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Blizzard posts Worldwide Invitational schedule
Blizzard has posted the official WWI schedule on their page, and there aren't a lot of surprises -- lots of tournaments, a few developer panels, and of course the requisite costume and dance contests (no soundalike contest this time around?). The opening ceremony starts everything off Saturday morning at 11:45 (that's Paris time, of course, which is 5:45am EST), and that's when we'll hear about whatever announcements Blizz plans to give us, whether they be new Wrath information, a new Diablo game (cross your fingers!) or a completely brand new IP.One interesting thing is that the Nihilum live raid is an officially sponsored event -- for some reason I thought that, like their other events, it was an unofficial look at the high-end content, but it's right there on Blizzard's official schedule, and will likely be on their stage as well. That's an interesting connection between some of the game's best players and the actual developer.It's almost here! Stay tuned for Worldwide Invitational news right here on WoW Insider all weekend, of course -- we'll have people live on the scene, and anything we know all weekend long, you'll know too. More details on our coverage are coming up soon -- it looks to be a terrific event in Paris, and we can't wait to see what Blizzard's got planned for us this time. WoW Insider is on the ground in Paris at the Blizzard Invitational bringing you the big announcements and latest Wrath news as it happens. Check out our latest coverage!
Live streams of the Worldwide Invitational available
If you're unable to attend the Worldwide Invitational in Paris, don't worry! In addition to WoW Insider's own coverage of the panels and various announcements, Blizzard has arranged a live feed for their opening ceremony, closing ceremony, and all of the tournaments and concerts in between. It looks like they'll be running two feeds at once, one at their Main Stage and one at their Tourney Stage, so there might be more going on than you can follow! In addition to having two feeds, each of them has a low quality and a high quality feed available. Have an awesome connection? Stream both stages at High! Personally, I'll have the Main Stage going at High Quality nonstop, but maybe not the Tournament Stage so much.I (and Blizzard) recommend taking a look at the live feed page before the convention begins, so you can prepare any software or plugins you may not have yet. If you tuned in for the 3v3 tournament on GotFrag awhile ago, you should be all set already. If you haven't, you'll need to pick up Octoshape and install it. Instructions and requirements can be found on the Octoshape website.
Blizzard's splash screen changes for June 27th: A "Lost" penguin and Death Knight imagery
Good Morning everyone! It is now June 27th, and as expected, Blizzard's splash screen has changed yet again to reveal more of the mystery behind what they may be announcing at the Worldwide Invitational, which begins tomorrow. What exactly they're announcing is still up in the air, but there have been some interesting revelations, especially concerning the mysterious purple monster everyone's been wondering about. The new graphic, named ice5.jpg, doesn't seem to have changed the cracking ice much, but what has changed is the "eyes." There's now very little doubt that they are glowing eyes instead of snow flecks, and to be frank, they do look remarkably like the eyes of Arthas the Lich King from underneath his helmet -- although the ethereal feel of them and the strange ridges being formed in the vapor are also very reminiscent of the Protoss. Whether these ridges indicate Arthas' helmet or the face ridges of a Protoss or a demon might still be up for debate, but this overlay of Arthas on today's splash screen by Zach is very convincing -- the eyes match up pretty much exactly. Hopefully, we'll know for sure who it is tomorrow. In addition, the new rune, located just above the breaking ice, is that of a snowflake, which brings to mind the Frost tree of the Death Knights (even if the frost rune shown on the official Death Knight page doesn't quite match up). Tipster Allen notes that the new rune looks a lot like a Norse Bind-Rune, specifically one known as a compass or the "Helm of awe," which is often used for invulnverability -- perhaps a Lost Vikings reference, or a nod to the Viking-like architecture seen in many screenshots of Northrend? All This new imagery would seem to be a killing blow of sorts for a Diablo 3 announcement, but it is also worth nothing that the new frost rune is in the correct area for the Pentagram theory to continue to apply. In addition, all 5 runes have lit up, so if you weren't able to get a good look at them before, you certainly can now. %Gallery-25975% What's really sort of interesting, though, is what our purple monster friend reveals, which I'll discuss after the break.
