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Hey guys,
So I'm living in China right now. My Chinese is horrendous, so instead of ordering a Chinese version of Starcraft II, I pre-ordered the English version from Play-Asia.com. I emailed Blizzard to make sure I could sign up on the Asian servers with my US copy, but they seem to be saying that's impossible, and I'll be stuck on the US servers with no way to switch to the Asian servers short of buying the local version of the game (which they say has no English support).
So I turn to you, fellow Starcraft II lovers. Is there any way to get around this?
Thanks for your help!
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normally it should depend on where you register on battle.net so for europe it would be eu.battle.net and so on
Thats as far as I know
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Hmm, well I told the Blizzard dude that I registered a Battle.net account in Taiwan, but he said it doesn't matter. He said the actual local version of the game will be linked to that area--e.g. you can't play on the US servers with a Chinese copy of the game and vice versa.
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Very unfortunate. There are gateway switchers, but you don't want to get your CD key revoked if Blizz keeps updating and checking for that stuff... I hope Blizz resolves this. This issue could affect a lot of people.
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I guess they have different keys for the differents areas/markets to prevent people from buying the cheaper version. Dunno how much Sc2 costs in China. The solution should be quite easy buy the chinese version --> asian key. Download --> US Client switch 1 file --> play on the asian server :o.
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For the beta you could copy the Base.sc2data file from the server you want to play on to your folder. For example, I downloaded the US version of SC2, got the Base.sc2data file from the KR client, and copied it over to the folder of SC2. This allows me to play on the KR server while using the English US client.
I'm not so sure if you would be able to do this after the release of SC2, but you'll NEED the key for the Chinese servers in order to play on their servers. This method only allows you to view the client in English.
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Thanks for the help, everyone.
So it looks like my best option is to buy the Chinese version instead of the US version, download the US client and switch out the Base.sc2data file. And there's no guarantee that will work with the release version of the game. >_<
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On July 13 2010 14:29 Tritone wrote:
Thanks for the help, everyone.
So it looks like my best option is to buy the Chinese version instead of the US version, download the US client and switch out the Base.sc2data file. And there's no guarantee that will work with the release version of the game. >_<
Just write an email again saying: I'm gonna buy the chinese SC2 create an chinese B.net Account. Will I be able to use an english client if switch the file. It already works in the beta.
Theres no reason why it shouldnt be working in the release imo. For what reason are they gonna change this unless the chinese Sc2 is censored etc.
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Good luck! Remember to post back here telling if it works.
And remember to back up everything before you do anything. Just in case.
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I did send him an email reply about switching out the Base.sc2data file, but I haven't received a response yet. He's mostly been using canned replies so far (I can tell because they reference World of Warcraft instead of Starcraft II!) but I'm keeping my hopes up. It's kind of disgusting how badly I want to buy/play this game and how hard Blizzard is making it.
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Maybe they're saying that the US key will only work registering on a US server?
But to be honest, the support really might not take into account the fact that you can swap out files. I doubt they would tell you this. So this might still work?
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On July 13 2010 15:05 Subversion wrote:
Maybe they're saying that the US key will only work registering on a US server?
I think that's exactly what is going on. Although the support drone never came right out and said it, that appears to be the mechanism involved in the region lock.
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That's what I've seen posted by Blizzard in past threads about this - the cd key will be region specific which is different to how it works for beta obviously. So if you buy a copy of the game in Australia you will be locked to the SE Asian server even if your b.net account is US (which it would be atm for most Aussies). However if you buy a US copy of the game you will be registering to play on the US server. I'm not sure that swapping out your .sc2data file is going to make any difference in that situation because the account validation on login will be against the original server.
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Today I played a korean language version of the game on the EU server (by switching the base.sc2data files). It worked fine.
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i think you can still buy a Chinese version(actually it is taiwan version cause it uses traditional Chinese, while Chinese mainland are using simplified Chinese) and i am sure BLZ will release a language RAR for someone like you to download and switch the language into english while you can still play in taiwan server.
