for built-in attribute values, which caused them to not be accessed properly.
- Fixed action list when modifying a Custom Script action without sub-views enabled.
- Fixed loading map dependency data.
- Fixed an issue where loading complex bank files would cause the client to disconnect from Battle.net.

Technical Issues
- Fixed an issue where unplugging headphones could cause the game to freeze.
- Fixed an issue where XP systems running with Unicode characters enabled could prevent a player from starting a multiplayer game.

Server Checker

If you have ever been to this website before, you should have noticed the BNLS Server Status panel on the right, along with the Battle.net Server Status panel. These two panels contain servers that you can use with your Battle.net bots.

Now what most people probably knew, these servers do not get updated periodically, so servers would appear online when they are truly offline, and vice versa. This is no more.

I have created a simple program that connects to any MySQL server, retrieves the table full of servers, connects to each server individually, and then updates its online/offline status. I also enabled a timer that I can set to any interval I want (I can make it every 30 seconds, or even once every day if I want).

So basically all I am saying is that these server panels are now periodically checked for uptime status and will be updated accordingly. Right now I have that interval set to every 5 minutes, but I may variate it occasionally for my own reasons without notice. I would also like to stress that these servers are checked from my computer using my internet, this means that if I cannot connect to them or an error occurs while connecting, the server will be marked offline, even if you are able to successfully connect. If such a case occurs however, to where my internet does not function properly, then I probably would not be able to update the servers anyway, so you shouldn't worry about this.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.0.3

Bug Fixes:

- Fixed an issue preventing some players from accessing offline play from the login screen.

Minor updates

I had taken notice that all (most, anyway) the BNLS packets were still on the Raw-setting, meaning they were new and documentation for them was changing often.

I have since then updated all of them to the Normal-setting, which means they are documented and nothing is changing anytime soon; they are considered final and any revisions will be made in a new packet id. While I was doing this, I had also noticed that the format of most of the packets were not formatted conveniently and the related links were not given or were wrong, so I also updated the formats so they display conveniently and I added the proper related links.

I also added a new BNLS packet that is not really part of the official documentation, but was necessary to add since it can be received on some servers running BNLSWarden. The packet id is 0xFF, which indicates that your IP has been restricted. All BNLS-enabled clients will operate normally without recognition of this packet, but if a client wishes to support it, they are more than welcome to. It will never be received unless the server sends it to you after you connect. More information about the packet can be found in its remarks section.

Along with that new packet, I also added the BNLS_WARDEN packets, but I did a poor job. Anyone with editor access: feel free to revise it.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.0.2

Bug Fixes:

- Fixed an issue where campaign mission victories would not always trigger properly.
- Fixed an issue where some players were unable to access single-player features.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.0.1

For those who live under rocks and have not come out recently: StarCraft 2 has been released and has been out for sale since July 27th.

Via Blizzard:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.0.1

To get the latest news and interact with the community, visit our brand new StarCraft II website (http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/). Be sure to check out our Game Guide for an in-depth look at StarCraft II gameplay. We wish you all the best on your journeys through the embattled Koprulu Sector!

Bug Fixes:

-Campaign saves have been optimized.
-Fixed an issue with sound not playing on some 7.1 systems.

StarCraft II Beta is now closed

The upcoming StarCraft II sequel was running in a closed beta (users had to have a beta key to get on Battle.net) open to selected players by Blizzard to be tested on their new Battle.net v2. Single-player was disabled unless you used the Galaxy Editor or used hacks/mods.

That beta (now nicknamed Phase 1) was shutdown, and later reopened with the title of Phase 2, and they said they would only run it for a few days. Well those few days are now up and the beta has been shutdown officially. Now all players can do is wait for the retail release on July 27th, 2010 or continue to play single-player via the Galaxy Editor or by using hacks/mods; Battle.net v2 will tell them to shove off.

At that time, StarCraft II Retail will hit stores with millions of fans and players eagerly waiting to buy the game, or pick up their pre-ordered package (assuming that pre-order is not being shipped). Battle.net v2 will await the new players, being prepared for the bombardment of internet connections and packets.

In other recent news (off-topic), BnetDocs v3 is still a work-in-progress. Kyro and I have been working every day to what seems like every other day making sure bugs are fixed, features are implemented, and surprises are kept secret until release. In the past week, we were fiddling with the SQL tables and we ended up messing some up, so we had to go back to a backup, so we apologize if there is anything missing that was here before.

