Blizzard Interview at Starcraft Wire

With BlizzCon coverage popping up across the net, it was excited to see the video taken by StarCraft Wire which has a few mentions of Blizzard's unannounced "4th project" which is the unnamed MMO.

The interview covers just about every project Blizzard has going on, and is worth the watch!

BlizzCon's Over; Check Wiki Daily for New Coverage

BlizzCon 2008 may have come to a close, but our extended coverage of the event is just beginning. Our BlizzCon wiki is already full of exclusive panel recaps, interviews and photos for you to enjoy, but that's not all! The intrepid ZAM Network staff, including our tireless Allakazham employees, went without much sleep all weekend to make sure that you get as much in-depth information as possible, and new content will be added to the wiki daily. So bookmark the page and refresh it regularly for your BlizzCon fix.

By now you've probably checked out Wordaen's class panel review and found out that the Wizard is the new Diablo III class, but there are now full articles posted on PvP, dungeons, and a free-for-all Q&A session with Blizzard. One of the best news tidbits is that mounts will no longer dismount in water outdoors!

As for interviews, our team realizes that the community aspect of WoW is incredibly important. That's why even though our wiki is full of official news from Blizzard, there's also interviews with regular players. In fact, there's even an exclusive interview with costume contest winner Amanda Hosler!

I have also heard from Tamat that he got a chance to speak personally with the cast of The Guild. Keep checking the wiki for that. In the meantime, talk about BlizzCon in our WoW general forum and keep reading below for a summary of some of the panel articles.

Wordaen Summarizes Class Changes from Panel

Our very own Wordaen is currently at BlizzCon absorbing all the information the event has to offer. For his first panel, Wordaen attended a discussion regarding Blizzard's intentions for each class in World of Warcraft.

Check out our BlizzCon wiki to read Wordaen's article on the class discussion. He covers everything from a complete overhaul of the hunter pet system to the changes in all three talent trees for warriors. Of course, Wordaen outlines the death knight class in depth, as well.

Classes weren't the only topic of conversation at the panel. Blizzard also discussed major changes in buffs/debuffs in groups and raids. While they didn't talk much about dual specs, they did have this to say:

Dual Specs are going to be designed more for flexibility and "on the fly" swapping (such as in a raid setting) but they are not going to be something as viable for a hardcore raider as they will for a more casual playstyle.

Once you've read Wordaen's article, discuss it in our forum.

Third Class Announced: Wizard

This morning at the BlizzCon 2008 opening ceremony, the third class for Diablo III was announced -- the Wizard! These ranged casters are "all about channeling the powers of the universe ". Blizzard has given us access to the initial gameplay video that was shown during the ceremony; check it out!

Also make sure to view all of our new Diablo III screenshots from BlizzCon, they make it pretty clear that the team is making some forward progress on the game.

World of Warcraft Community Summit

Casey "Malgayne" Monroe from our sister site Wowhead has been chatting with Jeff Kaplan, one of the lead designers for WoW, and he's got a lot of great stuff about what Blizzard is thinking about doing in the future.

While everything here brings exciting possibilities and encompasses a wonderful future, let's keep in mind all of it is still in the design phase and it could be modified or further progress to the project(s) could come to a halt at any moment. Even if development on said project(s) continue, then it certainly isn't going to be in the game anytime soon!

That said, on to the good stuff!

Blizzard is looking at an internal way to rate guilds in both a PvP and PvE respect. Obviously this is a huge undertaking with so many variables to consider! Progression, killing percentages, group makeup, and player moving guilds are just a few of the things that need to be looked at!

The Guild at BlizzCon!!

The Guild and Tamat If you haven't heard yet, The Guild is attending BlizzCon!

The whole cast of The Guild will be attending Blizzcon Friday and Saturday! There will be a Guild panel from 1:30 - 2:30pm on Saturday where we will preview Season 2 as well as answer questions about Season 1 and anything else the audience would like to hear!

Also, thanks to the kindness of Blizzard, we will have a booth set up where we will be selling DVDs and an Official Cast Photo, debuting at the con! All 6 main cast members will be hanging out, but will be specifically signing DVDs and Photos at the following times in the booth:
Friday 11am-1pm
Saturday 3-5pm

Please stop by and say hi, or catch us around Blizzcon!

