blizzcon2007
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BlizzCon goodie bag inventory!
BlizzCon hasn't started yet, but we can get back back to you on this important information: the exact contents of the goodie bag. Heroes of Azeroth starter deck ("Do Not Open! Bring to the WoW TCG area for a FREE entry into a Beginners' Starter Tournament.") XL World of Warcraft t-shirt (a random a monitor hat featuring artwork from all of the Blizzard franchises (it sticks to the top of your monitor) an advertisement for a Killer NIC network card World of Warcraft sneak peak comic book from Wildstorm Presspins for Blizzard, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo coasters featuring Diablo, Starcraft, a Draenei &Blood Elf, and a Murloc a little bottle of hand sanatizer in a Blizzard clip (it could go right on your lanyard!) a J!NX logo temporary tattoo an advertisement for the AT&T Blue Room a $5 coupon for J!NX t-shirts an advertisement for the Logitech G-series keyboard and mouse an advertisement for Zboard a Starcraft Colossus magnet an advertisement for jobs at Blizzard a $50 Nvidia coupon a $40 coupon for Creative an advertisement for ZipZoomfly.com a ticket for a BlizzCon program and map a character sheet magnet (with a pop-out center, so you can pull it out and put their own photos in the middle a Blizzard lanyard a bookmark that presents us with a quest to happen on the convention room floor an Alliance souvineer coin an epic armor pack for the board game a card giving the code for the beta an orc pin And yes, for those who simply must have their own BlizzCon loot, they're already on eBay.
BlizzCon Countdown: Tomorrow's the day!
For those of you who have been living under a rock, tomorrow is the first day of BlizzCon 2007. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM PDT, we'll be standing in line for StarCraft II demos (we'll try not to get to involved in playing -- and remember to get back to you with all the details!) and starting at 11:00 AM we'll be liveblogging the opening ceremony, where we're expecting to hear the official announcement for the next expansion. For those of you who have missed out on our BlizzCon announcements, I'll use today to bring you up to date on what's happening: We've got an official schedule of events, showing off all of the various panels we're going to get to see. We have our very own BlizzCon Bingo game to play on the convention floor (hey, you need something to do while waiting in line!) A whole slew of expansion rumors! A supposed Wrath of the Lich King FAQ An anonymous source at IGN saying the next expansion is going to be Into the Maelstrom A number of sources suggesting the expansion's title is going to be Wrath of the Lich King A round-up of lore-likely expansion locations For those of you attending, we'll see you there! And for those of you not lucky enough to get tickets, don't fear -- we'll be providing you with all of the information from the show floor!
Roundup of expansion possibilities
While we'll know for certain what the next expansion will be in just a few more days, it's hard to stop speculating. Right now we've got lots of evidence supporting the idea of a Northrend expansion (there's the music, as well as some excellent supporting facts), but we've also got unnamed sources suggesting the next expansion will send us into the Maelstrom currently located between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. But for those of you still wishing to speculate, BlizzPlanet has a list of potential expansion candidates, and WoWWiki has an excellent list as well, though theirs ranges into perhaps more far-fetched suggestions. Obviously, there's Northrend, which contains 13 distinct regions, then there's the South Seas, 5 islands located off the southern coast of the Eastern Kingdoms (and include Zandalar, which I must note already exists in the game) -- on one of these isles you'll find the well-known Goblin city of Undermine, then there are a number of other islands located in the Great Sea: Kul'Tiras, Tol Barad, Crestfall, Zul'Dare, Dragon Isle, Balor, and Pandaria, the Emerald Dream, which could be as large as Azeroth itself. However, considering the size of the last expansion, it would not be impossible for Blizzard to, perhaps, pick more than one of these ideas to implement. Perhaps Northrend will focus on new end-game content while the South Seas will provide new mid-range content? We'll find out soon!
BlizzCon Countdown: 3 days to go!
Are you excited yet? In just a few short days we'll be hearing all of the exciting news Blizzard has been sitting on these past few months. We're going to be hearing all sorts of news about StarCraft II, the next big thing (or things!) for World of Warcraft, and who knows what else Blizzard might have in store for us. Just yesterday we got an official schedule of events. So for those of you attending, I ask which panels and events are you most excited about seeing? And to those who won't be making it out to the convention, I ask which events do you most want us to get you video coverage of? (Of course we're going to cover as much as we can, but it's a big convention, and we have a limited number of people with cameras!) So tell us: what can't you wait to see?
