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What we're expecting from BlizzCon
As we announced earlier, BlizzCon tickets are on sale. Sort of. Kind of. If you can fight past the store servers. I know I've been getting nothing but the fail murloc pretty much all day. Still, I and the rest of WoW Insider's crack live team will be there come hell or high water, and we'll bring you the news you need to know. In the meantime, we're stuck here refreshing the Blizzard Store. To pass the time, we did a bit of speculation about what we might see in Anaheim on October 10th and 11th. Here's what we decided: What we're sure to see The Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic: Though we still have no solid announcement, Blizzard's already stated that they want to get Wrath out before 2008 is up. Considering that, they must have the opening cinematic pretty close to done. I would be surprised if we don't see it open the opening ceremony, to be completely honest. I'm expecting Arthas and/or a "rebel" Human Death Knight to feature prominently, as well as our first cinematic Gnome shot.
Achievements coming to Diablo III and Starcraft II, linked to Blizzard account
Do you find it difficult to slip the fact that you conquered a certain titular Lord of Terror into your daily conversations? Feel insecure when bragging about your latest successful Zerg Rush to your colleagues? Blizzard's got your back -- in a recent interview with MTV Multiplayer, World of Warcraft lead designer Jeff Kaplan revealed that there will be achievements in Blizzard's next two highly anticipated projects, Diablo III and Starcraft II.These achievements will join the recently revealed achievements for WoW (which will make their debut with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion) -- however, Kaplan revealed that eventually, achievements from the three games will be linked to your Blizzard account, forming a "Blizzard Level". Kaplan likened the system to the Xbox Live gamerscore -- only without all the embarrassment one must suffer after earning 780 points from Pimp My Ride.
Breakfast Topic: Which game would you play?
Every time a new game comes out, we have a decision to make. Do we try the new game while still playing World of Warcraft most of the time? Do we take a break from WoW to give the new game all of our attention? Or do we continue to play our favorite MMO? My guild had an attendance problem when GTA IV was released and I know a few people have given Age of Conan a good try. With Warhammer Online probably coming out in the fall, we will have to make another choice then.Now, I think that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion will probably come out in the Winter, hopefully this year. I think that Starcraft 2 will be released approximately a year after that and my guess is that Diablo III won't come out for another 2 to 3 years, unfortunately. But what if Blizzard were to do the unthinkable and release WotLK at the same time as the sequels to Starcraft and Diablo?For me, I think Diablo III would take up most of my time for a month or two. Happily (or not), I won't have to make that choice. What would you do?[Thanks to Dave for the idea]
Blizzard to Activision: we choose you
We don't know if anybody has told you, but Blizzard is actually kind of a big deal. Not many companies can hold the attention of their target audience for an entire week with naught but a series of cryptic splash pages. They're such a big deal, in fact, that when it came time for Vivendi to choose a partner for their big merger, Blizzard's preference for Activision was instrumental in their ultimate decision. That is, if Blizzard COO Paul Sams is to be believed.It was no secret that Blizzard was the real prize in the merger, having pulled in approximately $1.2 billion for Vivendi in 2007 alone. With the twin juggernauts of Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 looming on the horizon, and their "next-gen MMO" project still lurking in the shadows, it seems clear that Sams' comments are anything but idle boasting. According to Sams, the leverage they have in this arrangement is what is going to allow them to preserve their existing management structure that has proved so spectacularly successful. I think that's something we can all get behind.
The Daily Grind: What's Blizzard's next big thing?
Now that Blizzard's finally announced Diablo 3, ending a feverish period of second guessing and rampant speculation, one thing is clear: Despite how you may feel about the big reveal, the specter of Diablo 3 can finally be laid to rest. Waiting in the wings, however, is ... what?Starcraft 2 is in process, so it's extremely unlikely that Blizzard would dilute that audience by announcing a Starcraft MMO. Ditto with a Diablo MMO, and we don't even know what its release date might be. World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King coming (probably) next year. Can we assume that the next announcement will concern their "next-gen MMO"? Is that project the oft-mentioned "Hydra"? With two active fantasy titles and one science fiction game, what could the next big thing possibly be?
