blizzcon-2011
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Hands-on with Blizzard DOTA: Tweaking the genre it created
Mat McCurley is on loan to us from WoW Insider, which dispatched him to BlizzCon 2011 just in time to bring us this hands-on with Blizzard's upcoming MOBA! Blizzard DOTA has been reborn! We first experienced the StarCraft II module back during BlizzCon 2010, when the game felt like a very different affair. Now, Blizzard DOTA has been more streamlined to make for a unique and new playstyle. While the basic gameplay of the tri-lane DOTA maps stays similar (with two forces of minions ever-locked in eternal combat moving up and down lanes), there are changes that give the game a bit more dynamic player control.
BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft Class Talent System liveblog
There's only a short break between the World of Warcraft preview panel and the all-important one on the new class talent system, so let's see what they've got in store for us. As we just saw, expect a lot of changes in Mists of Pandaria. We meet again, Dr. Street. But this time, the advantage is ... still yours, because no living human types as fast as you talk. Pacific Timezone: 2:15 p.m. Mountain Timezone: 3:15 p.m. Central Timezone: 4:15 p.m. Eastern Timezone: 5:15 p.m.
BlizzCon 2011: Dungeons and Raids information
If you're not at BlizzCon, or watching the live stream, then worry not for we're liveblogging the events and the Dungeons and Raids portion of the Mists of Pandaria preview had some interesting news all told. For starters, there will be 9 new dunegons, six across Pandaria itself and three heroic versions of classic instances, namely Scholomance and two updated wings of the Scarlet Monastery. The new dungeons will include the Stormstout Brewery, where you work alongside Chen Stormstout himself. There will also be three raids at launch featuring the Mogu and the Mantid races, and Raid Finder will be integrated into every raid at Mists of Pandaria's launch. World raid bosses will also be included, as Cory Stockton says "There were problems ... we've got solutions to those problems." Stay tuned to the Raid and Dungeons panel which will be liveblogged by us. The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011: Hands on with Mists of Pandaria
I'm sure that you've already heard the news of the next World of Warcraft expansion: Mists of Pandaria. As an added treat to the reveal of the next expansion, those in attendance at BlizzCon have the opportunity to sit down and spend some time with the new race and the new starting zone. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to play through what was available and to get to know the new Pandaran race just a little bit. We also got to spend some time with the new class, the monk. Join us after the break for more information.
BlizzCon 2011: Blizzard reveals new talent system
Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street got on stage at Blizzcon a few moments ago to unveil an entirely overhauled talent system for Mists of Pandaria, the next World of Warcraft expansion. After four expansions of "cookie cutter" talent builds, Blizzard has broken and reconstructed the entire talent system in order to put the choice for talents directly into the hands of the players. They strove for this in Cataclysm and made some good advances, but ultimately fell short of the goal. Like the current talent system, players will choose their specialization at level 10. This specialization chooses what abilities you'll be gaining as you'll level up, rather than there being baseline talents. There will be a few baseline class abilities, but not nearly as many. According to Ghostcrawler, these spec abilities will be "anything your spec requires." Spec abilities will be learned out in the field when you level; you only need to visit the trainer to choose a new specialization! In the preview at Blizzcon, the holy specialization for paladins received staple holy abilities, such as Holy Shock, Holy Light, and Beacon of Light. Some specialization abilities will be available to two specs, such as both ret and prot getting Hammer of the Righteous. The other part of the talent system is that there is now one talent tree for every class. At every 15 levels, you get one talent point, which can be put into one of three talents for that level. You can't go back and take previous talents. These talents are looking to be abilities, not boring things like passive healing or damage buttons. There are no ranks for these talents. The goal is for there to be no mandatory talents, and that you should choose what you want on a per fight/per content/per choice basis. Retalenting should be as accessible as reglyphing is right now. So, for example, a paladin will choose holy for her spec, and as she levels up will gain all her core holy abilities. When she hits level 15, she will gain her first talent point, which will be usable on either Speed of Light, Long Arm of the Law, or Pursuit of Justice, which all sound like a speed boost to me. Once she makes this change, she won't be allowed to choose the other two talents when she gets her next talent point, though she can later choose to retalent if she feels she chose poorly. The three choices you have to take at any level will all share a same theme in common. In the previous paragraph, you have three talents that will be mobility based. (Warriors also get mobility talents at 15, their choices being Juggernaght, Warbringer, and Double Time.) The idea is that you don't forego a mobility ability for a dps ability, or a cc for a survivability cooldown. An important point to note is that even though these abilities have the same names as current talents in the game, they will not have the same effect. They are being redesigned to try to appeal to all three specs in a talent. The point of new talents is to offer a form of utility that you can customize for your playstyle, and not mandatory choices for maximum DPS/HPS/Survivability. All in all, it's looking to be a simplified, better, and ultimately more choice-driven take on talenting, and I couldn't be more excited. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Blizzard discusses Mists of Pandaria details
The big day-one BlizzCon announcement is that Mists of Pandaria is going to be the next World of Warcraft expansion, and we've got some new details on what players can expect from the new content. For starters, Blizzard is once again reworking the talent system, as the studio feels that the current system hasn't aged well and has been plagued with cookie-cutter builds. Instead, each class will have a single talent tree, and every 15 levels players will choose one of three available talents. Talent builds can be changed as easily as glyphs, meaning it's possible to customize your talents mid-instance in order to tune for a specific fight. Outdoor raid bosses are making a return, and Blizzard is aiming to allow players to choose their own paths through the content rather than forcing them onto a set path. For more details, head on past the cut!
