Hello everyone, I’m Agent Smashing or Chris, whichever you prefer, and I’m looking forward to bringing you guys Starcraft news and opinion often, in other words: let’s be friends. The fourth SC2 Beta patch reads like this:

Korea

Now you, like myself, might have wondered what exactly does this mean? Why do Koreans care about game rating information so much? Why didn’t this patch include my beta key? And finally, why didn’t Terran lift off get taken out of the game?

After a little digging, I discovered that the game rating information is actually put there so that a spectator, and players, can display at will the ratings of each player involved in the match. This is important in Korea more so than America, considering that StarCraft is one of South Korea’s national sports, so Blizzard made sure to get it out to them.

To answer the question about Beta invites, I’m sure you’re all wondering what the latest news is with them. Well I am here to ram the truth into your ocular cones and rods (or implants) whether you like it or not. I called Blizzard yesterday and waited on hold for an hour for YOU (feel special here) and discovered some interesting facts. Here is the scoop on your individual situations:

Blizzcon Attendees and Ebay buyers: I know it’s hard being hated by the community for being both lucky and wealthy, and your lot in life has only gotten worse if you’ve just recently used that code on the back of a BlizzCon card. Codes used recently (i.e. within the last couple weeks) did not get included in the first two Beta waves, here’s Xoridah with the official Blue response:

So according to Blizzard, they don’t care AT ALL if you bought the card or got it at BlizzCon, they just care when it was registered, unlike the Opt-In pool which is seemingly random. If you registered recently, just hold on, Blizzard is getting to you. If you bought a code from an e-mail sent by Blizzard, you’re probably not reading this because those grant instant access to the beta.

Contest Winners: If you aren’t already enjoying the Beta, you’re not alone. It seems many contest winners (especially the Twitter contest) have not gotten e-mails from Blizzard with their codes in it. The best advice is to call Blizzard and be placed on hold for an hour, it appears many contest winners got lost in the sea of beta invites that need to be sent out. You deserve your invite though, so make your voice heard! If for some reason you can’t call Blizzard you can always e-mail them at billing@blizzard.com

Opted-In Users: Ah the stalwart and patient (but mostly impatient). It doesn’t matter when you opted in, that you started playing StarCraft in 98, that you know a guy who knows a guy who works at Blizzard, or that all your friends are in but you. The rule is absolute. It is random and it is unwavering in that. Chances are you won’t get in, and the sooner you come to terms with that the better you’ll sleep. However, one way you can up your chances are by making new Blizzard accounts, registering each account with a game (you have to have at least one), and opting in on each one of those accounts.

There is no ETA on wave 3 of beta invites, but the good news is Blizzard is aiming for a Quarter 3 2010 release, so the end is in sight. Finally, Terran lift off didn’t get taken out of the game because it’s been there since SC1. I think the term is “L2P”? Till next time this is Agent Smashing reminding you an Overload is temporary, but a Nydus worm is forever.