wow-convention
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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.
The BlizzCon schedule, EU style
So you're excited about the BlizzCon schedule, but being the EU has you confused on exactly when everything is going down? Worry not -- reader Elnaira of EU Stormreaver has updated the schedule, as you can see above, with the EU time zone calculations done for you. He used the GMT+2 timezone (since that's where Paris is right now, and where most of the EU server times lie), so if you're not in that timezone you'll have to do your own calculations, but this may help you if you're overseas and trying to decipher exactly when the events you want to see on the server stream will take place.And the truth is that you're going to be staying up pretty late -- the conference will finish up around six in the morning there, so if you want to see all of the costume contests and Ozzy's concert on Saturday, better make sure you've got plenty of coffee and/or Red Bull on hand. And even if you fall asleep, don't worry: we'll have you covered.Update: Here's one done by a reader with Australian times on it. 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: It begins
Our man in Anaheim right now is none other than the Turpster (apparently the Deadliest Catch boat he grabbed a ride with arrived a bit early), and, jet sealagged as he may be, he found the strength to walk over to the convention center and get you the first pics of what this year's BlizzCon looks like. Hit the gallery below to see what's going on, from the Illidan statue setup to the Dippin' Dots booth.No major spoilers yet (there are no Cataclysm posters lying around, disappointing as that may be), but it's a great look at the calm before the storm of Blizzard fans that will descend on the area in just a few days' time. Stay tuned for lots more coverage (and we mean lots more coverage) of what's going on in Anaheim. BlizzCon 2009 is almost upon us!Update: Blizzard has asked us to remove three images from this gallery that showed portions of the interior of the convention hall. As these were blurry, through-the-window shots that didn't clearly show anything of excitement, we don't feel anyone is missing out by not having them available. We'll be sure to update you with plenty of high-quality shots when the convention floor officially opens on Friday. %Gallery-70480% 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.
Preparing for BlizzCon: The final roundup
BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard's gaming extravaganza. These helpful hints are particularly suited for convention rookies. But if you are a con veteran, we'd love to hear your advice and wisdom in the comments as well.BlizzCon is this week and we are excited! After a couple months of preparing, it's time to make sure all our murlocs are in a row. Are you prepared? Let's find out: Do you have a place to stay? Of course, you should have reserved your room first thing, but if you didn't or if your plans have changed, there is still hope. People have canceled, so you may find some luck there. Also, big city is big. Even though you may not find a room next to the Anaheim Convention Center, there are still plenty of places to stay within an easy driving distance. Try your favorite online travel site for the best last minute deals. Are you getting there by plane, train or automobile? Here are some last minute travel tips. If you are taking a train, you can carry a ton of luggage with you -- checked or carry-on. But I still recommend traveling light. Lugging big bags around is hard on the gaming hands.
Blizzard maps out BlizzCon
There she is, the BlizzCon map for 2009. As you can see, there's an extra hall than last year (and two more halls than a few years ago) -- Blizzard has rented out the flnal hall of the convention center, so there are four whole halls filled with Blizzard activity. This also means that they don't have to go into the conference rooms on the second floor -- the panels will be held either on the mainstage or in the new panel discussion stage area. We're not sure where Ozzy will be held; in the past, concerts have been over in the arena attached to the convention center, but with one big room dedicated to a main stage, Blizzard may just set things up in there this year.Everything else is pretty expected -- there'll be a Retro Arcade and an Art Gallery again, and statues of Kerrigan, Illidan, and the Orc and Wolf model to check out. One interesting note is that there are playable areas for both Diablo III and Starcraft II (we'll probably see the singleplayer mode of that game playable for the first time) as well as World of Warcraft, so if a new expansion is announced, we might get to see some of it playable already. And of course, all of Blizzard's partners will be in attendance as well. Excited yet? 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 schedule posted
Blizzard has posted the schedule for this year's BlizzCon event, and there aren't too many surprises at all. We already expected to see most of the panels, so while there'll be the usual favorites like lore and art panels for each game, and two different World of Warcraft class panels (those are always fun, with devs confronted by players with class balance issues), there aren't any unexpected sessions popping up. They haven't revealed, say, a "new WoW expansion" panel, or a "next-gen MMO" panel.That doesn't mean those won't happen -- it probably does mean we won't see demos for anything announced at Friday's keynote, as the schedule is pretty full already, but in the past when Blizzard has announced an expansion, for example, they usually spend a lot of time in the "Dungeons and Raids" panel talking about what they're doing with the new material. We'll have to see.Finally, it appears, somewhat strangely, that the live DirecTV broadcast on Friday might actually cut off the end of the popular contests at the end of the day -- the broadcast ends at 8, and the contests end an hour later. Hopefully stream subscribers won't miss out on some of the fun. They won't have that problem on Saturday, as the broadcast runs all the way through Ozzy's concert. And of course, don't forget to add our meetup on your own schedule -- we're kicking things off on Thursday night. Sounds like fun!Update: Blizzard has since retracted the schedule.Update x2: Blizzard has posted a new schedule. 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.
