OS Neutral Blizzcon 2013

[SilentPanda]

The event starts about 1 1/2 hours from the time of this post. You can even watch the opening ceremony online for free along with some of the eSports tournaments.

Friday schedule
Saturday schedule

Direct link to live stream

We can likely expect to see:

• The Diablo 3 expansion cinematic (it's already been leaked though I believe)
• Potential statement about what Warlords of Draenor is (likely a WoW expansion)
• Hearthstone open beta date
• Heroes of the Storm gameplay (Blizzards new DOTA/MOBA style game)
• Starcraft 2....... something?

I'm sure MMO-Champion will be doing live updates. I don't intend to do live updates here but may edit this post to highlight overall things, but not to the detail they will.

 

[Nermal]

I'm here

 

[SilentPanda]

I'm here

Good lord put some pants on man!

 

[Nermal]

Sorry

Anyway, yeah, new WoW expansion which looks interesting. I'm not sure about Heroes; I never got into that sort of game but I'll probably end up trying it anyway. Hearthstone is supposed to be in open beta next month although as commented, that's Blizzard time so may be January.

The contests were fun, as usual

 

[SilentPanda]

Sorry

Anyway, yeah, new WoW expansion which looks interesting. I'm not sure about Heroes; I never got into that sort of game but I'll probably end up trying it anyway. Hearthstone is supposed to be in open beta next month although as commented, that's Blizzard time so may be January.

The contests were fun, as usual

Yeah... Heroes does nothing for me but I'm sure I'll at least give it a try. I've been playing Hearthstone for a few weeks now and enjoy it quite a bit. I had to break some of my old Magic the Gathering habits though! Working my way up the ranks, sitting at double platinum now.

 

[MacAlien]

WoD just seems so... blah. I absolutely hated TBC, so going back to the 'past' and doing Outlands all over again just seems horrible.

Hearthstone is good for those times you're just sitting there and want something distracting for a half hour.

The rest, SC2 and D3 are a whatever.

 

[Miharu]

I don't get how they can go to the past but not alter timelines or whatever, but then again it's WoW where anything and everything is possible...

 

[Washac]

When will Blizzard play catchup and go free to play as in Guild Wars 2 and RIFT to name two ?

 

[Miharu]

WoW still has 7,6 million players who pay the monthly fee. Other games that have gone free to play have vastly lower numbers... GW2 is an exception because it has been f2p from the start.

Basically WoW will continue to be subscription based as long as people are willing to pay.

 

[luffytubby]

WoW still has 7,6 million players who pay the monthly fee. Other games that have gone free to play have vastly lower numbers... GW2 is an exception because it has been f2p from the start.

Basically WoW will continue to be subscription based as long as people are willing to pay.

Guild Wars 2 is B2P (buy 2 play) but I see what you are saying. GW2 is a different MMORPG and it's philosophy is not really in contrast with WoW.

On the other hand WoW has no more real competitors. Not even on the way. EQN if it will become successful has sandboxy features, and has massive expectations following it. It seems doubtful the game will anywhere live up to them. SOE showed they were capable with Planetside 2, but this is a company who lost the trust of all as a horrible company.

 

[antonis]

But still, Elder Scrolls Online will be a subscription based, so it will be directly competing WoW. I just hope it will meet the - extremely high - expectations.

WoW's high number of subscriptions is because of the previous years success. I highly doubt Blizzard would do that good, if they've released WoW now.

But to get back to the topic, I also find it kind of "meh..." to return to the past. Although the theme seems to be more adult than Pandaria.

 

[Nermal]

I played through the new zones today; the horde one is definitely incomplete and runs out of quests after about an hour, with the vast majority of the zone still undiscovered. Shadowmoon Valley was clearly the development focus; I hadn't finished the quest line after 90 minutes.

On the other hand, as a shaman I now have ghost dinosaurs

 

[SingularityG]

Warlords of Draenor looks like a fine expansion, returning WoW back on it's track after its Pandaria crisis.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

WoW still has 7,6 million players who pay the monthly fee. Other games that have gone free to play have vastly lower numbers... GW2 is an exception because it has been f2p from the start.

Basically WoW will continue to be subscription based as long as people are willing to pay.

I would not call Guild Wars 2 free to play because it isn't. You have to buy the game. You don't have to pay anything further to play on their servers which is great and is different than other payment models but it isn't free either. You paid for that access when you purchased the game. Long term if it is anything like the original Guild Wars, they will also make further revenue buy selling expansions which will also cost players to acquire. I'm not knocking GW2 by any means but I don't consider it free because it isn't. Of course, none of the f2p really is anyway if you want a decent experience.

Back on topic, I think the new WoW expansion looks great. I like the refinements to the models without any drastic changes to them. I like the idea of the new Garrisons and I am looking forward to learning more about that feature. A free level 90 is cool. A return to TBC in a way, works for me as I loved TBC personally. New zones to level to 100 in will be fun. And of course, there will be plenty of new endgame stuff for those who most like that. For anyone who enjoys the game as I do, I think this expansion will be well received and offer plenty of entertainment.

 

[Washac]

Sorry, yes I meant put no monthy subcription to play.

Guild Wars 2 is as you say buy to play but NO subscription and you can buy stuff in game if you wish.

RIFT is now FREE to play, in that you can download and install it for FREE, it does have a subscription option called being a patron and you can buy stuff in game. The whole game can actually be played without spending any money at all, but buying the in game stuff does make life a bit easier.

 

[cluthz]

I hope they make it easier to just do dungeons with friends and enjoy earlier.
In MoP it felt like a chore. You spent a few days to get to 90, then one day mining to get gear. Then ran a few HC, after that it was just dailies to get tokens to get gear in LFR.

I haven't been playing actively since BC days. After that I have visited for awhile with each new expansion. I played a few months wotlk and cata was fun, for awhile, but MoP just felt like a chore, and I unsubbed after a month.

I will pick up the next expansion and play it for a month, maybe more if it has something to keep me going. If i have to do 25 dailies each day, then I'm gonna give up.