News from the Starcraft II panel at the Blizzard Invitational
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Starcraft_II_info_explosion'; Amid all the hype for Diablo 3, you may have missed hearing about the StarCraft II developer panel helmed by Blizzard's Rob Pardo at this weekend's Worldwide Invitational in Paris. Joystiq was there to catch all the details on the latest build of the game. See what team Blizzard had to say about the newfound power of the Zerg Queen, the upgraded Protoss Mothership and the reason behind de-emphasizing heroic classes. All this after the jump.%Gallery-3311%
Starcraft II WWI '08 panel part 4: Q&A
Q&A with Rob PardoQ: How will the planet systems be used?A: The star map in the story campaigns is you mission selector. You will explore the story and have a lot of different paths to follow. You can choose from 2-7 missions depending on where you are in the story. There is a starmap in all three campaigns. but different for each race. For example, in the Terran campaign you will take a lot of mercenary missions for money to pay for technology.Q: What role will hero and multiclass players play?A: We are de-emphasizing heroes in Starcraft2. That's what Warcraft 3 is for. There will be some missions where you play named characters like Raynor, but not much. Mostly dialogue and story characters, not much as gameplay chars.Q: Is the Zerg building infestation ability working on Protoss?A: Yes.Q: Will there be an Apple and PV version release at same time?A: Yes, all of our PC games will also be available on Macs.Q: Is there a Terran version of Queen/MothershipA: No. Mothership not as unique as Queen and players can build multiple Motherships.Q: What role is the roach unit supposed to have?A: It doesn't have much health, but it does have very high regeneration. Its good to go up against enemy units with low damage output like marines, zealots, etc.Q: Is the black hole still planned for the Protoss?A: It used to be on the Mothership, but was taken away when the Mothership became a defense unit in the development of the game. It may come back later in a different way in the development process but no promises.Q: What lies ahead in the evolution of units?A: The Terran Thor unit is hard to find a role for. Right now it is much like the sieg tank/battle cruiser. It could get more abilities to differentiate it.Q: The Merc Haven can't train reavers, just enables you to build them. Why?A: The Merc Haven has gone through five or six designs, but we never fell in love with one. It needs more tinkering.Q: What kind of units will come out from Protoss infested buildings?A: I misspoke earlier. They [the Zerg] cannot infest Protoss buildings, but we're still deciding for sure.Q: Will the Ghost unit get telekenisis or telepathic abilties like in the books and manga?A: There is much experimentation right now with the unit and it's centered around the lore. There is a good chance, yes.Q: Is it possible to play the story line in co-op mode?A: No. It's been discussed, but it's too difficult to have two players both be the main character.That's all from Paris. We'll have some hands-on write ups with the new Zerg demo they have set up. Check back soon.
Blizzard's splash screen changes for June 26th
The saga of the icy splash screen continues, as the newest splash screen has just gone live on Blizzard's sites under the file name ice4.jpg. This time, the ice has cracked away even further, revealing more of the night sky, and what looks to be a face coalescing from the ice flecks and vapor in the middle of the picture. The identity of the face isn't clear, although Alex thinks it may be a Protoss Archon. We've also received this very intriguing picture from tipster Pact, which shows the face overlaid with a picture of Diablo from the Diablo 2 box. Of course, it's worth noting that it could simply be Arthas' eyes as well, peering out from his helmet. As expected, a new rune has appeared as well, bringing the tally to four. This rune, located to the lower right of the cracking ice, looks like nothing so much as a miniature solar system model -- perhaps related to this model seen during April Fool's? Diablofans.com has suggested it may be a top-down view of an Arcane Sanctum from Warcraft 3 and WoW (You can see one at the Scryer's base in Shadowmoon) as well. As also expected, a new piece of the strange purple monster has appeared as well. It appears to be the hindquarters of the beast. So far, I'm still sticking to my belief that it's some sort of purple penguin. This file was named 16.jpg, which, if we follow the alphabet conversion method we've been using for previous pieces, gives us the letter "P." "Powd" is the best I can get out of that. Does that mean this picture is that of a new mascot named "Powder the penguin"? As usual, you can see all of these graphics in our splash screen speculation gallery, which is constantly being updated with new speculation and analysis as the WWI draws nearer. %Gallery-25975% There's more analysis to come after the break.
Poll: What's Blizzard's big WWI announcement?