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United States2822 Posts
On July 13 2010 16:48 Comet702 wrote:
i think you can still buy a Chinese version(actually it is taiwan version cause it uses traditional Chinese, while Chinese mainland are using simplified Chinese) and i am sure BLZ will release a language RAR for someone like you to download and switch the language into english while you can still play in taiwan server.
I DOUBT it. I have asked Blizzard for YEARS to do something like that so I can play using a Chinese WoW client on the US servers and they just won't let it happen.
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On July 13 2010 16:20 reking wrote:
Today I played a korean language version of the game on the EU server (by switching the base.sc2data files). It worked fine.
yes but the system will be different on release. ATM you can use a beta key to register on any server and that won't be the case with release cd-keys
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On July 13 2010 17:20 StaR_Robo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 13 2010 16:20 reking wrote:
Today I played a korean language version of the game on the EU server (by switching the base.sc2data files). It worked fine. yes but the system will be different on release. ATM you can use a beta key to register on any server and that won't be the case with release cd-keys
That may be so, but that could just as easily be a change of how the servers who check your cd key works. Why would they change the file structure of the game?
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Well, I've canceled my pre-order. Another customer driven away by Activision-Blizzard's BS!
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This confuses me because I am in Japan and ordered the US version (I presume?) from Amazon, and I emailed Blizzard about the regions issue and they told me the opposite from you ie. that I would be able to play in the SEA region with it.
I wish they could just be clear about this. I would just cancel my order and do the digital download option from the SEA site, but it's the collector's edition so I don't want to dump it unless I have to.
Arrrgggghh.
At least I guess I can wave their email in their face if it turns out I can't use the product to play in SEA.
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yes i just cancelled too. with no info its too much money to throw away.
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Why not get an Aus copy? It will be in english and on the SEA servers (that's the same as chinese right? or do china have their own specific servers?), which is what is asked for in the OP
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I was thinking about getting the SEA version, but I'm not sure how bad the lag will be. I am not sure China will be on the same servers, can anyone confirm or deny that?
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Update: This only worked for the beta (sorry), if you're interested in using the English client in non-English regions for the release version, see: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=139082
Tritone: I'm currently in the US, but I frequently play on the Taiwan servers with the Traditional Chinese client using the English interface. I have also succeeded in using this client to connect to the US servers. Here is how it's done:
Step One: Download both the enUS Client and the zhTW client:
Note: This will require two battle.net accounts (one in the TW/KR region and the other in the US region) both with access to the beta (or I suspect upon release access to the game.) That being said, if you don't have a US account I'm sure you've got a friend who would send you the downloader. It's only a few megabytes and it's not tied to your account.
Download zhTW Client: https://tw.battle.net/account/management/sc2/download.xml?region=TW&lang=zh_TW&platform=win
Download enUS Client: https://us.battle.net/account/management/sc2/download.xml?platform=win&lang=en_US®ion=US
Step Two: Install the enUS client. (wherever you like. The defaults are fine.)
Step Three: Prepare for zhTW install by deleting shared configuration folders.
(You can just move these somewhere if you're worried about screwing anything up. However, all of these files are recreated on launch if they don't happen to be there. Nothing to worry about.)
Note: If you're using a version of Windows other than XP these files may be in slightly different locations. They should be pretty easy to find. If you need additional help, feel free to ask for it, and I'll figure out where they show up on my other computers.
Delete/Move: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Blizzard Entertainment\StarCraft II Beta
Delete/Move: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Blizzard Entertainment\Battle.net
Delete/Move: C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_WINDOWS_USERNAME\My Documents\StarCraft II Beta
Step Four: Install the zhTW client. (wherever you like. The defaults are fine.)
Note: The two clients default to different install directories, so you should have no trouble with the install.
Note: In the event of a battle.net update, you should repeat the following steps (5-8).
Step Five: Run the enUS client, let it patch if necessary, exit the game.
Step Six: Run the zhTW client, let it patch if necessary, exit the game.
Step Seven: Copy locale data from enUS client to zhTW client.