Rumor: Death Knights coming early
Though this is the merest shred of a rumor, it's a nice enough idea that I think it's worth a post anyway. DeathKnight.info is passing on the speculation that maybe, just maybe, this weekend's announcement (or one of them) is going to be that the Death Knight class will be playable before Wrath of the Lich King's release, to those who pre-order Wrath. It sounds a bit silly, given that the Death Knight is one of the banner features of Wrath, but there are a few points riding in its favor: You only need a level 55 to create a DK. It would assuage concerns of everybody and their dog rolling a DK on the day of the Wrath release, since if the class was released (say) next month, or even in a few months, many of us would have time to get a DK to 70 before Wrath's release, to see whether we liked the class and so forth. It would give those of us who have exhausted the current content something to do for the next few months. The eyes revealed in today's teaser image could easily be sinister Death Knight eyes. Allegedly, a post on this subject was nuked by the CMs in the official forums earlier today. However, even if this is what the post was about, speculating on unreleased content is explicitly forbidden by the forum terms of service, so the post would have been removed whether or not it was accurate. Thus this is still solidly speculative. But we can dream. Now I don't know which I'm hoping for: Diablo 3 or sooner Death Knights. Not that there's any reason they can't do both.
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 Authenticator to be introduced at the Worldwide Invitational
The problem with keyloggers and other methods of account theft has been well documented here at WoW Insider, and it seems like a constant problem. Even the most conscientious of players has fallen prey to it. However, at the Worldwide Invitational, Blizzard is introducing a little piece of hardware that could make those problems vanish. Say hello to the Blizzard Authenticator. The Authenticator is a small piece of hardware that you can associate with your World of Warcraft account. Once the Authenticator is associated with the account, you will need it to log on. Every time you log on, you press a button on the Authenticator to generate a six-digit code that you must input to log on. Since only you know the code, and it's generated apart from your computer at the time you're ready to log on, it will be safe from trojans, keyloggers, and other hacks. The Authenticator will be available at the WWI to start, then eventually at the Blizzard Store. The starting price being quoted by Blizzard is $6.50 -- a small price to pay for safety from a ransacked bank and naked server transferred characters, for many. Is this the big announcement though? It's possible, of course, but we like to think there's more in store at the WWI. Stay tuned here, and we'll let you know.
WWI Predictions by WoW Insider
The 2008 Worldwide Invitational is going down this weekend in Paris, and everyone is abuzz about what might happen. Will we see a release date for Wrath of the Lich King? What is that teaser on the Blizzard page all about? And will we finally, almost eight years to the day since the last game was released, see a new Diablo game? You've got questions, we've got predictions. We here at WoW Insider have put our collective heads together to predict exactly what we'll see at the press conferences and ceremonies this weekend, and each blogger's predictions are after the jump. We're putting it all up front now, so that afterwards, we can see if we were right or wrong. And you're welcome to join us -- put your prediction (or just agree or disagree with ours) in the comments below.Of course, we're all guessing based on rumors and hearsay at this point -- we won't know for sure what's going on until Blizzard confirms it this weekend, and of course WoW Insider will be there to let you know right away. But in the meantime, here's what we think we're going to hear about from Paris in the next few days.
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.
Battle.net forums hint at Diablo 3
Nothing sparks speculation like a mystery, as Blizzard's recent splash pages in this week leading up to their Worldwide Invitational tournament have shown. The main contenders for what Blizz is going to announce (and yes, they are going to announce something) are Diablo 3 and something related to Wrath. Only two splash pages have shown up so far (out of a presumably longer series), but the game may already be given away by a slip-up at the Battle.net forums. Blizzplanet is reporting that if you go to www.battle.net/forums/board.aspx?ForumName=d3-general (which would be the Diablo 3 general forums), you get an error that "The Battle.net Forums Are Currently Down." However, if you go to any other forum name that doesn't yet exist (like www.battle.net/forums/board.aspx?ForumName=wowinsider-rocks), you get redirected to the main Battle.net forums page. Only d3-general gives the "forums down" error. If you like to follow Blizzard-related rumors, this may sound familiar. Way back at Blizzcon '07, this was one way we found out that Wrath of the Lich King was going to be the next expansion: www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath gave a "Forbidden" error, whereas any other non-existent path at worldofwarcraft.com gave a regular old 404. So to me this seems like a big hint in the favor of D3. Which means that those of you hoping for a big Wrath-related announcement might well be disappointed. But in my mind, a release date was always unlikely - since when does Blizz give release dates, especially when the game is so far away (still in alpha)? Then again, they could always announce more than one thing; it is about time for a closed beta on Wrath. However, my guess (and my hope) is for Diablo 3.
