The New York Times goes to BlizzCon
by Allison Robert 
Oct 26th 2011 at 2:00PM
I think Schiesel nails it here:
... the most powerful and important games are the persistent online dimensions like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. That is because they're not really about the games; they are about the relationships players form within them.
I'm surprised but gratified to see a reporter in a major media outlet who really gets it. Of note is also a comment by Rob Pardo (Blizzard's executive vice president for game design), who observes that Blizzard could easily fill larger venues than the Anaheim Convention Center (my suggestion: rent Wyoming) but prefers to keep the con local for the benefit of Blizzard employees who want to come.
I think it's safe to say that gamers are still working toward mainstream acceptance (possibly because people often don't consider things like Angry Birds and Farmville to be "true" gaming), and it's really nice not to see the usual caricature of the angry, antisocial nerd rearing its head.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ragnuk Oct 26th 2011 3:00PM
As a player, New Your Times has gained more reputation from me.
Mvitez0057 Oct 26th 2011 3:00PM
I wouldn't really call the NY Times prestigious...
Palabrewtis Oct 26th 2011 3:00PM
I'm excited to see something like this. I can only hope, that one day, the rest of the world will realize we're not all a bunch of basement dwellers who avoid social interaction like the plague.
Magma Oct 26th 2011 3:00PM
I wish one year they'd move to the East coast...hell even the South. Cali is too far >_
Unexplained Bacon Oct 26th 2011 5:33PM
Tell that to the folks who come from the other side of the globe. If you really wanted to go, a few thousand miles wouldn't stop ya.
Rubitard Oct 26th 2011 3:00PM
As an angry, anti-social nerd, I'm not comfortable with this characterization of the 'Con as being a place where people are friendly to one another, and who acknowledge each other's presence in other ways besides their Hot Pocket-fueled musk. I must angrily protest the mainstream media's new portrayal of the WoW community as being some sort of hippie-dippy love-in replete with boy/girl relationships and photographs with people where one's hand isn't hovering. Please don't imply me to ogle the Cosplay girls from a safe, dark distance. One does not simply walk into the proverbial Mordor of personal girl space and start talking to them, save to catch a sniff of hair. Behind them. No eye contact. Look, it's one of the few times a year I'll leave my basement, so I sure as hell don't want to go talking to people -- unless it's to correct them on matters of lore, or to pour over endless reams of stats. Then, you know, a man's gotta do what an Orc's gotta do!
Mortenebra Oct 26th 2011 3:12PM
Don't send a man to do an Orc's job?
/flee :D
Mortenebra Oct 26th 2011 3:12PM
"Well, hell. It's about time."
NY Times has actually releases quite a few articles about gaming and gamers. The only thing that really surprises me is that this is the first time they thought of going to an event like BlizzCon. One of my dreams when I wanted to do mainstream journalism was to convince my editor to let me write about stuff other than government, politics, and the latest disaster... And traveling the world while the newspaper covered all of my costs. Closest I ever got was covering a benefit concert for my high school paper.
Kudos to Seth. Perhaps if and when I go back to it, I can convince my future editor to let me cover BlizzCon and other such events on the company's dime ;)
Sintraedrien Oct 26th 2011 4:13PM
Actually, the Los Angeles Times also ran a story a couple of years ago directly involving BlizzCon, with something of the same theme.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/09/entertainment/et-warcraft9
Sintra E'Drien of the Ebon Blade, né Sindorei (Furry coats make me warm and tingly inside)
Teeks Oct 26th 2011 4:29PM
"but no less prestigious an outlet than The New York Times"
Prestigious in the same sentence as The New York TImes
*Snicker
Shrikesnest Oct 26th 2011 6:25PM
Look, guys. I'm a conservative, and a full believer in a general liberal media bias. But the New York Times is still the paper of record, and if you want to know what's going on in the world it's a good source of information.
Sometimes, talking to other conservatives, I get the idea that the whole paper is the editorial page or something...
Shrikesnest Oct 27th 2011 8:10PM
*chuckle* Now this is interesting. I'm going to be boggling for awhile over what in this post got it downvoted.
Verb Oct 26th 2011 8:57PM
Seth is a really, really great gamer. I worked for a video game tournament series at one point and he did a piece on us. He spent half the time trying to figure out whether or not we were doing 'games on tv' the right way, and the second half telling me how if I loved Ultima Online, I should try Eve and chatting about a ton of games along the way.
Awesome guy, awesome piece.
cygerstorm Oct 27th 2011 12:28AM
I am rather sick of Blood Legion. I remember in Blizzcon 2010 how they're guild forced their way to the front of the line before doors opened, jostling and shoving people, and one of them almost got into a fight with my friend when he pushed us aside so he could be in front of us in line. We'd been 5th in line since 11pm the night before, and those guys show up at 8:30 and force their way through.
Being a good raider is no excuse to also be a jerk.
Zhiva Oct 27th 2011 1:45AM
# and it's really nice not to see the usual caricature of the angry, antisocial nerd rearing its head. #
So is this the reason why you didn't post a word about Corpsegrinder incident?
dmberreth Oct 27th 2011 3:40AM
"but prefers to keep the con local for the benefit of Blizzard employees who want to come."
I live in Austin, Texas. Blizzard has a rather large facility here, too. As big as Irvine? No. But I do hear quite often from the poor souls that they feel Blizzard forgets they are out here, with their events and in-company promos and general company policies.
Move the con to Texas! You'll be (closer) to smack-dab in the middle of the country. That's fair(to my gas tank), right?
hwacha Oct 27th 2011 10:06AM
My company's HQ is in Atlanta, GA. I live in Chicago. I see the same things in my company and have just come to accept that since there are no CEOs here I probably will never see it.
I do get asked to volunteer for company approved events and charities though... if they want me to give my time I need better incentive :P
HerriPaul Oct 27th 2011 3:43PM
I think by 'Blizzard employees' they really meant 'executive management who don't want to travel'.
I might be a little naive but isn't Blizzcon for the fans' benefit?