(If you want to play on US using the Traditional Chinese client, you can probably do these in the opposite direction.)
From the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II Beta\Mods\Core.SC2Mod folder to the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II 封測\Mods\Core.SC2Mod folder copy:
enUS.SC2Assets
enUS.SC2Data
From the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II Beta\Mods\Liberty.SC2Mod folder to the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II 封測\Mods\Liberty.SC2Mod folder copy:
enUS.SC2Assets
enUS.SC2Data
From the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II Beta\Mods\LibertyMulti.SC2Mod folder to the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II 封測\Mods\LibertyMulti.SC2Mod folder copy:
enUS.SC2Data
In the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II 封測\Versions\ folder you will find a number of folders (possibly just one, but most likely more) titled like Base123456. You should find matching folder names in the C:\Program Files\StarCraft II Beta\Versions\ folder. From each C:\Program Files\StarCraft II Beta\Versions\ Base123456 folder to the MATCHING C:\Program Files\StarCraft II 封測\Versions\ Base123456 folder copy:
patch-enUS.SC2Archive
Finally, Step Eight (How lucky, eight steps!): Open in notepad "C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_WINDOWS_USERNAME\My Documents\StarCraft II Beta\Variables.txt"
There are two important lines in this file:
localeidassets=
localeiddata=
To play in English, change them to read:
localeidassets=enUS
localeiddata=enUS
To play in Traditional Chinese, change them to read:
localeidassets=zhTW
localeiddata=zhTW
Save the file, and enjoy!
Final Notes: Leave both copies installed. You'll need them that way when it comes time to patch. I imagine this process will change some with the retail release, but it shouldn't change substantially. This process will most likely work in reverse if you wish to use Traditional Chinese on the US Servers. (The voices are way cooler.) Also, there may be a way to do this by just swapping common files, but this method doesn't require overwriting or renaming any data files.
I hope this is helpful. If anyone has any questions, feel free to send me a PM or ask here.
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Note: If you're looking at which full version of the game to buy, to play on the Taiwanese servers, you'll want to buy a Taiwanese copy (for your Taiwanese Battle.net account) and then just download a US version to augment your zhTW copy. I'm 99% certain this is how that works. If anyone knows differently (or the same but with more certainty) feel free to let me know. I'll ask my Blizzard buddy this weekend to be sure on this.
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Girlscoutcookie: that's complicated haha
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On July 16 2010 19:49 emucxg wrote:
Girlscoutcookie: that's complicated haha
It's really a lot simpler than it looks. I was just very verbose with my instructions so no one missed a step. The most complicated part of the process is really changing the variables.txt file. Everything else is just a little bit of installing and copying files.
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On July 13 2010 15:20 Tritone wrote:Show nested quote +On July 13 2010 15:05 Subversion wrote:
Maybe they're saying that the US key will only work registering on a US server? I think that's exactly what is going on. Although the support drone never came right out and said it, that appears to be the mechanism involved in the region lock.
No, it's not so much a region lock like that. It's more about the differences in the client. Different countries have different laws/regulations. Not all of them require their own client/system, but I'm sure some do. China may be one such country that requires you to buy the particular Chinese client, while there are other countries for which that is not the case.
I don't work for Blizzard or know the specifics, but whenever something looks rough around the edges like this it's usually the "fault" of individual country law as opposed to some weird corporate rule. It could also be that China has particular pricing which therefore necessitates a unique client as well. I think the US and EU clients however for sure do not have this limitation. You could make a new bnet account in that region, attach either client's key, and play. I'm not 100%, but that matches everything they've been saying so far. Seems like China is a special rule.
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Hi Takkara
That's an interesting theory, but it doesn't fit with what I've been told. From an email exchange with a Blizzard support rep: "Please also keep in mind that you will not be able to access your account if you are using a different regional game version (other than your home regions version). For example, you will be unable to connect to the North American realms if using a Chinese, Korean, European, or Taiwanese version of the game."
So it seems like it's not just about China. I don't know though, they aren't being very specific about the exact region protection measures in place.
