Ok WoW fanatics.  Get ready to get your panties wet… again. Warcraft Con, a.k.a Blizzcon, is rumored to be moving up to July 30th to the 31st next year. Also, I guess they have out grown the small Anaheim convention center and are moving to the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Why didn’t they opt for a closer yet a bit bigger venue like the San Diego Convention Center?

Oh well. In any case, start saving up that money because I expect ticket prices to go up again by another $25 and end up being $150 per person. Why? Because it’s the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s Blizzard. Both can do whatever the heck they want to do or charge.

[via LVCC]

Updated: The official Warcraft twitter account had this to say.

For you people who are already making travel plans, really?! Is it THAT big of a deal to you?

I met a very important person at Blizzcon this year.

And although I had a dull conversation with her – no, it wasn’t Jo Garcia. And although I had a quick chat and a photo taken with him – no, it wasn’t Chris Metzen.

This person’s name was Scott. He kindly invited our party-of-four to his table-for-one at Denny’s. He’s currently enrolled at DeVry in the Bay Area in hopes of pursuing a career in the video game industry.

I first spotted him in the waiting area: he was wielding his 48″ Blizzcon-Exclusive Frostmourne LARPing sword, coated with a hefty number of Blizzard employee autographs. At one point, he had lifted his shirt to flaunt something – perhaps a tattoo? A scar? – to a fellow Blizzcon attendee. His pale, exposed belly hung over his belt, but he seemed apathetic to any pairs of aghast eyes. His World of Warcraft shirt matched his cap. His eager smile matched his genuine excitement.

Scott was by far one of the most fascinating people I have ever had a chance to meet at a video game convention, but it’s unfortunate that he may be the type that slips one’s mind:

“We were looking for Scott.”

“SCOTT! He invited us to breakfast!”

There are many Scotts to be found in any geek-related field, but they tend to hide behind the lights of their computer monitors. And if they aren’t going to town with their mouse and keyboard, it’s perhaps a comic book, a video game controller, a text book, or even a bag of Cheetos.

There’s one thing about this man that is often lost in the people we met every day: Scott doesn’t give a shit about what you think of him.

Scott does what he loves and he does not apologize for it. He doesn’t give a shit about the latest trends and coolest fashions unless it somehow pertains to his level 80 female night elf. Scott doesn’t need you to tell him what to like, what to wear, how to act, or what to think.

Scott is real.

And he is perhaps one of the most genuine people I have ever had the opportunity to come across.

Scott – if you ever get a chance to read this, I strongly salute you.

This video was what most people at WoWcon– erm.. Blizzcon were waiting for.  The confirmation of all the rampant rumors about the word “Cataclysm.”  At Blizzcon, everyone was treated to the debut trailer by Blizzard’s cinematics team.

If you’re a WoW fan and not drooling over this, well. Then you’re not really a WoW fan. Enjoy the video. And clean yourself up when you’re done watching it.

The big news that I was most excited for out of all of Blizzcon 2009 was the new Diablo 3 class announcement.  Diablo 3 will have a melee/caster class called the monk.  After watching the trailer and the gameplay trailer, it made me think “Fist of the North Star?”

Gameplay trailer is past the break

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Tonight’s LIVE recording of the Pixelated Podcast will be at 7:15pm. You can watch/listen to the setup, recording, and other shinanegans at PixelatedLIVE.com.

Our special guest co-host tonight will be Medros from All Things Azeroth and maybe Joe the Peacock.  We’ll obviously be talking about Blizzcon, their games (WoW, Starcraft, and Diablo) as well as other topics that we come up with.

So join us, wont you?

There were many costume this year that looked really good and just a few costumes that just sucked.  I really enjoyed most of the priest and paladin costumes as well as some of the comedic costumes.  Like the cows from Diablo’s “Cow Level.” and World of Warcraft’s “Meeting Stone.”

To see all the photos including ones of the finalists and winners, go past the break. Oh and btw.  Jojo Chin can kick. Video of the contest will be uploaded tonight.

Continue reading…

• No more spell power
• Spell power is included into INT
• no more attack power, it’s in Agility
• Hunters now use focus. No more mana. No more INT.
• Armor Penetration is Gone too
• All new class combination are confirmed
• Goblin racials! Rocket Jump – Activate your rocket belt to jump 20 yards, every 2 min
• Pack Hobgoblin: Calls in your personal servant, allowing you to bank access every 30 min
• Better Living Through Chemistry – Alchemy +15, your own potions give you more health/mana
• Worgen Racials: Darkflight is a sprint. Aberration: Reduced duration against curses and diseases. Flayer: Skinning bonus, no need for a skinning knife.
• Worgen form: Cosmetic only, no bonuses. Out of combat, you choose human or worgen. In combat you’re always a worgen.
• Goblins can be DKs, rogues… Ghostcrawler flipped that way too fast. No Paladins or Druids.
• Worgen: No Paladins or Shaman, but can do everything else.
• WARLOCKS! Soul shards: Dont take up bag space!
• Soul shards will show up on your UI. Looks like you can have up to three.

All the things that were leaked in the past, were all confirmed.  With one thing extra that we didn’t hear about before Blizzcon.  The new professional, Archeology.

Things that were confirmed:

• Level cap raised to 85
• Goblins join the Horde
• Worgens join the Alliance.
• Worgens can change from Human to Worgen and back.
• Both old continents, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, have been completely changed.
• You can fly around in the old continents
• New profession: Archeology
• More raids, quests and weapons, of course.
• 7 new zones.
• Maelstrom in the center of the world is now a sunken city

blah blah they copied Windows Live blah blah it will be impossible to play SC2/D3 without an Internet connection (even single player). Blizzard says they want to make the game more immersive, I say they want to crack down on piracy and don’t care if it dicks players on laptops with intermittent wireless access (namely, people like me). Keep it classy, Blizzard.

After getting some great tasting burgers at Tony Romos, Dan and I headed out to check out the WoWinsider meetup/blizzcon pre-party.  Here is what we saw when we got there “fashionably” late.  But I think we were out of “style” getting there at 9:50pm which seemed super late.  But the people that were there seemed very fun.  We also got to rub elbows with the whole cast of The Guild! Including the actress that plays the “tall hot bitch”, Riley.

Thanks WoWinsider for a great party… and the free booze.