Last chance to enter BlizzCon contests!
For those of you interested in entering any of the contests happening at BlizzCon, tonight is your last chance! If you're going to be at BlizzCon and fancy you have a chance at the costume contest or the dance contest, you've got until 8:00 PM PDT (that's midnight for you east-coasters) to enter. You could win some excellent prizes, including a swanky new Dell laptop, so if you're attending, why not test out your elite dancing skills?
Official BlizzCon schedule announced
Blizzard has finally announced an official schedule of events for BlizzCon, happening this Friday and Saturday. It's a bit different from the leaked schedule we'd seen, so if you're curious about what's going to be happening on the show floor, be sure to check it out! But if you can't make it as far as clicking that link, here are the highlights: StarCraft II open gaming from 9:00 AM - 10:00 PM Friday and 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM Saturday World of Warcraft open gaming from 11:30 AM - 10:00 PM on Friday and 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM on Saturday Interesting panels, covering the expanded universe, WoW classes, WoW dungeons & raids, sound & music, careers in gaming, WoW UI and mods, WoW professions & items, cinematics, WoW PvP, StarCraft art, StarCraft lore, WoW lore & quests, and the WoW TCG. Legendary Pictures has a time slot -- perhaps we'll get a first glance at the upcoming movie? In addition to the official schedule, we also have word from Oxhorn that there will be a machinima booth in the exhibit area featuring all of your favorite machinima makers at various times throughout the day. So if you're wanting to meet anyone in particular, check their schedule!Friday 1:00 PM: Slashdance 2:00 PM: Riot Films 3:00 PM: Time Gnomes 4:00 PM: Stone Falcon Productions 5:00 PM: Dead Worker's Party Saturday 1:00 PM: Rufus Cubed 2:00 PM Oxhorn 3:00 PM: Spiffworld 4:00 PM: Red Sky Foundry 5:00 PM: Blizzard DVD/Video Production
BlizzCon Countdown: 4 days to go!
We're getting ever closer to the Big Day! In our countdown yesterday, we asked what you would ask Blizzard if you had the chance, so we can ask them when we have the chance -- and keep sending us questions! They're great! Today, however, we're tackling a much less serious topic. Judging from the pictures from the 2005 show floor, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing plenty of players taking off this opportunity to show off elaborate costumes. But which of you, dear readers, will be heading out to the con dressed as a Night Elf or a Warlock? (And for those of you who haven't yet considered attire, there's plenty of costume inspiration on the 2005 BlizzCon site -- though it may be a bit late to start thinking about costumes.)
Taking a look at the Arena team finalists
Just yesterday, Blizzard announced which Arena teams will be participating in the tournament at BlizzCon. And in the hours since, players on the forums have been scrutinizing their team makeup and trying to determine what it might mean. Poster Alairia jumps in informing us of the class breakdown on participating Arena teams: 8/8 teams have a Warrior 8/8 teams have a Paladin 7/8 teams have a Shaman 5/8 teams have a Mage 4/8 teams have a Priest 3/8 teams have a Warlock 2/8 teams have a Hunter 1/8 teams have a Rogue 0/8 teams have a Druid And poster Perplexia brings us some slightly more informative percentages: 25% of the players in the finals are Warriors 20% of the players in the finals are Paladins 17.5% of the players in the finals are Shamans 12.5% of the players in the finals are Mages 10% of the players in the finals are Priests 7.5% of the players in the finals are Warlocks 5% of the players in the finals are Hunters 2.5% of the players in the finals are Rogues 0% of the players in the finals are Druids While you can certainly brush off these numbers as personal choice of the teams involved, it does seem odd that when eight of the top Arena teams in the world get together, they have no Druids among them. The breakdown suggests that some classes simply aren't viable in Arena battles. But what's your take on these numbers? Are some classes simply a liability in 5v5 Arenas -- or is it just that the teams who happen to be the best of the best have a fondness for Warriors?
