Posts with tag PAX-east

Want to know more about Blizzard's new digital card game, Hearthstone? During PAX East 2013, we spoke with Hearthstone Lead Designer Eric Dodds and Production Director Jason Chayes to learn some additional information about the game.

During the 20-minute interview, I asked the developers several questions, some on behalf of the lore nerds, others for the collectors among us. We discussed some of the game features planned for launch, as well as the possibility of implementing e-sports capabilities later. Also touched upon were the game's visual aspects, like the art work and animated game boards.

And for those of you with a history playing other strategy card games like Magic: The Gathering, I learned a bit more about Hearthstone gameplay and how the Forge works.

Yesterday at PAX East 2013, Blizzard unveiled their first free-to-play game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The upcoming title is a digital, collectible card game akin to Magic: The Gathering Online, but designed to be easy to learn and accessible to a larger audience. The game is currently being demonstrated on the showroom floor at PAX, and I was able to play it a couple of times yesterday afternoon.

When starting up my first game, I expected to find Hearthstone confusing because I've never played Magic: The Gathering or any other strategy card game (e.g. Pokémon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh!) before. I am vaguely familiar with some of the terminology of MTG, having spent most of my life around hardcore players, but I don't really know the rules or how the game is played. That unfamiliarity didn't seem to get in the way of Hearthstone, though. Within two turns I understood my resource system, and also how to play and use cards. By the fifth turn I felt like I understood all the basic mechanics of combat. Then, by the time my seventh turn came around, I was cursing paladins for being overpowered and itching to play another game.

We don't have any idea what it's going to be (besides something new), but Blizzard is going to be announcing it at PAX East today. We'll keep run a live blog of the announcement right here! Expect more throughout the day.

The live blog will begin in your timezone at:

• 10:00 a.m. EDT
• 9:00 a.m. CDT
• 8:00 a.m. MDT
• 7:00 a.m. PDT
• 2:00 p.m. London

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

I don't care if it's slated to be 72 degrees and sunny tomorrow here in Boston -- this weekend is going to be terrible. Why, you ask? Because this weekend isn't a PAX East weekend. Mat McCurley isn't crashing on my couch, eating pizza and doing nerd stuff. And the staff of WoW Insider isn't entertaining a crowd of people during a live show. That's the real downer.

Mat worked feverishly to entertain the hell out of an estimated 300 PAX convention-goers last Saturday. Thankfully, he had the foresight to video record the whole thing. You can only watch 10 minutes of it, but they're the only visually important minutes anyway. You should watch it, even if only for the fact that the stunningly handsome Fox Van Allen is in the mix. (Check out the full audio podcast.)

Anyway, though this weekend is sure to be less interesting than the last, we still need to WRUP. Today's bonus question: What's your favorite independent video game?

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

PAX East has been a phenomenal time so far. We've met lots of fans, stood in a bunch of lines, and have been having a generally positive time. That's what I've been up to, anyway. How about you and our intrepid WoW Insider staff? Playing beta? Running raids? What are you guys playing this weekend? Remember, come see our panel.

This week's bonus: PAX East is now. Give me a Monday morning headline for after the show -- what's that big news going to be?

If you can find Alex, Mat, or Fox walking around the convention floor at PAX East this weekend, be sure to say hi, and you could get a code for an in-game companion pet. All you need to do is tell them you want it -- maybe sweeten the deal by saying how cool WoW Insider is -- and it's yours!

Alex, Mat, and Fox will be giving these out on Friday and Saturday, so the sooner you find them, the better chance you'll have at some sweet loot. Supplies are limited.

Oh, and there's this WoW Insider Panel on Saturday at 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Wyvern Theater, where we're giving away just about everything under the sun. Actually, including the sun. Yup.

The above picture is of Fox and Michelle Morrow after Fox was denied several hugs at a taping of The Price is Right. I'm not sure if he'll be wearing his Price is Right name tag or not at PAX East, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is. Hit the break for pictures of what Mat looks like. I've also thrown in a picture of Sacco for good measure, even though he doesn't have any codes to give away. (/chuckle)

Heading into Boston for PAX East? Well then, welcome -- you're visiting Fox Van Allen's hometown. Be sure to wipe your feet first. And pay no mind to that dude on the bicycle making the siren noise -- he's just part of the ambiance.

If this is your first time at PAX East -- or really, your first time in Boston -- you might be a little bit overwhelmed by this fair city I call home. But don't be! Boston is one of the nicest, cleanest cities in the United States (no, seriously). It's also one of the safest. If you're spending every waking hour at the convention hall, you're seriously missing out.

