Blizzcon '14

[lupi]

Steel thyself, O mortal realm of Anaheim! The eighth BlizzCon is coming to your Convention Center this Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8, 2014. Prepare for two relentless days of Blizzard gaming and fellowship, including in-depth discussion panels with Blizzard developers, hands-on opportunities with the latest Blizzard games, and intense eSports tournaments featuring top pro gamers from across the earthly plane.

Tickets for BlizzCon 2014 will go on sale in two batches, one on Wednesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. PT and the other on Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m. PT, through the online event ticketing service Eventbrite, priced at $199 each (plus applicable taxes and fees). In addition, a limited number of tickets to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon Benefit Dinner will go on sale Wednesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. PT for $750 apiece (plus applicable taxes and fees; BlizzCon admission included), with proceeds benefitting Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Check out the BlizzCon Ticket webpage for more information—we’ve made some changes to how ticket sales work this year, and fortune favors the prepared!

If you can’t make it to the show in person, the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket is the next best thing, offering comprehensive live coverage of the event via a multichannel Internet stream. Further details on the Virtual Ticket, including pricing, availability, and programming information, will be announced at a later date.



See the full press release or check out the BlizzCon Ticket page for more information, and be sure visit www.blizzcon2014.eventbrite.com at the dates and times above for a chance to purchase a ticket to the show. See you in Anaheim!

 

[darkewaffle]

lol "virtual ticket", pay-per-view blizzcon

 

[Rinaun]

LOL PEOPLE STILL GO TO THIS? Hold on, I'm gasping for air. Too funny. This is like fighting over tickets to a convention where you are endlessly pitched a companies game. Blizzard has invented a way to make money off of making money (making games).

I guess it's great that Anaheim hotels get to jack up their prices as usual.

 

[Schfifty Five]

LOL PEOPLE STILL GO TO THIS? Hold on, I'm gasping for air. Too funny. This is like fighting over tickets to a convention where you are endlessly pitched a companies game. Blizzard has invented a way to make money off of making money (making games).

I guess it's great that Anaheim hotels get to jack up their prices as usual.

How else are the nerds gonna get laid with other nerds?

 

[Clinkster]

lol "virtual ticket", pay-per-view blizzcon

What a joke.

I wouldn't take this concept seriously when it was "good ol' days" Blizzard. With Activision in the mix now, paying for this service is beyond my comprehension.

 

[Aikouka]

Eh, I usually do the virtual ticket. It's a heck of a lot better than paying the ever-increasing price! I think BlizzCon was only $100 or $125 when I went back in '08, and now it's nearly double that (depending on which price is correct). Honestly, I'd rather go to Dragon*Con, which is longer, and I could just drive a few hours versus spending $400 on airfare.

 

[BoberFett]

My daughter really wants to go, but damn $199/person plus hotel and airfare is crazy.

And being there with my daughter would definitely hurt my chances of scoring with any nerdy chicks in night elf costumes...

 

[CrackRabbit]

I'd rather go to one of the PAX conventions and I live fairly close to Blizcon.
In fact I plan to make a trip to San Antonio for PAX south next year.

 

[Aikouka]

My daughter really wants to go, but damn $199/person plus hotel and airfare is crazy.

Yeah... I just looked up the Dragon*Con pricing, and it's only $100 for four days! I think the problem is that Blizzard doesn't really have enough content to fill a larger venue, which limits the number of people that they can hold in the Anaheim convention center. Although, you'd think the Virtual Ticket sales would help supplement that as they probably cover the production costs.

And being there with my daughter would definitely hurt my chances of scoring with any nerdy chicks in night elf costumes...

Not if you both cosplay.

 

[cuafpr]

woot can't wait!! already got my hotel book, now to score the tickets.... its typically one of,if not the best weekends of the year!

 

[BoberFett]

Not if you both cosplay.

D:

 

[xantub]

what are virtual tickets? is that as lame as it sounds? (like paying to watch the thing on tv/stream or something?)

 

[Aikouka]

what are virtual tickets? is that as lame as it sounds? (like paying to watch the thing on tv/stream or something?)

Pretty much. It's an Internet-based PPV with VoD support.

EDIT:

It's also available on DirecTV (they host the segments in between panels), and you get the Internet streams if you purchase it through them.

 

[lupi]

Kinda funny seeing the hate on this one when it consistently sells out in a time span only limited by the number of simultaneous connections the order server can handle.

As far as PPV stuff goes, it's not a bad deal. Cheaper than most, can watch live and go back and watch replays for some time after. Get little in game trinkets for all their games, and you get to hear all the dev teams doing the actual talking about the game lines.

 

[frowertr]

Kinda funny seeing the hate on this one when it consistently sells out in a time span only limited by the number of simultaneous connections the order server can handle.

It pretty amazing that they get ~20,000 people lined up for this thing. Blizz only has a handful of games out. I don't even know what they could possibly talk about for the several days of the convention.

 

[darkewaffle]

It pretty amazing that they get ~20,000 people lined up for this thing. Blizz only has a handful of games out. I don't even know what they could possibly talk about for the several days of the convention.

Probably which lady cosplayer they want to invite for a pint back at the inn.

 

[lupi]

But they're also some of the best selling series of all times.

As for what goes on, it's about 1/3 of the developers talking about designing the game/gameplay. Another third are the tech behind the games (music, artwork, cinematics). And the rest is various contest and the game tourneys. And those that actually show up get to go through and play demo versions of what they're working on. Don't think I'd ever go seeing how its a cross country flight but if it was only a couple hour drive I'd try to go once every couple years.

 

[Majes]

It pretty amazing that they get ~20,000 people lined up for this thing. Blizz only has a handful of games out. I don't even know what they could possibly talk about for the several days of the convention.

Generally people go for the tournaments (SC2 and such) or the access to unreleased games (Heroes of the Storm). Some just go because they like to do things. But it's not just developer panels all weekend long

 

[ViviTheMage]

My daughter really wants to go, but damn $199/person plus hotel and airfare is crazy.

And being there with my daughter would definitely hurt my chances of scoring with any nerdy chicks in night elf costumes...

I went once, it was pretty fun .. back in 2011, but I don't think i'd go again. I'd rather hit up a huge con like PAX or something.

 

[Schfifty Five]

It pretty amazing that they get ~20,000 people lined up for this thing. Blizz only has a handful of games out. I don't even know what they could possibly talk about for the several days of the convention.

It's only 2 days. They always talk about upcoming games and expansions. Also, people go there to watch/play in tournaments, try out new games, watch some silly dancing and costume contest, and meet designers/artists.

There's also Q&A panels for all the nerds to rage on the developers haha

 

[kyrax12]

Fuck i want to go to Blizzcon so bad. Just to see the STarcraft 2 tournament/pro players