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The 2014 North American WoW arena tournament
BlizzCon 2014 is on the horizon, getting steadily closer every day, and thus so is the 2014 World of Warcraft Arena Invitational World Championship. If you're a player on the North American servers--which include North America, Oceania, parts of Southeast Asia, and South America--your chance to qualify for the tournament is coming up in the next few weeks. In order to be eligible for the North American Arena Tournament your 3v3 team must have a minimum rating of 2500 by August 25, 2014. The tournament will be a double-elimination with teams competing in a best of five match format. At the end of the tournament, the top three teams from North America will be invited to BlizzCon to compete against five additional teams from around the world for the championship title. Think you have what it takes to compete at BlizzCon for a piece of the $250,000 purse? Time to get your teams ready and push for that 2500 rating by August 25th. Good luck to all the competitors!
Perfect Ten: Why the second half of 2014 will be awesome for MMOs
In the midst of mid-summer doldrums, it's easy to fall into a mild depression thinking that everything cool that was going to happen this year already has -- especially in gaming. The spring launch blitz is now officially over, with two highly anticipated MMOs launched, and now some people might be wondering if the rest of 2014 will be all downhill. Spoiler: It will not be. We started talking the other day in the Massively office about just how much there's coming for the latter half of this year and why we're excited to see what the fall and winter months bring. There's so much to look forward to, in fact, that it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to a mere 10 entries. But that's my job, and that's what I did. Here's why the second half of 2014 will be awesome.
The BlizzCon Meeting Stone is no more
Last year's BlizzCon introduced a real-world version of the Meeting Stone to provide a central place on the show floor to arrange meetups and find your friends. But while basking in the presence of a giant, Meeting Stone was pretty fantastic, the dark, noisy convention floor wasn't a great place to have conversations. This year, Blizzard is nixing the Meeting Stone idea altogether and encouraging attendees to set up their own meetups when and where they like. On one hand, you're freed from the tyranny of organized meetups... but on the other hand, this year's BlizzCon won't have any central meeting space to find your friends. You'll still be able to find members of the community team at the Community Booth and you can arrange your own meetups (if you're into that kind of thing) on the BlizzCon Meet-up forum. But the worst part of this news is that the Meeting Stone itself isn't slated to be on the show floor. How are we ever going to summon everyone without it?
BlizzCon 2014 Talent Contest now open for submissions
The sign-up page for the BlizzCon 2014 Talent Contest is now open and taking entries. For the Talent Contest, entries should be a 2-minute video of a Blizzard-themed performance. This year, Blizzard has obtained the rights to several different songs that can be used during the performances, either as a backing track, or even as a Blizzard-themed derivative version -- in other words, parody tracks using the approved songs are completely fine. The full list is available on the official announcement post. Semi-Finalists in the Talent Contest will receive $500. Four Finalist acts will be chosen and provided with airfare, tickets and hotel accommodations to BlizzCon 2014, where they will perform their acts for the judges, who will then decide the winners. The Fourth Place winner will receive $800, Third Place will receive $1,250, Second Place will receive $2,000, and First Place will receive a whopping $3,000. But if you want to throw your hat in the ring, you better get moving -- all entries must be received by 11:59PM PDT on August 5. As a reminder, those looking to enter the Blizzcon 2014 Art and Movie contests only have a few days left to enter -- submissions will be closed on July 7. Good luck to all who enter!
BlizzCon 2014 Art and Movie contest submissions now open
If you're an artist or a movie maker with a penchant for all things Blizzard, now's your chance to show off your talents and win some prizes. The Art and Movie contests for BlizzCon 2014 are now officially taking submissions, and there's a sweet list of prizes to be had. For the BlizzCon Movie Contest, third place will receive $850, second place will receive $1,300, and first place will receive $2,000 and an Oswald Statue. Prizes for the BlizzCon Art Contest are $700 for third place, $1,000 for second place, and $1,500 to the first place winner ... but that's not all. Each winner for both the Art and Movie contests will also receive either a ticket to BlizzCon 2014, or an additional $175 cash. Keep in mind that the submissions for these contests don't necessarily have to be Warcraft related -- you can take your inspiration for your artwork or film from any of the Blizzard franchises. But if you want to enter, you might want to get a move on -- the deadline for submissions is 11:59PM PST on July 7. For more information, official rules, and submission guidelines, head to the official site.
