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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSpeculating on BlizzCon 2010
by Zach Yonzon 
Jan 7th 2010 at 2:00PM
BlizzPlanet points out, quite logically, that Blizzard probably wasn't too thrilled with that. Even if they had planned to do it in Las Vegas, that kind of public relations misstep is a deal breaker. Besides, Eldorian from BlizzPlanet applies simple, sound logic to his sleuthing work and explains that examining the Anaheim Convention Center's Calendar of Events reveals an odd, blank date on the weekend of August 20-21, yet almost all the weekends of the venue are already booked. With Blizzard being the secretive bunch that they are, he figures those blank dates actually correspond with this year's BlizzCon event. It's a pretty cool theory. Read the rest of their predictions as well as a few of our own guesses after the jump.
Now that BlizzPlanet has the date figured out (don't book your hotels just yet, though!), they even go so far as to predict an announcement as early as next month. They say that since last year's August event was announced in February, it makes as much sense to announce the event early enough for folks to make their plans, too. They say we should also expect what worked for BlizzCon last year to be in effect this year, too, such as the queue system for purchasing tickets, DirectTV and a bundled free gift, and probably better loot bags this time around.
It's too early to tell at this point, but we can probably speculate on what else might be coming with BlizzCon this year. By that time, Cataclysm should be out because it's hard for me to imagine Icecrown Citadel keeping players occupied -- gated content notwithstanding -- until then. That said, Blizzard has mentioned that Patch 3.3 isn't likely to be the last content patch before the next expansion, so we'll see what happens. BlizzPlanet thinks the game might be in closed beta by then, but I personally hope Blizzard's timelines move a little faster than that.
We concur that BlizzCon 2010 seems like the perfect event to announce a new game. Diablo III is in the oven, StarCraft 2 is slated to be out this year, and Cataclysm has already been revealed. There needs to be something really, really big during BlizzCon, and there's nothing bigger than a brand new game, and signs point to an entirely new property from the guys in Irvine. Announcing the new game -- a "next-gen MMO" that Blizzard is known to be working on -- would be the biggest thing. It's kind of hard to imagine a bigger game announcement from any developer this year.
Since it's way too early to play BlizzCon bingo, why don't we dwell a bit on that new property (we feel really good about Blizzard revealing more about it this year)? It won't be fantasy, I think. With Warcraft and Diablo already treading the fantasy waters, we can probably rule out that genre. StarCraft is sci-fi, but there's still some room to play there. Maybe a grittier, cyber-punk style world that's a darker take on sci-fi the way Diablo's fantasy is to Warcraft? We won't know until August.
Will Jay Mohr reprise his hosting gig? No serious reason to think otherwise. Blizzard seems to love him, and at least he actually talked like he knows something about WoW during the last BlizzCon. Will Ozzy return as the big finale? Not so sure about that one. Blizzard likes to keep upping the ante, so an even bigger act might be in the cards for this year. Although it's definitely too early to make any assumptions about BlizzCon 2010 (those guys from Irvine are pretty good at throwing a curve ball or two), it's never too early to whet our appetites for everything Blizzard this year.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Blizzard, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Netherscourge Jan 7th 2010 2:08PM
What are the chances that Cataclysm is not released by Blizzcon 2010?
RetPallyJil Jan 7th 2010 2:48PM
I think summer is unrealistic, too. Going by their past pace, Christmas 2010 is my bet. We'll see, though.
Creese5704 Jan 7th 2010 3:00PM
Taking in from what I remember from Blizzcon 09. I strongly think that Cata will drop before Blizzcon and Starcraft 2 drops holiday season.
Cataca Jan 7th 2010 3:20PM
@Retpally
If your going by their previous pace then July is the best guess. Here are the release dates for all previous major content.
BC Alpha Aug 23-06 (63 days later)
BC Beta Oct 25-06 (41 days later)
Patch 2.0 Dec 5-06 (42 days later)
BC Release Jan 16-07 (126 days later)
Patch 2.1 May 22-07 (175 days later)
Patch 2.3 Nov 13-07 (133 days later)
Patch 2.4 Mar 25-08 (16 days later)
Wrath Alpha Apr 10-08 (98 days later)
Wrath Beta Jul 17-08 (89 days later)
Patch 3.0 Oct 14-08 (30 days later)
Wrath Release Nov 13-08 (152 days later)
Patch 3.1 Apr 14-09 (112 days later)
Patch 3.2 Aug 4-09 (126 days later)
Patch 3.3 Dec 8-09 (35 days later)
Cata Alpha *Jan 12-10 (79 days later)
Cata Beta *Apr 1-10 (68 days later)
Patch 4.0 *Jun 8-10 (36 days later)
Cata Release *Jul 16-10
*Estimates
Based on the average amount of time it took them to release content for previous expansions, these are my best guesses as to when Cataclysm content will release. I'm pretty sure I've at least got it nailed to within 30 days or so baring no unexpected set backs. With your estimate of Nov it would take them roughly 4 months longer to make Cata than BC or Wrath.
If they are keeping pace with previous releases then we should expect news of Cata Alpha very soon(TM).
Treos Jan 7th 2010 3:41PM
I bought Blizzcon stream and during one of the interviews they said that come next blizzcon, "people will be complaining that the goblin racials are Overpowered."
In another interview with Mike Morhaime, he went on to say that Cataclysm is to be released in 2010.
I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out right before blizzcon. Especially if we'll be seeing Arthas in February.
johnthediver Jan 7th 2010 3:54PM
@Cataca
Your sound logic and reasoning have no place here! Get you gone!
To go along with your predictions the WoW team have much more experience with the development tools, therefor the time to produce content (major snauf's excluded) should be dropping not increasing. So I think your predictions are pretty spot on.
