I visited the Cataclysm Preview Panel this morning after the Opening Ceremony and I have a rundown for you after the jump.

Members of the ZAM staff are currently on the floor at the first day of BlizzCon, and we heard some exciting news during the opening ceremony: Cataclysm is indeed the new World of Warcraft expansion, and the monk will be the fourth playable class in Diablo III.

Both of the announcements were made by Vice President of Creative Development Chris Metzen at the end of the ceremony, so for now I'll pass over Lead Artist Gary Platner's introduction and Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime's speech and jump right into the big news. You can read what both of these men had to say after the jump.

Let's actually start at the very end of the ceremony with the Cataclysm announcement. Metzen mentioned the rumors that where circulating about the expansion before BlizzCon (without naming MMO-Champion), and then said the wait is over. He said the expansion is "nothing less than earth-shattering. It will very literally change the face of the world of Azeroth as you know it."

BlizzCon hasn't even officially started yet, but the line of attendees waiting to pick up badges wrapped around the Anaheim Convention Center the day before the event's grand opening. We even saw our first cosplayer walking around outside the venue! We took a bunch of photos and added them to our BlizzCon gallery, which you can check out here. We'll be adding to the gallery throughout the weekend, so keep checking back for new pictures.

We also picked up our BlizzCon goody bags. Keep reading after the jump to see what's inside them.

While BlizzCon doesn't officially kick off until tomorrow, I had the opportunity to represent ZAM today at a fansite summit that was held at Blizzard Headquarters. Official Blizzard fansites were invited to send one staff member each to the event, and the reasoning behind the attendance limit became quite clear as a large number of journalists packed into a bus for the ride to Blizzard HQ.

Once we passed through the huge gate and walked around the drab buildings that make up the Blizzard campus, we were greeted by a huge statue of Thrall. This is the first visible sign you're about to enter a structure that houses the development teams of some of the most popular games on the planet.

After we handed over our signed non-disclosure agreements and were told not to take photographs during most of the tour, we got the chance to look through the Blizzard museum. This room holds all sorts of memorable items, from original art and awards to a script of the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" South Park episode signed by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. This one one of the few places where pictures were allowed, and you can check out all of my photos from the summit in our BlizzCon gallery.

We got the chance to view the Diablo III demo the day before the start of BlizzCon at a fansite summit held at Blizzard Headquarters. Blizzard's Micah Whipple led us through the demo, which contains gorgeous graphics and some noticeable differences from Diablo II.

Whipple decided to show us the male wizard first as he moved the character through the Sundered Pass. The quest log looks similar to Diablo II, and Whipple noted Blizzard is "trying to keep bits and pieces classically styled." However, the quest log does include a section for side missions, which are randomly generated as you play.

Some health globes quickly dropped as Whipple battled Sand Wasps, and they heal you immediately. There will still be health potions available on a cooldown. On an interesting note, Whipple explained the team has removed mana orbs from the game. Instead, skills like Spirit Vessel will allow you to restore some mana by picking up a health globe.

BlizzCon kicks off tomorrow, but members of the ZAM team are already in Anaheim preparing for the big event, and there's a few different ways to follow our coverage. First and foremost, we have a BlizzCon section set up for all our news from the convention. That's really the main thing to check throughout the weekend and beyond for BlizzCon articles. You can even find a banner link to it between the GamesCom and PAX buttons on the front page.

In addition, you can follow Togikagi and Fewyn on Twitter for constant updates from the floor. All of our tweets will be added to our WoWCM feed as well. If you're not a Twitter fan, you can read all of our updates in real time on our WoW front page. Just scroll down and you'll see it on the right near the bottom.

Speaking of news, the BlizzCon schedule is now available. What do you want to see covered? Is there a panel or event that really sticks out for you? Do you have specific questions for Q&A opportunities? Let us know. Also, are there any other ZAM users out there attending the convention? You can discuss our BlizzCon coverage in this thread in our general forum, or in our #WoW room on IRC. If you're not sure how to connect to IRC, here's the instructions.

With the excitement of BlizzCon right around the corner and World of Warcraft nearing its fifth anniversary, it's hard to remember a time when the Warcraft universe wasn't the center of attention for countless gamers. Actually, countless isn't the right word. According to Blizzard's last announcement in December 2008, the chart-topping MMO is played by more than 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. And that number doesn't take into account the PC games, books, comics, board game, pen-and-paper RPG, trading cards, miniatures, action figures and the upcoming movie that all bear the familiar yellow and orange logo of the franchise.

So how did Azeroth get its start and become the stomping grounds of so many avatars? Well, the MMO behemoth actually has its roots set in some very humble beginnings. Blizzard Entertainment was founded in 1991 by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce as Silicon & Synapse. Luckily the name changed, or we'd all be attending or downloading streaming footage from SiliCon this weekend. The trio had just graduated from UCLA and initially focused on making ports before developing such gems as The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing. I'm personally hoping we'll hear plans for a Lost Vikings III at BlizzCon, but I'm not holding my breath.

The official BlizzCon 2009 event schedule has been released, and it shows two days packed with tournaments, gaming, exhibits and panels on Friday and Saturday. There's even a time slot for the costume, song and dance contests, and let's not forget Ozzy will be performing during the closing ceremonies.

If you want to view the entire floor plan of BlizzCon, check out the map after the jump. Members of the ZAM team are currently packing their bags and preparing to cover the event all weekend, so keep an eye on ZAM.com for plenty of BlizzCon news in the next few days.

Rumors have been floating around that Ozzy Osbourne will be performing at BlizzCon. Well, now it's official. WoW.com noticed the program details for BlizzCon on the DirecTV Pay Per View site say Ozzy will be making a special appearance at the convention. While an appearance doesn't necessarily mean Ozzy will perform, the previous rumors on Blabbermouth and Zakk Wylde's Twitter both suggested Ozzy will play.

Whether you like the Prince of Darkness or not, BlizzCon will be filled with all sorts of news and announcements. You can find out how to order either the DirecTV footage or the Internet stream in our preview guide to BlizzCon. Also, keep an eye out for our coverage on ZAM.com during the event.

Last month, a rumor began circulating from a Twitter comment made by Zakk Wylde that Ozzy Osbourne will be performing at BlizzCon. Well, WoW.com noticed a second rumor has begun to circulate through a post on Roadrunner Records' Blabbermouth.net site. According to the article, guitarist Gus G. of the band Firewind has been tapped to play with Ozzy at BlizzCon.

Ozzy told Classic Rock magazine in June he was looking for a new guitarist to replace Wylde, although Wylde said in an interview with a radio station on July 29 he's never even gotten a phone call from Ozzy about being replaced.

So will Ozzy be at BlizzCon? The Blabbermouth article emphasizes "this information has not yet been corroborated by anyone in the Osbourne camp and should be treated as a rumor only." So only time will tell to see if this actually happens. Members of the ZAM team will be on the floor at BlizzCon, so we'll be sure to keep an eye out for the Prince of Darkness.