Blizzard's new splash page has set the internet on fire. With the developer's Worldwide Invitational set to begin this Saturday in Paris, we've got about three more days to speculate wildly as hundreds of "top secret inside sources that are 110% reliable" feed us tips about the big news. The top two rumors seem to be Diablo 3 and a Wrath of the Lich King release date, but we think anything's possible -- if you recall, last year's big announcement was Starcraft II. (Our money is on a Wii-exclusive Blackthorne FPS.) Tell us, what do you think is Blizzard's ice-shattering announcement?%Poll-16016%
Starcraft II WWI '08 panel part 3: Terran
The Terrans and their BFG's Pardo then moved on to the final Starcraft race, the Terrans. The theme here they wanted to push was guns, guns and more guns. No Queen or Mothership here, just lots of units with lots of firepower.The first unit Pardo talked about was the Jackal. It's a fast, mobile firebat that spits out fire lots of splash damage. With its speed and mobility it has the potential to take a big chunk out of your opponent's forces.The next unit was The Thor. It's a large ground assault unit with two abilities. In addition to its anti-air flak cannons, it can self-repair. And if it is destroyed, its wreckage stays on the battlefield and can rebuild itself. No Hero for you!Finally, Pardo talked about some larger issues about the game they were working with. They didn't want the game to too heavily emphasize micromanaging units. They want players to have time to deal with the macro issues of resources, expansion and strategy. So they designed most units to be simple movers and shooters, not like the more complex units of Warcraft 3. They also de-emphasized Hero classes for the same reason. Hero characters will mostly be met in the single player story mode and even then, as characters to talk to instead of taking control of them in battles.In terms of development, the team is focusing currently on spell casters and special abilities that come later in the game as well as upgrades for base units. The story campaign is about one-third done.The last point Pardo wanted to make before the panel was open to questions was about the evolution of Battle.net. With the release of SC2, Battle.net will be transformed to become what they hope is the premiere gaming platform for PC online play. NEXT: Q&A with Rob Pardo ===>
Starcraft II WWI '08 panel part 2: Protoss
The Protoss are a force to be reckoned withPardo moved on to talk a bit about how the Protoss are progressing in the development of the game. Their psionics are the key theme to their race and Blizzard pushed that further, but also pulled back on the emphasis on spellcasting.First he showed an example of their new force field ability used to control the battlefield. A video showed a swarm of zerglings rushing a Protoss base, but the Protoss force threw up a series of connected force fields that formed a funnel forcing the zergs into a choke point where they were easily destroyed.While high damage Protoss spells like Psi Storm are returning, Blizzard also wanted to introduce some early game casters. Nullifiers were mentioned. And Stalkers were given a teleport ability that had interesting strategic potential. In another video of game play, force fields were raised forcing an attacking army to go around it. The Stalkers then teleported themselves to the other side of the force fields, behind the attacking army, and took them out from behind. The return of the MothershipThe Protoss Mothership also makes an appearance. While not as powerful as the Zerg Queen, it has been given powerful support abilities. It is now a mobile battlefield teleporter, able to zap in troops to wherever it is at. It is also heavily armored and has an emergency ability called Time Bomb which renders it immune from damage for a short period of time. Since it isn't as versatile as the Zerg Queen, Protoss players will be able to have more than one Mothership in play at once. NEXT: The Terrans and the diminishing Hero ===>
Rob Pardo talks about free WoW, Starcraft, Activision
Rob Pardo, SVP of game design at Blizzard, gave the keynote speech at the Game Developer's Conference held in Paris this week. Here are some WoW-related tidbits from his talk and the Q&A session held afterward.About WoW WoW was first conceived as free to play, being supported by advertising. However, the non-subscription business model couldn't support Blizzard's goals for the game. Pardo suggested that Blizzard approached the MMO genre "very naively, or else we might not have done it." He once hired a WoW player who sent him a 16-page diatribe about the game because, even though the guy was wrong, "he was passionate" about improving the game. About Starcraft 2 Blizzard has no problem putting intellectual properties on hold for a while, hence the wait for a Starcraft game. Pardo says that they wanted to make a real-time strategy game but were "tired of green-skinned orcs" so they moved away from Warcraft to Starcraft. Starcraft 2 is at a playable stage in its development and he's having a lot of fun with it. Read more about Rob Pardo's keynote speech.
Rumor: Retail chains showing December 3 release date for Starcraft II
Many froth-mouthed fans of Blizzard's intergalactic real-time strategy masterpiece Starcraft have anxiously been awaiting word on when the next installment of the series would land in their anticipatory laps. Blizz has been characteristically tight-lipped about the title's launch window, though we were recently informed that an online SKU search for Starcraft II on Best Buy, Circuit City, and Gamestop's web sites reveal the same supposed release date of December 3, 2008. With no confirmation from Blizzard, it's far from official -- though we imagine this won't stop dedicated zerglings from dropping by the office tomorrow, and requesting off the last month of the year.[Thanks, Chad.]
New StarCraft II screenshots released
Avid Blizzard fans are already watching the official StarCraft II website. Much like other unmentionable Blizzard products, information about StarCraft II is slowly making its way into the world. There may not yet be Tauren marines in our immediate future, but sharp-eyed David Craddock at the Big Download Blog spotted new screenshots released this week.While some of the screenshots won't be recognizable or meaningful to new StarCraft initiates, most of the action is generally recognizable (in a general sense) to a veteran RTS player. You can definitely get an overall sense of troops, constructed bases, and how the fight might progress if it were animated.These new screenshots feature the Banelings, which sound like pretty fierce critters in their own right. Banelings -- a "morph" of the zergling -- are chemically volatile little buggers who spend their lives angry, temperamental, and ready to explode at any given time. Through tender loving care, Zerg Queens have been able to engineer the banelings in such a way that they'll explode exactly when needed. Presumably, "when needed" means "all over your troops." You can see the Baneling's idle animation on their feature page on the official site. They pump and undulate, and really do look like something that's over-filled and ready to pop given a moment's notice. Kind of gross, really.Most of the details about Starcraft II will come "closer to release date," but it's still pretty tantalizing to get a first look at notable, trademark troops.