Starcraft II Beta Phase 2 Open

Phase Two of the Starcraft II Beta was launched today.

The recent debate over Real ID is still open for discussion, however the new character code has been introduced in Patch 16, the opening patch for the just-launched Phase 2. A character code is a unique code tied to your SC2 character. It is created when you create your character and cannot be changed nor chosen by you.

On the Battle.net forums, this post by Zarhym details what Patch 16 brings to Starcraft II. The 'General' patch information:

StarCraft II Beta – Patch 16 (version 0.19.0.15976) 



General



Rally points now behave as a move command, instead of an attack move command. 

Enabled the ability to manually add a StarCraft II character friend using the player's character code.

- Character code is a server-assigned numerical code that is displayed within the Add Friend panel. 

Battle.net Achievements & Rewards have been updated. 

All Quick Match modes are now available: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and Free For All. 

All A.I. difficulties are now available for play. 

Cooperative matchmaking versus A.I. players is now available as a play mode. 

Enabled cross-game social features between World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.

WarCraft III Update

There is a new patch available for WarCraft III Reign of Chaos and WarCraft III The Frozen Throne.

Version: 1.24.4.6387

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.24e

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



FIXES



- Fixed an exploit rendering buildings non-interactable ("tower hack"). 

- Fixed an exploit allowing a player to bypass a summon ability's 

cooldown ("summon/cooldown hack"). 

- Fixed a client crash related to workers failing to build in an 

unintended way ("new crash hack"). 

- Fixed an exploit allowing the Blood Mages's Phoenix to be resurrected 

instantly ("phoenix hack"). 

- Fixed a bug allowing players to select an invalid matchmaking race 

resulting in all the player's units and buildings becoming sheep 

("sheep hack").

WarCraft III Update

There is a new patch available for WarCraft III Reign of Chaos and WarCraft III The Frozen Throne.

Version: 1.24.3.6384

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.24d

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



FIXES



- Fixed a client crash related to queuing too many invalid build commands

  (''crash hack'').

Updates Needed?

It is evident that BNETDocs Redux is old and requires a little more updated information.

Some packets remain "Research required" and others remain even undocumented but known. If you know of a packet that needs more information added to it, or of any packet(s) that are not added to the documentation, please contact Jailout2000 at ValHalla Legends. He can help get it sorted out.

When you contact him, make sure you provide information such as your username, a website linking to the information if possible (proof of your information), and your own input on the packet if you have any. This will make it possible for him to compile all the data and post it up to the packet's documentation page.

BNETDocs is still alive and, well, not so active. By helping update the documentation, perhaps it can become an active place once more. Due to the vast knowledge and accuracy, it is impossible for one person to update it all by them self.

BNETDocs Continues

Just wanted to let ya'all know the BNETDocs domain was expiring on Oct 31, so I've gone ahead and renewed the domain. So BNETDocs will continue to exist. Not much news to many of you, but there were some who were inquiring due to lack of updates on the BNETDocs core itself.

I realize that I've been slow in updating, and I apologize. It hasn't been quite easy since I've been quite busy (I work 50 hours a week at my job as tech support for a telecommunications company, recent acquisition of PoliteTalk.com, and also started up my own corporation in marketing). But rest assured, work has most definitely NOT stopped on BNETDocs v2-- it is my goal to release BNETDocs v2 **BEFORE** Blizzard releases Battle.net v2!

Just an update as to whats happening with BNLS

Most of you, if you use BNLS, should know that ValHalla Legends stopped hosting BNLS long ago. And now with JBLS going offline also, we are forced to depend on our own servers, or other peoples servers that we may not trust.

There is a large list of servers available at the BNLS Checker website. You can use this large list to find one that works for you. This list provides online/offline counts, percentage of uptime, owner, and even where it is located.

Another list, but is not updated as much as the above, can be found at this website.

New WarCraft III Patch

There is a new patch available for WarCraft III Reign of Chaos and WarCraft III The Frozen Throne.

Version: 1.24.0.6372

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.24

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



PC WORLD EDITOR CHANGES



- Added new JASS hash table functions to replace the lost functionality from 

   fixing unsafe type casting.

   - Hash Table - Save Item Handle

   - Hash Table - Save Unit Handle

   - ...

   - Hash Table - Load Item Handle

   - Hash Table - Load Unit Handle

   - ...

   - Hash Table - Get Handle ID



FIXES



- Fixed an exploit related to unsafe type casting that allowed users to 

   execute arbitrary code in maps.

