Another Cricket Wireless customer here. I’ve played dozens of hours of OW1 and was happy to hear that my skins would transfer and was really looking forward to playing the PvE in OW2 when it comes out. Please allow the use of Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator or change what phone numbers can be used to authenticate with your current system. Or please share the data and predictions that guided the policy. Is it really the case that not allowing the non-contract numbers will net Blizzard more money? I would imagine the customers lost/not gained because they can’t authenticate would out weigh the number of players that would really stop paying for cosmetics because of hackers/people abusing authentication methods.
ADDENDUM: I’ve justified the purchase of in-game currencies to myself before because I had a little extra to spend. I would not have spent as much on videogames as I have, if I had to spend another $100/yr on phone bills. I’ve used Cricket Wireless because they were a cheap option and those savings allowed me to spend more on different tech stuff like games. Losing OW1 servers sucks, but I had been under the impression I could continue to play with the stuff I’d unlocked for no additional cost in OW2, that is no longer the case, because I would have to spend more on my phone bill just to be able to play OW2 now. That increase in cost is not worth it to me. Please reconsider the 2FA methods that are accepted.