This weekend Blizzard pushed out Patch 8 of the Diablo 3 beta along with their first public testing phase of their new BattleTag system. The BattleTag system is “a unified, player-chosen nickname that will identify you across all of Battle.net — in Blizzard Entertainment games, on our websites, and in our community forums.” Basically, this is a solution to the desire for e-mail privacy that has kept the Real ID system from exploding.

Many players refuse to share their Real ID with some stranger, in fear that they will send them unwanted e-mail or find out who they really are. This has stunted the use of the Real ID system and made many of its features less used than Blizzard would have desired. Their solution: BattleTags. The BattleTag is a not so private way to share your identity with other players.

You can setup your BattleTag now in your Battle.net account. But it isn’t being tested anywhere except in Diablo 3 at this time. It’s also not necessary to rush out and claim your BattleTag since they are actually letting more than 1 person use a battletag (somehow). Blizzard says they will be testing the system on a little larger scale ‘Soon’

Important: Many of the strategies and tips I share here were originally inspired by the people at the Diablo 3 Gold Secrets Forum. If you're serious about making the big bucks in Diablo 3, or just being the best players, you need to signup ASAP.