My BlizzCon 2008 Adventure

Warning: Extremely text and image heavy

Day One

My cousin and I arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center at around 9:45 AM. Thanks to his procrastination, we discovered that the main parking area was full and blocked off so we drove around and managed to find a parking structure for the Anaheim Convention Center a few blocks down and rushed in to the now open BlizzCon. Inside, surrounded by other fellow nerds, we met with Panorama and Ghostclaws. After I took a nice piss, we traveled toward the dark dungeon in front of us, where security guards searched our bags, perhaps for rare items or something.

Wow nerds?

Inside Blizzcon was a lot more different than I had anticipated. I had imagined it would simply be like the outside of the hall where people would set up booths and such, but the real thing was really dark yet filled with flashy lights. Large portions of the floor were dedicated solely to a bunch of PCs for Starcraft 2, Diablo III, and Wrath of the Lich King. There were tournament areas, an information booth, a silent auction area, and the main hall where most significant events would take place.

These guys thought I was taking a picture of them while I was taking pictures of the floor. I suppose it was a nice touch

Sexy statue

I wish they sold this poster

I just noticed the I <3 TL shirts. Identify yourselves!

A booth where hopeful young souls would show their work to Blizzard and be shot down

My true form

Of course, the first place I headed to was Starcraft 2. Here, I met a fellow TL member who told me he was a lurker with few posts. If you’re reading this please post so I know your TL name!

He got in line with my cousin and I to play Starcraft 2 and after my first round, my cousin and I watched Mike Morhaime's opening speech to Blizzcon, where he announced the new Wizard class for Diablo III. Something seems really odd with Morhaime's voice, it sounds really thick as if he really didn't want to be there or didn’t want to be addressing WoW nerds. At this point I realized that the TL member who was with us before disappeared, so I hope he didn’t think we ditched him. Anyway, I forgot what else Morhaime said, but I went back to Starcraft 2 right after.

After playing Starcraft 2 twice or thrice more(the line was really short at this time for some reason), I happened to meet some guy with an accent who noticed my TL shirt. We talked for a bit and the guy revealed that he was Plexa! I forget what I said but he gave me a manly hug and left for some place unknown. My cousin and I then headed to the main hall to listen in on the Diablo III character development panel, which was about to begin.

Main hall getting ready for a panel discussion

Are all branches of gamers destined to look like this?

I urged my cousin to leave about ten minutes before the panel ended because I wanted to get some good seats for the Starcraft tournament. Lo and behold all the seats were taken, but this nice girl let us take these seats she was saving for the friends she thought were coming. It was pretty close to the front as well, maybe third or fourth row back. Of course, all of Team Liquid was sitting down in front.

Watching a tournament with progamers in real life is so much better than streaming on the computer. There's really no other experience like it- the moans, the cheers, the atmosphere, watching first person views of each player's screen, hearing Tasteless' and Artosis' insightful commentary and the crowd's reaction to Tasteless' enthusiasm was all just so much fun. Of course, watching Nada vs Jangbi itself wasn't bad, but Jangbi pretty much streamrolled Nada both games.

Tasteless, DJWheat, Artosis

Quite a large crowd for a ten year old game

I forgot what the question was, but evidently it made Jangbi laugh

Some dude's scalp

After the games, a lot of people followed the progamers to the progamer area, a network of computers where I assume the loser's bracket took place at. Here I was hoping to get Savior's signature on the cheerful I made him and hopefully get a picture with him. Unfortunately, he was standing inside the progamer area (sealed off with the velcro tape thing) and it was really hard to get to him. Fortunately, there was a rather cute Korean girl talking to him so I asked her to ask him to sign my cheerful, then to take a picture with me.

Once the surreal-ness of having sort of met Savior subsided, I went back and played some more Starcraft 2 before entering the line for the Blizzard Store with my cousin- a huge mistake. We waited approximately three hours in line just to buy whatever overpriced merchandise Blizzard was selling. I just bought a Starcraft 2 poster because it looked simply awesome. After the torture of standing in line, we rushed back to the tournament area where Savior vs Jangbi had already begun. We still managed to get decent seats though, and Savior put on a strong performance as he practically dominated both games. Jangbi's PvZ is not particularly renown, but to lose to Savior in his current form might mean that Savior has become a little stronger.

People once again flocked to the progamer area after the games, but I was content with my Savior picture and signature so I headed over to the Diablo III section with my cousin. On the way, we saw two rather hot girls cosplaying as Blood Elves walking around. Nerds who mustered the courage to approach these heavenly beings could get a picture with them. I however, was not a courageous nerd, so I simply watched as they posed a bit for cameras.

