Live From BlizzCon 2008: The First Hours

Traffic this morning was surprisingly light as I breezed down the 5 freeway into Anaheim. This was soon to change, however, as I pulled off onto Katella Blvd, the main drag to BlizzCon, and found a solid barrage of tail lights leading off toward the horizon.

The line to park.

I decided to bring up the rear, assuming that parking would go quick and painless as it had last time. This was soon dispelled as I drove past the first sign reading LOT FULL, with an arrow suggesting that I continue onward for additional convention parking.

Our line of cars inched forward, around one corner, then another, through stop signs, red lights, and past four different hotels.

Past lots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… all with the familiar signs out front reading LOT FULL. And then, finally, almost 20 minutes later, way in the back at the ass-end of the convention center, where the shipping containers and liftjack cranes were stored, there was space.

I would soon find out that this was going to be far from a unique experience. If I had to sum up BlizzCon so far, I could do it with just one word:

Lines.

There are lines to apply for a job at Blizzard (a little anecdote about this later), lines to play Wrath of the Lich King, lines to have your picture taken with the cast of The Guild, lines to buy swag, lines to get free swag, standing in line to wait for the chance to get into another line to wait in line for something else.

Lines hundreds of people deep, wrapping around lines that are wrapped around secondary and tertiary lines to the point that you wonder how the people in them even keep track of where they’re going to end up when they finally reach the front.

When not standing in line, the crowds are packed so tightly around the various points of interest that moving through them is a constant exercise in “Pardon me,” “Excuse me,” “Coming through, please,” and the ambient body heat generated by thousands of people crammed into every available square foot causes you to instantly begin sweating bullets even in the cold and darkness of the show floor.

Still, for all of that, it’s an awesomely impressive spectacle to behold. There are very few companies in the entire world who could throw a party for themselves, charge over a hundred bucks a head for admission, and still have 10,000 people ready, willing, and eager show to up.

The true power of Blizzard can be seen not in WoW’s subscriber numbers, or the fact that StarCraft is the national sport of Korea, but in the costumes of fans dressed up as their characters, or the rapt faces of audience members, with expressions of divine reverence, listening to panel discussions on class design as if recieving holy writ from God himself.

And, yes, even the lines. Lines that would cause a riot anywhere else in the civilized world are tolerated here with great aplomb, people seeming to take them as a grand opportunity to socialize with others just like them, brought together by their common love of gaming.

On that subject, I haven’t had a chance to get any hands-on with WoTLK (there are lines in the press room, too), so I can’t really discuss that yet. But, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t cover the most important part of any convention: The swag.

Blizzard utilizes a “random loot” system for their official swag bag, which is a fancy way of saying that some people get certain items, and others don’t. This is what I got in mine, your mileage may vary:

 

1. Diablo III stress ball
2. QQ tissue paper
3. RSA security key fob with a random number generator to thwart account theft
4. Purel Hand Sanitizer (I know a lot of bugs get passed around at conventions, but this one might be the wrong message to be sending to your fans)
5. WoW trading card game starter pack
6. Blow up Frostmourne
7. StarCraft 2 wrist sweatbands (Korean sized)
8. StarCraft board game set pieces
9. Diablo III cinnamon mints
10. Purple zerg ooze
11. Pandaren Brewmaster Brand bottle opener and beer can cozy
12. WoTLK light-up pen
13. Swag Dog mousepad
14. BlizzCon logo keychain
15. Undead Male Halloween paper mask

And a number of various advertisements, con schedules, maps, etc.

Finally, last but not least, my favorite moment of the con so far, sitting in the press room and overhearing this conversation on a staff member’s radio:

“Terry, I have this guy who is literally standing IN the recruiting booth. He’s been holding us up for thirty minutes and refuses to leave, demanding we hire him. You need to get over here right now.” “10-4.”

More updates to come as they’re warranted.