BlizzCon 2014 starts this Friday! Here is everything you should expect and some things that might surprise you.
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BlizzCon 2014 less than a week away!
With the release of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenornext Thursday, let’s be honest — It’s a little difficult to imagine what Blizzard might have in store for fans that will really have them clamoring during this year’s BlizzCon. Will there be a surprise announcements? What will be talked about and what won’t be?
Here’s everything we know about BlizzCon so far—along with a fair smattering of speculation, a few predictions, and some of the fun rumors that are currently circulating the Net:
What You Should Expect
In case you haven’t checked these goodies out yet, Blizzard recently released the schedule of events for both Day 1 (Nov. 7) and Day 2 (Saturday, November 8th) of BlizzCon. A map was also released on the official site.
We’re able to grab quite a bit of information from the schedule of events, naturally. Here’s what we can assume we’ll get:
1. Warcraft movie trailer – This one’s kind of a given. There’s an entire panel dedicated to the Warcraftmovie, so we’re most likely going to see an unveiling of the first, full-length trailer. We’ll probably also hear a few random lore tidbits that haven’t been talked about yet.
2. StarCraft IInews – There’s likely going to be some big news here due to the fact that we haven’t heard a lot about SC2 lately. There’s also the fact that Blizzard has some big tournaments lined up for the game. Two guesses—we might hear some news on how Blizzard plans to expand the eSport coverage of SC2 into something closer to current LoL/DotA coverage, or we might even hear about Legacy of the Void. My bet’s on the expansion.
3. Hearthstone content preview – We’re going to hear more about the next booster/content pack for Hearthstone, most likely see reveals of the new cards, and maybe even get a preview of spectator mode.
4. Heroes of the Storm news – We’re likely going to get a couple announcements here, especially considering the fact that Alpha just reopened. Simply put, it’s an ideal time to build up hype. We’ll probably hear about the HoTS going into open/closed beta fairly shortly as well as a date for that. We may also see some details about picking up Founder’s Packs, perhaps (i.e. buying into beta), or hear about new maps in development.
5. Diablo III news – We’ll be getting some sort of D3 news, of course, most likely in the way of new features coming out in the next couple of patches, or possibly even something related to the next expansion. The D3 fan base has recently seen a pretty good burst in content, however, so I doubt we’ll see something major.
6. World of Warcraftanniversary fun – With the release of Warlords of Draenorso close to BlizzCon, we can’t expect too many new reveals for World of Warcraft specifically, but Blizzard will likely have a few things in store for fans. Expect some anniversary fun (perhaps a cool video montage or two along with a panel about the game’s history, achievements, and all sorts of random info dumps).
What Not To Expect
1. Titan– Blizzard announced the Titan project’s cancellation a few weeks ago. While many fans may want to know more specifics about the cancellation, it’s highly unlikely that any representatives at BlizzCon will want to talk about it.
2. Full unveiling of the next WoW expansion – This one’s slightly up in the air still. Many fans are speculating that we’ll hear about the next expansion after WoD since Blizzard has mentioned that they want to start releasing expansions every year and a half or so. With WoD possibly only having two raid tiers total, it would seem a little excessive to force players to wait a full year before an expansion reveal, but I just don’t see a full reveal happening due to the fact that WoD will already have a large percentage of the fan base’s attention.
It’s more likely for Blizzard to drop the full reveal during another con, possibly, or give us brief hints but not go into full details. If we do get hints, we may hear a few facts about where it’ll be located and perhaps a big announcement like a new class/race. A few small facts would be more than enough to keep fans speculating until later in the year.
What You Might Hear About
And now it’s time for the most enjoyable part about preparing for a major con—time for fun! Er, wait, no. Time for speculation!
Take a look at the Day 1 schedule again. Notice those two free hours between 12 PM and 2 PM on the main panels? Kind of fishy, right?
Blizzard, in the past, has been known to hold surprise panels during BlizzCon. These panels are generally held during open blocks like this one (often at the same time, even). That block is also conveniently directly after the opening ceremony. Yeah. I’d say the chances are extremely high that we’ll get a new unveil during that block of time.
So, what will it be? Let’s take a look at the possibilities:
1. The next WoW expansion – See my notes above on this one. It’s a possibility, but doing so would take some of the steam away from Warlords of Draenor. It seems unlikely for Blizzard to go this route except for a brief hint or two during the normal WoW panels.
2. The next Diablo III expansion – This one’s also a possibility as noted above. I’m not entirely convinced the timing is right, however, especially after thinking about the next few options.
3. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void– This one seems like a more likely candidate. We haven’t heard a lot about SC2 lately, and there hasn’t been much RTS news in general lately. The timing seems perfect.
4. Warcraft IV– This one’s also a possibility. Let’s look at the facts: Blizzard doesn’t really want to create another MMORPG. They company also has an open spot for a game with Titan off the schedule. They’ve already got a MOBA, TCG, and ARPG. What’s left? How about an RTS that would also make a huge group of old school Warcraft fans happy? Definitely a possibility.
5. Unknown shooter – The other genre that Blizzard has yet to tackle is a straight-up shooter. Back in April of 2014, Blizzard trademarked the name “Overwatch.” The name seems to fit an FPS-type shooter, one perhaps focusing on militaristic elements. Is it time for a completely new Blizzard game? Perhaps!
6. Warcraft III remake – This one’s a huge possibility, and also the most likely candidate given the fact that it would be simpler for Blizzard to remake Warcraft III than create Warcraft IV (or another game) from scratch. What better way to introduce younger gamers to the original Warcraft games. Just in time for the Warcraft movie hype, too. If I was a betting woman, my bet would totally be on this one.
Given all the speculation, there’s a lot that could potentially happen during this year’s BlizzCon. It just wouldn’t be a con without a few surprises. Aside from the speculation, news, and rumors floating around, Blizzard game fans will be rewarded with some fun coverage, new info, cool cosplay, tournament action, and perhaps a new reveal or two if we’re likely.
Stay tuned to Den of Geek as the days count down to BlizzCon 2014. We’ve got plenty of coverage coming your way!
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