Blizzard are just about to deploy the Diablo 3 Beta patch 14 onto the servers. Something we didn’t really expect to see was the addition of hardcore mode to the Beta which becomes unlocked for one chatacter at level 10. The patch also beefs up the monsters to help balance the game better.

In other Diablo 3 news, an Italian CM revealed that Blizzard has no plans to launch EU beta servers during the Beta so they must be confident that any EU servers opened at launch will perform perfectly

Read on for the full Beta Patch 14 notes…

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The Blizzard EU site was updated earlier with news that botrh Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm have been dropped in price. However, the more vigilant of you will notice that these are not really price cuts because the games can be picked up cheaper at retailers such as Amazon and even on the high street. Looks like Blizzard are trying to cash in on the lazy shopper and also bring their own prices down to match the retailers.

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Blizzard are set to release a further 500 Diablo 3 Beta keys through their Blizzard support Twitter accunt starting today with 100 being given out for the next five weeks (until 23 January 2012).

Naturally the Diablo comnunity is not exactly over the moon by this decision as they feel that they should be going out via the opt-in system and not through Twitter where this competition is being run.

If you want to have a go then here’s the details…

1. Have an active Battle.net® account
2. Be a registered user of Twitter®
3. During the Contest period become a follower of BlizzardCS® by visiting http://twitter.com/BlizzardCS and clicking “Follow;”
4. Use the hashtag #DiabloBeta and @BlizzardCS in a Tweet,
5. Send an email of the tweet to cstwitterfeedback@blizzard.com. With a link to your tweet.

 

Blizzard are creating a new set of  player tags following the whole RealID debacle, but this time called Battle-tags. So what does it do other than confuse players even more by giving them more choices?

Battle.Net users will pick a name of their choosing which will be appended by a special 4-digit BattleTag code which creates a unique identifier. Thguis means players can have the same name but the four digits will make their name unique. The system will be rolled out and tested on the Diablo 3 beta and you can now assign your tag by logging into Battle.Net.

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Blizzard has now named their cash system for Battle.Net “Battle.Net Balance”. The system will enable players to use the cash earned from the Diablo III real money auction house to purchase Blizzard products. Users accounts can also be “charged-up” with cash via numerous payment methids to purchase Blizzard products tied to Battle.Net such as WoW character transfers, pets and mounts.

As we have reported before, the drawback with the system is that once the cash is in your Battle.Net Balance, there is no way to cash it out. Diablo III players looking to make money will need to be careful not to transfer their earnings into the Battle.net Balance.

Blizard has also launched an FAQ if you find any of this confusiung.