There NEEDS to be a workaround for Cricket users and etc

General Discussion
#1

I am all for reducing cheaters and smurfs in this game but I can’t play with several friends who use Cricket, and there are tons of players who have phone numbers qualified as prepaid.

Please, please come up with workarounds for players. There should be several backup plans and options. Here are some ideas.

  • Providing information from a phone bill.

  • Providing a photo ID.

  • Providing proof of residence somewhere.

There are plenty of ways that other systems verify identity. None of them are ideal, but some information should be allowed to be omitted (such as popular discord verification where you can block out information from photo ID). Blizzard support can handle these cases.

Players need options to choose from. Blizzard, please. We want to play with our friends.

I know that not everyone is going to agree with the verification ideas but please, we’re just desperate to be able to play a game we’ve played for years. Largely we’re millennials and younger, and we need to make the financial decisions that are accessible to us – phone plan is a huge decision.

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#2

Ya they could have done this better, but from what I read Cricket is registered exclusively as a prepay cellular company.

If I was on cricket what I would do is… NUMBER PORT. Request a PAC Code from them and port your number to a different provider. You keep your number and you’ll be in game again after the short number porting process.

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#3

People can’t always afford to change phone providers though? Like for my friends, Cricket is the best option for their area.

2 Likes
#4

My workaround… used my girlfriend’s phone number xD
I messaged support about the Cricket issue and they did not provide a solution.

#5

So in order to play a video game, I have to change my cell phone provider? From one that I’ve had for many years and a number that I’ve had for over 15 years?

#6

Do what a situation needs, if you want to stay involved with whatever that is.

You can number port your current number to any other provider, no need to worry about number loss.

Find an alt cellular provider you like with a deal you like then ask Cricket for your number port code (sometimes called a PAC code) and give that code to the cellular provider. Your number will move over to them.

If you do nothing then you’ll be in limbo* if/until Blizz change their policy on Cricket.

*SP fix ^^

#7

I’d rather never play Overwatch again than go through that process. It’s a free video game and Blizzard’s policy is asinine. Like OP said, there’s more than one way to verify the authenticity of an account.

And what’s worse is that their system doesn’t even work. People are already using VOIP services to bypass it. So they’re literally only punishing legit players.

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#8

on opening day, you cripple your game to try to satisfy ppl who cry about smurf accounts. BUT most players of all ranks wait until overtime to get serious anyhow so crying about smurf accounts is invalid and insignificant. to be honest. restore default login.

#9

If you go from pre paid to post paid with the same number you will still not be able to log in so no, you cannot keep the same number from what I’ve heard.

#10

Sounds like Blizzard is going to be addressing this soon. I saw some article that popped up in a feed so I am sure they will put in a fix. But hopefully their announcement on this topic will happen today for those of you who use pre-paid.

#11

Oooo, where did you see this?

#12

Even if they fix it, I don’t care anymore.
The forum is full of complaints that indicate this problem will occur in the future.
They just don’t care and/or they don’t read stuff on their own forums.

If they fix it, it’s because they realize the player base is smaller than anticipated.
I will not give in and give them my post-paid number.

#13

What you’re suggesting is more than reasonable. However, Blizzard makes decisions and that’s the end of it. Your best chance is to become the CEO of Blizzard and change it yourself.

#14

The phone requirement isn’t to reduce cheaters or smurfs though. It’s an entirely monetary incentive. They want to sell your phone number to spammers and they make money by sending you sms. that’sa why there’s always small text about charges and rates may apply. They’re not going to give a workaround because they don’t care about any of that. they just want money

#15

On my facebook feed it was from like IGN or something.

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#16

If it’s not too much to ask, may you send a link if you can please? I hope this is true. I’m hoping they address this becausr it has gotten way out of hand. Thanks for the info!

#17

This is because they send you text messages for verification lol. This warning has existed since the dawn of texting because you used to pay per text message.

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#18

I tried looking for it again but couldn’t find it. I think it was just one of those “Suggested” things since I clicked on some other Overwatch posts. But I read it and it said that Blizzard would address it soon. In the article they were saying it hopefully meant today but it was a quote from someone at Blizzard who said they will address it soon.

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#19

I did actually find it and thank you so much!

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#20

Awesome and my pleasure! I just found it again which the article I saw was from Gamespot.

1 Like