Blizzcon 2013

 

**Update – BlizzCon day 1 is already over, here’s our recap.

November the 9th is the annual Blizzcon, and there is a lot of speculation as to what will be announced this year. Apart from the much rumoured and anticipated new game related announcements (which we will get to in a while) it is an event you do not want to miss. Especially if you are familiar with any of Blizzards games. In a nutshell:

BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® universes. The seventh BlizzCon will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2013.

At Blizzcon you will get a chance to play the latest versions of Blizzard games, view/compete at the Global Blizzard eSports finals. Take part in a casual tournament for upcoming players, take part in great contests and win massive prises. If you follow eSports, then you will know that this is one of the biggest eSports event every year.

 

BlizzCon 2013 – What to Expect:

Already confirmed:

1. StarCraft 2 Word Championship esPorts Finals

SC2 Finals

We’ll be delving into more detail on the players, dates, fixtures etc. But all you need to know for now is that at this years Blizzcon the next StarCraft 2 World Champion will be crowned. Blizzard has done an amazing job in unifying all the various countries, leagues and competitions under one banner. Blizzard established the first ever official global ranking system for StarCraft 2 eSports, to be operated by the main eSports organisations: the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), Ongamenet (OGN), GomTV, Major League Gaming (MLG), Turtle Entertainment (ESL) and Twitch.

Three leagues will feature the world’s best SC2 players: Korean, American and European. The idea is there’s a unified, cohesive structure for players and fans.

Players in each league will compete in three seasons and, eventually, clash in three global season finals. They’ll earn points within the WCS global ranking system along the way. The global grand final will be held at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California in November 2013. Up for grabs: the title of StarCraft 2 World Champion. You can read more about this prestigious competition on the Battle.net site.

 

2. BlizzCon 2013 World of Warcraft Arena Global Invitational

Wow Arena

Eight top 3v3 Arena teams from around the globe will be invited to compete in the World of Warcraft Arena Global Invitational. Here’s an quick overview of where the finalists are coming from and how they’ll be selected:

North America and Europe

Two of the highest-ranked teams from the North America game region and two of the highest-ranked teams from the Europe game region will be invited to compete at BlizzCon.

Korea and Taiwan
Korea and Taiwan will each host a regional tournament, and the top-finishing team from each region will earn an invitation to compete at BlizzCon.

China
A regional tournament in China will determine which two teams will go on to represent their region at BlizzCon.

 

3. BlizzCon 2013 Costume Contest

Blizzcon Cosplay

It’s time to begin construction of your next cosplay magnum opus. Grab some sheets of thermoplastic, get your sewing machine humming, and fire up your heat gun—the BlizzCon costume contest is back!  Hosted at BlizzCon 2013 in Anaheim, Blizzard’s legendary pageant invites you to model your creative costume couture live on stage. From the elegantly simple to awe-inspiringly elaborate, you’ll be judged on your creativity, skill, and ability to faithfully recreate characters from Blizzard games. This is the year to bring out your very best: More competitors than ever before will walk away with prizing, and in a very special twist, the Grand Prize Winner will have the option to be honored in a future Blizzard game!

Registrations already closed. 1st Price will receive a massive $1,000 and a ‘tribute’, 2nd price will receive $1,000, third $750 and fourth $500.

 

4. BlizzCon 2013 Talent Contest

Blizzcon Talent

An exciting new contest is coming to this year’s show: the BlizzCon 2013 Talent Contest! Blizzard gamers are an incredibly talented bunch, and this is your opportunity to shine a spotlight on your skills and celebrate Blizzard gaming culture along with BlizzCon attendees and viewers from around the world.

Can you play the Diablo theme on a 12-string guitar? Can you sing Lament of the Highborn? Are you the living embodiment of Sarah Kerrigan? Does your band play a Blizzard-themed song you can’t wait for everyone to hear? Well, we can’t wait to watch you act, sing, dance, and strut your stuff live on stage at BlizzCon 2013!

To be considered, you’ll need to create a 2-minute video of you (or your band, troupe, or what have you) performing your Blizzard-themed talent, post it on YouTube, and submit a link (or if you’re part of a troupe, have your troupe’s spokesperson upload it). Below are some examples of the kind of acts we have in mind.

The contestants have already been chosen, they can all be viewed and voted for on the BlizzCon Website.