Our faithful Tamat, wandering the halls of BlizzCon apparently caught up with some of the folks from The Guild, (pics or it didn't happen! ) inspiring our resident wiki guru, Bludwyng, to cry! But while others were discussing the awesome WoW inspired show in IRC it turns out two of our resident WoW admins are unaware of the greatnes of The Guild! Tyrandor and fewyn are hearby banned to the depths of Darqflame's dungeon until they've watched at least season one! Which is on sale now in DvD format for only $20, or can be viewed online!

Ask a Question Contest at BlizzCon 2008

If you're sitting at home mashing your refresh button on our coverage wiki instead of attending BlizzCon '08, here's a chance to get in on the action!  The official BlizzCon page has this offer :

Here's your chance to participate in BlizzCon even if you aren't able to be there in person. We're now asking folks to submit their burning questions related to the Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo game universes. We'll sort through them all and pick the best questions to be answered live during DIRECTV's pay-per-view broadcast of BlizzCon 2008. If your question is selected, you'll also receive an ATI graphics card and some exclusive BlizzCon merchandise. For submission information, contest rules, and a list of prizes, visit our contest page.

Good luck!  And let's hope we hear something regarding Duel Speccing soon!

BlizzCon Hopefuls Face the Music

Unlucky fans attempt to buy their way into BlizzCon. Welcome to BlizzCon 2008.

Every year, thousands of fans gather in Anaheim to celebrate their favorite Blizzard titles. Having made its debut appearance in 2005, this annual event boasts over 16,000 attendees for the 2008 show that kicks off in a few hours. "16,000 you say? Impressive!", if you consider the fact that Blizzard cut off the registration a few days after tickets went on sale – it's no unreasonable claim to say that the number of fans here would easily be doubled had Blizzard allowed for that to happen.

Since BlizzCon is widely considered the "hottest enthusiast fan event of the year," it's no surprise that fans were already lined up outside as early as 10am on Thursday; 6 hours before registration opened. During these hours of anticipation I joined my fellow players to talk about the event, what everyone was most excited about and of course, what surprise items would be in the highly coveted "goody bag". On that note, I'd like to salute Blizzard for handing out one of the most rewarding bag o loots that I’ve ever received at a Convention.

I was surprised to see how many selfless people there were waiting for the doors to open. Players were literally going out of their way for one another to make the experience as pleasant as possible. I spoke with a player named Mark, who plays a 70 Warlock on Demonsoul, handing out Mountain Dew. He took it upon himself to leave the line for a Mountain Dew run. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "We were all thirsty just waiting in line and there were people that didn't want to lose their spot so I just went up to the local gas station and instead of buying drinks for only myself, I bought two-twelve packs of Mountain Dew and sold them to people, but not for profit of course, just to break even." Players waiting in line jumped at the opportunity to buy a beverage without losing their place in line.

ZAM Staff Descends on BlizzCon!

BlizzCon 2008 is here! In what is considered to be a gamer's spiritual journey, more than 16,000 attendees have gathered in Anaheim, Calif., to learn more about their favorite Blizzard Entertainment titles.

Lucky for us, those 16,000 attendees just happen to include dedicated members of the ZAM Network staff, including some familiar faces (like Tamat and Wordaen ) from our own Allakhazam family, so you can expect to see tons of exclusive coverage that only this site will be able to provide. It will all be posted on our BlizzCon wiki.

The ZAM staff is comprised of hardcore gamers, and their excitement is already shining through in their coverage of the event. Yesterday afternoon was primarily just registration and the pre-show, but you can already find a wealth of exclusive information on our wiki. The opening ceremony hasn't even started yet, but you can check out a photo gallery, a recap of some upcoming WoW projects as told by Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan (dance studio, anyone?), an editorial by Editor-in-Chief Andrew "Tamat" Beegle on the unlucky fans who were unable to get tickets, and an interview with our very own WoW Senior Content Manager Brian "Wordaen" Kincaid on attending his first BlizzCon.

Keep checking our BlizzCon wiki for continuous updates throughout the weekend and keep reading below for more in-depth information.

BlizzCon 2008 on PPV

Blizzard just announced that 16 hours of BlizzCon will air LIVE and in High Def, exclusively on DirecTV. DirecTV boasts that those who order the PPV event will 'feel like you're right there in the middle of it all'. Additionally, you'll receive a code for the BlizzCon 2008 World of Warcraft in-game polar bear mount ridden by a flag-waving murloc. The cost of the PPV will only be $39.95 which in my opinion is an excellent price all things considered. Check out the official announcement over at BlizzCon website.