Blizzcon Recap

So I didn't attend Blizzcon this year, as previously mentioned. But I thought I'd mention things that happened anyway. Since I was also unable to get the Direct TV/Live viewing up, all information is obtained through twitter and other various websites.

So a couple of days before Blizzcon someone leaked their annoucments here. H4773r posted a nice long blog about his feelings on, what were then, rumors. Also Gametrailers had a nice post on what they would like to have done to WoW. Having got that out of the way, lets go to confirmations on WoW.

Tweets began appearing around 11:30 on Friday, August 21st. News recap for opening ceremony events: Sam Raimi and the Wow movie; a single player campaign for SC2 would be available; and Diablo 3 will have a monk class.

WoW news: Cataclysm. Honestly, I have really mixed feelings about the changes. I don't actually keep up with Warcraft lore to care about how the Caverns of Time didn't make sense or feel anything strongly towards Cataclysm changing Azeroth's land. I am looking forward to being to play Goblins, and don't understand why Worgens are suddenly a playable race (but then I've always been a Horde Fan). Also since I'm not into running instances and such, I'm neutral towards heroic Deadmines and Shadowfangkeep. I'll have to read more about Archeology to see if it's worth any of my toons learning it. Previously, I've never cared to learn Enchanting, Jewelcrafting, or Inscription. While I obviously use items created by the previous listed professions, I've never cared to learn them myself. New zones are always fun to explore and I'm looking forward to the underwater zone. Also I'll have to look more into the Guild Advancement system. All my toons are in a guild, but it's never really made a difference for me. I enjoy the idea of being able to fly anywhere. Leveling to 85 will be a bitch. And I could really care less about PvP related stuff.

There was also the Guild panel on Friday. The whole run down of the panel can be found at wow.com.

Word from Geekgirldiva is that the Worgen starting area is "very Victorian" not to be confused with Steampunk. Felicia Day also thinks the new Monk class for Diablo 3 kicks some ass.

A lot of the incoming reports were about the same: lots of changes, most people seem excited, only a few are WTF?! Really?!

L.A. Times review.

Tech Rebpulic review.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone who I follow to give me a decent review of the concert. I love Ozzy and really enjoyed his WoW commercial. He is something I definitely would've wanted to see. As well as MC Frontalot, who played a set at Blizzcon. Bummer. If anyone would like to add under the comments what they thought of the concert it would be greatly appreciated.

So yeah, hopefully we'll be able to attend the next Blizzcon. I had a small discussion with H4773r about the worth of it all though. Having gone to Blizzcon last year in which they debuted Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft II and Diablo III. All of which were playable. They didn't have much going on in the realm of panels last year and booths set up were fairly "meh." From the sounds of this year it was pretty much the same. Yes, there were a few differences that were huge: last year I got to see Patton Oswald stand up, this year there was an awesome concert. But really, if Blizzard is going to continue Blizzcon I expect to see more stuff and not re-hashes from the year before, especially if they're going to be charging more. Really, at this point we'll just have to wait and see.