BlizzCon 2014 Final Day Wrap-Up

Another Successful BlizzCon

The electric atmosphere of 20,000 gamers and the smell of thousands of computers blazing away is gone. BlizzCon 2014 came and went and our heads are still spinning with all of the announcements! The second day of BlizzCon 2014 gave us a live raid between two of the best PvE guilds in the world, tons of panels discussing World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone and Overwatch. We were also treated to some of the best eSports finales that I have ever witnessed with some very close matches and a lot of upsets. The event culminated with two rock legends, Elite Tauren Chieftain and Metallica closing out the show in one final epic hurrah. In case you missed any of our coverage, we have a wrap up of the first days BlizzCon activities here.

Method versus Midwinter – Live Raid Heroic Highmaul

Day 2 of BlizzCon 2014 started off with a live raid in the main hall. The room was packed with World of Warcraft fans looking to see Highmaul, one of the upcoming Warlords of Draenor raids This was the first time most people were able to see this new instance being ran in heroic mode. In years past, the live raid consisted of an instance that was on farmstatus for months. This year the two teams had to compete in this brand new instance that is not released yet. Each team has spent some time doing this raid on the beta it is definitely still new to them so it provided for a very exciting competition. The competition started out much as it did last year with Midwinter doing really well int he beginning. They were the first to down Kargath, the fist boss in the raid. As Midwinter was making its way to the next boss, Twin Ogron, they had an issue with some trash they were trying to skip. This gave Method the time they needed to catch up. Method was able kill Twin Orgron with Midwinter still around the 25% mark. Midwinter didnt stop fighting though. They made up some time doing the Koragh, Breaker of Magic encounter. Method was able to pull the final boss, Imperator Margok first but Midwinter was just behind them. In the end however, Method was able kill the boss first and retain the live raid crown. This was the best live raid to date. The race was hosted by Blizzards Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas and one of the new favorite community managers, Josh LoreAllen. I wish they would have had more of the optional bosses in the raid but with only an hour and the content being so new, they had to error on the side of time. It was nice to see the new content though and the crowd really seem to enjoy it.

World of Warcraft

Day 2 at BlizzCon only hosted a couple of World of Warcraft panel discussions. A cinematic panel for Warlords of Draenor where they reforge the past to create a story that allows us to visit a time long ago before the destruction of Draenor. The panel was great and I am always amazed at the amount of work it takes to create a cinematic. Blizzard never ceases to amaze me with their cinematics. The other panel of the day was just a straight up question and answer. This panel allowed fans from the audience to get their questions answered by those being the World of Warcraft Universe. This type of panel is always hit or miss. Most of the time people ask questions that they care about but doesnt help the community as a whole. I dont care that a mage doesnt have a class mount. There was one question that stood out. Over the last 10 years, the armor types have remained the same. Sure we were given the ability to transmog them but they were still the same format. Someone asked if we were going to get open robes, similar the the model on the Thrall NPC. The developers did say they have been discussing that and that it is time to introduce more armor archetypes. This will be a very welcomed addition I am sure. I would love to see spell casters actually cast from their staves or wands.

The World of Warcraft day ended with the release of their documentary commemorating the last 10 years of Wold of Warcraft called Looking for Group. This was a very insightful documentary about World of Warcraft and how it all came about, including the growing pains and expansion decisions. It was also the first time we got to see inside a World of Warcraft data center, one of the best kept secrets! If you havent yet seen it, I really suggest you go to WorldOfWarcraft.com and give it a watch. It is very well done and if you have played from the beginning, the nostalgia will be wonderful!