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BlizzCon 2009: Cataclysm - Zones video
We've got video from Cataclysm, giving you flythroughs of a number of zones, both new and old, featured in the expansion. The Barrens, Ashenvale, Darkshore, Desolace, Stonetalon Mountains, Gilneas, and the Lost Isles are shown, and for the old Azeroth zones, great transitions between the old and new terrain is featured.We'll have more videos for you as the day goes on, but for now, enjoy the view, and appreciate the grand scope of this expansion! BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: The Guild Panel Live Blog
The Guild was at our meetup last night (bloggers and Internet stars -- guess who's who above), and now they're about to take the floor at BlizzCon. We're standing by to hear what Felicia and the cast have to say about the new season, the upcoming comic book, and the geeky tour de force that is The Guild.Liveblogging starts right after the break -- newest at the top. Should be fun!%Gallery-70707%
BlizzCon 2009: Art Gallery
One of the quiet pleasures for me every BlizzCon is taking a trip through the Art Gallery -- it's not quite as flashy as the panels or the hands-on demos, but it is awesome to see the real core of Blizzard's work, the art that inspires all of these various universes and characters.Take a look through the gallery below -- there's some cool concepts and art from all three of Blizzard's universes (and some excellent looks at what we'll see in the very newly announced World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. You can also see the noobz figurines on display. Many of those were created by Blizzard artists, and some of them were created by fans as well. The whole gallery really shows off the kind of talent that's putting these games and their concepts together.%Gallery-70696%BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: The costumes
Not at BlizzCon yourself? Don't fear -- while all of us are here fighting with massive queues and the door boss (live in person, above), you can enjoy BlizzCon from the safety of your own computer via the live stream and our own live coverage (glance to the right for our BlizzCon live blog schedule). We expect to see many more costumes over the course of the weekends and we will be certain to keep updating this gallery as we get more screenshots photos. Until then, enjoy!%Gallery-70668%%Gallery-70720%BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Concept Art
Straight from the press disc comes the concept art from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. We also have plenty of pictures we got off the floor. Check out those Goblin and Worgen drawings. Great stuff!%Gallery-70682% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Cataclysm race-class combo matrix online
With official word that there will be new race-class combinations in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Blizzard has posted the official matrix of what races will have what classes available to them. Big surprises so far include Worgen Druid and Goblin Shaman!The full matrix is above, and the text list below. All of our previous speculation was correct, so this should give rerollers plenty of opportunity to experience the new, shattered realm of Azeroth! Human Hunter Orc Mage Night Elf Mage Blood Elf Warrior Dwarf Shaman Dwarf Mage Undead Hunter Tauren Paladin Tauren Priest Gnome Priest Troll Druid BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm map
This is the best map picture we have at the moment. When we can get a better one, we'll post it. %Gallery-70695%
BlizzCon 2009: World of Warcraft Preview Panel liveblog
The World of Warcraft preview panel starts in about five minutes at 12:30 PST. Liveblogging will begin right after the jump.Expect to hear more about the newly announced Cataclysm expansion, as well as all of the new features we just heard about at the BlizzCon 2009 opening ceremony. Should be exciting!
Blizzcon 2009: Official Cataclysm FAQ
Blizzard's official Cataclysm site is going up and down every minute or two right now, but I managed to load their FAQ for the upcoming expansion, and there is plenty of interesting information in it. Barrens is split in two. Darkshore is flooded. New zones: Uldum, Grim Batol, the Sunken City of Vashj'ir. "More raid content" than previous expansions A new "Wintergrasp-like zone" called Tol Barad Archaeology, the new secondary profession, lets you "unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards" The new starting zones will be heavily phased, and will be similar to the DK starting zones Azshara is now a low-level Horde zone connected directly to Orgrimar Azeroth will be changed whether you buy the expansion or not I'm psyched. I'm sure we'll learn more about all of these details as Blizzcon goes by, so keep it locked on WoW.com. In fact, check out the live blog of the Cataclysm panel going on right now for more info. I'm especially curious about Archaology, and about whether they can keep their promise to have more raid content. Check out the entire FAQ after the break! BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm announced
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/World_of_Warcraft_Cataclysm_announced'; World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has just been announced at BlizzCon 2009. The expansion promise to bring about a whole new adventure for World of Warcraft players as they work their way through a destroyed and changed Azeroth.And as we announced before, Goblins and Worgen will be the new playable races. The level cap will be raised to 85, and there will be a whole new swath of raids, dungeons, and quests for everyone to enjoy. The old world raid dungeons will be revamped and deliver new heroic opportunities for players. There is a new secondary skill: Archaeology.UPDATE: Check out our latest coverage: Live blog of the playing the new racial starter zones The official FAQ page is up Live blog of Cataclysm dev panel Developer map of new Azeroth map after the Cataclysm New race/class combo matrix %Gallery-70668%%Gallery-70682%%Gallery-70630%%Gallery-70696%BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009 DirecTV stream now active
