Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNo BlizzCon in 2012, Battle.net championship to be held in Asia
by Mathew McCurley 
Jan 25th 2012 at 8:12AM
No BlizzCon in 2012.Hit the jump for the full announcement. We have not had any other official word from Blizzard, but we will let you know as soon as we do.
No BlizzCon in 2012.
Blizzard Entertainment is proud to announce the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, a major global eSports event featuring some of the best pro-gaming competition in the world. Slated to take place in Asia toward the end of 2012, the Battle.net World Championship will host this year's StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship tournaments. Blizzard gamers and eSports fans from around the world will be invited to attend and witness some of the most skilled pro players on the planet battle it out for cash and glory.
We're excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players' hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we've decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.
More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.
We're excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players' hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we've decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.
More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.
The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!Filed under: Blizzard, News items, BlizzCon, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
McGintoy Jan 25th 2012 3:01PM
@Orrine
Oh man, not *another* "former good guy gets corrupted by an Old God" story...
Well, I'll still look forward to the Chris Metzen raid boss, who, ironically, is NOT voiced by Chris Metzen.
McGintoy Jan 25th 2012 3:04PM
It's ok. Without BlizzCon to worry about, we can all focus on the discussion following WoWInsider's switch to a new commenting system!
Feel free to downvote my extra posts into oblivion...
ugoticedbro Jan 25th 2012 8:23AM
Incoming string of comments on the death of wow
Aranyszin Jan 25th 2012 10:50AM
I think you are probably right. Although, I think the "death of WoW" discussion is more relevant now than in the past. I am speculating here, but I think there is some circumstantial evidence to back this up somewhat. First, I think Blizz is in panic mode over the rate at which they are hemorrhaging subscribers. I think we should expect the upcoming conference call to include an annoucement that they've lost another 500k - 1M subscribers in 4Q 2011. This is why they are making sloppy moves like nerfing content that is only 2 months old, and I think they are going to accelerate MoP to launch much sooner than they intended - I am thinking summer, rather than end-of year, which would have been consistent with prior expansions. They are trapped in this mindset that the only way they can keep subscribers is to release new content faster, rather than releasing really GOOD and challenging content that will hold the playerbase's attention longer. This is going to snowball into lower-than-usual game quality, which will only make the problem worse.
Blizzard shot an arrow into Warcraft's knee by dumbing the content down to make raiding accessible to anyone with a password. No more attunements, no more gear checks, stupidly easy fights and small raid instances combined with watered down, homogenized class abilities and an emphasis on 10-man raids results in raid content that remains relevant for weeks, when it used to be relevant for months (think of how long Ulduar lasted - and people would have continued to work on it if Blizzard hadn't dumped that moronic ToC raid on us). Now raiding is an entitlement, something to be consumed, where it used to be something that you had to work toward. There is no going back, and - sadly - a once epic game is going to slowly collapse in on itself like a hot-air balloon.
Thank you Greg Street. May you diaf.
Val Jan 25th 2012 12:54PM
@Aran
Like how you wax poetic with the wall of text then have the balls to tell Street to, "diaf". Gotta save that time!
Aranyszin Jan 25th 2012 2:09PM
@ Val
I'm not sure he can read, so I had to put the comment up there, at the end, in a language he would understand. It wasn't as much about brevity as, I don't actually want him to "diaf", so I was reluctant to type out the words for it. I do, however, want to adequately express my deep, soul-felt contempt for him and everything he's done to effectively ruin the game.
Andre Jan 25th 2012 2:51PM
@Aran
Woosh.
Frank-potato Jan 25th 2012 7:39PM
@Aranyszin
Ok. I'll bite at the troll bait...
" and I think they are going to accelerate MoP to launch much sooner than they intended - I am thinking summer, rather than end-of year, which would have been consistent with prior expansions. "
No one, I mean NO ONE had the tiniest doubt that MoP is going to be released before fall, this has nothing to do with how much Blizz is failing rather on how much of the expansion was already created when it was announced at BlizzCon. It was made very clear that they were/are way ahead compared with other expansion releases.
"They are trapped in this mindset that the only way they can keep subscribers is to release new content faster"
In theory...this is true for every MMO. It IS the basic concept of business, not the 'blizz way'. Why you think SWTOR had to release new crap already? Cause they know "like everyone else" that new content=players happy.