BlizzCon 2011: Mists of Pandaria Pandaren racials
Our friends over at Wowhead News (who helped us throw a heck of a party) also have been posting all sorts of Mists of Pandaria information. One of the tidbits they have for us are what, exactly, our new Pandaren brothers and sisters will have for racial abilities. It's interesting to see that these racials are pretty strong for leveling. Bouncy: reduces fall damage by half. Inner peace: double rested XP. Gourmond: +15 to cooking. Epicurean: double stats to food buffs. Quaking Palm (from the live stream): Puts a target to sleep for three seconds. Some of these (the Epicurean racial in particular) seems pretty strong, maybe even too strong. They're interesting in terms of how they touch on the Pandaren's lore and personality. Keep reading our coverage, including liveblogs of each panel. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011: Mists of Pandaria trailer
For those of you at home who lack livestream access and refuse to believe the whole Pandaria thing until you get to see it with your own eyes ... Well, here you go: the Mists of Pandaria expansion trailer. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011: Pandaren will be playable by both the Horde and Alliance
The moment we've all dreaded (or eagerly anticipated, that's up to you) is here: The Pandaren will be playable in the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion. Here's the kicker: They'll be playable by both factions, which means Blizzard really has thrown out the silhouette theory it's stood by for years. We saw that coming with transmogrification, though. It isn't much of a surprise. The choice as to whether you're Alliance or Horde doesn't happen at character creation, though. The choice will come after you've played through the introductory quest chain for your character. Once the stage has been set and you see where the lines of war have been drawn, you will choose which faction represents your interests best. Exciting? Oh, yes. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced [Update: Now with trailer!]
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will be the fourth expansion to the game. It was announced today at the opening ceremonies at BlizzCon 2011 in front 26,000 cheering fans. The expansion promises to deliver the next phase in WoW's development, ushering in a new era of quests, raids, PvP, professions, and instances. The major details: New talent system Pandaren race Pannaria region Monk class 90 level cap raised to 90 Dungeon challenge mode PVE Scenarios Pet Battle System Follow us all day for the next few days as we cover BlizzCon from top to bottom!%Gallery-137261%
Blizzard announces World of Warcraft Annual Pass
At BlizzCon's Opening Ceremony today, Blizzard's President and CEO Mike Morhaime unveiled Blizzard's newest grand idea: free Diablo 3 access to current World of Warcraft players. All we, the players, have to do is sign up for the new World of Warcraft annual pass, a 12-month subscription that can be billed monthly. In addition to getting full access Diablo 3 to download and play for free the same day it's released, Blizzard is throwing in a few goodies for anyone who signs up for the annual pass. For one, you'll get the in-game World of Warcraft mount, Tyrael's Charger. You will also gain access to the beta of the next World of Warcraft expansion as soon as it goes live. For more information, check out the official Annual Pass Promotion Page. Stay tuned throughout the day for more information coming from the BlizzCon floor!
BlizzCon kicks off; new WoW, DotA details abound
Today's a big day for Blizzard fans, as BlizzCon is kicking off in full-swing! The opening ceremonies are underway as we speak, and there are already a couple of juicy nuggets for World of Warcraft players. WoW players who upgrade their accounts to the 12-month subscription model will receive two lovely gifts: access to the next WoW expansion's beta test and Diablo III. That's right, upgrade to the 12-month subscription plan and you get Diablo III completely free. Blizzard has also announced its upcoming DoTA title, and we'll have a hands-on with that as soon as possible, so stay tuned for more BlizzCon excitement. [Update: It's official, folks. The newest World of Warcraft expansion is Mists of Pandaria. Players will have access to the Pandren race as well as a new hero class: the Monk. The newest trailers are embedded behind the break. Check out the official post at WoW Insider for more!] [Update: The Monk is not a hero class. Sorry for the confusion!]
