BlizzCon 2019 Schedule and Map

[HuxNeva]

Pretty sure there will be a Battle Royal game in there somewhere, either as a WoW new Battleground mode, as an Overwatch 2 feature, or as a separate IP.

[Kolvarg]

I personally think they aren't staying neutral. Just see their reply in chinese. Blizzard appears to support a progressive agenda in the west while they praise tyrants at east. They cant lay in two beds.

I understand what you mean about countries dealing with nazi Germany or USRR but we are long past that. Also we have to consider the general public back then weren't well informed (if informed at all) about most things related to these governments. In any case I dare to say we are more civilized and envolved as a society nowadays as well, if these examples you cited happened nowadays I am sure there would be serious backlash.

I also think its worth mentioning that Chinese dictatorship is using their huge customer market as a way to force companies to comply to their will and in that way validate their government. The problem is how this will envolve in the future. We have to keep in mind their leadership doesn't think twice when it comes to massacrating their own people if they dare to disagree with their orders so just imagine what they would do to non chinese people if they actually get power over the rest of the world.

Anyways I apreciate your insight in the subject, you explained pretty well your opinion! My english isn't very good so its always nice to see a well written reply even if we do not really agree that much about the subject.

I might be mistaken, but isn't Hearthstone and its tournaments operate by NetEase (a chinese company) as a Blizzard partner in China? I do believe their reply in Chinese was actually posted in a twitter account managed by NetEase.

Of course they're still responsible, but it does adds context, especially since what they've stated while jarring to us in the West is just "normal procedure" for any company operating in China, I would imagine.

I do agree that China using economic power to "force" companies to behave in their interests is worrying, and I most definitely respect anyone who is speaking out, protesting or boycotting in an attempt to stop that. It's just that ultimately, while still important, it is essentially a side-effect of the problem in China that in a way Blizzard is a "victim" of. So I do have a problem with how the anti-Blizzard mentality has generated from this issue. People who genuinely believe this is an important and dangerous aspect of chinese influence should be campaigning against the thing as a whole and not just singling out Blizz.

Unfortunately it is a very complex topic, and it's not as simple as every "morally good" country in the world should stop trading or operating business in China because their government is "morally bad". That can't happen without consequences, more than any of us humble average people might forsee or be able to properly consider in order to know the best way to deal with the situation.

It's definitely something that needs to be talked about, and most importantly something that people should get better informed about. I just don't think vilifying Blizzard for making a generally harmless (in the grand scheme of things) profit-oriented decision is a good way to do that. People are basically just using Blizz as a scapegoat and not discussing the actual issue or even researching it properly.

[Fluffernut]

I might be mistaken, but isn't Hearthstone and its tournaments operate by NetEase (a chinese company) as a Blizzard partner in China? I do believe their reply in Chinese was actually posted in a twitter account managed by NetEase.

Of course they're still responsible, but it does adds context, especially since what they've stated while jarring to us in the West is just "normal procedure" for any company operating in China, I would imagine.

I do agree that China using economic power to "force" companies to behave in their interests is worrying, and I most definitely respect anyone who is speaking out, protesting or boycotting in an attempt to stop that. It's just that ultimately, while still important, it is essentially a side-effect of the problem in China that in a way Blizzard is a "victim" of. So I do have a problem with how the anti-Blizzard mentality has generated from this issue. People who genuinely believe this is an important and dangerous aspect of chinese influence should be campaigning against the thing as a whole and not just singling out Blizz.

Unfortunately it is a very complex topic, and it's not as simple as every "morally good" country in the world should stop trading or operating business in China because their government is "morally bad". That can't happen without consequences, more than any of us humble average people might forsee or be able to properly consider in order to know the best way to deal with the situation.

It's definitely something that needs to be talked about, and most importantly something that people should get better informed about. I just don't think vilifying Blizzard for making a generally harmless (in the grand scheme of things) profit-oriented decision is a good way to do that. People are basically just using Blizz as a scapegoat and not discussing the actual issue or even researching it properly.

This is exactly how I feel. Thank you for articulating it so well.

[Kolvarg]

Pray that it won't be 4 mobile titles.

It's not entirely impossible that they would announce mobile ports of their older games Maybe the highly-anticipated WoW Pet Battles mobile game as well!