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 ===>
Ron Pardo hints at a new game announcement at Paris GDC
As you may recall, Rob Pardo was the keynote speaker at this week's GDC in Paris, only days before the Worldwide Invitational in the same city. He delivered a speech laden with a lot of insight into his and Blizzard's inner workings and philosophy, but not much in the way of new information about WoTLK, as Natalie reported yesterday. However, Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Pardo did let a rather major piece of information slip in the final Q&A session that wrapped up on the conference. It looks like there may be a new game announcement at the Invitational later this week after all. Someone asked Pardo to comment on the Diablo 3 rumors that have been whizzing around the net lately. "So you want me to announce the game before our announcement?" he said. "No offense, but I think there's like 300 people here, and I'll be ripped apart by 8000 people there [at the Invitational] if I pre-announce it - but it's going to be really exciting. I think everybody here will be really excited about the announcement." Luckily, among those 8000 people at the Worldwide Invitational will be three of our own, so you can expect WoW Insider will be on top of this announcement when it drops. In the meantime, be sure to check our in-depth analysis of the latest changes to Blizzard's splash screen, which is almost certainly a teaser for this announcement. [Thanks for the forward, Centipede!]
WoW Insider at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational this weekend
Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France June 28 & 29 has a lot of things. It has machinima contests, dance competitions, live raids, playable Wrath demos, live concerts and a new 3v3 Arena tournament with a Frostmourne replica as the grand prize. And it also has WoW Insider. We will have people on the floor of the invitational to bring you word on the big announcements, dev panels and crazy costume contests the moment they happen. Keep an eye on our site this weekend for latest news on World of Warcraft. Until it kicks off, check out our gallery below from last year's Blizzcon. %Gallery-5529% WoW Insider is on the ground in Paris at the Blizzard Invitational bringing you the big announcements and latest Wrath news as it happens. Check out our latest coverage!
Blizzard's splash screen changes for June 25th, reveals new rune
I'm sure by now you've heard of the strange splash screen that has appeared on Blizzard's major websites, and seen the progression from day 1 to day 2, and read our report on it here at WoW Insider. As expected, a new splash screen has just appeared on Blizzard's main site. This time, a large chunk of the ice in the middle of the picture seems to have broken away. Unfortunately, we still can't make out much of anything through the ice, though we've already had a tipster or two comment to say that it may be the night sky. If so, does that mean we're inside some sort of icy tomb or cavern looking out? There's also a new rune located in the bottom left hand corner of the breaking ice. The meaning of the new rune is still up in the air. Diabloii.net points out that it looks a lot like a Protoss symbol found on the official Starcraft 2 site. You can see the image, as well as the newest piece of that strange purple monster image, in our splash screen gallery below. %Gallery-25975%
Blizzard's icy splash screen changes as Diablo 3 and WoTLK speculation intensifies
We reported yesterday about the new icy splash screen which has appeared on many of Blizzard's corporate and gaming sites. There's already tons of speculation speeding around the web about it, and of course the pot was only stirred all the more this morning when the picture changed slightly: the light in the middle of the cracked ice became brighter, and there's some new detail that can be seen through the ice, including a rune of some sort just to the upper right of the center. we can probably assume that the picture will change more each day until something is announced at the Worldwide Invitational. However, the question remains: What is being announced? Right now, there's two major schools of thought about it: One school says that this will lead up to the announcement of the WoTLK Beta, while another says that this will be the announcement of Diablo 3. Each side has some pretty passionate arguments, and are bringing the analysis to back it up. Let's look at what we have after the break. %Gallery-25975%
Worldwide Invitational 2008 contest signups begin
The date of the World Wide Invitational in Paris creeps ever closer and closer. Of course, the biggest thing we're looking forward to is all the new WotLK information courtesy of the playable WotLK demos and Developer panels, but the contests should be pretty fun too. If you're planning to enter one of them, the signups are beginning. Submissions for the fan art and machinima contests are being accepted via web form from now until June 17th, so that leaves you a little under one more week to finalize your submission. As for the dance and costume contests, registration will be open from June 16th to June 20th. Remember, some of the contests are only open to certain European countries, so check the rules to make sure you're eligible -- and remember, if you're not, you may be eligible for the contests at Blizzcon 2008 instead. Good luck with your entries, and we'll see you in Paris!