Finally, we got into the Diablo III line (which was incredibly long) and watched the costume and joke contests on an overhead TV as we waited. Diablo III was set up so that four people could play at a time, so I played with my cousin and two other random guys. I wanted to try out the Wizard, but my cousin beat me to it so I chose the Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor's Flaming Skull spell (I don't remember the exact name but he basically lobs a flaming ball) was so fun I just kept spamming it the whole game and that kept me thoroughly entertained. I know people complained about the color scheme when it was first revealed, but it really feels like Diablo.

Along the way I found a Blizzcon Artifact in a barrel, which someone conveniently forgot to open. I showed it to one of the guys by the computer and he gave me a nice poster signed by the development team.

Basically we were allowed to beat the first quest or mission, which climaxed in a boss fight versus the Skeleton King. All in all, Diablo III keeps the feel of Diablo and was extremely fun. I can't wait for the full game.

Afterward, my cousin and I simply watched some of the dance contest on a television before finally calling it a day. There was one or two pretty cute girls on the dance contest, but not the Blood Elves I had noted earlier.

Goodbye day one

Day Two

I severely overslept the second day, waking up at 9:00 AM instead of the previously arranged 8:00 AM. Luckily for me, my cousin didn't wake up until 9:30 being the lazy ass he was. So he finally picked me up at 10:45 and we went on our jolly way back to BlizzCon. We arrived at around 11:40, and by that time the Jangbi and Nada tournament had already ended. So once again, it was back to Starcraft 2.

I honestly have no recollection of what I did during this time, but I remember that the Starcraft finals were to happen at 2:00 PM. Judging from my pictures, it seems that I just walked around for a bit and probably played a few extra games of Starcraft 2.

The tournament that never was

I forget what was going on at this moment

Anyway, soon it would be 2, so my cousin and I started heading toward the tournament area, stopping at the WoW trading card game area and all the sponsor booths to check out what they had.

A game where you threw a sack into a cardboard cutout of some WoW character with holes in their head and body. Whichever team dealt the most damage would win. Line was too long though, and the prizes seemed lame.

Somewhere in this labyrinth is where I smelled the worst BO I have ever smelled in my life. Whoever it was smelled as if he had vomitted or shat in his pants and didn't clean it up. SHOWER PLEASE!

Hot

We arrived a bit early to the tournament stage, and because I was desperate for a front up seat, I sat down on the floor in front, and was later joined by Panorama, Ghostclaws, and the rest of Team Liquid.

Putting the murloc onto the camera

Ma Jae Yoon fighting!

Lee Yun Yeol fighting!

In a series which I hoped would have been six games, Savior swept Nada quite easily 2-0. I'm not sure if Nada simply played sloppy or if he was trying to entertain the crowd, but Savior played seriously both games and dominated quite easily. In any case, it was still an awesome experience, and the crowd's reaction to Nada's Vulture micro was quite funny. It managed to get six Zergling kills before it died I think. In any case, Tasteless then interviewed Savior with LosingID8, a much better translator than the one Blizzard had (that guy should be fired).

Tasteless, seemingly high off something

”I will destroyed everyone again in 2009. Thank you!”

After Savior's legendary speech, a lot of people once again flocked to the progamer area for pictures and autographs. Here I was lucky to find Nada and Jangbi isolated so I had my picture with them.

I tapped Jangbi on his right shoulder, but for some reason he turned left. Is this a cultural thing?

Nada was really cool and nice. He would say some English to fans like "yes" and pose accordingly in all his pictures. Also notice how he can bend his thumb yet again in that pose.

Me, my cousin, Ghostclaws

My cousin and I then left the area, where we saw some kind of Blizzard Jeopardy game where contestants answered questions for prizes. I also noticed two girls cosplaying as Night Elves and had a hunch that they would inevitably clash with the two Blood Elf girls from Day One in a fight to take a picture with me.

One of the Night Elf girls on the far left.

A random cosplayer I walked past.

After the tournament, my cousin and I debated whether to go back to Starcraft 2 or to play Diablo III again. The line for Diablo was quite huge at this point, so we decided to play some more Starcraft, where I bashed my cousin repeatedly. Around 4 the fan tournament was supposed to start, so we headed there but found out that it was supposedly canceled because the Blizzard staff got really disorganized and decided to just give people who won three games in a row a poster. I waited in line a bit with Ghostclaws and Panorama while watching the top WoW PvP players own Blizzard employees, then finally got to play my first real match versus Ghostclaws.

Zerg early game seemed really confusing because you can go Zerglings/Banelings, Hydralisks, Roaches or just an early Birth Queen. Ghostclaws did a fast Marine/Marauder/Medivac drop while I tried to do a Baneling rush, which basically let Ghostclaws fly all around my base while I rolled back and forth trying to intercept his drops. I was unable to take out his Medivac because I didn't make a Hydralisk Den and he destroyed my main and my only anti-air unit (Queen) so I gg'd.