As an FYI for all those who have ordered the service, the internet stream for the DirecTV broadcast from BlizzCon is working, although all you'll see for the moment is a looping series of advertisements for the feed itself (still scratching my head over why they feel the need to advertise a service you've already purchased, but oh well), a recap of BlizzCon 2008, and the Starcraft II, Diablo III, and Wrath of the Lich King trailers.We've gotten some reports from people that the stream seems buggy and that they've had some problems with logging in, so if you've ordered the service, I would recommend logging in early and keeping a tab up with the feed just in case. The main page for the DirecTV feed is here, so head over and make sure you've got everything in place. Don't forget that you need to press the Login button while entering your username and password; don't just hit enter! We'd guess the actual broadcast will begin shortly before the opening ceremonies at 11:00 am PST/2:00 pm EST.UPDATE: For those of you getting an "Account expired" message, Michael Sacco suggests refreshing the page several times and clearing out your cache/cookies if all else fails. Apparently that's worked for a lot of people -- try it and let us know.2:02 PM EST: Stream is now live! BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com meet-up, The Aftermath
What a night! Last night, the Anabella Hotel in Anaheim, CA played host to the WoW.com BlizzCon Meetup, and WoW.com readers turned out for the festivities. And festivities there certainly were! Master of ceremonies Mike Schramm ran some great giveaways with gear from Creative and other WoW-themed items, Daniel Whitcomb drank too much and confessed his undying love for me, 1400 readers joined in on our live Ustream show ... and then the cast of The Guild showed up and the place exploded. Not literally, but metaphorically. Oh, and over 1200 of you showed up at the meetup throughout the entire evening. There was that too. (And the WoW.com crew out there were beyond thrilled to see so many of you.) Felicia Day (pictured above with our very own Zach Yonzon) and pals seemed to enjoy themselves quite a bit as they hung out with fans and fellow gamers, posing for photos and poundin' brews with the WoW.com crew. Thanks to everyone who came out, and I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves despite my conspicuous absence. A special, 25-man-sized thank you to our own Mike Gray for working tirelessly in the weeks leading up to BlizzCon to make this meetup happen.Check out our shots of the meetup in our gallery below! %Gallery-70630% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
Live Ustream of the WoW.com reader meet-up
Live Broadcasting by Ustream Looks like the gang's getting started at the Tangerine Patio of the Annabella Hotel, and we've got the live Ustream feed here so you can hang out virtually!If you're in the Anaheim area, swing by to say hello to the gang, and we've got prizes and giveaways from Upper Deck, Steelseries, WoWTCGLoot.com, Swagdog, and Creative Labs in addition to guests, a (we hope functional) kitchen and a cash bar! We may be able to give prizes away to virtual attendees as well, so hang tight. More updates will follow throughout the evening.UPDATE: Yup, audio's lousy, we're working on it. Turpster apparently has another microphone. Now if only we could find Turpster...Additional notes and updates beyond the cut. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: What we're bringing
We're spending our day traveling to BlizzCon, so we figured while we were still in the air, we'd let you in on a little trade industry secret: what we're bringing to the show. The gallery below offers you a look at just what it takes to turn out the kind of BlizzCon coverage we'll be bringing you this weekend -- the tech, the gear, and the, er, beverages.We're just hoping security lets us through with all of this stuff. Especially Alex -- oh sure, the hammer's fine, but that JCVD-endorsed caffeinated gum is the kind of thing that will get you pulled out of line. If he's not there in time for the meetup tonight, you'll know why.%Gallery-70540% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Lineblogging at the badge pickup
Good BlizzCon eve everybody! While Schramm was able to sneak in and get the inside scoop on the goody bag, some of us are still sitting out in here in line waiting patiently for our turn. While we were waiting, I grabbed my somewhat low quality woot purchased camera, had Michael Gray save me a place in line, and got some photos of the line. It's pretty long at the moment. At the least, it's snaked around the convention center. Check out our gallery below. %Gallery-70611% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: BlizzCon Bingo
It's that time of year again: BlizzCon is almost here, and WoW.com is proud to present our annual game of BlizzCon Bingo. The rules are simple: just print out this year's bingo card, bring it along with you to the show, and then when you see something printed on the card (like Chris Metzen with his sunglasses off, or Ghostcrawler drinking a liquid that may or may not contain gin), mark it off. Observe five in a row (you can have the welfare epics in the middle for free), and you win!You'll notice that the options run the gamut, from an expansion named Cataclysm (a pretty safe bet) to seeing Ozzy play a Blizzard game (not so likely). Almost all of this stuff is probably available somewhere on the convention floor, though you'll have to really look to find everything.And if you do win, make sure to find one of us from WoW.com at the show and show off your finished bingo card. We might just have a nice prize for you, from a pat on the back to something even better.%Gallery-5359% BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there's some great looking costumes.