[Tojara]

People are retarded if they think that Blizzcon is going to be barren. People talk some tough shit online and then when it comes time to actually act, it's an entirely different story. Meme or not, how many people signed up to storm area 51? Only for what, a couple dozen people to show up? Expect maybe a couple hundred people outside the convention lines to be protesting at best, then the internet deeming it super successful.

Most people aren't going to throw away thousands of dollars in planning and vacation time, just to potentially get thrown out over something they've been planning for close to a year. More power to the people that do, but in reality, it's not going to be as big as people are thinking. Being a political activist and having opinions on shit is all well and good, but most people are too lazy to make any sort of difference aside from repeating a dumb hashtag. Hashtag activism at it's finest.

Political shit aside, the Q&A is one of the worst segments at Blizzcon. The questions are super generic and awful, and you can hear the collective groan in the room when somebody gets on the mic and brings up representation or Blizzards willingness to reveal or add more gay characters in their game (every single year). I'm actually surprised it's taken them this long to just streamline this process, because it's obvious people have been ignoring the questions they actually submitted. After lasts years "out of seasons April fools joke", I'm sure they were planning to do this anyways. At least this way you might actually get some interesting questions as they can run through them faster. Hearing people drone on and plug their fucking twitter, guild and what server there on literally eats up a shit load of the time anyway.

Not sure why it's surprising to people but there's like half a dozen 'coming' soon panels. A WoW expanson is a given, but I doubt it's going to occupy all 6 of those slots. Aside from the WoW expansion, expect up to two additional new games or potential new IP being released.

[Tsamane]

"Coming soon"
Most likely a new IP, don't want to reveal any details till Blizzcon

[ImpalerEU]

About time!
And please event workers, keep Blizzcon free from Hong Kong-politics, thanks.



Not exactly, since there might be a 8.3.5.
Until they say there won't be such a patch this time (got one after 7.3), then it's not yet over even once 8.3 launches.

No offense, but it's kind of ludicrous to assume there is another ending post N'Zoth. What you will see in the ending of the next raid is pretty much the ending of the expansion. 8.3.5 will merely be some minor content to keep people busy before 9.0. And surely they don't plan for Blizzcon to be about announcing 8.3.5, that's even more ludicrous.

[Queen of Hamsters]

No offense, but it's kind of ludicrous to assume there is another ending post N'Zoth. What you will see in the ending of the next raid is pretty much the ending of the expansion. 8.3.5 will merely be some minor content to keep people busy before 9.0. And surely they don't plan for Blizzcon to be about announcing 8.3.5, that's even more ludicrous.

... Not "not over" as in STORY, but not over as in there might be more patches.
No assumptions have been made on my end as far as the story goes.

But BfA not being over yet doesn't mean they can't announce the next expansion, which they will be.

[Whitedragon]

A lot of people already failed to resist and are conflicted about going back on their words. I saw a tweet literally begging Blizzard to apologize so he can get excited and play their games again. There's a small group of people desperately trying to keep this whole movement alive and it's sad that people who supported them initially already ditched them because they didn't actually care. This outrage is so stupid and fake. People didn't actually care about Hong Kong or Human Rights. People who actually care are the ones who were involved in the issue before this debacle and jumped on this opportunity to raise awareness not the actual gamers.

Which is something I have noticed to. One blatant thing I have seen, is the vast majority of people digging into the HK "Issue" (to the point where you would almost think blizzard pull someone out on the street and shot them...) are the people who supposedly already quit (Heal VS babby face for example) or seem to be the first ones on the Blizzard is doomed bandwagon whenever anything shows up. Yes we do have people like T&E or Bellular who also bring it up, but funny enough these are the people who put in some effort into at least trying to see both sides, and they are usually a lot less over zealous and bash you over the head with it....

I will admit that I think Blizzard went to far when they striped the guy of his prize money, but blizzard has long since fixed that AND cut his ban time in half. I will also say that personally I do agree that the people of Hong kong are being miss treated by their government. That being said Blizzard in absolutely no way needs to supply a soap box for anyone who thinks they need to write the wrongs of the world, and like you said the outrage that came from this whole thing is about as worthless as it gets. I'm sure the Chinese government is REALLY feeling the pressure from all these blizzard boycotts.... Oh wait they don't give a dam, and the only ones really getting hurt is a company built around the idea of making and selling games....