WWI tickets sold out (again)
They'd first sold out back in March. Then, like sweet, sweet relief, Blizzard announced that more tickets were available yesterday. Now, less than 24 hours after the additional tickets were made available, the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational is sold out again. Of course, the news blurb on the official site encourages you to keep checking back, so it's possible they'll announce more ticket availability yet again. There had been some payment problems, so maybe this round of new tickets were a concession to that issue. For those just tuning in, the WWI looks like it's going to be quite the hopping place. There's an Arena tournament scheduled, and L70ETC is going to be rocking out. You'll probably be able to spot a mailbox performance by a few Night Elves in their dance tournament. Don't forget to hit the fan art contest and machinima contest. Keep an eye on WoW Insider -- we'll let you know if tickets somehow become available again.
World of Warcraft Arena tournament announced at the World Wide Invitational
Here's one more reason to make it out to Paris on June 28th and 29th this year: Blizzard's announced a 3v3 World of Warcraft Tournament. It's even open to most residents of the US, so if you're an American arena junkie with 2 friends planning a European vacation, here's your chance to participate in the contests. You will, of course, be competing for prizes: A Frostmourne replica for first place, a Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System for 2nd place, and a free year of WoW for 3rd place. You can check out the complete information here. As a reminder, those extra tickets we told you about are now on sale, so if you were planning to buy some, now is your chance. It'll set you back 70 euros (which is currently $108.53 in US dollars), but for everything you'll get, the price is probably worth it. If you still need a little convincing of that, check out our previous World Wide Invitational coverage.
Extra Worldwide Invitational tickets to go on sale Thursday, May 29th
As we noted last week, Blizzard is planning to sell more tickets to the World Wide Invitational 2008 in Paris, France. We now know the exact date: Thursday, May 29th. If you're planning to be in the area on June 28th-29th, here's your chance to catch all the contests and dev panels that are sure to showcase some great creativity and reveal some juicy WoTLK and Starcraft 2 information. If you're not planning to be in the area, but have always wanted a European vacation, here's a great excuse. The last half of June is looking like a great time to be in Paris for a game developer groupie as well, since the European Game Developer's Conference will also be going on, complete with Blizzard Senior VP Rob Pardo as a keynote speaker. Be sure to grab your tickets to the World Wide Invitational, and we'll see you there.
Worldwide Invitiational, now with dancing
Hot on the heels of announcing more ticket availability for their Worldwide Invitational contest, and a costume contest before that, Blizzard announced today that there will be a dance contest as well. This brings the total number of contests to seven. Here's what you can do to win yourself fabulous prizes: Dance Make a costume Do some fanart Make some machinima Win at the WoW, Starcraft, or Warcraft III competitions In addition to these contests, there will be hands-on demos of Starcraft II and Wrath of the Lich King. The prizes for the dance contest, in case you're thinking of competing, are: a hi-fi system, a Blizzard-themed iPod Touch, a G15 keyboard (ironic), a mouse, a free WoW subscription for a year, and some action figures. That's for first place; the lesser places get subsets of that. What, no beta keys? Probably not worth going to Paris for, but if you're going to WWI anyway, and you have a desire to bust a move, you might give it a try. Note that the dances have to be inspired by in-game dances. WWI will take place in Paris, on June 28th and 29th.
Worldwide Invitational 2008 to offer more tickets
If you wanted to head to the City of Lights this summer to check out the World Wide Invitational this year, but missed the first round of tickets, you're in luck. Blizzard has announced that they will be selling another round on the official WWI website some time next week. If you're still interested, keep an eye out for it! The World Wide Invitational will take place in Paris, France on June 28th and 29th, and will include developer panels and multiple contests, including fanart and machinima contests, as well as a playable version of WoTLK -- essentially, it's a European Blizzcon. Be sure to check out all of our previous coverage on the event, and stay tuned for all the latest news as we get closer to the date.
