BlizzCon 2010: Closing ceremonies
by Gregg Reece 
Oct 23rd 2010 at 10:45PM
Blizzard used this opportunity to bring out the tournament winners. Warcraft 3 winner Remind (night elf) from South Korea and StarCraft 2 winner NEXGenius (protoss), also from South Korea, were presented with $25,000 for being grand prize winners. They will also be getting an eSports ring customized to their game that's the size of Superbowl rings. The WoW Arena tournament was still going on at this point (*aAa* vs compLexity.Red), so there was no winner to announce for it yet.
Some faux-hype was built up as Paul started to hint that he was going to announce the secret next-gen MMO that Blizzard has had in development only to reveal a series of joke slides such as World of Jersey Shorecraft, Glee-ablo, and Booty Baywatch. So, still no news on that front. Based on interviews throughout the weekend we might not hear anything about it in 2011, but things should be announced by BlizzCon 2012.
The one big thing that did come out of the closing ceremonies was the announcement that 1,000 of the attendees will be receiving beta keys for Diablo 3. That's about 5% of the crowd that was at the convention. If you want to know how much of a chance this is, get a 20-sided die and take one attempt at rolling a 20. However, this does mean that the Diablo 3 beta is getting really close to being ready for testing.
All in all, I really feel that the closing ceremonies were phoned in. There were some cool moments and interesting features announced for all three major Blizzard properties this weekend, but the closing ceremony itself really left the convention feeling much more lackluster than it was.
On the bright side, Tenacious D is about to rock our socks off.
BlizzCon 2010 is upon us! WoW Insider has all the latest news and information. We're bringing you liveblogging of the WoW panels, interviews with WoW celebrities and attendees and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Marshal Oct 23rd 2010 10:48PM
Damn him for that new MMO joke ;_;
BigBadGooz Oct 23rd 2010 11:29PM
Yea was very pissed we got no info on it not even a name
Banic Rhys Oct 23rd 2010 11:50PM
Do want Gleeablo.
Brentator Oct 24th 2010 12:22AM
Yeah, he really wasn't winning anyone over in the crowd tonight. >_>
awall Oct 24th 2010 4:54AM
I just had to laugh, though they are doing World of Jersey Shorecraft. It's called the Goblin starting zone.
HellfireGamer Oct 24th 2010 7:11AM
@awall
They have done Gleeablo to... It's called the Blood Elf starter zone.
Prophetik Oct 25th 2010 3:56AM
Paul Sams: the most hated man at BlizzCon. I was there in the crowd. Place was going nuts about the new MMO...then a stupid joke.
Then the beta keys. *crowd cheers* "...only for 1,000 people" *crowd BOOS very loudly*
Lame, Blizzard, very lame.
Oteo Oct 23rd 2010 10:54PM
I was hoping they would announce that vanilla character models would be redone for Cata but I guess that was just a pipe dream. x_x
Pyromelter Oct 24th 2010 12:17AM
And racials.
There was a comment about racials being something along the lines of the fact that they didn't want racials to be like "if you aren't X race, you are doing it wrong." It would seem that that will be the case for cataclysm unless they change things.
Totally agree with the models too. Really blizz, months and months and months and months on one model, and they can't even give a week or two to everyone else out there?
Brentator Oct 24th 2010 12:24AM
It was said in the Q&A they want to do a revamp of the orginal races at some point, maybe in a Cata patch.
NighttimeApparition Oct 24th 2010 3:03AM
We'd all love for some love to be given the Vanilla models, but who can blame them for being slow to change them when they get the horrible backlash nearly every time they DO change a model? (New Tree of Life, anyone? That's just the most recent example.)
That, and a model change means they have to re-rig how all the armor, mounts, and animations work for each race/sex. Anybody looked at how your character looks on a DK Skeletal mount since the patch? That likely had to do with rigging for Goblins and Worgens.
It's a lot more work than most people know or consider and a truly low priority, which means it's like dance studios. 'Something for the animators to do when they don't have more pressing work.' (That's a paraphrase/best recollection of one of those interviews/Q & A's that popped up here.)
My point? They just upped the graphical quality of a lot of things, maybe we'll see it (racial model changes) soon. Learn patience, be less spoiled.
As for all the time they spent on the female worgen? How much QQ did we get/are we still getting because it's 'too cute' 'not feral enough'? People are bitching about the Mastiff, a DOG which looks like a DOG- OMG! How long did people ask for a dog that looks like a dog? And now it's not 'bad ass' enough.
