Blizzcon returned to Anaheim with a bang. FZ’s Jonas Vågström was there and experienced live news, sales and queues.
It is the morning of the third of November and the Anaheim Convention Center, located just over an hour from the Los Angeles airport, is bathed in sunshine. Although it can get almost thirty degrees hot during the day, the halls are kept cool thanks to a well-sized AC system. Me and the rest of the media crowd are sitting on benches in the large arena space and waiting.
On the dot at eleven o’clock the trade fair begins and after just over two hours of updates on Blizzard’s various franchises, it was finally time to enter the trade fair floor. Blizzcon was back in physical form after a four-year hiatus, and expectations were high.
See also Jonas’ report from Blizzcon as a video
“Times were booked faster than I clear the screen of demons”
The lion’s share of the spectacle was located in four giant halls (A, B, C and D) where most of Blizzard’s game series got the chance to show off. Hall A was dedicated to Diablo – and it was definitely noticeable in both the interior and the framing.
Everything was bathed in blood-red light and parts of the furniture looked like they had been taken from a Gothic church. You could buy here Diablo-related books in The Horadric Library, check out streamers live on location, scout upcoming board and role-playing games with Diablotheme or get a real one Diablo-tattoo. All appointments were free and appointments booked faster than I clear the screen of demons with my necromancer in Diablo IV. In the middle of the batter, a mighty large Lillith statue towered up and The Tree of Whispers could be glimpsed at the back of the fair space.
Diablo was the theme for hall A.
Lilith was in the center.
“During the more intense parties, you could hear the cheers of the audience flowing through the walls”
In stark contrast to the darkness of the first hall, Hall B was much brighter and cheerier.
Here got Overwatch 2 and above all the Overwatch World Cup spread. In the middle of the room, they had built an arena where you could watch both matches and the professional esports players live from four different stands. When the more popular teams played, the seats quickly filled up with die-hard fans and during the more intense games you could hear the crowd’s cheers flowing through the walls into the rest of the facility. Between matches it was also possible to meet your favorite players to take pictures, say hello and get things signed.
Overwatchtheme continued into the adjacent Hall C but here the focus shifted from the competitive parts of the franchise to the more general game modes. The entire space was designed to resemble the Gibraltar map from the game and there were plenty of test stations where you could try out the new hero Mauga, who after a few matches feels like a potential favorite character for the signed. Gaming chair manufacturer Secret Lab also had a booth where you could buy exclusive chair and neck covers that will be released to the general public sometime next year.
Overwatch spread out in two exhibition halls.
Inside the fourth and final hall, Blizzard had crammed everything that had to do with Warcraft. This was both the largest and most popular space at the fair. You could try the new one Hearthstone– the expansion Into the Badlandschallenge developers on a Hearthstone-match, buy artwork from their favorite-Hearthstone-artist. It was also possible to test Warcraft Rumblewhich is already released in Sweden but brand new for the American players.
But the biggest crowd magnet was definitely the Dark Moon Faire and all the collectibles you can get there. It all happened according to a slightly complicated queue system.
“The biggest crowd magnet was definitely the Dark Moon Faire”
In one place people queued to buy tokens which could then be exchanged for collectibles or used in machines where you can get patches. Of course, there were long queues for the patch machines as well, and since there were a total of twelve pieces to collect, bartering was widespread. There was also a Toy Shop with some more exclusive stuff to buy, but to even get in you had to stand in line to buy a ticket and then stand in line again to enter the store. In another stall, exclusive pins could be purchased and crowds of collectors crowded around tables set up to exchange coveted pins with each other.
If you got tired of queuing, you could sit down at one of the many demo stations to test upcoming products Season of Discovery which comes to World of Warcraf Classic. But if you still wanted to buy some merchandise, you could do this in a separate Blizzcon Store that was housed in another building.
Phil Spencer about to visit.
The arena was packed as World of Warcraft news was discussed.
Hall D was blue and had a Warcraft theme.
There was no queuing at some test stations.
But it was not a traditional business, but you had to shop from a specific web shop and then pick up your order in the store space. So really, the store itself was mostly a large wooden floor. It was also possible to choose a specific pick-up time to reduce queuing time. At least in theory, because unfortunately the high pressure made the staff fall behind. I did some shopping and booked a pickup time on Friday evening but was advised to return early on Saturday instead as they would hopefully have caught up. Despite this, it felt like a fairly smooth system if you wanted to avoid standing in such long queues, but surprisingly many still chose to stay in place to wait.
During the days, several panel talks and presentations were held away in the arena, but remarkably Blizzard had arranged seating and screens in several places around the area so you didn’t have to leave the floor to take part in the discussions. Also common to all halls were the various photo opportunities and the amount of statues representing characters from the games. At given times, you could also take the chance to meet various developers for health and get things signed.
That’s right, that sword!
If you got hungry, there were a whole row of food trucks parked outside that could certainly cover all conceivable food wishes. Around the fair, thousands of Blizard fans moved and at regular intervals you ran into cosplayers, one more amazing than the other. On Saturday, a big cosplay competition was held in the arena where creators could win great prizes in five different classes and the whole fair ended with the K-pop band Le Sserafim performing.
“Outwardly, the atmosphere seemed good”
Outwardly, the atmosphere seemed good and everyone I encountered was seemingly happy and pleasant, but I have also understood in retrospect that many were quite disappointed. Both on the amount of queues and on the ticket prices. The cheapest tickets cost 299 dollars, a pretty hefty sum just to get access to the halls. Even the $799 premium tickets didn’t guarantee you’d see the opening ceremony – seats were drawn. If I understood it correctly, Blizzard got rid of its event staff during the corona pandemic and this year’s fair was organized with outside help. Something that might explain the amount of queues and, in the best case, this could be better next year.
In conclusion, it was a powerful and fascinating experience, but in its current form perhaps costs a little more than it tastes. However, Blizzard generally seems to be very keen to please their fans, so hopefully this also applies to Blizzcon.
2023-11-08 17:15:00
#Games #gadgets #queues #report #Blizzcon #debutant