Preparing for BlizzCon: Last minute travel tips
BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard's gaming extravaganza. These helpful hints are particularly suited for convention rookies. But if you are a con veteran, we'd love to hear your advice and wisdom in the comments as well.BlizzCon is this week! Here are some last minute tips for making your trip incident-free.Air Travel Is your flight on time? Almost all airports these days have websites that give weather and flight status. Also, you can call your airline to verify everything is ok. Get there early. If you are checking luggage, this is particularly true. Check in at least an hour before your flight if you are carrying on all your things. 2 hours is best if you are checking luggage. Check in online. Most airlines will allow you to check in online and print your boarding pass 24 hours before your flight. Don't forget your I.D. You absolutely need your I.D. for getting on the plane and getting your BlizzCon badge. Keep it in a safe place on or severely close to your person. Pack properly. Overweight and oversized luggage costs extra. This is the link to what you cannot bring on the plane. Also, if you are carrying your toiletries on, don't forget 3-1-1.
Cast of The Guild making an appearance at BlizzCon '09
Fans and followers of the popular web series The Guild, loosely based on World of Warcraft, should be excited to know that the show's cast will be making an appearance at BlizzCon this year! Blizzard Community Manager Nethaera confirmed the news with an announcement on the official forums. Blizzard's forum post on the subject says that The Guild will have both its own booth and its own discussion panel at BlizzCon, where the cast (like geek goddess Felicia Day) will show off exclusive clips from the show's upcoming third season. This is a great move by Blizzard, given that the show is clearly based off of WoW and the communities for each share quite an overlap. If you've never seen The Guild before, now would be a good time to catch up on what you're missing from this award-winning show at http://www.watchtheguild.com. 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.
Preparing for BlizzCon: Costumes
BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard's gaming extravaganza. These helpful hints are particularly suited for convention rookies. But if you are a con veteran, we'd love to hear your advice and wisdom in the comments as well.Many people will be wearing costumes to BlizzCon. If you are one of them, there are a few things you should know: If you want to enter the contest, you should enter online by August 17, 2009. Blizzard will accept entries at the con, but only if enough people didn't pre-register. They have changed the costume rules a bit. You need to be wearing or holding any props you have. If you are bringing your costume for the competition, but not wearing it all day, see an Information Kiosk. There will be no general storage options available. More costume tips are after the break.
BlizzCon 2009 Goody Bag is full of StarCraft goodness
Despite the earlier announcement that StarCraft II would be delayed, it looks like BlizzCon 2009 is going to be all StarCraft all the time. Blizzard recently revealed through the BlizzCon website and a humorous post by Nethaera that the official swag bag will contain an exclusive "Raynor" n00bz vinyl figure in addition to Grunty, the in-game murloc pet in a StarCraft II marine uniform and a StarCraft-themed Authenticator. Although Grunty is a World of Warcraft pet, all three items are StarCraft-centric.Although Blizzard reveals these items, it's likely that there will be more swag awaiting BlizzCon participants considering past Blizzard events have had a plethora of items from bottle openers to beach balls. These items, presumably, are the literal and figurative big guns of the set -- perhaps to be accompanied by (taking a wild guess here) Diablo hand sanitizers, Warcraft toenail clippers, and a host of other tiny things attendees are likely to lose right after they've picked up the goody bag. The "Raynor" n00bz figure is not for sale, but is among a line of cartoonish vinyl toy figure products that include Ragnaros, Ghoul, and Murloc designs that will go on sale on the show floor next week. Blank n00bz figures will also be available for Blizzard fans to have a hand at creating their own designs in the tradition of designer toys such as Dunny or Qee. While we're guessing at what else could be in the goody bags, check out last year's swag in the gallery below. %Gallery-34142% 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.