I'm so glad I'm not a game designer. I'd probably rage-quit, then wait for the next Blizzcon and paintball people waiting in line.
Starlin Oct 24th 2010 3:32AM
I was at the art panel. They were asked about this. They said they knew the player character models had fallen behind, and that they were next on the list for refinement.
Pyromelter Oct 24th 2010 5:46AM
Starlin, ty for the update. It's appreciated. :)
"but who can blame them for being slow to change them when they get the horrible backlash nearly every time they DO change a model? (New Tree of Life, anyone? That's just the most recent example.)"
I'll blame them.
The new ToL didn't get "backlash" so much as it got some funny reviews... personally it's not that bad, and depends on how it moves. I think it will turn out fine. And how about all the cat and bear updates? Pretty much all praise, no backlash. Didn't they also update models for Varian Wrynn and Jaina Proudemoore? I thought those ended up being positive changes overall. And the old ToL was virutally universally panned. Yes, I know a lot of druids love their beloved tree form, and I feel for them, but even the most ardent tree-lover would admit that it looks like a piece of dead broccoli.
To this point:
"That, and a model change means they have to re-rig how all the armor, mounts, and animations work for each race/sex."
I'm not a 3d modeler, but my very rudimentary understanding is that if they keep the same basic geometry, it shouldn't be overly taxing. (The discussion in the queue on how robes over-write tabards helped; it was something like each piece of armor has it's own "graphical" slot, so if that's the case, just plugging textures into those slots shouldn't be much more difficult than creating new pieces of armor.)
To your other points, you are basically quoting how a lot of people QQ on forums. Forums are where people do nothing but bitch generally. I think the greater wow community is a-okay with a Mastiff; just because a few mouth-breathers want a rabid-looking Rottweiler doesn't mean that most of us think like that.
Anteia Oct 24th 2010 7:40AM
I can't be the only one who sees the Mastiff and thinks "Mabari Warhound" can I? Come on. Everyone who played Dragon Age knew Dog (default) was awesome. It makes me want to tame one for my hunter and just name it Mabari.
Piisuke Oct 24th 2010 8:58AM
Oh, several questions were asked throughout Blizzcon. They said they want to do it and the animators are very excited to do it. They just didn't have the time. They agreed that it was required though and they want to do it rather sooner than later. They said they might get around this in a patch, or a future expansion (of which they're already planning on), so that looks like it is definitely going to happen.
Yangli Oct 24th 2010 12:19PM
Redoing old models is probably more challenging than creating whole new ones. The characters need to look way better, but at the same time remain recogniseable in order to be accepted by players. I for one would rather keep the old model of my female Troll (though she really, really at least needs something done with her face), than have her transformed into some character that does no longer resemble her. I want her to blink and look more lively in the face - but at the same time I want her to keep as much of the old expression as needed to not look totally different from the character I created.
More important perhaps are animations. New models need new animations as well. I love how my Troll runs, the way she shows the soles of her feet while running is what made me fall in love with the race in the first place. If that was to change, I would be seriously pissed. Same goes for her bow animation or the way she jumps. Movements I see her perform all the time and that are her characteristics to me. They are, at least to me, more important than shiny new models.
-- my guess is that they know that there is a thin line not to be crossed when redoing the old models, and thus don't want to hasten the matter. But maybe it's just me being unhealthily attached to my character(s). =)
Sagretti Oct 23rd 2010 11:00PM
The general feeling I've gotten from this Blizzcon is that there's been a lot of great content and smaller developments. However, since there's no big announcements to be made, both the opening and closing ceremonies have been kind of adrift, with nothing to really guide them or give them focus. Which is sad, because a perfectly decent Blizzcon is probably, at best, going to be remembered for not being memorable.
Gregg Reece Oct 24th 2010 12:45AM
A good closing ceremony would have gone a long way to making the convention a little more memorable. However, you're right. It's really an off year for major announcements, but there was a lot of cool little things in development.
cowy Oct 24th 2010 3:29AM
I want to know where Samwise was, and what the heck he's up to if he can't show up at Blizzcon. :(
Secrets... so many secrets...
awall Oct 24th 2010 4:48AM
The Demon Hunter was announced for Diablo 3, so there was something. With Blizzard's reputation for lengthy development, there isn't going to be a huge announcement available every year anyway.