How to update your BlizzCon badge information
June 6th is the last day you'll be able to change the name attached to any BlizzCon tickets you've bought -- which is important, because the name on the badge needs to match the photo ID of whoever picks it up. So if you've bought tickets for guildmates or friends, but haven't updated your information, it's important to do so before it's too late. Fortunately, the process is pretty simple: Log on to Eventbrite. (If you didn't already have an Eventbrite account, it should have been created for you during checkout. Just log on using the email address you used to buy the tickets.) Select BlizzCon under Current Orders at the top of the page. (If you regularly buy tickets through Eventbrite, you may need to click All Orders to see BlizzCon on the list.) If the information listed isn't correct, click Edit details and then enter the correct information. Each attendee needs a first name, last name, and email address listed. Click Save -- you're done! Nearer to the show, each attendee will get an email with a barcode they'll have to bring to BlizzCon to pick up their ticket -- so be sure to print out your barcode and have a photo ID!
Hearthstone's Americas Qualifier prize pool is $250,000
Blizzard has announced a $250,000 prize pool for Hearthstone's Americas Qualifier Tournament. The breakdown is $100,000 for first place, $50,000 for second place, $15,000 for third and fourth place, $7,500 for fifth through eighth place, and $5,000 for ninth through sixteenth place. The Americas Qualifiers will include a total of 130 participants, including Legend-ranked players in the Hearthstone ladder and top players from community tournaments. The full details of the tournament can be seen on Battle.net. It's sure to be a cutthroat competition -- of 130 participants, only 4 will go on to compete in the World Championships at BlizzCon.
Breakfast Topic: Are you heading to BlizzCon this year?
Alas, BlizzCon tickets -- aside from the pricey Benefit Dinner option -- are all gone. And even with a $750 price tag, Benefit Dinner tickets will probably sell out quickly, too. So did you manage to score a ticket to this year's convention? Even if you didn't, a BlizzCon trek to Anaheim can be a fun opportunity to meet up with friends without even stepping foot on the convention floor -- but still requires a hefty travel budget. Of course those without tickets or travel plans can enjoy BlizzCon virtually -- even though virtual ticket details have not yet been announced, we've already heard of some virtual BlizzCon parties planned around the country. So today, tell us, readers: are you heading out to BlizzCon? And if not, what are you doing instead?
BlizzCon Benefit Dinner tickets on sale tomorrow
If you've missed getting BlizzCon tickets so far, you've got one last chance: on Wednesday at 7PM Pacific tickets to this year's Benefit Dinner will go on sale. Though they're pricer than the usual ticket -- $750 each -- these get you into BlizzCon as well as a pre-BlizzCon dinner with Blizzard staff and developers. While this isn't the budget-buyer's way to BlizzCon, these tickets do benefit Blizzard's favorite charity, the Children's Hospital of Orange County. So if you want to lend a helping hand for the kids at CHOC -- and get to enjoy BlizzCon -- head over to the Eventbrite tickets page tomorrow at 7PM sharp. Good luck, ticket-buyers!
BlizzCon 2014 General Admission tickets officially sold out
The second and last round of tickets for BlizzCon 2014 have now sold out. Eventbrite's sales system gave the notice at 10:39am PDT. As with every BlizzCon past, it didn't take long for the ticket queue to immediately fill up with would-be attendees. There are still tickets available for the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner, however -- the remainder of those tickets will go on sale May 14 at 7pm PDT. Hopefully those of you that were looking for tickets were quick with your clicking and got your orders in -- if so, we'll see you at BlizzCon! If not, there's always the Virtual Ticket, which usually offers the digital goodies and complete coverage of just about every panel and event at BlizzCon. Better still, you can view it all from the comfort of your own home. While Virtual Tickets are not as of yet available for purchase, expect to see them well before November.