- Fixed the JASS unsafe type casting exploit ("return bug").

- Fixed several World Editor crashes.

WarCraft III Warden Update

WarCraft III, as of April 14th, 2009, has an updated warden system. Most bots these days don't know how to handle the warden packet correctly, or don't know how to handle it at all.

Here is a log received from FooLOps 1.9.9 logged on as JailBot@Lordaeron:

00000000  ff 5e 29 00 40 b8 fe b2  42 60 35 d6 c1 64 87 0e  |.^)[email protected]`5..d..|

00000010  77 4e 88 ef f4 27 b9 33  d1 9e 19 c4 2e 84 84 cc  |wN...'.3........|

00000020  da dc 94 e3 4f 46 9d cf  5a                       |....OF..Z|

Warcraft III Patch 1.23

Starcraft Patch 1.16.1

Starcraft and Brood War Patch Information



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- patch 1.16.1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Feature Changes



- In-game Speed Options menu now has a "Enable CPU Throttling" checkbox. 

  Enabling this option will allow StarCraft to consume fewer CPU cycles. By 

  default this option is off.



Bug Fixes



- Fixed an issue with the reply feature where any character followed by a "r "

  was being treated as a reply.

- Removed an unnecessary delay when processing palette cycling updates.

- Lessened the imposed delay in the CPU Throttling feature.

New Patch for Starcraft/Brood War

SEXP_IX86_1152_1153.mpq

Starcraft and Brood War Patch Information



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- patch 1.15.3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



  Bug Fixes

- Fixed a communication bug affecting third party leagues.

- Alt-F6 no longer stalls the game on Windows.

- Game now works correctly on versions of Mac OS X which do not support 256-color

  mode.

Diablo II 1.12a (New Patch)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Patch 1.12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------



     Downloadable Installer Support



- If all required Diablo 2 '.MPQ' files are installed on the

  hard drive, the game will no longer require the CD to play.



   For users that originally performed a 'Full Installation'

   and wish to run without the CD, all '.MPQ' files should

   be copied from the Diablo 2 CDs to the Diablo 2 directory. 

   Most users will only need to copy D2Music.mpq from the

   Diablo 2 Play CD and/or D2xMusic.mpq from the Lord of

   Destruction CD.  Mac users will need to copy these music

   files and rename them to 'Diablo II Music' and

   'Diablo II Expansion Music' respectively.



   Anyone who did not perform a 'Full Installation' will need

   to re-install from CD again to ultimately play without the CD. 

   In this case, a 'Full Installation' is required, followed by file

   copy step noted above.

 

     Bug Fixes



- Fixed an incompatibility between Rosetta and OpenGL mode on Intel Mac.

Server Move Completed

Server move has been completed. And to save Hdx the effort of having to re-edit the packets/documents, I took the liberty of making another copy from the older server and moved it here.

So it's all up to date. :-)

Thanks for your patience during the transfer!

Server Move

In light of the frequent downtimes we've been experiencing lately, I've procured a new server and will be moving all domains/customers to that new server.

What this means for BNETDocs is some downtime. This is due to DNS propagation, which will take up to 24 hours, depending on your ISP.

This also includes the BNLS redirection server. I apologize for any inconvenience, but believe me, this is the best course as I believe in reliability. If there are any issues and you're unable to report it to me via BNETDocs, feel free to contact me by sending me a PM at BNETDev.net. Make sure the PM is sent to DonCullen.

Once more, thanks for your patience. :)

Happy Holidays!

Been quite busy with work, apologies! LordVader, Leaky, and I have all been quite busy with work.

[Edited on 12-25-07]
Merry Christmas!

[Edited on 1-1-08]
Happy New Year's!

Still working on the new version of BNETDocs. :)

Vivendi Games / Activision Merger

Vivendi Games and Activision have merged into a single company called Activision Blizzard. While the name has Blizzard in it, make no mistake, Vivendi Games is the parent company of Blizzard, and while the name has 'Blizzard' in it, it is Vivendi Games that has merged.

Blizzard posted on their forums to the effect of saying that there will be no changes to their games, their staff, their offices, nor their development teams. Blizzard Entertainment will continue to function as a division -- the only difference being that their parent is no longer named Vivendi Games, but now Activision Blizzard.

So to those wondering: no, there will be no changes to Battle.net as a result of this merger. Battle.net will operate as usual.

