Thursday, November 12, 2015

Quick Tip: 'Fake' Blizzard E-mail Going Around (That Is Actually 'Real')... [Notification]


Although many of you may be able to recognize a "fake" or "scam" e-mail that is not from a company that it 'pretends to be', senders of these types of spam letters ('fishing' for your account information or credit card information, called "Phishing") are getting better and better at it - and it is getting harder and harder to recognize these fake e-mails for many people. However, I wished to speedily created this Quick Tip, to inform others that there is another 'fake e-mail' going around very recently - but this one may actually from Blizzard Entertainment...


Above, is an example of the 'fake e-mail' [with MOAR FLAREZ], that purports to be "from Blizzard Entertainment" - one that I just received myself - and although just seeing this e-mail may immediately scare off most recipients [which is not a 'bad thing' in regards to unknown email], this one may in fact be an actual, informative, notification from Blizzard.

Many are already asking on the Official World Of Warcraft Forums if this e-mail is 'real or not', and according to a Blizzard Representative, there may indeed be some 'house cleaning' going on, for aging accounts - to be more specific, ones that do not have either any full-version (non-Trial) retail games on them, or ones that have not been utilized for a very long period of time. One such related post, by such a representative, is below:


So, there may in fact be some very old, or very unused accounts being notified recently that their accounts may be purged soon. However, since these types of e-mails are mostly [as in 96.333% and up] NOT from Blizzard and are merely "phishing" attempts at getting your account and/or credit card information, some Tips are in order [in my opinion].

Two easy tips that I can give immediately are:
  • Do NOT click on any links, images, buttons or anything else interactive within the e-mail
  • Instead, close/delete the email and go directly to Blizzard.com or Battle.net, by typing in the address yourself, directly into your web browser and access/update your Account from there

By simply using the above two tips, the chances of you going to any 'fake sites' or being 'scammed' is immediately reduced to a much, much lower possibility.

Of course, other measures can be taken; such as deleting the e-mail, not opening it initially (after only seeing the Subject in your Inbox) and obtaining an account Authenticator from Blizzard for your account.


Regardless of the steps you wish you take, I wanted to quickly put this up here, as this is a very recent email distribution [and one that I received myself regarding an old Trial account I had forgotten about], in order to help others... 

Be careful out there, always investigate, if in doubt - and See You In The Game!


Saturday, November 07, 2015

The 2015 Extra Life 24-Hour Gaming Marathon, In Support of The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals [Post Updated All Weekend]



Despite recently undergoing surgery [and a great reason to do so!], I will be taking part in the Extra Life 24-Hour Gaming Marathon, a fundraiser event supporting Children's Miracle Network Hospitals this weekend!

For the next few days, I will be playing as much as I can for the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, as I was born and raised in the wonderfully-friendly province of Alberta, Canada.

If you wish to take part, you can Pledge/Donate via the Badge/Logo below or through this link: http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=190360 - and whether you pledge anything or not, feel free to visit The Blog's main Twitter Feed or The Blog's new Facebook Page or just return to this posting, for gameplay time Updates, Screenshots, Video Clips from the weekend - and more!


[Badge from 2015 has been removed since event has ended]

See You In The Game!


Update, Saturday 9:00AM PST: The Marathon Begins!

Update, Saturday 10:00AM PST: Warmed Up with some Hearthstone (it detected it as "Unknown" at first for some reason [15 Minutes Gameplay Time], had to add it to the AMD Gaming Evolved / Raptr Game Client manually) - but not feeling great... going to be a hard weekend to play as much as I can!

The Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Gameplay Client Post-Game Popup, which the client automagically posts to the Raptr Profile Feed. Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 0.5 hrs

Update, Saturday 11AM PST: Played some ['semi-relaxing' due to Hardcore Mode] Minecraft - I will eventually Upload some Raptr/Plays.TV gameplay recordings or screenshots right here in this post - taking more Pain Pills and a Lunch Break already... whew!

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Gameplay Client interface and Time Tracker that is found in the Notifications area of the client (by clicking on the bell icon).
Click to see Full Size 

Total Gameplay Time: 1 hour

Update, Saturday 12PM PST: Currently playing Minecraft in Hardcore Mode...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon  - Starting a 'garden' in Minecraft - Hardcore Mode!
Click to see Full Size


Update, Saturday 1PM PST: Played some more Minecraft - Hardcore Mode! Time for a break...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - The 'garden' grows and a hillside 'house' begins in Minecraft - Hardcore Mode.
Click to see Full Size

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface Post-Game Popup, which the client can automagically post to the Raptr Profile news feed . Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 2 hours

Update, Saturday 5:30PM PST: Had to lay down for a while, then played some more Minecraft in Hardcore Mode. Taking a break, will post some more Screenshots Soon™...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Interface and Time Tracker, for Minecraft just now. Click to see Full Size

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Minecraft, the 'garden' is full and 'bamboo' is on the way!
Click to see Full Size
The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Minecraft, "Taming The Land (So To Speak)", utilizing environmental resources and building glass houses to throw stones in (Hardcore Mode).
Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 3 hours

Update, Saturday 8:00PM PST: Took a break, then played some more Minecraft in Hardcore Mode... Went to The Nether Lands (now called The Nether Realm or The Underworld or just The Nether). Taking a break, between my illness and my recent surgery (Gall Bladder Removal / Cholecystectomy), this is hard - but it's for a good cause!