Hopeful players unaware of their impending doom at Ghostclaws' claws. Get it!?

My cousin and I went back to the store because the line was so short and my cousin bought a few more things before we headed to the Diablo III line one last time. In line, we listened to the comedy of Patton Oswalt as he cracked jokes about fat people and wasting time in the basement playing computer games (which ironically, was the audience he was supposed to be catering to). Finally we got to play Diablo III, but I didn't get to find a Blizzcon Artifact this time. The line was so long we weren't even allowed to beat the first quest this time either- they had us leave after fifteen minutes or so.

By this time we were really burned out, but I caught Ghostclaws and Panorama still in line at the Starcraft 2 fan tournament area, possibly trying to win more posters (Ghostclaws had already won one). I watched Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftan play during the closing ceremony as the line slowly inched forward. Finally it got to me and I was paired up against someone who had won his previous game.

Game #1: This guy seemed pretty cocky and he had a poster on the table, so I assumed he had already won three games in a row. He tried Zealot rushing me but I fended it off with a Spine Crawler and some Zerglings. I tried to do 3 Hatch Mutalisk, but his Stalkers pretty much rendered my Mutalisk ineffective (I had no idea they could attack air). He began to mass Zealots/Stalkers/Immortals while I basically expanded and took four bases. I parried his attack with Spine Crawlers and Hydraling, then teched to Ultralisk and completely rolled him.

Game #2: My next opponent seemed pretty new because he started off with an Assimilator right after his Pylon. Later I discovered he had been proxying cannons near my third hatchery, but I built a Spine Crawler and got rid of his closest warping in cannon, then decimated the rest with Mutaling. I then teched to Lurkers while destroying his natural and forced my way into his base with Hydralurk and burrowed Lurkers behind his mineral line, destroying all his Probes and he gg’d.

Game #3: In this game, my opponent tried 2 gating me, but of course with Starcraft experience and the fact that it was cross position, I fended it off easily with a Spine Crawler and six Zerglings. I then contained him with Lurkers for about ten minutes, teched to Ultralisk, and completely rolled him.

Game #4: After my third win, no employee came by to ask me to leave so I continued to play. My opponent went Zerg, so it was my first ZvZ. He went 3 Hatch while I did the normal ZvZ 2 hatch tech build. I built a Spine Crawler then uprooted it and slowly walked it over to his natural. Having earlier Zergling speed and more Zerglings from ZvZ experience, I planted my Spine Crawler at his natural then swarmed into his main when he sent his Zerglings at the Spine Crawler, winning me the game.

Game #5: Here I tried Ghostclaws's strategy of fast Marine/Marauder/Medivac drop, but my opponent (same guy from last game- he didn't leave lol) massed Stalkers and blinked them up my ramp past my wall and totally raped me. I was successful in my drop and killed his probes, but he just had so many Stalkers that I had to give up.

After I lost, I collected my poster (they only had Wrath of the Lich King ones left) and prepared to leave with my cousin, whom I had totally forgotten about. He was sitting in a chair in the now empty theater with Ghostclaws, and I was saddened that my BlizzCon adventure was coming to a close.

When BlizzCon is this empty, you know it's time to go.

The now nearly empty store line.

On the way out, I snapped some random photos just to get some more pictures of the place.

Here they let you play old school Blizzard games- Lost Vikings, Starcraft, Diablo, etc.

My loot

However, before I reached the exit, I spotted the one celestial person that I had been searching for all my life. This was the most beautiful person I had ever seen- I knew immediately when I set my eyes on her that we were meant to be and I that I had to get a picture with her. As I walked toward her, I was approached by the Elfen girls I had noted earlier- the two Blood Elves and two Night Elves. "Uh-oh", I thought to myself. This could get real ugly, real fast.

Hello, ladies.

Yeah, I’m talking to you ladies

Please, there's no need to fight! There's enough of me to go around!

Sigh, if you insist. I'm in a hurry you know.

Okay, okay, just one picture.

Finally after the annoyances had left*, I ran to catch up to the love of my life, the one person whom I knew I would always long for and look back at with sorrow and regret that I had not taken a chance to further our relationship. I caught up to her, and our eyes met. It was a beautiful moment, a moment that brought tears to my eyes and joy to my face. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I had my cousin take a photo, as I was sure we would never cross paths again.

+ Show Spoiler +

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed my little synopsis. Sorry I didn’t get to go to the TL dinner, I was way tired from a lack of sleep the previous night. And I apologize that I didn’t get to meet a lot of people because I would have felt really bad ditching my cousin and going to hang out with TL people.

If there’s a BlizzCon next year I’ll definitely go to the dinner, and I hope to see more TL people at BlizzCon!

*Event may have been written to show the author in a better light.

Videos:

Team Liquid's cheer:

Savior's English speech:

My BlizzCon 2008 Adventure

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