BlizzCon 2009: The goody bag
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/BlizzCon_2009_The_goody_bag'; BlizzCon 2009 is upon us, and Blizzard was kind enough to let those of us with press badges in a little early to grab the bags even before the public got in the convention center. I stood right in line behind none other than Tom Chilton, and they waved me on through ("You're Michael, right?" said the guy as he read my name off the printed badge) to pick up this year's goody bag.One interesting thing of note: there is no program in the bags this year -- there's a flyer that will let us pick up a program at the show. Probably means that a) there is secret stuff that's going to be announced, and b) that Blizzard doesn't want us knowing about it ahead of time. Interesting.You can see everything in the bags in the gallery below, and after the jump, we've even listed all of the items out. Not as much in the bag as there was last year, it seems, but there are some very nice exclusive items to be had. NOTE: It appears that there is no beta invites in the goody bag, unlike previous years.%Gallery-70612%BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
New expansion likely playable at BlizzCon
So, I'm sure at this point, the majority of you (the readers) are expecting the next WoW expansion to be announced during the BlizzCon opening ceremonies tomorrow. It's a pretty safe bet! And we're actually pretty sure it's gonna be playable, too. Here's why.If you check out the BlizzCon map to which we linked earlier in the week, you'll see that there's a demo area set up on the right side of the convention center labeled "World of Warcraft". Unless they're having us play the Icecrown raid (probably not!) or open PvP, it's likely that this area is for playing the tidbits they'll have available of the new expansion. Playable starting zones for the new races, perhaps? A high-level zone or two? We'll just have to wait and see.We'll have the WoW.com staff all up in that place, so we'll get you up-to-the-minute info on what they see and hear at those stations! BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Don't forget to look for us
BlizzCon 2009 officially starts tomorrow and most of Team WoW.com are either in Anaheim or heading down there as we speak. As you make your way through throngs of people this Friday and Saturday, keep your eyes peeled for our intrepid crew. But how do you spot them? Granted, they're not like cosplayers. Although follow the throng of adoring women and you may just spot Turpster. The rest of the team are known for their ability to Shadowmeld instantly so we've had to equip them with some very special gear this BlizzCon.You can get a good look at team at the meetup tonight, but if you can't make it and need a visual cue you can spot them on the convention floor by looking for their special BlizzCon gear: a Legendary and totally epic, limited edition T shirt (with +50 visibility) featuring a certain crab and that long-promised equine mount. So don't forget to mark them off like the rare spawns they are and come up and say "hi". They may even have a little something for you. BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there's some great looking costumes.
Reminder: WoW.com BlizzCon meetup tonight at 7:30pm
This is it. The day has come. This evening at 7:30pm on the Tangerine Patio at the Anabella Hotel in Anaheim, we'll be hosting our annual BlizzCon meetup, and trust us: it's sure to be amazing. There's the people, for one thing: many of your favorite WoW.com writers will be in attendance, ready to talk some shop with you. Many of our friends and neighbors in the WoW community will be stopping by as well -- we can't name names, but let's just say that if you've ever seen or heard them on WoW.com, they'll probably be there. Then there's the prizes: Upper Deck, Steelseries, WoWTCGLoot.com, Swagdog, and Creative Labs are all bringing some sweet swag by the meetup for you readers to take home for them. And there'll be a cash bar (all attendees should be 18+ or accompanied by a parent) with an open kitchen as well, and we promise the bartender will be faster than the slowpoke last year.Plus, for the first time ever, those of you at home will get a chance to attend virtually. Starting at 7:30pm Pacific, we're going to be streaming live video and audio from the party over on our Ustream page, and you'll be able to chat with us, our guests, and anybody else there who wants to chat with you. If you're good, we might even give away some prizes to virtual attendees.It's going to be a blast. And hey, we even hear there's some kind of convention going on in Anaheim this weekend, so that should be fun, too. If you're in Anaheim, we'll see you there tonight, or if you're at home we'll see you on Ustream. Can't wait! BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there's some great looking costumes.
