Attention Blizzard fans! It is time to get ready for this years annual blizzard convention! Whether it’s Hearthstone, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm or the upcoming release ofWorld of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor…there’s only one place where all of these great franchises and their fans can come together in celebration. And that is at BlizzCon 2014.
Blizzard just announced that this years Blizzcon will he held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California on 7-8 May. Because BlizzCon attendees know that the most stressful and challenging aspect of the event is getting tickets in the first place. Each ticket will run for a hefty price of $199 and will be available for purchase through two different online sales. Time to set those bookmarks, because tickets will be sold exclusively through online ticket retailer Eventbrite. Then set those alarms for Wednesday, May 7 at 7PM PDT and the other on Saturday, May 10 at 10AM PDT. Blizzard says they’ve updated the way tickets are sold this year, so everyone should assume the process will go smoothly. That means expect tickets to be sold out in a matter of minutes. Seriously. Like, maybe five minutes.
Blizzard will be hosting several eSports tournaments at the event, have areas for hands-on for unreleased game content, ongoing developer-led panels, and generally have all sorts of other cool stuff going on. For those who don’t end up acquiring a ticket have no worries, because Blizzard will again be offering an online ticket. It’s basically a Pay-Per-View experience with several livestreams going on for gamers to flip through as they please. It’s the whole BlizzCon experience at a tenth of the price.
Lets take a deeper look into what we can expect at this years even, what new announcements, and whether we can expect something new from Blizzard. Blizzcon 2014 – What to Expect:
1. Contests & Tournaments
Blizzard will onnce again host their usual set of contets, with the same crazy prices for the podium winners.
BlizzCon® 2014 Costume Contest
The Costume Contest makes a triumphant return. Every year we see more and more spectacular costume creations, and we’re sure that this year will be no exception. It’s important to keep safety in mind as you’re planning your creation—that means you must be able to easily and safely see out of and maneuver in your costume without assistance. This year, we’ll also be holding registration and sign-ups on Friday morning at BlizzCon, so please be prepared to have your costume finished well in advance. Spread the word!
Remember: Make sure your costume allows you to see clearly and move easily. No real weapons, dangerous materials, or large motorized costumes will be allowed.
BlizzCon® 2014 Talent Contest
The Talent Contest will also be returning to the stage at BlizzCon 2014! Last year’s inaugural competition featured the performances of some truly talented musicians. This year, we’re looking forward to seeing performances of all sorts—so even if you can’t carry a tune, your other talents might carry you to the stage.
If you’ve got serious performance chops—dramatic, comedic, musical, or otherwise—you could have a chance to showcase your Blizzard-themed talent live on stage at BlizzCon in front of a massive audience . . . and win great prizes (including a trip to BlizzCon and lodging) to boot. We’ll be accepting YouTube videos of your talent performance in the near future, so start rehearsing!
Whatever you choose to show us, please make sure your video is 2 minutes or less in length, choose a good (higher is better) resolution, and keep it simple. We want to see you just as you would be performing live. Since your audition video could be shown on stage at the show, please make sure that there are no non-Blizzard brand logos present in your shoot.
BlizzCon® 2014 Art Contest
The Art Contest will offer talented artists the chance to show off their work at BlizzCon once again. As you prepare to craft your masterpiece, please keep in mind that you’ll need to submit high-quality jpegs no larger than 5MB. Also, the entire content of your work needs to be your own original creation, so no PhotoShop manipulations of existing work will be accepted
BlizzCon® 2014 Movie Contest
We look forward to screening the work of aspiring auteurs in animation, machinima, live-action filmmaking, and more! Start those storyboards now, but keep in mind that the length of your film should be 3 minutes or less and the size of your file no larger than 100MB. If you’re shooting a live-action piece, please make sure that there are no non-Blizzard brand logos in your video.
Complete rules and more information on all of the upcoming contests will be available soon.
Signups begin in the near future, so start preparing in advance!
Got BlizzCon contest-related questions? Email BlizzConContest@Blizzard.com.
2. Warlords of Draenor and the next expansion?
With the release date already set for the 13th, fans are pretty eager to start playing the new expansion. We may even see the game released during Blizzcon. Rumors are that we may even get a name for the next expansion! This is the 10th anniversary of Wow, so Blizzard may have something up their sleeve here.
Fhor WoD though, te expansion is set after the events of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and takes place on the world of Draenor, the original homeworld of the orcs, prior to its destruction and the creation of Outland as featured in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Legendary characters of Warcraft‘s past, such as Grom Hellscream, Ner’zhul and Blackhand, will appear.
The expansion will include:
- New continent of Draenor (7 zones, 1 PvP zone)
- Build and upgrade your Garrison
- A level 90 character boost
- New player character models
- 6 new Dungeons and 2 new Raids
- A Heroic version of Upper Blackrock Spire
- New Challenge modes
- New Battlegrounds and World Bosses
- New Scenarios
- Level cap raised to 100
- New class talents and permanent ability bonuses
- Refined quest system with hundreds of new quests
- . . . and more!
Here’s the announcement Trailer:
3. Star Craft 2 – Legacy of the Void
Star Craft will most likely get their new expansion announced. Legacy of the Void is the third and final planned expansion pack .The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Protoss species. It will span approximately 20 missions and will be priced as an expansion set. Using units from one side may preclude using units from the other side, and alienating one or another sect may cut the player off from part of the campaign. The campaign will focus on Zeratul as its main character.
Expect to see an announcement movie trailer, Blizzard style.
4. Secret Titan Project (again)
*Update: this has been officially cancelled by Blizzard. Which means we can finally move on to a new rumor…project Prometheus!
We put this on every years Blizzcon list, but have no real expectations. Over the last 8 years, Blizzard has ducked, dived, and dodged questions related to Titan. Fan rumours pegged it as a StarCraft spin-off, an MMOFPS, a WoW sequel, and anything else that seemed to fit. Meanwhile, no official art was ever revealed, no trailer ever shown, and no release date ever mentioned. With rumours now hinting that Titan’s earliest launch window is 2016, it appears as though we are no closer to concrete information on the project now then we were seven years ago. Still, one has to wonder what the folks at Blizzard are cooking up in the magic, money-printing building they call home. After all, no other PC-exclusive studio has managed to assert such dominance over the marketplace for so long, and the world has yet to see any game that could accurately be labelled a “WoW-killer.” Whatever Project Titan was and whatever it may become, it will remain one of the most anticipated projects in MMO history. If you want to read more on Project Titanfall, head over to Massively for a complete history.
5. HearthStone World Championship Finals
It’s no easy feat making it to the World Championship at BlizzCon 2014—the road is long, nerve-wracking, and filled with skilled players from all over the world! Currently, qualified card-slingers everywhere are dueling their way through various tournaments in an effort to make it to the next stage. Soon, individuals from Korea, Taiwan, China, Europe, and the Americas will come together at the biggest showdown in competitive Hearthstone. Blizzard conjured a handy visual guide to help you track the progress of your favorite players! Be sure to watch for updates as they continue to travel the Road to BlizzCon.
What else do you think may be announced? We’ll probably get patch updates for HearthStone, and more details Heroes of the Storm. But what will be the killer announcements at this years Blizzcon?