BlizzCon tournament brackets announced
We knew that there Blizzard was going to be holding tournaments for StarCraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft Arenas at BlizzCon, but until today we didn't know who would be participating. The BlizzCon site has been updated with a list of participating players along with brief player profiles. The Arena tournament will includes the top two teams from Korea's regional finals, the top two teams from the European regional finals, the top three teams from the American regional finals, and the winner of the 2005 BlizzCon Invitational. (Don't ask me how that works, since I'm quite sure we didn't have arenas in 2005.) And for those of you curious about worlds beyond Warcraft, check out the StarCraft and Warcraft III brackets.
Xfire and WoW Insider, live from the BlizzCon floor
Our BlizzCon coverage continues all this week-- we're sending our staff out to Anaheim (I'll be out there on Tuesday laying all the groundwork), culminating in the second BlizzCon event on Friday and Saturday. So whether you're going or not, stay tuned to WoW Insider all week for breaking news, liveblogging events, and pictures, video, and tons of coverage from Blizzard's big get-together.And don't forget that all of our coverage is being co-presented with Xfire. In addition to their BlizzCon info page, they've also set up a special "blizzcon2007" account, and both Xfire and WoW Insider staff members will be blogging there during the event. Also, if you have an Xfire account, be sure to add "blizzcon2007" to your Friends-- that way, you'll be able to get invites to Xfire chats later this week coming directly from the BlizzCon exhibit hall. And if you don't have an Xfire account, then get one for free!So this is it. It's time to hear about Zul'Aman and the next expansion. It's time to see Starcraft II playable and in action. And maybe it's time to hear about that third game Blizzard is working on? At BlizzCon, you never know. Stay tuned to both WoW Insider and Xfire to find out.
BlizzCon Countdown: 5 days to BlizzCon
We've got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then, on the 5th day, we have BlizzCon! And over at WoW Insider HQ we're busying ourselves with preparations. Laptops? Check! Video cameras? Check! Nintendo DS to play with while waiting in line for the demo stations? Check! Awesome murloc costumes? Well, maybe that's going a little too far. But one thing we're missing is your questions. We're going to be spending two days in the middle of a crowd of Blizzard employees -- and at some point we're going to be talking to some of them. And for those of you who don't get to come (and perhaps even those of you who are joining us there!), what we want are your questions. If you had one question to ask the CMs or devs in person, what would it be? Give us your questions, and we'll pick the best of them to take along to BlizzCon with us.
BlizzCon Countdown: 6 days to go!
Over here at WoW Insider HQ, we've been busy preparing for BlizzCon, now less than a week away, but details on what we're going to see there are still sparse. So with less than a week remaining, I'm going to do a rundown of what we do know: We've got a sketchy schedule, with both StarCraft II and World of Warcraft game time written in In addition to Blizzard-folk, we know we're going to see Jim Lee, Jay Mohr, and Richard A. Knaak. as well as Upper Deck (who brought us the TCG), Fantasy Flight Games (who brought us the board game), and the Video Games Live Orchestra We've got a rather tragic list of items prohibited on the convention floor As the week progresses, we'll probably be able to add some scraps of information to this list, but, of course, Blizzard is doing a very good job of keeping any big announcements hidden.
BlizzCon Countdown: 7 days to go!
Ah, BlizzCon. Two solid days of all-Blizzard-all-the-time entertainment is coming your way next week. And even if you can't be there yourself, you can expect full coverage of everything happening on the show floor to be here on WoW Insider -- so be prepared to live vicariously through our videos and photo galleries. (I've got 1000 pictures worth of storage for my digital camera -- but the question is whether that will be enough!) But while we're waiting for the convention to begin, we're scratching the days off on our calendar and thinking about what we're going to see when it all begins. Yesterday, we asked you what feature you most wanted to see in the expansion, and an overwhelming number of you answered that what you most wanted was either new classes or hero classes.So today, let's continue that thought. I won't try to make a poll for today's discussion, because there are simply too many possibilities. Instead I'll just ask: what do you want to see from a new class in World of Warcraft? Or a Hero class?
BlizzCon Countdown: 8 days to go!
We're just about a week away from the launch of this year's BlizzCon! (And before you start arguing my math skills, yes, I am counting today itself as a day.) In yesterday's countdown, I asked you all what you were most hoping to see at the convention, and you overwhelmingly replied that you wanted to know all there was to know about the next expansion. Unfortunately, official details on the next expansion are non-existent -- but their silence on the subject to this point just means we're quite likely to hear some juicy details come BlizzCon. And in the meantime I'll pose this question: what feature do you most hope to see in the next expansion?Our opinion poll is over, but you can check out the results in our day seven countdown!