"Blizzard shot an arrow into Warcraft's knee by dumbing the content down to make raiding accessible to anyone with a password. No more attunements, no more gear checks, stupidly easy fights and small raid instances....."
Im sorry...I played since Vanilla...NO ONE LIKES ATTUNEMENTS. Find me 10 people who really, honestly prefer the endless wait and chaos of organizing and getting a 40-man raid done. I dare you!
"(think of how long Ulduar lasted - and people would have continued to work on it if Blizzard hadn't dumped that moronic ToC raid on us)"
Yeah...Ulduar lasted so long for only one reason....Dual-Spec was dropping next patch and needed extra tuning.
So on, so forth, etc.etc. in the end...don't like it, don't play it bro'.
Jere Hunter Jan 25th 2012 8:24AM
with my jam packed shcedule , I am both disspointed and relieved (and I am SOOO ready for 2013 (if we survive the apocalips I mean :D )
Lars Petersson Jan 25th 2012 8:33AM
Don't worry, the Mayans weren't predicting the apocalypse.
They were predicting the release of The Hobbit ;-)
For more important IMO...
Jere Hunter Jan 25th 2012 11:43AM
the release of The Hobbit, you know, that DOES explain a lot (and yes, I am excited for that too :D)
omedon666 Jan 25th 2012 8:25AM
Speaking strictly as a WoW guy, I'd honestly rather there be no Blizzcon than anticipation and speculation met with "Geek is".
People want news out of Blizzcon. If there's no news, no major announcement (and there's no reason to expect one this year), it's a waste, IMO.
Again, this is speaking strictly from a WoW perspective, but if Titan's not on the map, Diablo's "big news" for 2012 is "it's out, yay", and Starcraft has nothing new happening, the sentiment could extend to those franchises as well.
Nina Katarina Jan 25th 2012 8:32AM
Can I uprate this a dozen times? I agree, completely.
Blizzard's philosophy has always been that they'll release a product when it's done. Blizzcon is a product. If it's not going to be great, they shouldn't have one.
omedon666 Jan 25th 2012 8:45AM
Geek is:
Caring about your game of choice enough to say "no party until there's something worth partying over.
Geek is:
Never again throwing a party for "Geek is".
;)
Mr. Crow Jan 25th 2012 8:46AM
I agree that BlizzCon is best used as an event to make big announcements, and that if Blizzard doesn't have something they're eager to showcase, it's better to save the expense of BlizzCon and hold it back for a year.
That being said, I thought the "Geek Is..." speech was pretty valuable, because it did a great job of showing us that Blizzard's devs (and Metzen in particular) have the same interests that we all do, and for aspiring writers, artists, and game designers, that's a heartening thing to see them expend resources on.
I don't see them ever doing that again (and it's important to note that Metzen is really the only speaker of quality on the staff when not speaking specifically about a game) but I don't feel that "Geek is..." was a waste of my time or money.
omedon666 Jan 25th 2012 8:56AM
Hey, don't get me wrong, I thought the whole "Geek is" speech was awesome, loved it, it resonated with me.
It was the placement, and the sense of watching Master Metzen walk off stage afterward that left me with the conclusion that motivated my post here today.
Blizzcon is about news. This is a "doing" year for Blizzard, and I'm happy to let them keep doing, even if it means no announcement, so I can understand not holding the "announcement party" if there's none to make. :)
RogueJedi86 Jan 25th 2012 12:27PM
Nina, I don't want to be "that guy", but I feel like Blizz lost their "release it when it's ready" philosophy when they released WotLK without some features promised on the box. Yes the old "dance studios" argument, but also the aerial dogfights that were on the box. Neither feature was ready, but WotLK launched anyway. It may not be true of Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria, but it at least felt that way with WotLK. WotLK was still great, I'm just bringing up that it was released when 2 of its many features weren't ready.
fudge Jan 25th 2012 8:27AM
That was unexpected.
Adam Holisky Jan 25th 2012 8:28AM
I lay odds it's because they're not ready (again) to announce their new MMO or the expansion after MoP.
The Dewd Jan 25th 2012 8:38AM
I agree. If there's no new product to announce/tease because all the known ones (MoP, D3, SC2 stuff) have been released, there may not be a need to have one.