EPTThe BWWI was an amazing experience and if you had the opportunity to go but passed up on it, you really should be regretting the decision. Everything from playing StarCraft 2, to the TeamLiquid dinner, Diablo 3, and talking to various Blizzard's employees made this year's event much more better than even BlizzCon, which I had attended as well. First, I just want to thank Seb (WGT)Baal from TM) who acted as our 'tour' guide while in Paris. Our includes Blake (Chill), Haji (TheDeadHaji), and James (Kennigit) from Sunday to Wednesday. His help was just amazing and the trip was so much better because of him. Starting from Day 1 of the trip on Friday, this mini blog series will take you from when I had arrived until the day I left.
Day 1 – Friday, June 27th
Arriving nearly an hour late, I finally make it out of customs to meet up with a Blizzard representative who led me to the bus I, and other Blizzard employees and press, would be taking. One of only three white people, the bus was full of the Chinese press and Blizzard staff. I talked to a few, who spoke great English, about their experience with the company, why they work there, and everything else under the moon for the nearly two hour bus ride it took to get to the center of Paris. Unfortunately, they don't follow eSports but did know enough to point out Sky to me which immediately woke me up. They were surprised to find out I knew him but even if you don't follow WarCraft 3, which I do, this man was a two time WCG champion among numerous other tournaments. I get to my hotel, nap for a bit, and sleep as I got little due to the overnight flight. I met up with Jaap (Prayanavita) later that afternoon and we explored Paris together. We went out to dinner later with a few Blizzard employees including Karune, Alexander – a senior staff member of Blizzard Paris, and the man who organized the entire event among other people. The dinner was great and we all tried to guess the game – Diablo 3 was what most people thought but they refused to let anything slip. After some good food and wine, we all head back to our respective hotels or apartments for the next day's excitement. Unfortunately, Haji and I were unable to contact each other so meeting up with the TL staff that day was out of the question.
The future parts (hopefully the dates work out)
July 4th - Day 2/3
July 5th - Day 4/5
July 6th - SC2 Thoughts