 Prises: 

  •  First Price:  $2,000 Oswald Statue and a Ticket to BlizzCon 2013
  • Second Prise: $1,250 Ticket to BlizzCon 2013
  • Third Prise: $750 Ticket to BlizzCon 2013

 

5. BlizzCon 2013 Original Art Contest

Blizzcon art

Ready your pens, paints, pencils, and tablets: the BlizzCon 2013 Original Art contest is returning!

Simply submit an original work of art (remember, Photoshop manipulations don’t count!) based on the Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, or Blizzard All Stars universe by August 23, and you’ll be entered in a global contest for a chance to win great prizes and have your artwork showcased at BlizzCon 2013.

Submissions are now open, and all entries must be received by August 23 and meet the image-formatting requirements (high-resolution JPEG no greater than 5MB in size) in the official rules in order to be eligible to win. Read the official rules for more information.

  • First Prise: $1,500 and a Ticket to BlizzCon 2013
  • Second Prise: $1,000 and a Ticket to BlizzCon 2013
  • Third Prise: $700 and a Ticket to BlizzCon 2013

 

What we hope will be announced

1. Titanfall

Yes, we still have hope, that’s why we labelled this ‘We hope will be announced’.  Over the last seven 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.

 

2. WoW Expansion

wowlastexpansion-pandaria

There seems to be more rumours flying around on the next Wow expansion that possible images of the next iPhone. Chances are Blizzard will announce the new Expansion. Here are some of the rumours:

The Dark Below. The name coming from a leaked by 4Chan. Supposedly the same person also leaked details from the previous expansion, the Mists of Pandaria. This video explains it bests: Trolls Everyone!

– The Burning Legion. The strongest and most popular rumour. Nobbell87 goes into detail in this video on the possible expansion details, and more specifically being called Burning Legion. Space Adventures!

 – Heroes of the Storm. This rumour is based on a few trademarks that have been registered under Blizzards name. Read more here.

These are all rumours of course,

What will the next WoW expansion be? With only one major content patch left in Mists of Pandaria, and BlizzCon 2013 around the corner, it won’t be long before we know what’s next. But what do you think is coming? Will we be venturing into the Emerald Dream alongside Malfurion, or was Anne Stickney onto something when she speculated that the Mists of Pandaria might be our Emerald Dream expansion?

What about the ongoing legendary questline with Wrathion? Wrathion has been referencing the return of the Burning Legion in much of his quest text. Does that mean demons will be descending upon Azeroth in the next expansion? Will we finally get to see Sargeras?

Also, you wouldn’t want to forget Queen Azshara. You would think we’d have seen her and the city Nazjatar in the Cataclysm expansion, but so far she’s only made minor or indirect appearances. Azshara is the perfect accompaniment to some recent fan speculation about the naga being the next possible playable race. Unfortunately, Ghostcrawler pretty much shot that down by pointing out the naga’s lack of legs would make it difficult to design armor for them.

And, of course, there’s always … Trolls? Wait, really? More trolls? You wouldn’t think it, but in the same interview where Ghostcrawler killed our naga dreams, he said that trolls were an option the game lore could still explore in future content. Huh … Go figure.

So, what do you think the next WoW expansion will be? – Dawn Moore

 

3. Warcraft Movie Details

warcraft-movie-footage

Chances are Blizzard may reveal some more information on the Warcraft movie. This far we know the movie will start shooting in January 2014, the release date will be the release date will be December 18 2015, and that Colin Farrell and Paula Patton are reportedly in talks for the key roles in the movie. All I want to see is the footage that was shown at this years Comic Con to a select group of people:

The footage showcased an alien-looking landscape full of rocky outcroppings, where a sweaty unshaven figure in armor is drinking water from a leather pouch. There’s a cage with rocks in it, a squeaking noise, green lightning in the sky. The man tosses the water pouch on the ground, and draws his sword with a loud ringing sound. He takes a shield from an armored skeleton, and bangs his sword against it.

And then you see the massive arm of a… creature… heading towards him. We glimpse the green skin and some of the armor, and then finally we get an extreme closeup of the orc as it raises its axe and brings it down onto the man’s head.

4. StarCraft 2 Legacy of the Void

StarCraft-II-Legacy-of-the-Void

There’s not too much expected here, apart from Blizzard showing us a little teaser video of sorts. We already know that Legacy of the Void is the upcoming expansion pack and the third part of the StarCraft II trilogy, the second being Heart of the Swarm.

The expansion will include additional units and multi-player 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.

Apart from these big possible announcements, chances are we will see some Hearthstone details and possible Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls Expansion announcements. Did we miss anything?  Let us know in the comments. We are super excited for this years BlizzCon!

[Source]