More details on the BlizzCon ticket waiting room
Blizzard and their ticketing partner Eventbrite have issued some details on their ticketing process (in particular about the cumbersome waiting room): Blizzard Entertainment The waiting room is enabled for high-demand events such as BlizzCon to seamlessly allow the first few thousand ticket buyers to complete their transactions within the registration time window. Keep in mind that being in the waiting room doesn't necessarily mean you're guaranteed tickets. As ticket buyers complete or abandon transactions, or if they do not complete registration in time, the same number of ticket buyers will be selected from the waiting room for a chance to purchase tickets. If your turn arrives before the initial allotment of tickets has been fully claimed, you will be moved from the waiting room directly into the checkout process. Those who come to the site after the initial allotment of tickets has been claimed will no longer be allowed in the waiting room. For those who are still in the waiting room after this point, if your requested number of tickets becomes available because other customers abandoned their purchases, you will be moved from the waiting room directly to the checkout process. In some cases, due to a variety of factors the system may attempt to move you from the waiting room to the checkout and realize that the number of tickets you selected is not available at that moment. In that case, you'll be moved to the event page, but you will still be able to refresh your browser to try to purchase tickets before others who were not in the waiting room, and/or change the number of tickets you'd like to request. If the quantity you requested is now available, you will proceed directly to the checkout process. source As Blizzard said in their original post, these are certainly details that help us understand the system better, but the system itself seems unintuitive and unnecessarily complicated for simply waiting in a large queue for an event ticket. I recently bought Paul McCartney tickets and the system wasn't nearly this detailed. The next round of BlizzCon tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. PDT.
Blizzard: Eventbrite meant to combat scalpers
On the BlizzCon forums, CM Phenteo explains that one of the reasons Blizzard is using Eventbrite for ticket sales is to combat ticket scalping: Phenteo One reason why we're using Eventbrite is because there is a quick and easy system to help us monitor purchases and be able to take tickets back from scalpers/bots. source We're all for getting tickets into the hands of fans rather than scalpers, but considering the number of BlizzCon tickets up on Ebay, we're not entirely sure this strategy has worked. However, if Blizzard is able to take tickets away from scalpers, this makes Ebay ticket shopping even more hazardous than usual -- and with the way ticket pickup has worked in the past, it's always been a bit hazardous. If you didn't score BlizzCon tickets last night, you'll have another chance this weekend.
First wave of BlizzCon tickets sold out
Tickets for BlizzCon 2014 have sold out! Well, the first round of tickets have, anyway. It's estimated that this first offering sold out in five to 10 seconds, according to our sister site WoW Insider. Past BlizzCons have seen similar ticket sales, and this year is already showing that Blizzard's still got it. If you happened to blink at any time yesterday, you can still try for round two this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EDT).
BlizzCon Tickets on sale today
Do you intend on buying tickets to BlizzCon? If you do, then get ready, because today at 7:00 pm pacific, you can attempt to do that very thing. If you don't manage to get your hands on tickets, don't immediately despair, for a second round of tickets will also be available this Sunday, May 10th. From what I understand (having never actually managed to go to BlizzCon) it can be pretty crazy when the opportunity is presented, so you can make use of these resources to try and maximize your chances, also provided on the Blizzard official site. Best of luck to everyone out there trying to snag those tickets. Remember, that's 7:00 pm Pacific, through the Eventbrite site.
