he first things I noticed about BlizzCon were the lines. Lines to get in, lines to turn in a quest, lines to buy pizza, lines for the men's bathroom, and one line accompanied by someone dressed as Rick Astley who wandered up and down playing "Never Gonna Ggive You Up." Unsurprisingly, the convention was quite crowded, and our group sometimes had to obtain seats for events at the main stage an hour beforehand.
Friday seemed the most energetic day of the two, with the announcement of the Demon Hunter class for Diablo III provoking the most response, and a great desire to test it in the beta. Trying it and picking up a fan of knives ability was particularly fun, though not incredibly useful against small groups of opponents. The showcased changes to some of World of Warcraft's older dungeons also brought a great deal of applause, and hope that running Maraudon will be less painful in the future. Other highlights for the day included the live raid, which invoked some nostalgia due to the inclusion of Molten Core bosses, and the evening contests hosted by Jay Mohr. My personal favorite among the costumes was the mage accompanied a fluffy white sheep she referred to as her "pet troll rogue."
Saturday lacked the same level of excitement, though the various question-and-answer sessions did bring some response from the crowd, including a large quantity of booing for the new druid tree form. I spent much of the day waiting in line for various activities and contests, but I also managed to make some of Starcraft II finals and a bit of time with Diablo III. The closing ceremony was rather disappointing until the performance of Tenacious D, as the announcement of only one thousand Diablo III beta keys gave attendees approximately a five percent chance of receiving one, and "World of Jersey Shorecraft" proved quite un-amusing to those expecting a new MMO from Blizzard.
Overall, I enjoyed the convention, even with the lines, missed cues, and technical difficulties. It would have been preferable if female worgen were playable in the Cataclysm beta, and no one got enough time with Diablo III. For now, I'll just amuse myself with the Dethling statue and try to comprehend what to do with two Battle.net authenticators.