Yes, I already have sent a direct request for comment to Blizzard in regards to how Battle.net will be affected, but most likely their response will be similar to their post on their forums. If there is any different information than that posted on Blizzard's forums, I'll make sure to let you know.

If you'd like more information on this, feel free to email Blizzard at [email protected].

Reference Link
Blizzard's forum post
Activision Blizzard Press Release

Interesting statistics...

I just checked the stats for the visits to BNETDocs, what I saw was interesting. Here's a list of unique visits per nationality for the month of October:

1. United States 352
2. Germany 63
3. Australia 53
4. Canada 46
5. Hungary 27
6. Poland 7
7. France 4
8. Mexico 4
9. Netherlands 3
10. Norway 3

Personally, I was surprised to see Germany ranked second in most visits. If you're a visitor from one of the countries where English isn't the main language, my apologies BNETDocs Redux isn't in your main language. We're looking for translators, so if you'd like to volunteer to translate the documentation, feel free to make an account at our forums, and PM me about it!

Server Crash

There was a server crash while I was conducting maintenance, and the backup file got corrupt. Fortunately, I had an older copy of backup. So with the assistance of Leaky, I was able to do a full server wipe and restore.

So if you see anything that's broken, point it out so I can fix it! I've created a document called 'To Fix', so post a comment there so I can get the heads up.

Comment Scripts Complete

Users now can comment on packets and documents. Editors and administrators also now have ability to delete comments. Enjoy.

CSS Themes

CSS Themes will be now rendered as external CSS files rather than internal. What this means for you is that if you make use of one of the pre-set themes, such as the Dark Redux theme, and changes are made to it, your CSS Theme will automatically reflect the changes.

However, due to the old CSS system, users' CSS Themes were saved as internal CSS, so if you'd like to switch over to the current CSS pre-set Themes and have your CSS pre-set Theme automatically reflect the changes, just go to CSS Theme Editor, and select the pre-set you'd like to use. The CSS Theme will reflect all changes from that point on.

If you decide to stay with a pre-set, I'd like to remind you: if you make changes to the CSS, it effectively becomes a custom theme, which means if the pre-set you were using is updated, changes will not show for you since you're using your own custom theme.

I'm working on setting it up so members can "subscribe" to other members' custom CSS Themes. Expect to see this implemented by tomorrow night!

If you do not want to use a pre-set, but want to switch your CSS over to the new system so when I implement the member-css subscription code, other members can subscribe to your custom CSS Theme, just go into CSS Theme Editor, and click "Save Custom". This will result in your switching over to the new system.

0x5E Warden Packet Reactivated

(08/22/07) Usually, if you connected to battle.net via a bot emulating Starcraft, you'd be disconnected for failure to properly respond to the 0x5E Warden packet.

It appears that that very packet has been muted for now, so people can connect to battle.net via bots emulating the Starcraft game client. There is currently no estimate on how long the packet will remain muted.

I've run tests, and am able to confirm the packet has indeed been muted.

(08/29/07) Edit: The 0x5E Warden packet has been reactivated. All users emulating/using the Starcraft client will be disconnected after two minutes of not completing the correct Warden logon challenge sequence.

StarCraft Patched to 1.15.1

StarCraft was patched to 1.15.1, information on known changes to StarCraft below. No verbyte change. The new offset for the byte to change for No-CDs to work on battle.net is 0x1502F6FB as reported by Andy.

-------------------------------

Patch 1.15.1

-------------------------------

   

   Bug Fixes

   

 - Fixed a replay saving bug that occasionally crashed games.

 - Fixed a bug where the map download progress was not shown.

 - Pressing alt-f4 while in Starcraft and logged into a league now 

logs you out of the league.

 - Updated some of the localization for the league page.

 - Fixed an exploit that allowed nukes to fall anywhere on the map.

BNLS Redirector Service Upgraded

I have news for those who make use of the redirective domain of bnls.dementedminds.net.

For those who prefer a short and sweet/simple notice:

The service is upgraded to be 100% automated, and no longer manually redirected.

For those who like details:

I originally was updating the domain to redirect to the next available bnls system manually, as a result, if a server went down, there'd be a considerable delay before I found out about it being down, and updated it to redirect to another server. This was tedious, and also annoying for people who made use of the domain.

But now, that should be no longer an issue. I've coded a script that'll automate the entire process. When a server goes down, the dementedminds.net server will identify the loss and automatically seek out the next available bnls server. Once one is found, it updates the DNS.

