StarCraft 2 is the RTS game I’ve been looking forward to most this year. Recent news says the open beta will be downloadable this month — I’m thrilled. Then I saw this:
RT @StarCraft: #StarCraft2 beta will be released later this month! #SCUpdate
I checked the official docs (http://us.blizzard.com/support/index.xml?locale=en_US&gameId=13), and indeed this round of open testing is open to all players — with one catch: you need a BN account and you have to create a StarCraft 2 BETA profile (you’ll need to submit your system info and such so BLZ can analyze it). 
Once the beta profile is created, you can reach the download page (though of course, I figure the beta download isn’t out yet, so after submitting your system info you’ll have to wait a few days to get to the download page).
But when I logged into BLZ’s Battle.net, it actually redirected me to the Korean BN! I was baffled — is NetEase’s China Battle.net just for show? Why redirect to kr? So I had to manually go to the North American Battle.net and log in with my old account (last time when NetEase WOW launched, I was forced to change that account’s bound email, because the China Battle.net and NA Battle.net login emails can’t be the same!). After logging in, right where you create the beta profile, I got this blunt message: “You must have at least one full version of a BLZ game attached to this BN account in order to set up your beta profile.”
True enough, I hadn’t added any games on the NA Battle.net; I’d only played wow on the China Battle.net. So I tried logging in with my China Battle.net account, and it told me the password was wrong. This shows BLZ requires that a NetEase Battle.net account can’t duplicate an existing BN account — maybe as prep for future data merging or cross-region play — but the NA Battle.net currently doesn’t recognize China Battle.net accounts.
So then I went back to log in on the China Battle.net, and it actually told me “this service is unavailable.” Even if I could get in, I’d probably just see a world of boxes (World of Boxes, that is).
Ma de in China, I say — StarCraft 2 is such a badass game, how long do players have to wait? I figure it’s got to be 8 months, right? 8 months?? 8 months is “especially late”! StarCraft 2 is a year minimum, don’t complain it’s long, and no discounts! You have to study the current state of the economic crisis — “especially late” already held you up nearly a year, and StarCraft 2 couldn’t care less about holding you up another two.
Alright, this means that a CWOW user like me can’t join the StarCraft 2 beta through official channels. I’m hoping friends who have a NA Battle.net with a game account activated will share the StarCraft 2 beta after downloading it — I can’t wait for NetEase’s StarCraft 2.
2.13 update: Thanks to kain for providing a NA Battle.net account — I’ve filled in the beta profile and am waiting for BLZ to release it. Oh yeah, I might get to play this month!
2.20 update: The good news is Blizzard started the open beta the day before yesterday, handed out the first batch of beta keys, and the client can be downloaded from BN. The bad news is this batch had a limited number of accounts with open beta access; most players have to wait for the next batch of keys. The exact number for the next batch depends on research data like server load from recent testing.
The StarCraft 2 client requires players to log in with a BN account; all in-game matchmaking features need you to be logged in to use, and even maps have to be downloaded after logging into Battle.net. Clearly, StarCraft 2 is no longer a single-player game but an online competitive client.
Impatient players like me won’t just sit and watch, of course. If you want to experience StarCraft 2 early, you can follow these steps:
Download the StarCraft 2 client (1.64G) with rayfile, and install it: StarCraft 2 beta client installer
Download http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/36162268/file.html and extract it.
Open the folder where you installed the StarCraft 2 BETA, and go into the Battle.net folder (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\StarCraft II Beta\Battle.net)
Extract the archive you just downloaded to get the Battle.net.gfx file, and put it in the Battle.net folder
Once you reach the StarCraft 2 BETA main screen, you’ll see the offline client mode up in the options
[2.21 morning] I just finished downloading last night before I lost my connection, applied the patch and went in to take a look. 
Login screen: you can see the Guest login mode
After logging in as Guest
Clearly StarCraft 2 was born for online competition; it’s no longer that single-player game. You can imagine how booming Blizzard’s Battle.net map business will be in the future.
Related resources
- A StarCraft 2 map download site: http://www.nibbits.com/sc2/
- An open-source StarCraft 2 Battle.net emulator project Starcraft-2-Battle.Net-Wrapper
- http://sc2.uuu9.com/ all the Chinese resources are up to date here
Bonus — how to crack it to play single-player and AI matches: On top of the previous client, download Duowan StarCraft 2 Box or U9 StarCraft 2 Super Assistant, extract it to any directory (just put it in the StarCraft 2 directory), and it will automatically create a desktop shortcut. Open it, pick a map, and start playing.
The 5.5AI I’ve been using lately (the computer cheats). Yesterday, after I rushed down one computer with z and s, I ran into another computer that had two squads of carriers, a squad of archons… Fortunately the 5.5AI is still pretty lame, and I pulled off a successful transition.
I originally thought that since the Protoss Phoenix could only attack air, it should be the most specialized anti-air — who knew that although it’s anti-air, it gets sliced up by heavy warships and is only good against mutalisk-level units…