Like you pointed out I want them making fun experiences, not picking up a sword and charging every perceived "Grate injustice" that comes along, that's how a lot of franchises are getting ruined now, because everything needs to be a statement, and not actually fun/good... If I boycotted every single artist, company, and brand that did something/anything that I disagreed with at some point I wouldn't be able to do anything in life...

[ImpalerEU]

... Not "not over" as in STORY, but not over as in there might be more patches.
No assumptions have been made on my end as far as the story goes.

But BfA not being over yet doesn't mean they can't announce the next expansion, which they will be.

It will end with N'Zoth's defeat in 8.3. 8.3.5 is as far as they will go, IF they will go that far and it will not have any raids/bosses involved either. There is no way they can top N'Zoth as the end boss of this expansion.

[Jwco]

1. Wow expansion, classic and remastered stuff
2. Diablo 4 and diablo 2 remastered.

3. Probably a Overwatch 2 since Overwatch doesnt have a Overwatch Update panel like Heroes of the storm and Hearthstone.
4. something new yet unknown

But since both Heroes of the storm and Hearthstone have update panels, im pretty sure that those number 3 and 4 has nothing to do with those games.

Take a look at Day 2 Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rd

Stage	Panel Name	Time
Mythic	Overwatch Update	15:15 - 16:00

[Shinrael]

I might be mistaken, but isn't Hearthstone and its tournaments operate by NetEase (a chinese company) as a Blizzard partner in China? I do believe their reply in Chinese was actually posted in a twitter account managed by NetEase.

Of course they're still responsible, but it does adds context, especially since what they've stated while jarring to us in the West is just "normal procedure" for any company operating in China, I would imagine.

I do agree that China using economic power to "force" companies to behave in their interests is worrying, and I most definitely respect anyone who is speaking out, protesting or boycotting in an attempt to stop that. It's just that ultimately, while still important, it is essentially a side-effect of the problem in China that in a way Blizzard is a "victim" of. So I do have a problem with how the anti-Blizzard mentality has generated from this issue. People who genuinely believe this is an important and dangerous aspect of chinese influence should be campaigning against the thing as a whole and not just singling out Blizz.

Unfortunately it is a very complex topic, and it's not as simple as every "morally good" country in the world should stop trading or operating business in China because their government is "morally bad". That can't happen without consequences, more than any of us humble average people might forsee or be able to properly consider in order to know the best way to deal with the situation.

It's definitely something that needs to be talked about, and most importantly something that people should get better informed about. I just don't think vilifying Blizzard for making a generally harmless (in the grand scheme of things) profit-oriented decision is a good way to do that. People are basically just using Blizz as a scapegoat and not discussing the actual issue or even researching it properly.

Yep. This. It's so sad how it has turned out, because of the haters. Within the boundaries of a livestream hosted by Blizzard, you become their representative. By stating your own political views you involve the ENTIRE COMPANY in the political issue. Not only are they victim of the Chinese government, they are victim of Blitzchung's selfish "freedom of speech" as well. What choice do they have but to remove him if they want to remain neutral? And don't anyone dare tell me they should not be neutral. 99% of the items and foods you buy from the shop are Chinese. When you get rid of 99% of your everyday necessities and posessions, only then can you blame others. It's so sad.

[Sastank]

I'm pretty sure they were bragging about having a few new IP's in the pipeline, I bet we see at least one!

Only one I can think of that's not a sequel xpac that I've heard/seen anything about is their autobattler of some sorts but it's in the HOTS client/universe.

Do you recall/know of any IP rumors/leaks?

[Queen of Hamsters]

It will end with N'Zoth's defeat in 8.3. 8.3.5 is as far as they will go, IF they will go that far and it will not have any raids/bosses involved either. There is no way they can top N'Zoth as the end boss of this expansion.

Duh.

You're having a debate that wasn't present. 8.3.5 coming beyond 8.3 = the expansion literally isn't over yet since neither have come out as of right now.
The expansions do not start and stop with story alone.

[Kolvarg]

Only one I can think of that's not a sequel xpac that I've heard/seen anything about is their autobattler of some sorts but it's in the HOTS client/universe.

Do you recall/know of any IP rumors/leaks?

I remember reading about it a few times, although I don't recall the exact articles/places. A quick search got me this tho:

Activision Blizzard tease new IP, core franchises come first

They have stated in the past they have new IPs on the pipeline, although recently they've been more coy about it and in their recent restructuring they seem to be focusing more on the existing IPs.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep this Blizzcon to their current IPs only.