If you notice that the bnls.dementedminds.net redirector service isn't working for you, try the following troubleshooting steps (applicable for windows, if anyone can port those steps to the mac/*nix distros, feel free:

1) Go into the command prompt, and type: ipconfig /flushdns

That should solve the problem, Windows tends to cache the DNS for servers recently accessed, so when the DNS is flushed, Windows will then query for the new DNS information.

2) If that still doesn't work, check the right side of this website for the status of the servers:

3) If the status indicates that the following servers are down:

- valhallalegends.com
- bnls.valhallalegends.com
- jbls.org
- hdx.jbls.org

Then that pretty much means the redirector service ran out of alternate servers to redirect to. As soon as one of those alternate servers come back up, the redirector service will recognize it, and automatically redirect to that corresponding server.

4) If the JBLS website indicates that one or more of the previously mentioned servers are up, give the bnls.dementedminds.net redirector service some time -- the service does a query every half hour to check the status of the servers, and as soon as it realizes the current server it has been redirecting to is down, it'll automatically seek out an alternate server and divert the flow to that server.

5) If even after a half hour, bnls.dementedminds.net STILL isn't working (shouldn't ever happen, but you never know!), contact me and I'll check into it ASAP.

Hopefully the automated redirector service will help alleviate downtime of bots everywhere when a server goes down.

P.S.

An user of bnls.dementedminds.net asked me about pings being redirected. Originally, pings were NOT redirected, only traffic for the BNLS ports were. But when he queried me about it, I thought it was a quite good idea, and have re-configured my server to from now on redirect all incoming pings to the server it is redirecting to. So in other words, all responses you receive from your pings to the bnls.dementedminds.net server are from the server it's redirecting to. Example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>ping bnls.dementedminds.net



Pinging bnls.valhallalegends.com [64.183.189.104] with 32 bytes of data:



Reply from 64.183.189.104: bytes=32 time=106ms TTL=108

Reply from 64.183.189.104: bytes=32 time=101ms TTL=108

Reply from 64.183.189.104: bytes=32 time=97ms TTL=108

Reply from 64.183.189.104: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=108



Ping statistics for 64.183.189.104:

    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

    Minimum = 96ms, Maximum = 106ms, Average = 100ms

Starcraft/Brood War Patch 1.15

Game: Starcraft, Starcraft: BroodWar
Version: 1.15
VerByte: 0xD1
Archive: SEXP_IX86_114_115.mpq

-------------------------------------------------

- Patch 1.15.0

-------------------------------------------------



  Feature Changes



- Approved organizations can now operate StarCraft leagues. See

  http://www.battle.net.

- Replays are automatically saved as LastReplay.rep.





  Bug Fixes



- Fixed a bug that allowed burrowed units to be stacked.



  Exploits



- Fixed a vulture exploit that crashed games.

- Fixed an exploit that allowed the rally points of others to be set.

- Fixed a multicommand hack that crashed Macintosh players.

BNLS Updates

BNLS has been upgraded for the latest "lockdown" changes on the Battle.net servers. Bot developers may now use it for requesting fast version checks on all supporting products. At this time, Diablo II, WarCraft III, and their expansions do not make use of the latest updates.

The documentation has been updated with BNLS messages BNLS_VERSIONCHECKEX and BNLS_VERSIONCHECKEX2 to support the changes.

Re: The Lockdown Update

As most of you will know, Blizzard recently updated their Checkrevision procedure for WarCraft II, StarCraft, Brood War, Diablo I and StarCraft Shareware. This new method, dubbed "Lockdown", is considerably more complex then the previous ix86ver method which is still used by other Battle.net-enabled products.

We fully intend to update BNETDocs with as much information about Lockdown as possible, however, much of this material has not yet been made public. BNETDocs has always relied on information volunteered by the community and will continue to be updated with information as and when it is received.

In the meantime, your best available options are to reverse engineer the new system yourself -- this is not a light undertaking -- or to use BNLS.

We're still alive!

Yes, we're still here for those of you who still wander across the documents. Just last night and this morning I had updated many of our already existing packets with more information/better descriptions/correctness, etc. It sure has been quiet around here, but trust me, BNETDocs still lives :)

Diablo 2/LoD 1.11

Most of the packets have been updated for patch version 1.11. However, I'm still counting on the public to comment in any way, shape or form on the accuracy of the information.

StarCraft 1.13 released

Sorry guys for the late post on this, but just to keep everyone informed: sometime last week a patch was released for StarCraft and Brood War. BNETDocs and BNLS have been updated for the changes.