The faces of BlizzCon 2007
BlizzPlanet has compiled an excellent list of Blizzard-related folk we can expect to meet at this year's BlizzCon, complete with pictures to help identify the targets of your fanboy/fangirl-ish stalking. (Do they allow Nerf guns in the convention hall? Their prohibited items list says "no weapons," but doesn't specify with regards to the latest in foam dart technology.) So head over to BlizzPlanet and print out a list for your own personal BlizzCon reference!
BlizzCon 2007 survival guide
Blizzard has posted a BlizzCon survival guide including important tips and tricks for those of you attending BlizzCon this year. They advise: Pick up your badge early! When the show starts at 9:00 AM on Friday, there will be massive lines. However, you can pick your badge up early -- between 4:00 PM and 11:00 PM on Thursday and starting at 7:00 AM on Friday. Manage your time! There will be lots to see, so you'll want to be sure to schedule your time to be sure you can get it all in. Of course, scheduling your time would be easier if Blizzard had an events schedule for us... Be sure to show up for any of the live events early if you want good seats. The biggest lines for hands-on gaming during last BlizzCon were early- to mid-afternoon, so if you want to get hands on experience with the latest game demos without the wait, come early! Don't wait until the last minute to buy goodies from the BlizzCon store -- at the last BlizzCon, many things were sold out by Saturday afternoon. I'll add to that list. Start your BlizzCon adventures with us on Thursday evening at The Lost Bar for fun and prizes!
BlizzCon Countdown: 9 days to go!
We've got a scant 9 days until BlizzCon 2007 kicks of in Anaheim California. And even if you're not going, you've got to be at least a little bit interested what Blizzard might be announcing there. So with 9 days remaining, I'm asking what you're hoping to see unveiled at the Anaheim Convention Center just over a week from now. The poll that used to live here has gone -- but even if you can't vote any more, you can still see what everyone thought!
What to bring -- and not to bring -- to BlizzCon
For those of you planning on heading out to BlizzCon with us next week, Blizzard has just given us a list of dos and don'ts for the convention floor.Don't: Bring a bag larger than 20x10 to the conference. Regardless of size, all bags may be searched and you may be refused entry if you're found to have any prohibited items. (If you're planning on participating in the costume contest and need something larger than that to carry your costume, check in with the ticket desk when you arrive.) Bring your laptop. They won't be allowed on the show floor -- leave them at home, in your car, or at your hotel. Bring any weapons, alcohol, fireworks, glass bottles, cans, or large containers into BlizzCon. Do: Bring your video camera. There will be plenty of cool things going on that will be worth recording. However, there are some things you can't record -- filming the finale concert or any gameplay footage will get you in trouble. (Note, gameplay footage does not apply to tournament gameplay, which you're welcome to record.) Bring your iPod or other MP3 player. But don't get caught hooking it up to a computer. If you still have questions, be sure to check the BlizzCon FAQ for full details. With only ten days to go before the conference gets started, hopefully we'll have more details soon!
L70ETC at BlizzCon
The BlizzCon news is coming out in tiny, bite-sized pieces. This afternoon, we've learned that the Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain (last BlizzCon, they were calling themselves Level 60 Elite Tauren Chieftain -- but they've had plenty of time since then) will be playing at BlizzCon on Saturday night. And as a little preview of the upcoming concert, Blizzard has posted a music video of L70ETC playing their latest hit, I Am Murloc, complete with specially modeled in-game rock stars.
Register for live contests at BlizzCon
Before you panic, I'm sure Undead are eligible to participate, too. But what I mean by "live" is that these contests are going to take place at BlizzCon in real time. However, while you don't have to do all the work in advance, you are required to register. So if you're interested in participating in this year's costume contest, character sound-alike contest, or dance contest, it's time to head over to the BlizzCon page and register! And if you aren't interested in the live contests, remember -- there's still some time to enter their online contests, which will reward talented fan artists, machinima-makers, and songwriters! But deadlines for those are quickly approaching on July the 19th, so if you're interested, best get to work!
