Splash Screen changes: Worldwide Invitational edition
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jun 28th 2008 at 3:30AM
With mere hours to go before the Worldwide Invitational, the splash screen has changed. This time the file, named Ice5andahalf.jpg, shows the 5 runes even brighter, and adds a 6th rune - a winking smiley face. You think Blizzard's having fun with this yet?
It's also worth noting that the lines around the glowing eyes are much more pronounced now - as are the eyes themselves, which now look a lot like twin stars. But are we seeing the lines of Arthas' helmet, the lines on Diablo's face, or the lines on a Protoss Templar's face? I'm not sure we'll know for sure until WWI's big announcement now, although I'm rooting for Diablo. Then again, is that the spire of Icecrown Glacier I see down there in the lower right of the night sky?
It's likely that we're hours away from a big announcement at the Worldwide Invitational, and ice6.jpg will appear then, and we'll know exactly what is up with all this wacky stuff. With any luck, we'll also hear about just how much thought Blizzard put into this whole splash screen deal. Were they really expecting all this hubub?
The master.CSS file remains unchanged -- It looks like now that the penguin is out of the bag, its job is done. However, it's somewhat amusing to note that Dictionary.com's word of the day yesterday was "harbinger," which is one of the words attached to our evil penguin friend. Coincidence? Or do Blizzard's tentacles really stretch that far? Today's word is mazy, too -- and deciphering all these clues sure has been more than a bit mazy.
As long as we're waiting on the WWI to get the final piece of this puzzle, let's do a little rune recapping, and note which runes appeared on which days of the splash screen:
- Day 1: this rune is widely agreed to be from Frostmourne, the Lich King's sword.
- Day 2: This rune appears to be the Hel rune from Diablo 2
- Day 3: This rune is the insignia of the Protoss Akilae tribe from Starcraft 2.
- Day 4: This symbol looks like a solar system, and may be a nod to Pax Emperia: Eminent Domain, a game that was once owned by Blizzard, which featured a similar looking solar system on the cover. It might also be a top-down view of an Arcane Sanctum
- Day 5: This rune looks like a snowflake, and may represent a Nordic Bind-rune known as the Helm of Awe. This is believed to be a nod to the Lost Vikings, or a nod to the Nordic influences used in designing Northrend for WoTLK.
- Day 6: A smiley face rune has appeared. Now Blizzard's just having fun with us.
- The runes themselves -- minus the day 6 rune, which mostly seems to be blizzard laughing with us at all this hubbub -- are still arrayed in that pentagram position, possibly indicating a Diablo-related announcement.
You can also read our blow by blow analysis of each day's new splash screen in the gallery, or in our articles for the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th individually.
Enjoy, everyone! We're only about an hour away from the Invitational! If you can't watch the live streams, or even if you can, don't forget to keep checking WoW Insider -- we have people on the floor ready to live blog and search for every scrap of beautiful succulent information they can find!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Rumors, Worldwide Invitational
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ragnarok Jun 28th 2008 3:45AM
Im banking on the fact that theres multiple announcements that blizz is going to make today, since so far we've seen something that correlates to each of the different games (WOTLK, Diablo 2/3, and Starcraft 2)
But, my guess is as good as anybody's at this point.
Gallaira Jun 28th 2008 3:42AM
First bit of proof that it is likely Diablo 3
http://www.worldofwar.net/n/415034/were-here
Edboy Jun 28th 2008 3:54AM
Now you're just ruining my fun.
Flobulon Jun 28th 2008 3:43AM
Good call on the Icecrown Glacier, but I'm hoping for Diablo's sake that it isn't. The ridges above the eye look much too organic and smooth to be Arthas' helmet, so I'm guessing it's Diablo (although it does look like a protoss too). ;)
Korrh Jun 28th 2008 3:44AM
I dunno, I'm not to sure the 6th rune is actualy a smiley face, despite the humorous nature of the fact it looks likes one. And so far I have a feeling the pentogram theory will fail, for each splash screen a new rune has been added. Either way, very exciting.