The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface and Time Tracker (the Post-Game Popup, which summarizes the gaming session and offers to post it for sharing, doesn't seem to be working all the time?). Click to see Full Size



Total Gameplay Time: 4 hours


Update, Saturday 9:00PM PST: Played some Hearthstone to change things up a bit - got a pack of Tournament cards - lost almost every game! haha


The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface and Time Tracker. Click to see Full Size
The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of Hearthstone, creating a Priest Deck in Arena Mode.
Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 5 hours

Update, Saturday 11:00PM PST: Went back to the cubic world of Minecraft in Hardcore Mode... Expanded my 'garden', did some roofing on my 'glass house' and did I mention earlier that I finally found Diamonds?! That's it for tonight I think... unless I can't sleep, then I'll play some more haha

More Screenshots tomorrow - and of course, a ton of them at the end of the weekend and videos, too!

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface and Time Tracker, showing the Minecraft gaming session(s), just now. Click to see Full Size

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of Minecraft, "My Glass House (To Throw Stones In), A Work In Progress" (Hardcore Mode). Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 6 hours

Update, Sunday 6:00AM PST: Woke up waaay too early, hours ago... but was able to play some Minecraft Hardcore Mode! Going back to sleep Zzz...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface and Time Tracker, showing the Minecraft gaming session, just now. Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 7 hours

Update, Sunday 12:00PM PST: Played some more Minecraft, Hardcore Mode - and while trying to cover distance quickly in a boat crossing the ocean, I got killed by a "Guardian" when I was investigating something under the water - crazy! /sigh oh well, such is the life of a Hardcore Adventurer... "Your Deeds Will Be Remembered". Time to look some things up, I guess - see you in the next World!

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) Client interface and Time Tracker, showing the final Minecraft gaming session (where I died in Hardcore Mode), just now. Click to see Full Size

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of Minecraft, "Your Deeds Will Be Remembered" II (Hardcore Mode) - I guess that's it for this World... See you in the next one! Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 8 hours

Update, Sunday 3:30PM PST: Decided to start a 'regular' (Non-Hardcore Mode) Minecraft World/Map - this way, I can 'see how far I can get' for the remainder of the Marathon for fun and I can even continue playing it afterward, amassing even more items and seeing new areas! Whew... time for a break...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) client interface and Time Tracker, showing the completed Minecraft gaming session, just now. Click to see Full Size.

Total Gameplay Time: 10 hours

Update, Sunday 6:00PM PST: Played some more Minecraft... tired - but trying to play more for the weekend Marathon! Screenshots and video clips from the weekend will be added when it's all over!

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) client interface and Time Tracker, showing the completed Minecraft gaming session, just now. Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 11 hours

Update, Sunday 8:00PM PST: Played Moar Minecraft, made a portal to go to "The Nether Lands" [which is now called The Nether Realm or The Underworld or just The Nether]... whew - time for a break!

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) client interface and Time Tracker, showing the completed Minecraft gaming session, just now (1 hour). Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 12 hours

Update, Sunday 10:00PM PST: Pushed hard to play more Minecraft, made it back to 'base/home' safely and made an Enchanting Table, woot! Tired... may be it for me today, not sure...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of  the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) client interface and Time Tracker, showing another hour of Minecraft, just now. Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time: 13 hours

Update, Monday 2:00PM PST: Well, due to my ongoing illness (which categorizes me as Physically Disabled) and my recent major surgery (Cholecystectomy), I sadly wasn't able to amass 24 hours in the weekend's allotted time... however, I tried very hard to help out and Play For The Kids™ and really wanted to 'get up to' 24 hours - so I add this to the Weekend: my lovely wife has generously been playing alongside me the past while, amassing an additional 9 hours as an "Honorary Team Member" - "The Couple That Plays Together, Stays Together" ~ (me), I always say! So, with my helpful wife's gameplay, together we have a grand total of 26 hours of Total Gameplay Time (Household/'Team')... In light of my current condition, I hope that The Kids and The Readers out there will accept that, for this year. Next year, I'll try to do it all myself! See you then!
Oh and don't forget to come back here later on, for Screenshots and Video Clips from this weekend!
Thank you, to everyone who came along on this demanding but fun ride. Take care...

The 2015 Extra Life 24-hour Gaming Marathon - Screenshot of the AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) client interface and Time Tracker, showing the last gaming session that I will count for this year... Click to see Full Size

Total Gameplay Time (Household/'Team'): 17 hours + 9 hours = 26 hours