How to buy BlizzCon 2014 tickets through Eventbrite
In previous years, Blizzard has sold tickets through their own store -- which meant old hat BlizzCon attendees knew what to expect when it came time to buy their tickets. But this year's switch to Eventbrite means that most of us aren't quite sure how the ticketing process will work. However, Blizzard has posted a comprehensive walkthrough of the ticketing process so you know just what to expect when the first batch of tickets goes up for sale this Wednesday. Key points to note are: General admission tickets will be on sale at Wednesday, May 7 at 7pm PDT and Saturday, May 10 at 10am PDT. Benefit dinner tickets will be on sale at Wednesday, May 14 at 7pm PDT. You can buy a maximum of four tickets -- or just two benefit dinner tickets -- per household. You'll need names and email addresses to associate with each ticket -- but if you don't have them when you buy, you should enter your own name and email address. Just be sure the names are accurate before June 6th! A commonly used trick in the past of clicking "buy" for a single ticket and changing the number at checkout won't work on Eventbrite -- the number of tickets you selected to purchase originally cannot be changed later, so be sure to select the right amount up-front! We still don't have details on the ticket pickup process, but if it's like previous years you should expect the buyer to have to pick up tickets with an ID and possibly credit card.
WRUP: The desert of our dis-content
We're caught in the desert of very little news. But at least some news is starting to trickle in about 2014, such as the many contests for BlizzCon. (I hear they're on the left side, and must be handled.) We asked our intrepid staff what big hopes and dreams they were secretly harboring for BlizzCon 2014 this year. I'm hoping that we'll finally hear some hints of that mysterious project. I'd say a release date for WoD but there's no way it can wait that long, right? Right? Oh, gosh, I hope we're not still waiting for WoD by then.
How to go to BlizzCon 2014
Hooray -- BlizzCon 2014 is officially coming to the Anaheim Convention Center on November 7th and 8th. That may seem far off, but if you want to head out to BlizzCon this year you need to start planning now, because tickets are going on sale in May. And if you want to get a ticket, you'll have to act fast because they tend to sell out in minutes. So just how can you get to BlizzCon this year -- and do you even want to? We'll take a look at your options for going to BlizzCon or keeping up at home -- as well as what it's going to cost you.
The Queue: BlizzCon hype train
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, eh? Revnah asked: Soooo, how does the Blizzcon date figure in the release schedule for WoD? Speculations, please!
BlizzCon hordes invade Anaheim Nov. 7-8
"Steel thyself, O mortal realm of Anaheim," a blog post on Blizzard's official site reads, announcing the dates for BlizzCon 2014. On Friday, November 7 through Saturday, November 8, hordes of Blizzard fans will gather to celebrate all things [noun]Craft-related. Tickets for the event will go on sale in two batches: First on May 7 at 7pm Pacific and then on May 10 at 10am Pacific via Eventbrite. Tickets are priced at $199 each. A limited number of $750 tickets, which also include entry to a pre-event dinner, will be available on May 14. Proceeds from the dinner event benefit the Children's Hospital of Orange County. Blizzard will also offer Virtual Tickets to the event, allowing fans afar to watch the festivities from the comfort of their own homes. Sale details and pricing have yet to be revealed for online access. Blizzard recently launched the Diablo 3 expansion, Reaper of Souls, and the collectible card game, Hearthstone, on iPad. The company's multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm is its next title, along with further expansions for the World of Warcraft universe. [Image: Blizzard]
BlizzCon 2014 dated, tix on sale next month
BlizzCon 2014 is coming, boys and girls, to a city near you (that is, if you live near Anaheim, California)! Blizzard announced that its sometimes-annual convention will be on November 7th and 8th at the Anaheim Convention Center. Even at two hundred bucks a pop, tickets for BlizzCon will no doubt be sold out within minutes thanks to Blizzard's legion of fans. The studio announced today that it will be putting tickets on sale in two separate batches: one on May 7th and the other on May 10th. There will also be $750 tickets put on sale on May 14th for the benefit dinner. BlizzCon tickets include offer hands-on demos with its games, an e-sports world championship, dev panels, player tournaments, and live admission to the convention. Virtual tickets will also be available at a later point for an unknown fee.
