What to Expect From BlizzCon 2018
Here we go! –
Alright friends of Trinity Gamers, BlizzCon is just around the corner and for the first time in my adult life I will be attending in person! To say I am full to the brim with excitement would be an understatement. Though this year is my first year physically attending I have been an avid follower for a number of years. I wanted to take some time to throw down on internet based paper what I think we can expect this year from BlizzCon!
Every year Blizzard is a master of deception and surprise. You go into the event feeling like nothing in your gaming world is going to change and boom mind-blown. Other years there is so much hype you can cut through it with a knife and you end up leaving with nothing but a bowl of disappointment soup. Unfortunately I have fears that this year may end up like the ladder of the two options but maybe that’s the pessimist in me.
I will be updating the Facebook page and this site with as many live updates as I can while at the event so keep in touch for the full story!
Where is my Cow Level!
Yeah if you are a Diablo fan you know what I am talking about! So here is the hype train coming to a crashing halt right away, which makes me so very sad. All of our Diablo 4 hopes and dreams like an ice ball hurled into the depths of hell for Diablo himself to laugh at on the way down. Allow me to rewind a bit. Last year Blizzard posted a role for a lead developer on a new Diablo project unrelated to the current Diablo 3 game…Hype. Three to four weeks ago Bilzzard announced the schedule for BlizzCon. Any BlizzCon regular knows that the most coveted slot for announcements is right after the opening ceremonies, low and behold, Diablo owns that slot! Queue the hype train.
For about a week everyone and their mom “knew” that Diablo 4 was within reach and not a single one of us could wait any longer. Along comes PC Gamer Magazine to ruin everyone’s week. In an exclusive interview with Blizzard it is disclosed that the announcement everyone is looking for on Diablo probably isn’t the one they are gonna get. One week later Blizzard releases a statement on their forums all but telling you that Diablo 4 will not be announced this year. Letting everyone know that they have a lot of really cool “smaller” projects to show off. This is where my hype train derailed, rolled down a mountain, into a nitroglycerin plant and blew into a million pieces.
What Can we Expect This Year
Diablo
I think you will see them blow up the Diablo on Nintendo Switch thing like its something far larger than it is. I think they will spend some time on the Diablo 3 “eternal” collection…whoopee. Last but not least I imagine Blizzard will announced more details around the Diablo live action series that is coming out in partnership with Netflix. Which lets be honest, we are kinda excited about that.
Some upside still exist with Diablo though, some possibility to redeem themselves if you will. Word on the street is that Blizzard may be working on remastering Diablo 1 and/or Diablo 2. Dont get me wrong here, I would much rather they focus their time on Diablo 4 but if I can’t have 4, give me my sweet sweet cows in HD baby!
Overwatch
Overwatch released a new hero in Hammond and a new map within the last 4 months. I imagine that the announcements we will hear from Papa Kaplan and the crew will be more focused around quality of life in the game vs new content. The Overwatch team has been heavily focused as of late on improving the optimization of the game, and the social toxicity that exists in it currently.
There was rumors of a guild or clan function that was being worked on and I honestly believe we will see that announced this year at BlizzCon. Many believe it was ready to be announced months ago but Jeff held off to ensure there was something exciting for this years BlizzCon. With all that said I wouldn’t be surprised to see another hero added to the mix.
World of Warcraft
Ok, lets be honest here…we should expect to hear/see almost nothing with World of Warcraft. We may see some teasers to the 8.2 patch, I am sure we will hear a lot from the team about when we can expect to see 8.1 launched. We will undoubtedly be showered with all kinds of information on how and when I will be able to play a game that was old 10 years ago. The one thing I am truly excited for it a potential Warcraft 3 remaster. I loved Warcraft 3 and to be able to rock it again with better graphics and on the Battle.net platform. sign me up!
Heroes of the Storm
Expect so see the same as we see every year here, 2-3 more heroes entering the battle and a map or two joining in as well. There have been some rumors of a potential Tournament system but other than that the rumor mill on HOTS is somewhat…cold?
Hearthstone
Expect to see a new expansion, More cards and additional puzzles from Hearthstone. it is a tried and true strategy that Blizzard has used for the last few BlizzCons. Now if I were going to dream a little bit here I would love to see them announce a Co-Op version of the game, Like a 2v2 or something like that. likelihood of that happening, probably about the same as me winning the lottery.
Starcraft
People still play this game? Kidding, kidding! Unfortunately I don’t think Blizzard is. We have not seen any significant news around Starcraft in quite some time, the only possible surprise I can imagine out of the Starcraft world is a whole new game. Something like an MMO focused on the Starcraft story and environment. Other than that expect the same thing different year from Blizzard on this one.
Recap the Precap!
All in all I hope I am wrong about most of the stuff I posted here. I hope that the news we receive in the next two weeks blows all our minds. Most of all I hope you all enjoy whatever Blizzard decides to push out.
Until Next Time
Iggy