BlizzCon 2009 - Preshow

My personal commentary on BlizzCon 2009's Pay-Per-View event. I'll be updating as I get info from the con or whenever I have something to say.

---- Friday August 21, 2009 - Pre-Blizzcon ----

[1:50pm] Ten minutes to go. I'm expecting the big announcement this year to be Cataclysm or the real name of the new WoW expansion and some info on it. I of course want to see what is planned for Icecrown. Starcraft 2 and it's released date would be nice, maybe some info on the beta. As for Diablo 3, probably one or two new player classes along with some game play stuff. As usual, I always look forward to whatever I can watch/listen to from the panels. Being a game art & design student that's the stuff I'm really interested in from the cons. Five minutes to go!

[1:44pm] Lots of buffering goin on with the net stream even at low quality. I'm sure it's going to get worse as the show actually begins, especially during the opening ceremony. DirecTV's actually ppv is going strong as long as the rain stays away.

[1:26pm] Getting myself organized to watch the PPV. Rain has stopped for now and I'm getting a clear signal, hurrah. The internet stream has started buffering like mad, figured that would happen. Only 30 minutes left until the Welcome and Opening Ceremony.

[1:06pm] Updates on Twitter announcing that the doors at the con are open to the public. I'm sure updates will begin flowing from the con floor now. Less than 1 hour to go!

[12:38pm] Rain has started again and my DirecTV signal is hiccuping lost for the moment. The live internet stream is going strong though.. for now.

[12:32pm] Testing out screen shots of the live stream...


Success! A little fuzzy but will work :)

[12:16pm] Tuned into the live stream at blizzcon.rayv.com. Seems to be working quite well at the moment. It is showing the same as I see on DirecTV with a few second delay. They've also posted the schedule for the PPV, happy to see that nothing is mentioned about the tournaments, it's all panels and features. Not all of the panels I want to see are listed but as long as the panels aren't interrupted for crap I'll be happy. Less than 2 hours to go!

[11:34am] From Sons of the Storm. An update made a few days ago mentioned that the sons will be having an autograph sessions today and L80ETC will be opening for Ozzy. This says to me that they won't be playing with Ozzy. Bummer but we'll see. I'm also reminded of the awesomeness of BlizzCon that I am missing out by not actually attending. I'd love a chance to mingle with Samwise and the other sons.

[11:00am] 3 hours and counting. Just checked the radar and more storms are moving my way. *sigh*. I may get lucky and my dtv signal will hold through the rain.. have to wait and see.

[10:34am] So far my satellite signal has only been lost once due to rain. It's sunny at the moment but I am sure it won't stay this way. I ordered the internet stream also, supposedly free to DirecTV subscribers. That'll be my backup feed.

I am curious how the Ozzy concert will go. I am hoping for a decent concert but I fear it may just turn out to be a lame marketing gimmick. I can't expect Ozzy to perform many songs either, 2 or 3 and the show will be over. Someone had mentioned that L80ETC will be playing backup for Ozzy, that would definitely be badass.

[10:26am] DirecTV is on my tv and tuned to channel 121 ready for the PPV to begin. Nothing yet, just looping video of the cinematic openings from WotLK, D3, and SC2, along with some footage from Blizzcon 08. I expect this to go on until around 2pm.

Read somewhere that Grunty interacts with the Zergling pet. I'm trying my best not to look at any spoilers until after the con. I am sure it's super cool.