Will Blizzcon be devoid of "fan with live mic" elements?

[Omedon]

Project F is also very apparently being built to compete with Diablo and Path of Exile, as what we saw of it suggests a dungeon crawler ARPG with League champions. My guess is Riot saw blood in the water from Blizzard's recent PR problems and went all in with the announcements.

As for why Riot gets a pass when Blizzard doesn't, I think it's twofold. Blizzard spent decades cultivating public relations as 'one of us,' a den of game-loving geeks making games by geeks, for geeks, with just a hint of hard-rocking rockstar added in for flavor. The old guard (most notably Samwise and Metzen) did a lot to further that company persona, being geeky metalheads on- and offstage. They're one of a very few companies with a whole convention dedicated solely to their products and personalities; not even Activision, EA, or Sony have been able to pull this off and Activision-Blizzard frickin' own Blizzard. But for about a half decade now, that persona has come crashing down as people become more and more aware, and skeptical, as more stories slip out from former employees and current employees speaking under anonymity, as part of a wider shift in social awareness toward the working conditions and office politics in AAA gaming companies. People haven't taken the revelation that Blizzard is just another company out to make All Of The Money well.

Second, Riot never really cultivated this face for the company. They've always been pretty open and honest that they're just another dev studio, albeit one that struck gold with a similar perfect storm of timing, marketing, and genre appeal like Blizzard did with World of Warcraft's original launch. So this fan relationship where people projected onto Riot wasn't there, at least not to my knowledge. This lets Riot roll with the punches in a way Blizzard couldn't; Riot's even been able to bounce back rather quickly from a huge PR hit after it came to light there were sexual harassment issues around the office, and another PR hit (albeit a smaller one) when word got out from K/DA Akali's designer that they got screwed on pretty much every level while Riot rakes in cash with the skin.

I suppose the difference is, with Riot you knew from Day 1 what you were getting into when interfacing with them as a corporate entity. With Blizzard, there was a notable and marked change somewhere along the line and that leaves its fans more susceptible to hard backlash rather than the waves of minor outrage followed by a metaphorical shrug of the shoulders once the PR team got a handle on things.

This is all a very good point, actually. Even listening to "The Instance," a podcast where they often go on about how much they "love this company" for all the reasons you mention... you don't get that with other studios because that "heightened morality" is honestly not sustainable at the stratosphere Blizzard are at and where they want to go.

So now you have, I'm sure, a subset of the people really unreasonably taking it to Blizzard now, a bunch of jokers who are validated that "A-HA! THE WORLD REALLY IS AS UGLY AS I AM! BURN NOW FOR YOUR FALSE MORALITY! IT'S ALL A LIE!"

[KayRule]

Theyre not gonna have a qa this time because of china

They already confirmed months ago the Q&A questions would be read by staff because of "le april fools" man. China just reinsured they wouldn't change their position.

[Thage]

Theres no way theres q&a after blizzards last year of shitshows. Thats probably why there hasn't been a timetable released yet.

Expect a really hastily put together 'geek is' about diversity, voices counting and blizzard being the consumers greatest ally that is 100% sincere and not in any way related to china at the start to pad time instead.

My bet is on a major game announcement for all their 'classic' IPs in some fashion. Diablo 4 announcement/reveal, Overwatch 2 (Metro, the guy who leaked a bunch of stuff before, is claiming they were clued into OW2 and D4/D2 Remastered, take that as you will), WoW expac reveal and possibly info on the plan going forward for WoW Classic once Naxx has had time to settle in, and I'd actually put money on it we get info on a new Starcraft game of some sort (not necessarily SC3) and a teaser about the new 'mystery IP' they've been hiring for. Right now, their best hope is a tidal wave of good news and PR to try and bury the utter clusterfuck they're in.

[Monster Hunter]

No, not becaue China, but because useless asswipes thinking they are making a difference by yelling FREE HONG KONG at blizzard, while doing absolutely nothing else about it.

what else do they have the power to do?

the point of protesting is to make your protest to something known top the representatives in power, then if it seems that there are alot of people protesting about the same thing some one who's power is dependent on the approval of said people can actually do something meaningful to appease those protestors to win there approval intern for his own ends, thats how representative democracy works. now i know full well that this shit isnt magic and the free HK movement could go as ignored as the angry feminist marches against trump when it comes to actually forcing change but its all you have within the law to effect change from the top and a big showy protest that lands egg in the face of a US corporation in there own venue does wonders for advertising the cause and getting on the lips of the people who actual do have power in the US congress and senate and halls of power in the rest of the world, its also a no brainier for both left and right wing politicians to stand against china and for Hong Kong, making it a well suited cause to protesting as a method.

[darklogrus]

Blizzard is just going to send out a long line of unknown employees and family members to ask questions with a random known shill into the mix..

[rionalgaming]

instead of a live mic people just unzip there pants and whip it out.. and then say free king kong..

