blizzcon-2014
Latest
BlizzCon 2014 gallery updated with over 700 new photos
BlizzCon 2014 may be long gone, but you can relieve the memories -- Blizzard has just updated its BlizzCon 2014 media gallery with over 700 photos from the event. The costume section alone has over three hundred photos of fan created costumes and cosplay, including all of the winners of this year's BlizzCon Costume Contest, the participants in the contest, and plenty of shots of assorted costumes from around the convention center as well. In addition, there's a gallery selection of images from this year's Esports stages and competitions, including a lot of behind the scenes shots of the gorgeous new Hearthstone tournament area, and shots of the tournaments themselves. And if neither of those things are quite up your alley, there's a large gallery of general images from around the convention center highlighting events, panels, sights and scenery from around the convention hall, and even highlights from the closing ceremony concert as well. Take a look at the full gallery on Blizzard's official site.
WoW Moviewatch: Starcraft Evacuation
Okay, obviously this isn't Warcraft -- heck, I'm not even sure we can classify it as machinima. But this is the second place winner from the 2014 BlizzCon movie contest, so I thought you guys might like to see it. Starcraft: Evacuation is a short film by Youtuber Peter Stroll about a small Terran mining settlement that is under attack -- the story is relatively straightforward. What's pretty cool about this particular movie is that sure, there's live action, but there's also some visual effects included that are surprisingly well done for an amateur effort. My only lament is that the film cuts off just when I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Maybe we'll see a sequel in time for the next BlizzCon? Let's hope so. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
BlizzCon 2014 interviews feature Cory Stockton, Alex Afrasiabi
Just in case you missed it in the madness of Warlords of Draenor's launch, WoW Insider had the opportunity to interview not one but two developers this year at BlizzCon 2014. Both interviews were posted earlier this week and are well worth the look -- and may have been missed in the flood of Warlords expansion announcements and updates. For those with more of a bent towards lore, the interview with World of Warcraft's Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi focused on the story behind the expansion, including discussion on alternate universes, some surprising stories about Garrosh Hellscream and the development of Warlords, and even an interesting tidbit about alternate Azeroth. For those with more of a technical bent and burning questions about Warlords of Draenor's features and content, check out our interview with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton. In the interview, we take an in-depth look at garrisons and their development, the new look of Warcraft's professions, and some cool new things to look forward to with transmogrification, as well as a few other fun features of the latest expansion.
Garrisons, professions and more with Cory Stockton
Warlords of Draenor has arrived, with tons of new content, quests, dungeons, raids, zones, and of course garrisons! During BlizzCon 2014, we sat down with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton to discuss the development and design behind the new feature, in addition to a closer look at the changes to professions and profession design in Warlords of Draenor. But what's a talk with Mumper without a little transmog talk thrown into the mix -- and it appears we've got more transmog changes on the distant horizon that we'd originally thought.
BlizzCon 2014: Art gallery celebrates Blizzard's past and present
The Blizzard art gallery on display at BlizzCon is always worth a visit for convention-goers, but this year's gallery was a special treat highlighting the history and development of Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If you were looking for a trip down memory lane, this was the place to be: along with early concept art and design documents, a monitor cycled through screenshots of WoW's past, including an early image of WoW running on the Warcraft III engine, the first Molten Core raid and the first Blackwing Lair raid (the which goes about as well as you'd expect). After the opening ceremony announced Overwatch, an empty part of the gallery filled with Overwatch concept art and attracted most of the attention away from Warcraft's past... but it was fun to venture back into Blizzard's past before heading into Blizzard's future. For more art, check out the full gallery below.
Last Week on Massively: BlizzCon 2014
This post originally appeared on Massively from Editor-in-Chief Brianna Royce. At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO story last week, you've come to the right post. BlizzCon 2014 dominated the weekend in all corners of the Joystiq network, Massively included. Blizzard not only announced OFPS Overwatch but spilled details on Hearthstone's upcoming expansion, Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm, the Warcraft movie, and the World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor expansion launching this coming Thursday. We've rounded up all the best bits from Massively and WoW Insider right here! Liveblogging the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon 2014 World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog World of Warcraft items, class changes liveblog Blizzard announces new charity pet for ebola relief efforts Warcraft movie panel liveblog Blizzard takes on superheroes with Overwatch Live blogging the Overwatch panel Overwatch hands-on gameplay impressions The heroes of Overwatch Hearthstone: Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion announced Hearthstone: Goblins vs. Gnomes cards and mechanics Diablo III previews Season 2 Heroes of the Storm panel Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories.
TradeChat's recap of BlizzCon 2014
Missed BlizzCon? Didn't get in on the virtual ticket? Panser has you covered with her recap of BlizzCon 2014. She covers the biggest news of the convention and provides a convenient gathering place for all of BlizzCon's hottest trailers. On top of it all, she provides a great big dose of Overwatch geekery, a sentiment many of us share.