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I don't know why blizzard won't just put cross regional server thingies into SC2 this is just plain stupid and no lan support?
They force people to hack the game in order to do so..... and great step by step Girlscoutcookie
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On July 16 2010 17:11 skipgamer wrote:
Why not get an Aus copy? It will be in english and on the SEA servers (that's the same as chinese right? or do china have their own specific servers?), which is what is asked for in the OP
I emailed Blizzard about this because that would be great news. But unfortunately, that's not the case. "The Chinese region has its own unique set of servers dedicated for that region specifically."
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I'm in the same boat as you! I'm going to play on the US server instead of the Asian one, but I think you can grab the Singaporean client or whatever AUS uses and still play on the Asian server.
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Okay wait. So I can play in English on the Chinese client?
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On July 19 2010 17:17 mcneebs wrote:
I'm in the same boat as you! I'm going to play on the US server instead of the Asian one, but I think you can grab the Singaporean client or whatever AUS uses and still play on the Asian server.
Definitely let us know how that works out. I'd go that route myself, but I'm worried about the lag.
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If you can't get an English copy to work on China servers, just use a Chinese versions. You can find out were the menu buttons are and I'm sure the hotkeys are all the same.
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This was great news and I decided to check with the Blizzard support guy I've been pestering, just got this reply:
"I just doubled checked on your specific request and each purchase of StarCraft II will be set in a specific language and also only able to connect to the region it was purchased for. For example, if you purchase the NA copy of StarCraft II, you will only be able to play in English on the NA servers. If you purchase the Chinese version, the game will be in Chinese and can only connect to those regional servers. At this time, there are no language packs available to change the language for any specific region."
So it looks like they might have reneged on the "every language downloadable for every region" declaration. I don't know, though; two people from Blizzard are giving conflicting information so I don't know who to believe.
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On July 19 2010 17:29 Tritone wrote:Show nested quote +On July 19 2010 17:17 mcneebs wrote:
I'm in the same boat as you! I'm going to play on the US server instead of the Asian one, but I think you can grab the Singaporean client or whatever AUS uses and still play on the Asian server. Definitely let us know how that works out. I'd go that route myself, but I'm worried about the lag.
I do it now on the beta, a little lag but nothing terrible. Definitely playable.
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Hmm, that's interesting. My internet is so slow accessing foreign sites I figured there'd definitely be lag. But maybe I'm wrong! Do you mind if I ask what city you live in?
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Hmm so if im going to be spending the next year in china (but can't quite speak yet) I should buy a Chinese key, but download an english client?
anyone notice how english client doesn't allow you to type in chinese? Iv tried to type characters in game, and they come up fine, but when I hit enter they never appear on screen. However it does allow me to chat with people using their chat boxes (in 中文）.
Can someone give me a definitive answer on which version would be best to buy, and how it will function?
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I am in Guangdong right now, I really think it will lag if you play a game on a server outside China.
Luckily I am usually in HK....
I guess I will buy the Taiwan server version and hope that the language can be changed to English asap.
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On July 20 2010 15:52 Kelevra1729 wrote:
Hmm so if im going to be spending the next year in china (but can't quite speak yet) I should buy a Chinese key, but download an english client?
anyone notice how english client doesn't allow you to type in chinese? Iv tried to type characters in game, and they come up fine, but when I hit enter they never appear on screen. However it does allow me to chat with people using their chat boxes (in 中文）.
Can someone give me a definitive answer on which version would be best to buy, and how it will function?
The definitive answer is this:
If you can wait a few days to play, check back a few days after launch, when we've figured out exactly how everything actually works together, and we can give you a firm answer then. Otherwise, the best anyone but Blizzard can do is offer you speculation.
Also, Not being able to type in Chinese must be a configuration problem with your operating system. I do it all the time with no problem, on my mac and Windows 2008 Server R2. I can check XP support if that's what you're using.
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On July 19 2010 17:20 mcneebs wrote:Okay wait. So I can play in English on the Chinese client?
No, I think the way it works is buying the chinese version gives you a chinese account key. Then you can go on battle.net, and click "download game", and download the english client from your chinese account key.
