Blizzcon 2016 my take

                          

So Blizzcon have come and gone. This was as expected a sort of off-year with no really big reveals on the horizon. I would assume that people who care by now have digested the recaps and info dumps sp i am not going to go through it all. I will mainly focus on WoW and Overwatch as these are the Blizzard games that i currently play but i will touch on things i found interesting for other games and beyond. 

Let me first touch upon what might have been the biggest reveal, Overwatch League, a bit like Premier league just way smaller and for a digital shooter game. So Blizzard just slapped a foot of prime meat on the table and asked the rest of the esports scene what they have done so far to advance the.., well.. sport. In short it is a organized league that if it actually reaches what it set out to do will have proper teams and formal contracts, making it look more legit. In reality it will not be much different from how it is today but appearance as we know is key. If people feel a connection to the event they will be more invested, and Blizzards idea to have local teams tied to towns and regions  (not only on a national level) fits very nice in to this. After all i´d love to see the Gothenburg Guthooks take on Kiruna Pickaxes for a spot in the regionals. Time will tell what this will pan out in too and how many teams it can support. But the idea i feel is really fresh and interesting. 

So beyond that Overwatch saw mostly tweaks and QoL stuff beyond the new hero Sombra. Now i had the chance to play as and against Sombra on the PTR today and i think she will be very fun and Tracer levels of irritating in the right hands. But she also seems to have a very high skill bar, being both squishy and fairly low on damage DPS hero. Her strengths ofc lies in  her ability to control the field of battle. Also i like to see that Blizzard continue it´s new path of making female heroes that look badass and kick arse without needing to dip in to the "battle dental floss" outfit category. She will most likely see some serious rounds of nerfing and buffing in the coming weeks. Personally i was more happy to see Torbjörns scrap resource now having a slow auto generation to accompany the usual kill drop way, that way one does not have to suicide dive in to the enemy team to get some packs made. 

I also love and adore the new hero "limit" in quick play. Only one version of each hero per side stops the *insert very foul words here* cheesing that is a two Torbjörn and two Bastion with a tank and a healer point capture or any of the other insane troll builds. I was for a very long time a strong opponent to the limit and had a live and let live attitude. But at this point i have had enough with humanity and its so called right to free will. It will be a joy to play once this patch drops live. 

But no big expansions planned for Overwatch.. Or any other game in reality. 

As for WoW, well we will be taking the fight to the *more bad words* Eredar in their own back yard and trust me you that i will be very happy about that. Because i am so sick of the burning legion that i will even put up with Illidan to get the job done I wish we will get to shot them up once and for all. This would also set up for a new and final expansion next where we shut the door on the last remnants of old gods and titans. A worthy end to the story so to speak. I also like the idea of class mounts. 

Beyond that not much to report, this Blizzcon was mostly a retrospect on Legion. 

Now it was a bit sad to not have Chris Metzen there as he retired before the con, but all in all the quality was as high as it used to be and it was nice to see that games like Overwatch  have gained some real traction now. 

Not sure it is a good idea to teach a AI to play StarCraft... Once it get a taste of the sort of smack talk that accompanies competitive games have it will be ready to go SkyNet on us... But at least it will have a brilliant comeback to the claim that it is botting =P 

But looking forward there are a ton of fun things to enjoy if you like Blizzard games. 

It was the night before Blizzcon

'Twas the night before Blizzcon, when all thro' the net. Not a news-post was stirring, not even a tweet;

Indeed it is the night before Blizzcon, the annual brand show from Blizzard and the Super-bowl for fans of the Blizzard stable of games. This year it would seem that the air is abuzz with anticipation not for what is on display… But what is not. There was some gaps in the Blizzcon schedule most likely caused by the cancellation of Titan, but the fact that they have not been filled have caused the hopes among fans that we will see a big new reveal. I remain cautiously optimistic in that regard. But beyond that we do of course have a massive amount of panels and E-sport events to look forward to.

But to me it is actually not that important exactly what they reveal, it is up on the net seconds after the news hit the floor. So why pay to watch the show. It is hard to explain, but I think comparing it to the Super-bowl or a Pay-per-View event is the closest I can come. To “be” there as it happen and be part of the event. As a gamer geek there are few events like that and if you, like me live in Sweden there are even fewer. So I will sit down in front of the screen and immerse myself in a way that sports fans does. Being part of the crowd, even if I am not really there.

Now that is not to say that I am not curious to see what they will show. Especially I am looking forward to the Warcraft: The movie-panel. It has after all been one of these development hell projects that I for a very long time doubted would see the light of day. I an hoping they will give us a glimpse of the style of the movie. That they show us some Orcs, elves and scenery. Beyond that I am just generally curious to see what they have lined up for the other games. Especially Diablo and Hearthstone. I have no doubt we have another Diablo expansion on the horizon and we know that Hearthstone will be getting a new card expansion soon-ish. But more details are needed. I guess I will also take a look at Heroes of the Storm in action, not being a MOBA player myself I have a hard time getting the hype up for that game. But I guess that is the general idea from Blizzard. To offer something for everybody but without trying to cram it all in to one game.

Beyond that it will be the usual eating of some snacks and drinking of soda. After all it is not a gaming-fest if it is not a little bit unhealthy, at least in my mind.

 In other news I am mostly getting my hype on about DA:I and it is looking really good and I am doubting my current computer will be able to run it looking even half decent but I do not care. One does not really play the DA games for their looks in my opinion but for the story. And it seems to be a lot of it. But I will get back to that topic as soon as I get my hands on the game... trust me on that one.

We will never be slaves... But we will be conquerors.

 So while World of Warcraft is now ten years old and the genre have changed massively, the reveal of the new cinematic intro to Warlords of Draenor has me really itching for the next expansion. Not only because it is about as cryptic as it get… In fact it is pretty much one long nod to the old guard. Anyone who know the story of how the orcs came to invade through the Dark Portal will I think get a small kick out of the timey-wimey parallel universe story that we will explore. What would have transpired if the Orcs did not drink the blood of Manaroth. Now those who have kept in touch with the game will not be all that surprised to find out who the culprit is behind the new directions for the Orcs.

Yeah.. Garrosh is out and about… and there is no surprise that he try to stop the tragedy that he has learnt befell his good ol dad. Now I personally have reached the point where I just like to put an axe to the face of Garrosh and take him out of commission permanently. This was an itch I got back in WotLK and with Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria I have come to dislike Garrosh very very much. So my hat of to the Blizzard story team I guess. In fact this latest move is perhaps the first properly motivated thing Grom´s boy have done since going through the portal back in Burning Crusade. After all who would not try to save their mother or father from condemning an entire race and then getting killed… Makes sense to me.

Now speaking of ten years… Blizzard ofc will celebrate this in grand style. Not only will anyone logging get a very adorable Corgie pet with a very dashing firelands makeover.

You will also get a chance to own your very own Core-hound mount… There is just a tiny caveat… You need to be level 100 to run the instance. Or to put it plainly you need to go through the entire leveling process of the new expansion… Now at first this does not sound too bad but if we take in to account that the celebrations are shortly after the release of the expansion itself things get a bit more sticky. Now Blizzard have said everyone will have ample time to get the reward but I still find it a tad bit annoying and a cheap way to get some more subscribers for a extra month or two. But then again Blizzard is not a charity and it is not like I have not gotten a massive amount of entertainment out of the game over the years.

Also there will be a Southshore vs Tarren Mill re-match… 100 vs 100 PvP.. It will most likely be insane in the beginning.

Still no matter how you cut it I am looking forward to the new expansion and the upcoming Warcraft movie.