Watch the full World of Warcraft: Looking for Group documentary
You might have missed the "other" Warcraft movie reveal at BlizzCon this past week, but we're here to make sure that you don't let it slip by completely. Blizzard premiered a special World of Warcraft documentary at the convention called Looking for Group, and you can watch the flick in its entirety right now. Looking for Group examines the phenomenon of the MMO's creation and operation over the past 10-plus years. According to the studio, the documetary will allow you to "explore the history of WoW with its creators, and journey into corners of Blizzard and the WoW community you've never seen before." Grab your Michael Jackson comment popcorn and watch it after the break!
World of Warcraft: Looking for Group premieres at BlizzCon
The World of Warcraft: Looking for Group documentary recently premiered at BlizzCon, and Blizzard has put it up on YouTube for all to enjoy. It runs for a full hour and gives a fascinating behind the scenes look at the 10-year history of WoW, along with stories from players about what the game means to them. Just stop reading this and watch it!
BlizzCon 2014: Diablo 3 adds Ruins of Sescheron, new items
Diablo 3 fans may not have as much excitement from BlizzCon this year as Hearthstone fans or StarCraft 2 fans, but there are a few changes coming as Blizzard continues to refine the Diablo experience to maximize fun and minimize the frustrating grind that characterized the game at launch. Though this year's panels spent the majority of their time talking about the development process that brought Diablo 3 to the place it is now, there were some hints at the future, new monsters, new items, and an early demo of a new area, the Ruins of Sescheron (which you may remember from its brief appearance in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction). As to a new Diablo expansion, the devs refused to give a yes or no answer, but we live can live in hope, right? In the meanwhile, check out our galleries for a look at what's coming, or keep reading for a rundown of upcoming changes.
Heroes of the Storm getting new characters, maps, beta in January
Blizzard's MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, continues to evolve and change. During the opening ceremony for BlizzCon 2014, company president and CEO Mike Morhaime introduced a new trailer for the game which revealed characters Jaina, Thrall and the Lost Vikings, as well as two new maps: Sky Temple and Tomb of the Spider Queen. If you want to just skip all these fancy letters and words, that trailer is waiting after the break. Warcraft series fans will recognize Jaina and Thrall, representatives of the Alliance and Horde factions, respectively. Both characters' appearances seem based on earlier versions of themselves rather than their current visage, as Thrall is once more clad in his Warcraft 3 armor, while Jaina lacks the distinct white hair she gained in the latest World of Warcraft expansion. The Lost Vikings, meanwhile, are from an old SNES game called ... well, The Lost Vikings. Thrall will act as a melee fighter, Jaina a glass-cannon mage, and the Vikings as a trio of individually-controlled characters. The game's new maps feature Egyptian-inspired themes, with one set above ground (Sky Temple) and one set in the catacombs below (Tomb of the Spider Queen). Sky Temple encourages players to capture control points which will in turn cause heavy damage to enemies and their base, while Tomb of the Spider Queen rewards players for stealing minion souls by summoning strong monster allies. If you're anxious to try these additions out for yourself but aren't part of the alpha currently underway, you may not have to wait much longer: Heroes of the Storm will move to closed beta starting January 13, 2015.
The Queue: Convention recovery mode
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. BlizzCon is over. I'm exhausted. Let's do this. DaEvilGenius asked: I see no mention of Eye of Azshara. Any thoughts on what it might be since all major announcements were done.
BlizzCon 2014 day 2 recap
BlizzCon has reached its conclusion but our coverage has not. If you missed any of today's events, you can find all of it below. And if you're really behind on BlizzCon, jump back to our day 1 recap. Overwatch Origins liveblog Method wins their second BlizzCon live raid World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog Overwatch hands-on gameplay expansion In the coming days, we will also have photo galleries, interviews with Alex Afrasiabi and Cory Stockton, and other bits and bobs we picked up along the way during BlizzCon 2014. We will also most certainly still be here for coverage of the launch of Warlords of Draenor which is less than one week away.
Overwatch beta starts in 2015, sign-ups now live
Overwatch, Blizzard's freshly-unveiled team-based shooter, is currently playable in Anaheim for the duration of BlizzCon 2014. If you couldn't make it to this year's celebration of all things Blizzard though, there's still hope; sign-ups for the Overwatch beta are live, and all you need is an active Battle.net account. Simply head over to the official Overwatch site and click the big yellow button that says "beta," login with your Bnet account and boom! Done. As for when you can expect to take Blizzard's stylized sci-fi(-ish) shooter for a spin, Blizzard announced that a beta would take place in 2015, but when specifically within that year it'll happen has yet to be revealed. Still, couldn't hurt to put your name in early, right? [Image: Blizzard]
BlizzCon 2014: World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog
Get ready to talk Warcraft! The last World of Warcraft panel of BlizzCon is the Q&A, where BlizzCon attendees can pose any questions they like to the development team. Here's what you can expect: Members of the World of Warcraft dev team tank your questions about the game's lore, zones, dungeons, raids, and more. This free-for-all panel always has some interesting moments, so stay tuned for this year's Q&A, live from the BlizzCon floor. The panel kicks off at 3:30 PM PST (6:30 PM EST), so stay tuned!
