What's Next for Blizzard? - Blizzcon Predictions

Predictions: if you're wrong, you look foolish, and if you're right, no one cares. So I've got nothing new to offer you here, just my own speculation. For something more tangible for those of you lucky enough to hear many of these anticipated announcements in-person at Blizzcon, check out my Blizzcon Guide for Noobs.

With Blizzard stating they've effectively cancelled the mystery-MMO we've come to know as Titan, it's left a lot of fans wondering what's next for the game giant. Let's keep in mind that cancelling long-in-development projects isn't uncommon when it comes to Blizzard. We have quite a bit of precedence for it, actually. Analysts are even seeing it as a strength. The action in itself mirrors the Blizzard philosophy of "make games they'd want to play themselves." And as CEO Mike Morhaime said in the Polygon interview, releasing a game that doesn't live up to their expectations isn't an option.

Many players were hoping for an update on Titan's progress at Blizzcon this coming November. Without that prospect, and the likelihood we won't hear much about "what's next" in Warcraft beyond what we already know of Warlords of Draenor, it leaves me wondering what we might see this year. 

Hearthstone

There's little doubt we'll hear something about the first expansion to their massively successful trading card game. If not at Blizzcon, then shortly after. The developers have even said as much. With a reported 20+ million players in the game, Hearthstone is slated to receive support for years to come, especially with the growing popularity of esports and its impending availability to the broader mobile market.

Blizzcon Prediction: Details on Hearthstone's first expansion which will introduce the Death Knight hero; firm release dates for availability in wider mobile market.

Starcraft: Legacy of the Void

We know there's one more chapter in the Starcraft II trilogy, and what that will look like is hinted at heavily at the ending of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Full disclosure: Starcraft is probably the Blizzard game I play the least, so I know even less of what I'm talking about here than normal. Either way, expect to hear about Legacy of the Void at Blizzcon this year, but probably nothing about a release date.

Blizzcon Prediction: Trailer for SCII:LotV with a game release slated for 2016.

Heroes of the Storm

If MOBAs are your thing and you were lucky enough to get into the Alpha, you already know how much potential this game has. With Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard continues its tradition of expanding into new genres and kicking ass at it. I've played Riot's League of Legends and have a summoner near max-level, but there's something about the game that doesn't grab me. I've always been a casual, for-fun LoL player. However, with LoL, it takes a certain time investment---if you really want to progress---even as a casual player. 

Heroes of the Storm aims at broad appeal, like with Hearthstone, where they've created a complex game with a low barrier to entry. I feel it's safe to assume we'll get a vague release target (i.e. Q2 2015) at Blizzcon. My hope is that the game will transition to Open Beta shortly after, if not by the time Blizzcon arrives.

Blizzcon Prediction: Open Beta announcement, new playable heroes including Vol'jin and Deckard Cain, target release date announced.

Diablo III

It's going to be quiet on the Diablo front this year. Reaper of Souls spent a good amount of time in the spotlight at last year's Blizzcon. Considering the title just released for console, I doubt we'll be talking about what's next in Diablo.

Blizzcon Prediction: Diablo does not play a major part at this year's Blizzcon.

World of Warcraft

I want to learn where we're heading after Draenor. And we will eventually, but it might not be at Blizzcon. If that's the case, it means we'll be talking about the expansion we've been talking about since last Blizzcon. Which seems like a rather drab prospect, given---on average---the type of player/fan you're addressing at an event like Blizzcon. Unless they've undersold the expansion to us this whole time (an admittedly difficult notion to swallow with just how much information we have) and are set to unleash new information that will send us into a frenzy. In a good way, of course.

I also think this is a great opportunity to show where the movie's at. Significant time was spent at last year's Blizzcon---Duncan Jones and some of his crew even had a panel, and I assume we'll hear more this year.