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will be the fourth expansion to the game. It was announced today at the opening ceremonies at BlizzCon 2011 in front 26,000 cheering fans. The expansion promises to deliver the next phase in WoW's development, ushering in a new era of quests, raids, PVP, professions, and instances. The major details: New talent system Pandaren race The region of Pandaria New monk class Level cap raised to 90 Dungeon challenge mode PVE Scenarios Pet Battle System Follow us all day for the next few days as we cover BlizzCon from top to bottom! Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Diablo 3 limited edition includes Diablo 2, Diablo skull USB drive
Hey, remember that amazing StarCraft 2 special edition? You know, the huge one, with the full sized art book, and the USB drive with Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood War? And the WoW pet? Man, that was sweet. Well we hope you like Diablo 3, because, like, that's pretty much exactly what they're doing for the Diablo 3 Limited Edition. Announced at today's Blizzcon press conference, the Limited edition will also come with a behind-the-scenes DVD. Diablo 2 will be included in the box on a special USB drive (in a holder shaped like freaking Diablo's skull), and, for users who register their LE, an in-game mount for WoW, Tyrael's Charger. And don't forget that giant art book. So. Awesome.
BlizzCon 2011: Opening Ceremony Liveblog
We'll be live blogging the opening ceremony at BlizzCon 2011. The start times for this liveblog is as follows: Pacific Time zone: 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time zone: 12:00 p.m. Central Time zone: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time zone: 2:00 p.m. We're expecting a lot from this BlizzCon opening ceremony, including the Mists of Pandaria expansion, some StarCraft expansion announcement, and potentially an announcement concerning the Diablo 3 release date. Stay tuned! We'll start liveblogging soon. 10:42 a.m. - Patch 5.0 will introduce a new talent system. 10:42 a.m. - Initial reports are that the expansion will be playable at BlizzCon today. The rest of the liveblog after the break!
WoW Insider's BlizzCon 2011 coverage schedule: Day one
Hey folks. I'll trust we're all sufficiently recovered from last night's debauchery? Or at least, faking it reasonably well? Good! Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you already know that today's the first day of BlizzCon 2011, and we'll be liveblogging all four WoW-related panels. Later, we'll also have galleries with pictures of the more important moments. If you don't have time to follow the liveblogs, don't worry! Any important news will get its own post. Check back on the site for the four panels we'll be liveblogging for you below: Opening Ceremony 2:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. PST World of Warcraft Preview 3:30 p.m. EST / 12:30 p.m. PST World of Warcraft Class Talent System 5:15 p.m. EST / 2:15 p.m. PST World of Warcraft Dungeons and Raids 6:30 p.m. EST / 3:30 p.m. PST Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Breakfast Topic: What do you expect from this year's BlizzCon?
Well, we asked ourselves, and we figured it was only fair to ask you too. Not that many of you didn't weigh in on the original post, but this is really the sort of question that's best to crowdsource, especially after staggering back to one's room from the bar at the Annabella: What do you expect to see at this year's BlizzCon? With a look at the schedule of events on day one, we can reasonably expect to see a preview of the Deathwing encounter (well, more of it), and the most common guess that I've seen so far is that the talent system is going to be overhauled in the run-up to the next expansion. Interestingly, that seems to have been a popular guess even before the BlizzCon schedule was released and all but confirmed that something is afoot. Speaking of expansions, there's the specter of that "World of Warcraft preview" panel this afternoon, and I think we all know what that's going to be about. Sort of. Pandas? Emerald Dream? Xoroth? Tijuana? Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011 bingo: Mark your cards
Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Live from the WoW Insider and Wowhead Reader Meet-up!
The annual WoW Insider reader meet-up should be on in just a few short moments! This year we've teamed up with Wowhead, Members of ZAM Network, TankSpot and WoW Interface to bring you the biggest and best meet-up we've ever done. For all those of us who couldn't make it to BlizzCon this year, don't worry: Gamebreaker.tv will be livestreaming the event with professional lighting, mics, and cameras, and Gary Gannon, Josh Allen (better known as Lore), and Mike B. will co-host with Mike Sacco and Anne Stickney. As always, you can expect a number of special guests, interviews, and prize giveaways, viewer questions answered over the stream, and possibly the sight of a few staffers passed out in the bushes if we're lucky. The online chat for the event is just past the cut!
Murkablo already showing up in player mailboxes
The now-traditional BlizzCon noncombat pet hasn't usually become available for a few days (for BlizzCon attendees) to several weeks after the convention (for livestream customers), but it looks like 2011 is going to be different. We just got word from our readers Jeff and A Pence that this year's pet, Murkablo, is already available in mailboxes, at least for folks who've bought the stream. I logged in to check, and indeed, Murkablo is already here! If you've ordered the stream, your character's next trip to a mailbox should yield your own personal fire-breathing menace. Thanks to Jeff and A Pence for the tip! Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
