New Diablo III players suffering 72 hour gameplay restrictions

If you’re thinking of picking up a copy of Diablo III today in order to spend your entire weekend burning through the game (which can be done in 12 hours and 29 minutes), it might be wise to purchase a boxed copy.
Gamers picking up a digital version of the game have been hit with some rather severe restrictions for anything up to 3 days. The issue, according to Blizzard, is one of payment clearance.
In an attempt to limit credit card fraud, Blizzard imposes a number of gameplay restrictions until your payment had been verified. In a lot of cases that only takes a few hours, but it can take up to 3 days.
The limits effectively make you play under the same restrictions as the Starter Edition. It means you can’t progress past Act I, and your character won’t be able to go beyond a level 13 cap. You also can’t access either auction house, can’t trade or drop items, and can’t chat in public game channels.
The over-the-top restrictions were switched on when the 1.03 patch was launched, and Blizzard has admitted it needs to sort out the Level 13 cap and Act I limitations. The other restrictions will remain in place for the first 72 hours or until the payment clears, whichever happens first.
There’s no ETA on when Blizzard will sort this problem out, so if you want a restriction-free Diablo III experience just buy the digital version 3 days ahead of when you intend to have a serious play session. That way, your payment will definitely be verified.
Unfortunately for Blizzard it’s just another negative surrounding the release of Diablo III. Players are still having trouble accessing the game in some regions, there’s slowdown if your Internet connection isn’t great, and there’s a backlash from gamers concerning the online DRM, which has lead to Blizzard issuing refunds in South Korea.