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WWI: Live from opening and press

WWI: Live from opening and press

Skrevet av Havok den 28 juni 2008 klokken 09:57

I will be updating as the opening ceremony is being held. I will be posting new stuff by point where the newest points are located at the bottom.

- It's about to start. Everyone has been told to either make their way to the main stage on the upper floor, or watch it on the big screen downstairs. I'm currently in the press area upstairs.
- Five more minutes. The whole place is buzzing.
- It has started.
- European Blizzard chief has taken the stage. Talking about how happy Blizzard is with Europe.
- 2 million players in Europe.
- Localizing WoW in Russia.
- Declaring the WWI open.
- The team is being introduced one by one. Everyone is cheering their ass off.
- Pro-gamers are taking the stage.
- Again a lot of cheering. :) The atmosphere is electric. Starcraft gamers have come and gone, now it's Warcraft players.
- The Warcraft gamers are leaving the stage.
- Now the World of Warcraft Arena teams are taking the stage.
- USA first.
- The european World of Warcraft teams are taking the stage.
- Now Asia.
- Now they are talking about how fast the players are and that it requires major skills to be this good.
- Wishing them all good luck.
- CEO and Co-founder Mike Morhaime taking the stage.
- He's talking about how big the event is. And thanking everyone for coming.
- "We all have something in common, the passion for games."
- Thanking the Blizzard europe team for making this event possible.
- They had their best year last year with the fastest selling game in the BC expansion. The announcement of Starcraft 2.
- Video reel from the WWI in Korea last year.
- Cool reel. :)
- Back to Mike. Now talking about the tournaments they are holding.
- Ooo, something is up with the screen!
- One more thing!
- What game!?
- DIABLO 3!!!!
- Now they are going to show a demo!
- This game looks amazing....
- Demo done. More info when I've been the press conference when the opening is done.
- Now they are asking where people are from. They mentioned Norway. :P Not many of us though. :P
- Flame welding people on stage.
- Done.


Press conference:
Q: What should I be excited about in Diablo 3?
A: It's easy to get into. if you don't have good time, it doesn't take that much time to get into and play a little.

Q: Engine
A: Brand new 3D engine worked on for several years.

Q: Release date?
A: When it's done.

Q: How long has it been in development?
A: Blizzard north first, then Blizzard. About four years. Two at Blizzard North.

Q: How did you keep the secrete so long?
A: High security, bomb in employes heads (penny-arcade joke).

Q: Changes to battle.net?
A: Not at this time, more features in the coming months.

Q: What features does it have for E-sports?
A: No comments about competitive gaming features at this time.

Q: How many multiplayer slots?
A: Haven't decided. We are focusing on checking out what is a good number.

Q: How many classes?
A: Not decided.

Q: Diablo 3 for consoles?
A: Not at this time.

Q: Moob co-op?
A: They help each other.
A: There are many many mobs in the game. We have a lot to show.

Q: Item trading, auction houses?
A: We are going to improve trading, nothing to say at this time.

Q: Dev team
A: 55 people working on it.

Q: Length of the game?
A: Around the same as Diablo 2 give or take.

Q: How long after D2 is it set inn?
A: 20 years after the last Diablo.

Q: Can we show of our characters in an armory or having our character as an avatar on the forum?
A: Nothing at this time, but it would be cool.

Q: Master account between WoW and D3?
A: Frank: "That's a really cool idea. We should get someone on that."

Q: Random generated dungeons?
A: Yes, a mix between static and random. Working on different kinds of random.

Q: Evil penguin?
A: I don't know...

Q: Enchants on weapons and pimp out weapons?
A: Haven't decided exactly what we're gonna do. But, we have a lot of plans on that front.

Q: Interactivity between environment and player enemy
A: It's physics, we've figured out how to make things work interactive with each other. And it will seem like they aren't scripted.

Q: Difficulties?
A: Haven't decided yet.

Q: Subscription or micro transaction, or like the old games?
A: Haven't decided yet. All territories are different and we haven't talked about how we are going to do this.

Q: World wide launch?
A: Hard to say, we would love to do it.

Q: End game like WoW?
A: Haven't decided yet, but we want to do more with Diablo 3 on that front. People will find what we do exciting.

Q: Customization? looks of character.
A: We want the player to begin the game as fast as possible. Gender class and nothing more.

Q: Any system specs?
A: Aren't finalized.

Q: How do you level, achievement based or XP?
A: You gain XP, other then that, no comment.

Q: Secret cow level?
A: No comment.

Q: Transport? Mounts etc.
A: No plans for mounts.

Q: Beta test, or demo?
A: We will explore that closer to release, we want to work with the community and get their feedback.

HQ

WWI: Inside

Skrevet av Havok den 28 juni 2008 klokken 08:54

So I'm inside, not much to say really, had to stand in line for my press badge. Now I'm inside the press room and I'm going to go take a lot of pictures. So, I'll write more when I have something worthwhile to write.


