Fans create a petition for a live stream of BlizzCon
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 25th 2008 at 4:30PM
A Hungarian site about Starcraft has put together a petition that a lot of folks who weren't able to grab BlizzCon tickets will probably want to sign: they're asking for Blizzard to create a live Internet stream of BlizzCon. Of course, DirecTV will be streaming the whole show (for a price, of course) on television in the US, but Blizzard fans in Europe and elsewhere have no such luck.To tell the truth, we're not sure why Blizzard made this deal with DirecTV -- well, to be fair, we know why (to make more money), but they did provide a live stream of the Worldwide Invitational in Paris, and while sure, there were occasional problems, it worked far better than I ever expected it to. Why Blizzard didn't just upgrade the servers and send the stream of BlizzCon out into the world for free (as much as DirecTV wouldn't like it) is a good question.
The petition has already 1800 signatures as of this writing (more, we'll note, than
[via BlizzPlanet]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Podcasting, Blizzard, News items, Making money, BlizzCon, Fan art
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Willypiggy Aug 25th 2008 4:35PM
I would love a live feed, even if it is as buggy as the WII one.
Kyrra Aug 25th 2008 5:21PM
What if it was a live feed that you had to pay for?
Azri Aug 26th 2008 9:01AM
Kyrra: I would pay for it. I just don't want to be forced to use DirectTV since I don't subscribe to them at all.
mirilene Aug 25th 2008 4:34PM
People want things for free: Film at 11
Also, fact check this #$*( please. They sold 12 THOUSAND tickets to blizzcon + an upcoming additional 3 THOUSAND for a grand total of 15 THOUSAND tickets).
This QQ petition has 18 HUNDRED signatures.
Rihlsul Aug 25th 2008 4:47PM
Agreed. "lrn2factcheck"
And a big GRR at DirecTV.
PimpyMicPimp Aug 25th 2008 5:01PM
Since DirectTV is offered everywhere around the world.
Oneiroi Aug 25th 2008 5:50PM
I was thinking more:
News Alert! People on internet create a petition for something! More at 11.
Jamie Aug 25th 2008 6:43PM
Indeed. I find this is hard fact for Mike to get wrong.
Ross Aug 25th 2008 4:36PM
Sounds like a great idea. Make it happen blizz.
Chop chop!
nate Aug 25th 2008 4:37PM
The Live Stream from the WWI, especially during the D3 reveal was HORRID. The infrastructure was not there to support the amount of people that tried to access it. Imagine how it will be now that even more will want to access it. Good, real-time streams are very hard to accomodate. Stickam and Ustream fold under at a couple thousand viewers.
And that is not more than were sold for Blizzcon. Blizzcon was like 12,000. Hell the lottery ticket allotment was almost twice the number of signatures.
TotalBiscuit Aug 25th 2008 4:38PM
You won't get it, if you did, the entire DirectTV deal would be off, and your anger does not directly translate into lost dollars. Who would honestly quit playing over this? Nobody, simple as that. They're getting paid for the DirectTV deal, and DirectTV would not accept Blizzard providing a live stream as well, that just wouldn't make any sense.
The fact that non-US viewers cannot watch it is unfortunate, but to release a stream for non-US viewers would take away from DirectTV's profits, and would be unacceptable. Licensing arrangements are complex things, and I have no doubt that's preventing other companies from broadcasting the event outside of the US.
Having said that if you want live coverage, we'll be doing it in great detail over at WoW Radio, bringing you all the panels, announcements and special guests via shoutcast as they happen, and podcasting via RSS for those who miss it. As to why we aren't doing video, we feel it's best to stick to what we're best at, and live video is a notoriously hard thing to do as well as being way outside of our budget for the level of quality we'd want to put out.
nate Aug 25th 2008 4:41PM
The WWI Feed did not work at all. And with Blizzcon, you're going to end up with even more viewers. Stickam and Ustream fold under just barely a couple thousand viewers. Live streaming is very hard to keep up and running smoothly.
And as was pointed out, this signatures area fraction of the tickets sold for Blizzcon. Do some simple research before posting a story. We're seeing a lot of hasty posting on WoW Insider lately.
scottseguin Aug 25th 2008 4:44PM
I`m canadien we can`t get DTV so ya. Unless Blizzard is incuraging stealing a satelite feed they better do something to please the rest of the world, or DTV better go international.
Alch Aug 25th 2008 4:45PM
How about GotFrag TV ?
Zayd Aug 25th 2008 4:49PM
I'll be happy enough to read all the juicy details on here tbh.
Starlin Aug 25th 2008 5:00PM
There will be plenty of free coverage on the net. I'm sure WoWInsider will have all the juicy bits without having to watch 8 hours a day.
jurandr Aug 25th 2008 5:12PM
Last year WoWInsider featured all the panels and the main points for those of us who can't make Blizzcon. I'm happy with that :)
also, I do not get DirecTV. Mediacom is a local provider, and probably can't set up a deal with blizzard. Oh well...
Metal_Gear Aug 25th 2008 5:27PM
I am amazed that people PPV to watch some guys talk about some up comeing features and/games that will be plastered all over news sites in seconds anyway.
Some people have it bad for Blizzard :S
I mean I really like WoW and am looking forward to some new announcements involving WoW at BlizzCon but that would be a little extreme.
But under the circumstances I think it would be fair to have free streaming.
CursedSeishi Aug 25th 2008 5:42PM
If I want to watch it, I'll wait a day or two and watch it all on Youtube, if I want to read about it, I got this site :D
xtrm Aug 25th 2008 7:16PM
@ Metal Gear (my reply botton isn't working)
I don't see how you would find people that pay to watch Blizzcon amusing. I mean, a LOT of people pay to watch sports, movies, etc. Why not videogames? Although I do get your point that maybe this won't be exactly insightful as I would rather think webpages would be.
Anyway, if I had DirectTV and lived in the US, I would pay for it.