[Sastank]

I remember reading about it a few times, although I don't recall the exact articles/places. A quick search got me this tho:

Activision Blizzard tease new IP, core franchises come first

They have stated in the past they have new IPs on the pipeline, although recently they've been more coy about it and in their recent restructuring they seem to be focusing more on the existing IPs.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, I wouldn't be surprised if they keep this Blizzcon to their current IPs only.

I remember general statements too, thought maybe new IP actually leaked or something :P

[ImpalerEU]

Duh.

You're having a debate that wasn't present. 8.3.5 coming beyond 8.3 = the expansion literally isn't over yet since neither have come out as of right now.
The expansions do not start and stop with story alone.

8.3 will be the end-expansion raid and story pretty much. Whatever comes after that is preparations for 9.0. More like a stay-busy patch till 9.0 comes. It will be similar to the Halion patch in WoTLK but won't involve a raid/boss. The BFA story concludes with N'Zoth's defeat/death. Am I clear now?, or is it another "duh" experience.

[Queen of Hamsters]

8.3 will be the end-expansion raid and story pretty much. Whatever comes after that is preparations for 9.0. More like a stay-busy patch till 9.0 comes. It will be similar to the Halion patch in WoTLK but won't involve a raid/boss. The BFA story concludes with N'Zoth's defeat/death. Am I clear now?, or is it another "duh" experience.

Yes, it's another duh experience. And if you're going to compare patches of BfA, compare them to Legion rather than content from a decade ago when design philosophies and the size of the team was completely different.

We don't know what comes after 8.3 in terms of content. Story does NOT need to be included but we don't know if it'll have Allied races, a filler raid, a new dungeon, since we can't predict the future.
AKA, BfA is not over yet. Simple enough to understand one would think. As long as the expansion continues to have content added (story or not), it's still ongoing. Held true for the past iterations, holds true now.

[ImpalerEU]

Yes, it's another duh experience. And if you're going to compare patches of BfA, compare them to Legion rather than content from a decade ago when design philosophies and the size of the team was completely different.

We don't know what comes after 8.3 in terms of content. Story does NOT need to be included but we don't know if it'll have Allied races, a filler raid, a new dungeon, since we can't predict the future.
AKA, BfA is not over yet. Simple enough to understand one would think. As long as the expansion continues to have content added (story or not), it's still ongoing. Held true for the past iterations, holds true now.

I've been playing since January 2007, so looking back to what we received before, yes it is possible to predict the future. I gave my prediction and it's making you go "duh" and come back with smartass responses.

BFA will be over after the release of 8.3 as far as the story goes. Whatever comes after that will be directly linked to the next expansion which is set to be unveiled in less than two weeks. This is my prediction, not the actual reality of what will happen. Yes, my prediction could turn out to be wrong.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I've been playing since January 2007, so looking back to what we received before, yes it is possible to predict the future. I gave my prediction and it's making you go "duh" and come back with smartass responses.

BFA will be over after the release of 8.3 as far as the story goes. Whatever comes after that will be directly linked to the next expansion which is set to be unveiled in less than two weeks. This is my prediction, not the actual reality of what will happen. Yes, my prediction could turn out to be wrong.

Clearly you can't predict the future since you're hilariously out of touch with current affairs.
No, BfA will be over when they're not releasing further content for it.

You having mental gymnastics all around doesn't change how business works. Aka, BfA is not over yet, and it won't be over until they release the first content of the new expansion (pre-patch).

8.3.5 won't be a pre-patch, it'll be the concluding patch of BfA.
If there is no 8.3.5, then yes, 8.3 will have been the concluding patch. But they're following Legion's patch design philosophies, not WOTLK ones, so there being an 8.3.5 to tie players over UNTIL THE PRE-PATCH, which is its own thing and will have the 9.0-numbering, is a rather safe bet.

Just proves that having played "since January 2007" doesn't mean shit, not sure why you brought that up at all.
Not much else to say on the matter, really. Anyone claiming that BfA is over with 8.3 is only correct if there is no 8.3.5. If there is an 8.3.5, that person is factually incorrect.

As of right now, BfA isn't over. Aka, the initial point stands. Gonna ignore the topic from here on out since I won't suffer fools more than I absolutely care to.