[Cairenn]

Okay ... Quutar was kind enough to give me his notes from the 'con, and permission to post them, so I can now post something with a bit more meat to it:

Notes from Blizzcon, as observed by Quutar

Interesting quote from the line to get in:

“WTB Murloc pet… $30!”

Opening ceremonies

The opening started with the president of blizzard doing a future talk… talking about how good things will be. This was the first Blizzcon, and got 8,000 people in attendance. He loves the fans, blah blah blah. The Zerg are playable in the Ghost multi player, and other Ghost things that I did not pay much attention to.

The name of the expansion is the “Burning Crusade”. The producer for WoW came on, and talked about community. The community of WoW is what makes it strong; In the future… for the free “patches” they will be adding

• Noxtramus (sp?) (The place above Stratholme)
• Linked Auction Houses in all major cities (HUGE cheer)
• Ahn’Qiraj (sp?)
• Weather effects… real effects, not just pretty fluff

And the highlights from the expansion was

• Burning Crusade
• Blood Elves for Horde
• Primarily in outland, through the dark portal
• Medhiva(sp?) Tower
• Caverns of Time
• The Black Temple where you will fight and kill Illdian
• Flying mounts in the outlands
• Gem Crafting/socketed Items… new profession

They then showed a demo movie for the new expansion. It was a lot of concept sketches that looked awesome… some in game scenes from Medhevas(sp?) tower, and from the Blood Elf starting area

The burning legion is exacting revenge on the people beyond the dark portal. They are punishing the outland. The concept art… looks awesome.

The caverns of time will deal with the lore of WoW. Three instances listed were:

• The raising of thrall, before he became war chief… something about Hillsbrand
• The opening of the dark portal for the very first time
• The defense of the world tree… final battle in War3

And… the level cap is raised to level 70. Talking to a blizzard employee afterwards (they had a “B” on their badge)… they will be giving us ten more talent points… and increasing the “tree” to a 41 point talent. No details were giving on the filling in from 31 to 41… but the idea is one of balance… if someone gets the 41… they can’t have a 21 from another tree…