BlizzCon 2014: Diablo III previews Season 2
BlizzCon attendees and remote viewers got a first look at Season 2 for Diablo III, and now it's your turn to do so as well. The second season, which starts public realm testing "soon," will add new and beefed-up legendary items, a trio of new conquests, and boots and pants for the level 70 Conqueror's transmorgrification set for those willing to reroll a character. Blizzard also announced a new batch of earnable rewards: "Players who participate in the season will also receive an exclusive full banner set, including shape, pattern, sigil, and accent. Each piece of this set is unlocked by acquiring seasonal achievement points." Like Season 1, Season 2 will not be coming to consoles due to their occasionally offline nature.
Method wins their second BlizzCon live raid
Congratulations to Method for winning their second BlizzCon live raid! This year, both Method and Midwinter raced in Highmaul (Heroic), one of the upcoming Warlords of Draenor raids. Unlike the Siege of Orgrimmar race from last year, this race was from start to finish -- including the trash, which proved to be one of the deciding factors for Method's victory. Midwinter started out strong by killing the first boss, Kargath, while Method still had about 20% to go. This advantage quickly shifted when Midwinter had some hiccups on the trash on the way to Twin Ogron (the 3 bosses in between are optional bosses, which they skipped for the purpose of the race). Method killed Twin Ogron with Midwinter still at 25%. Midwinter slowly caught up during Ko'ragh and ended up pulling the final boss, Imperator Mar'gok, only 10 seconds behind Method. The final fight was pretty exciting, with Method and Midwinter only about 5-10% apart on boss health throughout the whole fight. There were several close calls, but Method ended up pulling it off. If you have the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, I'd recommend checking out the VOD. Lead Designer Ion Hazzikostas gives some good background information on the fight mechanics and some of the lore behind the raid.
Who's playing who, what orcs look like in the Warcraft movie
The cast list and associated characters for the upcoming Warcraft film from Legendary Pictures has been revealed by director Duncan Jones and Blizzard SVP of Story and Franchise Development, Chris Metzen. As part of a BlizzCon 2014 panel, the two men - joined by cast and crew from the film - discussed who would be wearing whose set of armor. Those revealed include: Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar (Alliance) Dominic Cooper as King Llane Wrynn (Alliance) Ben Foster as Medivh (Alliance) Ben Schnetzer as Khadgar (Alliance) Ruth Negga as Lady Taria (Alliance) Paula Patton as Garona (Alliance/Horde) Toby Kebbel as Durotan (Horde) Rob Kazinsky as Orgrim (Horde) Clancy Brown as Blackhand (Horde) Daniel Wu as Gul'Dan (Horde) Filming wrapped on Warcraft earlier this year, but there's still plenty of post-production work to be done before the film's March 2016 release. Legendary and Blizzard are aiming to keep excitement high however, and fans can now follow news updates via FightForTheHorde.com and FightForTheAlliance.com. Legendary also released two promo shots of heroes King Llane and Orgrim, which you can check out after the break:
BlizzCon Overwatch Origins liveblog
The Overwatch Origins panel will begin at 11:30 a.m. Pacific. The BlizzCon schedule provides the following description: Supercharged heroes, astonishing super-science, and super-secret syndicates with mysterious agendas -- witness the origin story of Blizzard's first all-new game universe in over 15 years, and explore the vision behind the world and gameplay of Overwatch. We'll be liveblogging the whole panel right here. Updates will be in reverse-chronological order, with newest updates at the top of the page. If you only want the latest update, you can stay near the top. If you missed the beginning of the panel, scroll to the bottom.
Hearthstone expansion Goblins vs Gnomes concocts December release date
Goblins vs Gnomes, the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft expansion teased at PAX Prime 2014 will shed its digital foil cover this December, Blizzard announced during the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2014. "We're going back to the beginnings of Warcraft, to a longstanding rivalry between two proud races," Hearthstone production director Jason Chayes said regarding the expansion's content. "One embodies the nobility and the fellowship of The Alliance. The other: the honor and the resilience of The Horde." Chayes revealed the expansion will bring more than 120 new cards to players' decks, many of which are themed around gnomish and goblin inventions, such as the Explosive Sheep and Annoy-O-Tron. If you're excited for the content but would prefer to play on Android instead of PC or iPad, there's more good news: December will also mark Hearthstone's release on Android tablets, Chayes announced. No matter which system or faction you choose to play though, Chayes promises the results will be "explosive." [Image: Blizzard]