I think.
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On July 22 2010 01:54 Half wrote:Show nested quote +On July 19 2010 17:20 mcneebs wrote:Okay wait. So I can play in English on the Chinese client? No, I think the way it works is buying the chinese version gives you a chinese account key. Then you can go on battle.net, and click "download game", and download the english client from your chinese account key. I think.
This is not correct. If you want to use the client, without modification, you may only use the languages available in your region.
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Fuck! I just bought the collectors edition in the US but I will go back to Germany in about a week. Does all that mean I can't play on EU servers with my US key? I thought it would be just like in beta.
Man, why is Blizzard doing this to us? T_T
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On July 27 2010 17:21 fishyjoes wrote:
Fuck! I just bought the collectors edition in the US but I will go back to Germany in about a week. Does all that mean I can't play on EU servers with my US key? I thought it would be just like in beta.
Man, why is Blizzard doing this to us? T_T
It all depends how you register your key on battle.net. If you registered it for the eu-server, you can download an eu-client (either english/german/polish etc.), and log on to the eu-server. If you registered it for the NA-server on your battle.net account, you can only play with this key with a NA-client.
Edit:
I believe the keys are not region-restricted, but don't quote me on that.
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Well every time I try to add SC2 to my EU Account it will say "You are creating a SC2 Account blah blah ... Region: North America (NA)"
It seams like the key is region-restricted T_T
Oh and now Battle.net seams down or something. Can't get to the add game page anymore at all.
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On July 27 2010 17:39 fishyjoes wrote:
Well every time I try to add SC2 to my EU Account it will say "You are creating a SC2 Account blah blah ... Region: North America (NA)"
It seams like the key is region-restricted T_T
Oh and now Battle.net seams down or something. Can't get to the add game page anymore at all.
Well that sucks 
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Damn!
I've bought online license of SC2 with Latin American region so I am able to play in local servers.
The problem is it seems I can only play using client in Portugues or Spanish!!!
Trying to access it using english client pops an error message "You need an authorized language pack to use this language".
This is terrible because I can't play starcraft in a language other than english!! Translations are ridiculous (marine is translated as "soldier" in portuguese... zealot is "fanatic"... oh my god!!!)...
Does anybody know how to work around this?
Thanks!
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Hey guys. i bought a digital enUS, and made a new account. I allrdy had a eu account and sc2 installed, how i am able to switch between those 2 servers and users? There are a few post about this but im having hard trouble understanding them
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On July 28 2010 11:34 Tupan wrote:
Damn!
I've bought online license of SC2 with Latin American region so I am able to play in local servers.
The problem is it seems I can only play using client in Portugues or Spanish!!!
Trying to access it using english client pops an error message "You need an authorized language pack to use this language".
This is terrible because I can't play starcraft in a language other than english!! Translations are ridiculous (marine is translated as "soldier" in portuguese... zealot is "fanatic"... oh my god!!!)...
Does anybody know how to work around this?
Thanks!
Use this tool to play the English client on Latin America servers: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=139082
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On August 01 2010 16:23 Bambooca wrote:
Hey guys. i bought a digital enUS, and made a new account. I allrdy had a eu account and sc2 installed, how i am able to switch between those 2 servers and users? There are a few post about this but im having hard trouble understanding them
The easiest, and best way to do this is just install SC2 twice on your computer in separate folders, for example C:\Program Files\Starcraft II US\ and C:\Program Files\Starcraft II EU\. There are some shared files in your My Documents folder that will be overwritten during the 2nd install. That's ok. They're not important or unique anyways.
If harddrive space is really limited, or you just really want to risk breaking the ToS, you can use my tool linked above, and just relocalize your client everytime you want to switch servers. I recommend against this though. If you can play without using my tool, I always recommend doing so.
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grislscoutcookie it comes up with some errors i tried that =/
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On August 01 2010 19:26 Bambooca wrote:
grislscoutcookie it comes up with some errors i tried that =/
What error does it give you?
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EPT