Blizzcon Prediction: They'll announce the next expansion; the one after Warlords, but details will be scarce so as not to spoil the ending of Warlords of Draenor. Why? I don't have a whole lot to back that up, but here's someone who took a stance and ran with it. The remainder of the time will focus on what we'll be seeing the week after Blizzcon when the expansion launches. As far as the movie goes, I don't believe we'll see the trailer, but feel confident we'll be shown a short scene.

Additional Titles

With the cancellation of Titan, might there be room for Blizzard to announce another project they're working on? On the other hand, given Titan's demise, perhaps Blizzard will be more cautious about how and when they announce their large-scale projects. I don't think we'll see a new title announced at Blizzcon beyond what's been discussed above. The timing of Titan's cancellation was more about tempering expectations: they didn't want anyone going into the convention thinking they'd hear about Titan. Conversely, announcing the cancellation of a title at such a major event simply wouldn't be wise.

That said, I bet we see Blizzard's updates to the Warcraft RTS games; perhaps not the whole lot, but I believe we'll see an updated Warcraft 3 engine including art assets, as well as the functionality that will tie it to our Battle.net launchers. 

It doesn't really pay to argue these points, as I've essentially pulled them from my bum. But are there any predictions you'd alter/add?

Leave 'em below. 

WoW Weekly: Can you smell that?

Thou hath smelled it; thus, thou hath dealt it.

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.

If you've been paying any attention to your Real ID list these past couple of weeks, you've probably noticed that many more of your friends are filling their playtime with the seemingly resurrected Diablo 3 and the 2.0.1 Reaper of Souls pre-patch. If we're connected, I am one of those friends. After the game first launched, and after leveling my Barbarian to 60, I became quite disenchanted, all-too-happy to rail against the flawed loot system, impossible elite packs and the utter defeat I felt after playing for three hours only to reluctantly head to the auction house to find the upgrades I needed.

Remember that systems patch that was supposed to alleviate some of those issues? No, not this most recent one, I'm talking the 1.0.4 systems patch that dropped last summer. Thank the heavens Blizzard realized they hadn't gone nearly far enough, and now we've literally been given the 2.0 version of that update. And what an update it is. The change in difficulty levels, allowing a player to toggle them at will without penalty, the more interested elite mobs, and the refined Paragon system are all great reasons to revisit the game especially if you are one of those people who was utterly turned off after your first play-through.

Really, the most important thing I've witnessed is the change in how loot drops work. Literally everything that drops can be used by either yourself or your follower; if you're in a group you also have the chance to receive items particular to that person's class, but more often than not a Barbarian is going to see strength on each and every shiny. And the best thing I've seen so far?

Fart pants.

The level 60 version dropped for my Barb.

While not the technical term, these puppies are absolutely beautiful in form and function. Show me a person who hasn't cleared a room via flatulence at least once in their lives and I'll show you a liar. 

Outside of spending too many late nights in Sanctuary, often in the company of WoW guildies, I've been:

• PvPing with guildies quite a bit. Normally I'm averse to those types of activities, but that's mainly because I'd forgotten how much fun it can be when you're playing with friends.
• Checking near-daily for Know Your Role. If I have one goal left for this expansion, it's completing that achievement. 
• Landing employment. After eight months and more than 100 resumes, I've really lucked out by finding a position I'll actually enjoy. Now to get the boss to stop calling me by the wrong name.
• Reminding people that our guild on Emerald Dream is ever recruiting!

WoW Weekly: Finally, a distraction

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.

I have one Pandaria PvE achievement left. A single mob to kill---or rather, have someone kill for me---and the completionist in me will be sated until Warlords' releases. But it's apparently not that simple. According to a number of comments on Wowhead, this particular achievement can be buggy. In fact, I've satisfied the requirement to kill Cheng-Bo three times now to no avail, and I've tried every trick in the book...or at least, every trick suggested by the commenters at Wowhead. Surely, it'll work for me one of these days. Right?