Shark6190 Jun 28th 2008 3:53AM
If u look closely at the rune next to the smiley face u'll see to what looks like a small bomb and the number 10. Perhaps a countdown to something... :]
chuck Jun 28th 2008 4:02AM
There seems to be number also next to the wotlk rune it looks like the number 11 also next to the protoss rune looks to be a 12 or 14 my guess is a 12 i also seen the number 10 next to the hel rune
Drevan Jun 28th 2008 3:44AM
That new spikey thing could also be Diablo's horn curving back in and up.
It could be a hand.
it could be ice crown.
I dont know, blizzard just likes screwing with us!
Aichon Jun 28th 2008 3:44AM
I'm curious what's up with the bomb looking symbol that's suddenly appeared next to the Hel rune. Is it some sort of reference to a big SOMETHING happening in the Diablo universe?
As for that new spike in the center...could be a claw reaching in for us, and we can only see that much of it. Or it could be Icecrown. Or it could be some piece of armor/weaponry that the Protoss use. I've given up on that part of the image at this point.
Aichon Jun 28th 2008 3:46AM
Gah, further inspection and it looks like that symbol is by most or all of the runes. Yay for bleary-eyed inspections for clues. I'm gonna go hit the sack.
Edboy Jun 28th 2008 3:52AM
I'm hoping it's just release dates just for the sake of disappointing everyone who wanted Diablo. I hate rumor mongers and they all deserve to suffer horribly for their over reaction to everything.
Percinho Jun 28th 2008 4:50AM
Easy there. Bear in mind that this campaign by Blizzard has been designed exactly to cause speculation (rumour's twin brother). It's all part of a game and so on this occasion I don't think you can blame people at all for having a guess. If you want to blame someone for the firestorm of this week blame Blizzard as they triggered it all.
Personally I think it's been great fun! :-)
Jason Jun 28th 2008 3:57AM
Definitely Arthas. The helm and ice? It has to be him.
Korrh Jun 28th 2008 4:06AM
More to add. Has anyone actualy looked at the Ice on the WotLK Website? Its the exact same art design as the Ice surrounding the splash pages.
Sam Jun 28th 2008 4:15AM
I noticed a couple things that nobody has mentioned yet.
Take a look at the nostrils and extremely faint teeth - here's a quick photoshop job. The teeth aren't quite as obvious as the nostrils but are definitely there.
First pic is the full thing with a selected area sharpened (just cranked it up as high as I could).
http://img237.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nostrilshornsredfullyu4.jpg
Second pic is just the sharpened area.
http://img105.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nostrilshornsredth3.jpg
Last pic is the full thing with areas of interest circled/labled.
http://img105.imageshack.us/my.php?image=27773015bo2.jpg
Also note the red veins under the ice.
NOTICE: For anyone claiming this is a hack job, I did nothing but sharpen the original image and label the stuff. No recoloring has been done.
Flobulon Jun 28th 2008 5:13AM
Good find with the red veins, I hadn't noticed them before... as for the "nostrils", they seem a bit out of place, so I personally think they're just cheek bones, as Vepa said.
Anyway, only 35 mins till the opening ceremony begins!
Grimmy Jun 28th 2008 4:21AM
Im wondering why ive not seen anyone suspect its going to be Warcraft 4
henry Jun 28th 2008 5:07AM
The lighting up of the 5 runes is very similar to the proces that needs to be conducted to summon Diablo himself.
Remember the sequence in the cathedral of hate where you have to activate the 5 runes to summon him?
And I agree with Flobulon that the "face" looks too organic to resemble a helmet.
I am beginning to think more and more that we are looking at the third reincarnation of Diablo
Vepa Jun 28th 2008 4:35AM
Teeth? There's nothing there but cold vapors like around the rest of the image. Your nostrils could just as easily be cheek bones, there's not enough to tell all that yet.
I will say that it doesn't look like any Lich King we've seen yet, it definitely does look more demonic...but I don't see the devil himself with cold vapor streams coming off his eyes.
The ridges on the head do remind me of the Protoss image from the Starcraft box though.
Sam Jun 28th 2008 5:04AM
I'll give you the teeth being a tough sell, I might just be looking too far.
I went back and tried a bunch of different things to make the features stand out more. In the end, all it needed was a second (albeit severe) sharpening.
Before: http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teethbeforeeo8.jpg
After (just the sharpened mouth area): http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teethafterls2.jpg
After 2 (sharpened to make the nostrils stand out - see that the left one is a full circle?): http://img501.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teethafter2mh7.jpg