Updated at 09:20:
So people are starting to flood the venue, the Starcraft 2 area is huge and people are queuing to try the game for the first time. Other then that not much to say really, we are all waiting for the opening show to start, which I will try to live blog, hopefully there is WIFI next to the stage.

Starcraft 2 looks amazing though, and I really want to test it. which I think I'm gonna see if I can manage during the day. Considering the line and other things I have to do, I really hope I get the time.


Updated at 10:48
So I'm currently in the press room, there is a lot of stuff going on around me. There are people from everywhere. Currently sitting next to a woman from WorldofWar.net and a guy from Gamespot UK, I've talked to guys from Gamespot and Buffed.de, as well as gotten to know a couple of Blizzard PR guys. On the other side of me we have some guys from IGN.

People are buzzing about which game is being announced and talking about checking out Starcraft 2 and Wrath of the Lich King. I myself have been around and taken around 200 pictures, seen some of the sights and currently just waiting for the opening ceremony to start, which I'm going to try and live blog, but, I think I'll fail because I'll be craping my pants when they tell us which game is in development.

Not much more to say really, remember to tune in to my live blog, and I'll of course be posting news about the games shown in the ceremony afterwards. I'm high on coffee and cola and generally having a blast.

HQ

WWI: Paris has no stores

Skrevet av Havok den 27 juni 2008 klokken 19:03

Let me just start by saying that Paris is huge. I visited the Louvre today and yes, it was huge as well. I was at the Louvre for about an hour before I decided I wanted to see more of Paris.

The thing is, at that point I was starting to become hungry and thirsty so finding something to eat seemed like a good idea. But, here comes the problem.. places to eat as in restaurants and cafés not a problem. Kiosk and actual stores? Where are they.. I've walked all over the place, and nothing. Ended up going to a Sushi place called Holly Sushi, worst Sushi I've ever eaten, and I've eaten a lot. What's worse is that it was more expensive then it would have been in Norway. 20 euro not so well spent.

I managed to get to and from by the cunning use of the subway system. I also found out there is a small mall right next to the hotel. Now I'm getting ready for dinner with Blizzard down in the hotel restaurant, had a nice hot bath and currently playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift on my new red DS and watching Japanese TV. Just to give a little rundown of the channels on the TV, after going trough 60 channels I've found that most are french of course, but there are also english, japanese, indian and chinese. My favorite is currently JSTV and one of the indian ones that is currently showing a soap opera, complete with dancing.

Words/phrases you should know when going to france (a little french 101):
- Bonjour = Hello
- Pardon = Excuse me
- Merci = Thank you. You can also use Merci Beaucoup which basically means "Thank you very much!"
- Au revoir = Farewell
- Parlez-vous anglais? = Do you speak English?
- Sortie = Exit (Good to know if you want to find the exit from somewhere seeing as they don't use the word "Exit")

Using the few words like that really help it, they will see that you at least try. So saying Bonjour and continuing in english when you want to buy something is better then going "Hey, sap I wanna buy..." etc.

A word a saw a lot of down town in almost all the shops I passed, was "Soldes" which means "Sale". I seems that almost everything is on sale in France.

Anyway, gonna get ready now. I'll make a blog post when the dinner is done, if it doesn't last forever.

WWI: Arrival

Skrevet av Havok den 27 juni 2008 klokken 12:48

I arrived at Charles De Gaule at around 10:00. The whole place looks pretty awesome, it's like a nostalgic 60's type airport. The escalators where like roller coasters, they went up and down but straight. The best ones where these tubes that went all over the place, and they looked like something out of a James Bond movie. Strange. When I went to pick up my bag, I found out it was late. Which always happens mind you. Anyway, I exited the arrival area and looked for my contact with a Blizzard sign, kinda hard finding one in a sea of people look for people. I specially liked the one that just said "Norway", which at first I thought ‹‹Could this be me?›› But standing next to her was a young woman with a sign, which stood out in the crowd, it - of course - had the Blizzard logo on it. I introduced myself and we departed the airport and proceeded to the shuttle I was going to take to the hotel.

We where talking about this and that; Nintendo DS games, which sights in Paris I should look up. And she gave me a tip about renting a bike instead of taking a taxi or the subway. The conversation steered into the invitational where I learned she was managing the survey Blizzard is having, where people tell them what they think about their customer service. And being the inquisitive person that I am. I asked here if she knew what the secret game was. She told me everyone in Blizzard knew, and that Blizzard had a "Show & Tell" yesterday for all the employes. I was standing right next to someone who was mocking me about the game. I wanted to know, but of course she wouldn't tell. I had to find out something, and the thing I now know is that "It looks awesome!".

So, there you have it. The "secret" game looks awesome. My finger is still on Diablo III, although Lost Vikings would be awesome as well. I'll know at around eight tomorrow morning. Right now I'm gonna go see Paris and take a bunch of pictures. :P