• What: The WoW Insider Show Live! Podcast
• Where: Wyvern Theater, PAX East Boston 2012
• When: Saturday, April 7, 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

The WoW Insider podcast comes to life as hosts Michael Sacco and Mathew McCurley, along with special guests, create a home away from Azeroth at PAX East. Join with the most popular World of Warcraft fansite for an hour of WoW news, views, laughter, and lots of WoW talk. There are more World of Warcraft fans at PAX than we can count, so come on down to talk all things WoW!

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It seems that every new MMORPG wants to bill itself as a "WoW killer." From Lord of the Rings Online to Age of Conan to (most recently) RIFT, everyone wants a piece of the most popular subscription-based MMORPG of all time.

To date, World of Warcraft has weathered the competition. Its subscriber numbers have reached an all-time high (now over 12 million), with its latest Cataclysm expansion selling nearly 5 million copies in the first month alone. The game should remain popular and successful for years to come. Still, even Blizzard admits: It can't stay on top forever.

So what happens when the game starts losing a significant amount of its subscriber base? If what happened to Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online is any clue, World of Warcraft might move to a free-to-play model. Since switching to free-to-play, both of Turbine's games added subscribers and increased revenues.

This past weekend, I sat in on the free-to-play MMO panel held at the PAX East 2011 conference in Boston. Afterward, I caught up with Robert Ferrari, VP of Publishing and Business Development for Sanrio Digital (Hello Kitty Online), to discuss WoW. We discussed the free-to-play industry and whether or not World of Warcraft could eventually find a place in it.

"WoW has to be looking at a free-to-play model currently," Ferrari theorized.

PAX East is home to all sorts of panels and discussion, ranging from sexism in video games to mechanics and motivations in the games we play. Legal issues are present in all things, and video games -- even World of Warcraft -- are no exception. Two of the biggest topics at the panel, hosted by prominent legal minds in the video game industry, were End User License Agreements and damages in game as part of tort law. All in all, it was a very interesting panel of Q&A from some of gaming's smartest minds.

It's been almost exactly a year since it was announced that Cryptozoic Entertainment, a new company founded by former employees of Blizzard Entertainment, Upper Deck, and DC Comics, would be taking over the license for the WoW Trading Card Game from Upper Deck. With no other products under the company's belt, players were understandably skeptical that a startup would be able to develop the TCG effectively, but looking at the actual talent behind the company rather than the age of the company told a different story. Cory Jones, one of the company's founders, was the director of global business development and licensing at Blizzard, for example, and John Nee was DC Comics' head of business development. Couple that with designers and other employees who came over from other successful card games and companies, and you have a dynamite combination.

I caught up with Ben Cichoski, head designer for the WoW TCG, at PAX East.

WoW Insider: It's been a pretty busy year for you guys. What do you consider the company's biggest accomplishment so far?

World of Warcraft has transcended the traditional mores of gaming culture, injecting itself into every genre, most conversations, and almost every discussion. After one day of PAX East, I've talked about World of Warcraft for a longer period of time and with more people since BlizzCon. This is because WoW is not just a game to a majority of the people attending this show, participating in this industry, and fans -- it is now a lifestyle. When I walk the halls, I always find myself caught up in listening to multiple conversations that have their roots in a WoW discussion or eventually make it to WoW.

Our game of choice has become a punctuation mark. When standing in line to see The Old Republic, WoW was on everybody's mind. While moving from booth to booth, learning about the MMO components of games like Firefall and Brink, images and fanciful thoughts of WoW's success danced in the minds of developers. When people ask developers questions, WoW is always there as an example, accompanying every "this game AND WoW..." And the accessibility features of such a widely accepted game is on every game maker's mind as to how to breach new markets and bring new players into the fold.

It is cliché to say that WoW is the elephant in the room, but I hate the connotation of said elephant. WoW represents a set of ideals and rules that a good number of gamers relate to. The number of WoW shirts and hoodies, guild names added to their badges, and cries of faction pride shocked me. Here at PAX, after one day, it is readily apparent that Blizzard doesn't have to have a formal presence to make its presence known. WoW exists, in some way, in almost every game we play. Whether for good or for bad, our vocabulary is one of the most mainstream undercurrents in the history of gaming.

What do you think about WoW's presence in gaming's vocabulary? Are you at PAX and talking to people about WoW, even though WoW is almost nowhere to be seen?

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