But truth is, I am seriously exhausted with MoP. The majority of my time in-game since 2014 broke has been spent simply talking to my friends and guildmates---not actually engaging in much play. I'm ready for a new distraction. Thankfully, it seems I may have found one at just the right time.

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Pre-Patch

I'm really excited about the new systems changes. I got to play a teeny bit of RoS at Blizzcon, but since I chose the Crusader and played on the new PS4, I had no clue what I was doing and it was hard to get a feel for any of the major changes. Then, after updating my client to the pre-patch last night, I spent several hours, stretching way past my bedtime, tooling around on my max-level barbarian and later, a lower-level witch doctor. It's the most fun I've had playing Diablo 3, period.

Full disclosure: I enjoyed Diablo 3 for a while after release, but became increasingly frustrated with loot and monster scaling. As a more casual player when it comes to that game, I rarely walked away from that game feeling like it was time well-spent. Grinding mobs and levels for hours would rarely reward an item upgrade---I can think of one occasion, honest. After hitting a wall, whether it be a brutal elite mob or even a chapter boss, I'd reluctantly head to the auction house to purchase those upgrades I so direly yearned to see drop from monsters. There was no feeling of reward, there was no feeling of accomplishment---I was just glad I had friends who played enough to lend me crazy amounts of gold to make upgrading my character possible. That's not the type of game I wanted to play. So I didn't. 

But now...now with the 2.0.1 changes, I've found the perfect distraction that has completely nullified my desire for more Warlords information. That will come when it comes. Between the new Paragon system, updated abilities, and Loot 2.0, which is arguably how the game should've launched in the first place, D3 is in a really good place. I'm looking forward to many, many hours obliterating the shit out of monsters.

Boost to 90

Though I've been somewhat absent from the game and social media due to life's demands, I couldn't help myself from engaging in several lengthy, spirited conversations about the service, mainly the price. On the day the news broke I was sure the number was either a placeholder or some excellent trolling on Blizzard's part. 

.@EntropiaWoW And even if that number is confirmed...which I HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt...I'll probably just go "meh."
— Ross (@elepheagle) February 18, 2014

Turns out that might not be the case, as Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas defended the pricing and offered rationale in a recent interview, saying most of the reasoning behind the price point was to ensure the leveling process doesn't become devalued.

While I can totally respect Blizzard's desire for people to actually play their game and not simply drop $10 to get a near max-level toon, I feel $60 is way too much to ask. I think $35 would be a sweet spot, though I can also understand why they'd want the boost price to be near what it would cost to roll a second account.

Admittedly, what do I know, sitting here as nothing more than an armchair analyst with no data. Perhaps this is where their marketing strategy and their gameplay strategy teams met. Still, at some point down the road, it will be cheaper than $60 to buy Warlords, MoP, the Battle Chest and pay for the $25 account transfer. It'll be interested to see how Blizzard counters that down the road. That, and there's still a little part of me that's not accepting the $60 price tag. I'm going to have to see it live in order to believe it.

In-game (for reals)

Besides the Know Role Your achievement I'm trying to close out, there are a few other things I'm slowly working on. In no particular order:

• Legendary Cloak for my death knight. I'm at the closing stages, collecting Titan Runestones. I earned two the first week, didn't have the time to run any raids with her last week, and am thinking about making a more concerted effort this week. However, with how I've reacted to the D3 updates, I'm feeling it less and less likely.
• Shadowmourne questline on said death knight. I've completed all the non-RNG annoying bits. Now it's just a matter of getting in there with regularity to collect the items for the next stage of the quest.
• I've spent the gold cap. Expect to see an update on how that all went down in a near-future post. And I may be considering a Chasing the Gold Cap redux. I've started over on a new server, and after some serious expenses, I'm still already 5% of the way there. 
• The guild is still recruiting fun, friendly adults to join our guild. We've seen a significant influx of new members these past two weeks. Learn about us here and here.