Beefmaster Jan 7th 2010 2:10PM
I cant imagine why they would go back to a place that is too small to handle the crowd and infrastructure needed. they need to book a place outside of California and the rediculous union costs and get a convention center and arena combo to hold the main room events. better visibilty to all attending. As to where I understand the convenience of California being close to home to get their gear around, but moving the show to the center of the country could be good for the customers. Dallas or Fort Worth, Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver even.
Omacron Jan 7th 2010 2:21PM
Blizzard keeps the costs down for Blizzcon by making a lot of their employees help run things... a good deal of the Blizzcon staffers are probably interns and other low-level workers at the company who would be back to work coding quests and fixing up textures in a few weeks. Additionally, the Anaheim convention center is actually one of the largest in the US, and renting out an entire stadium is a bit much.
Tohraxegrim Jan 7th 2010 3:04PM
Omacron -
Actually the Anaheim Convention Center isn't even in the top 10 largest convention centers in the US. It comes in at 813,607 sq feet i believe. McCormick Place in Chicago comes in at a whopping 2.2 MILLION sq ft! that is almost THREE TIMES the size. The proposed Las Vegas Convention Center (which has obviously been ruled out now) still comes in at 1.94 million sq ft and is well over double the Anaheim convention center. Yes, the Anaheim convention center is large, but it is not really THAT big in comparison to the top ten. Even the convention center in tenth place (George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston) comes in at 930,000, which is almost 120,000 more sq feet.
kweenkaiser Jan 23rd 2010 7:49PM
I think Cali is perfect. I like the idea that Blizz is "keeping it close to home". It is of course just my opinion, but choosing a larger site in another state is like selling out. Them being here in California they look to keep californians employed by using the states other companies.( ie: print, graphic, animation studios, etc.) Not California exclusive of course but a major effort to use home based resources. So why the heck go to all the trouble then say screw you Cali we're holding our biggest annual event in Chicago??!
Look at Comicon in San Diego that crowd is usually much larger and they have been doing it in SD for years regardless of the growing attendance every year since. People still flock to the event.
If you build it they will come (heh heh)
bkimice Feb 26th 2010 10:25PM
It's actually California not Cali.
Lethality Jan 7th 2010 2:11PM
November is the internal target for Cataclysm.
Reinforcements Jan 7th 2010 2:59PM
No way. Even if there were another big, nothing-to-do-with-Cataclysm patch on the way, it would be out in March or so, as each big Wrath patch has come out about four months apart, which would STILL leave 8 months until November. However huge the lead-up to Cataclysm is (and I expect it to be huge, bigger than the Scourge Invasion), 8 months is too long. And of course, there is probably NOT going to be another big raid patch ala Sunwell, as that was a mistake they don't want to repeat. I wouldn't say there's going to be nothing between now and patch 4.0, but 11 months from now? No way.
I'd be surprised if Cataclysm were out any later than May.
SamLowry Jan 7th 2010 3:38PM
They said last year that people would be complaining about goblins dominating the BGs at this year's BlizzCon.
Dracula Jones Jan 7th 2010 2:11PM
"That said, Blizzard has mentioned that Patch 3.3 isn't likely to be the last content patch before the next expansion"
I thought they said that it was going to be the last content patch... did I miss an announcement?
Hendrata Jan 7th 2010 2:20PM
I'm confused too, because they have specifically said that there will be no more content or 3.4. So maybe they're thinking of 3.3.2 or something like that?
Or maybe they meant that 4.0.1 will come out BEFORE the expansion is released, kinda how 3.0.2 comes out a month before Wrath is released... but either way I count 4.0.1 and 3.0.2 as the expansion itself even if we don't get the actual expansion in the box.
Netherscourge Jan 7th 2010 2:22PM
If Cataclysm doesn't release until November 2010, then they have to release SOMETHING during the next 10 months.
I doubt raiders are gonna be happy with nothing but ICC for 10 months - even worse, what about Casuals and PvPers? What the heck are THEY gonna do for 10 months?
Hopefully, they do some Pre-Cataclysm stuff with some new quests and maybe some new dungeon to build up the lore a bit more leading into Cataclysm, because aside from some Wiki articles, Deathwing is pretty much an unknown.
Most people are under the impression that there's not much to fight for anymore when Arthas dies, so there's need s to be a rather important and impressive lead-in to Cataclysm, and not just random earthquakes...
What I think Blizzard is screwing up is the fact that without Arthas, the Alliance and Horde have no reason to maintain a truce - Arthas' death should signal a new War across the planet for the "leftovers". But that means PvP and Blizzard can't figure out how to do PvP in this game.
Blizzard misses the boat on this stuff. They need to brea kthe dungeon/tier formula and get back to WAR. Put the WAR back in Warcraft.
kthx
Omacron Jan 7th 2010 2:22PM
They said they would not introduce any raid content higher than Arthas. That could mean they'd introduce some other content, such as a IoQD style zone (I still hope that Azjol Nerub will make it into the game that way) or a lower tier of raiding a la Zul'Aman (maybe a few more dragon sanctums under Wyrmrest?)
Prinnygod Jan 7th 2010 2:23PM
I distinctly remember them saying a while back in the forums that there will be no patch 3.4. If they retracted that statement since then, I haven't heard of it.
snowleopard233 Jan 7th 2010 2:24PM
I’m not sure if they announced anything like a major content patch resembling 3.1, 3.2, or 3.3, but several of the developers have been dropping hints that want to put in at least something to tide us over. It could be anything from another smaller encounter like ONY to more five-man dungeons. Nevertheless, it seems pretty clear that 3.3 will be the last content patch of this scale for Wrath.