[Tantaburs]

what else do they have the power to do?

the point of protesting is to make your protest to something known top the representatives in power, then if it seems that there are alot of people protesting about the same thing some one who's power is dependent on the approval of said people can actually do something meaningful to appease those protestors to win there approval intern for his own ends, thats how representative democracy works. now i know full well that this shit isnt magic and the free HK movement could go as ignored as the angry feminist marches against trump when it comes to actually forcing change but its all you have within the law to effect change from the top and a big showy protest that lands egg in the face of a US corporation in there own venue does wonders for advertising the cause and getting on the lips of the people who actual do have power in the US congress and senate and halls of power in the rest of the world, its also a no brainier for both left and right wing politicians to stand against china and for Hong Kong, making it a well suited cause to protesting as a method.

They could protest or complain to people who's job it is to manage foreign policy. You know politicians not game developers.

BlizzCon is as much for Blizzard employees as it is for Blizzard fans. This is the stuff these guys spend their lives doing and what they are proud of and if you decide to make an effort to ruin the celebration of their work over a thing they have NO power to change you are an absolute piece of human garbage.

[tripleh]

Just like how Facebook,Goggle/youtube and Twitter were brought before congress for a hearing. I would soo love to see Blizzard be subpoena to show up and answer questions on live TV. It would be hilarious and its most likely gonna happen.

[RemasteredClassic]

I think they will probably have no choice since they can’t just exclude asians looking people.

[Zyky]

Yeah, but that happening one time opened the door for every asshole who wants their 15 minutes of fame.

I think they'll have stricter rules this year, but I don't think they'll completely abolish it. But lets be honest, what he said had to be said. It wasn't about fame or being an asshole. Blizzard tired to force a shit phone game that wasn't even developed by them onto PC gamers as their only new game announcement...of course it was going to blow over poorly

[Yamuri]

Good luck fighting for everyone to use esports as a good soapboxing platform. I'm for Blitz, but not for the attitude everyone has with it. I hope it succeeds so all the winning competitors can tell you how to vote in elections to come.

[Varitok]

It will be funny to see them panic and censor people like the Chinese government. Fun times at Blizzcon this year.

- - - Updated - - -

Good luck fighting for everyone to use esports as a good soapboxing platform. I'm for Blitz, but not for the attitude everyone has with it. I hope it succeeds so all the winning competitors can tell you how to vote in elections to come.

The HK situation isn't about politics, I wish people would stop equating human rights with politics. It's how China controls the narrative.

[Yamuri]

The HK situation isn't about politics, I wish people would stop equating human rights with politics. It's how China controls the narrative.

Human rights governed by politics. It's still a passion. If the government tries takes your freedom of speech away, isn't it a tiny bit political?

[SirCowdog]

Call my cynical, but I suspect there will be "live mic" interactions, but it will only be with seeded employees of Blizzard who will asked scripted questions. They're too scared of offending China and hurting their potential profits in that area to do anything else.

[Mirishka]

what else do they have the power to do?

the point of protesting is to make your protest to something known top the representatives in power, then if it seems that there are alot of people protesting about the same thing some one who's power is dependent on the approval of said people can actually do something meaningful to appease those protestors to win there approval intern for his own ends, thats how representative democracy works. now i know full well that this shit isnt magic and the free HK movement could go as ignored as the angry feminist marches against trump when it comes to actually forcing change but its all you have within the law to effect change from the top and a big showy protest that lands egg in the face of a US corporation in there own venue does wonders for advertising the cause and getting on the lips of the people who actual do have power in the US congress and senate and halls of power in the rest of the world, its also a no brainier for both left and right wing politicians to stand against china and for Hong Kong, making it a well suited cause to protesting as a method.

There's plenty of ways for a person to provide tangible aid for people in other countries, though most of the people bitching don't seem interested in more than spamming a hashtag on Twitter or being mad at a game company.

[SirCowdog]

shills will get mic's people pre-screened by blizzard just like what Bethesda dose

Exactly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is being naive.

[Ghostile]

what else do they have the power to do?

the point of protesting is to make your protest to something known top the representatives in power, then if it seems that there are alot of people protesting about the same thing some one who's power is dependent on the approval of said people can actually do something meaningful to appease those protestors to win there approval intern for his own ends, thats how representative democracy works. now i know full well that this shit isnt magic and the free HK movement could go as ignored as the angry feminist marches against trump when it comes to actually forcing change but its all you have within the law to effect change from the top and a big showy protest that lands egg in the face of a US corporation in there own venue does wonders for advertising the cause and getting on the lips of the people who actual do have power in the US congress and senate and halls of power in the rest of the world, its also a no brainier for both left and right wing politicians to stand against china and for Hong Kong, making it a well suited cause to protesting as a method.

Even donating to human rights organizations does more good, but these internet heroes wont do it because it costs money and doesnt give them the attention they seek.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Even donating to human rights organizations does more good, but these internet heroes wont do it because it costs money and doesnt give them the attention they seek.

It's about the social media clout.

[Klingers]

Q&A questions are screened after you submit them into the Darkmoon Faire at Blizzcon themselves. You don't just get up there and ask whatever you like. The guy who did the April Fools thing last year went off his proposed question to the developers.

I think Red Shirt Guy was the last "open mic" BlizzCon, all since have had prescreening.

Yeah, but April Fools guy last year obviously had a different question before he got up with the mic. That'll be hard to police.

[SinR]

Yeah, Path of Exile Red Hoodie guy had a different question than he asked on the mic.

this year the SECOND it gets off the question they wrote down they're going to cut the mic and shuffle them out of the line. Red Button is going to be on a hair trigger this year