EPTFor now, I'll leave you with just a few photos. Some of them are a little blurry, and for that I apologize; my camera seemed to have trouble adapting to the frequently-uneven lighting of the convention center.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/1.JPG)
Ra was a really good sport about the Team Liquid attack that we put on him. He stuck around for a full ten minutes to sign autographs and pose for photos.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/2.JPG)
Ra and I have officially buried the hatchet, as you can see. For the record, my eyes are green, not white.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/3.JPG)
It might take you a second to see what's so funny about this picture, but I assure you that the Team Liquid presence at BlizzCon has been felt; we've probably pissed a lot of people off, to be honest.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/4.JPG)
Bringing the white board was yet another excellent idea from Hot_Bid.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/5.JPG)
Your fearless leader after 12 beers and four hours of sleep--as I said shortly after meeting him, "I thought you'd be taller."
<hr>
Day 0
omgbnetsux and I, having preemptively started celebrating the night before we were to drive to Anaheim, were slow getting on the road--very slow. We didn't actually begin our four-hour drive until 6:30 PM. Our hangovers were epic. Of note is that I (and I have no recollection of this) waltzed with a "girl who was a touch above average-looking" (a friend's words, not mine) in the middle of a crowded bar. It was a rough night.
Anyway, we arrived at the hotel and promptly ran off to get our badges and goody bags. Trust me when I say that the value of BlizzCon is not in the goody bags. All told, I "made out with" such gems as: a t-shirt I will never wear, a "starter kit" for a tabletop card game I will never play, a couple magnets, some hand sanitizer with a BlizzCon sheath, and some sort of stone that has significance in World of WarCraft--oh, and a beta key for an upcoming Blizzard title. I am terrified that it will be for the new World of Warcraft expansion and not StarCraft 2.
When we arrived back at the hotel, the obvious thing to do was drink cheap beer and play StarCraft on a LAN. yubee is an amazing shit-talker and backed it up time and time again with horrible cheese builds that, for whatever reason, always seemed to hit their mark. CharlieMurphy was undefeated for the evening until I came along and reclaimed the honor of the Team Liquid staff, something Manifesto7, now ten beers deep, and Hot_Bid were in no way qualified to do. I am also happy to report that Panorama's hair is even more glorious in person. NeoIllusions cracks me the hell up, but he finds me completely insufferable; I've been giving him a pretty hard time for most of the convention.
Day 1
My first day was by no means as exciting as Hot_Bid and Manifesto's. Where they were allowed to go backstage and interview each and every Korean professional, I was stuck attempting to awkwardly gain Reach's attention from the sides of the "Pro Gamer Area." Where they were allowed to walk straight to the front of the StarCraft 2 line and play for as long as they desired, I was left waiting in line with the commoners for a mere 20 minutes of time in-game. Where Manifesto7 got to go up and commentate a game along with Tasteless, I was stuck listening in the audience! It all sounds so horrible, doesn't it?
< /sarcasm>
Even though members of the press were allowed more freedom at BlizzCon, which is to be expected, do not take that to mean that the typical person's experience was in any way limited. Reach brushed past me on the way to the lounge that Blizzard had set up for the professional gamers. Yellow almost tripped trying to get around an attendee on his way to the stage. And I watched Xellos play from the first-person perspective from about six feet away. These guys are close, and they are accessible. The line for StarCraft 2 is really pretty reasonable, too. I'll try to get a more accurate count today, but for right now, it's my rough estimate that they have 120 high-end computers set up to run StarCraft 2 (EDIT: I actually counted on the second day, and the real number is closer to 250). As far as I know, half of those are for multi-player, and half of them are running a single-player demo of variable difficulty.
StarCraft 2 is fast, it's fun, and it looks great. I can't really comment on balance because it's such a limited experience right now; I've only played it for an hour, and Zerg isn't implemented yet. But I'm basically positive that no one has walked out of the StarCraft 2 area and said, "Well I'm certainly not buying that!" Even in its limited state, everyone is having a blast with it. In terms of specifics, I'm not going to provide any; the game is going to change so much before its release that any information I put down here will probably be obsolete within a few months. I'll just say that I was a skeptic when I first saw StarCraft 2. I'm not anymore. I'm excited.
The Koreans were very honest about the amount that they'd practiced, which varied from, "a little bit" to "not at all" to "I've been very busy" to "it's not easy when you have to travel." But watching them, you'd never know it. Iris has looked especially impressive, and I'm of the opinion that, after a good night's sleep, he's going to emerge from the loser's bracket and avenge his 1-2 loss against Savior from the winner's bracket final to take home the $10,000 first-place prize.
That's all for now. I'll update this either tonight or tomorrow with (hopefully) more pictures; I wasn't satisfied with the amount of photos I got yesterday, and I only have 12 more hours to get my picture with Reach!
<hr>
Day 2
Our second day at BlizzCon contained an almost inordinate amount of StarCraft 2, and I have this very important fact to report: out of the massive number of 2v2 games played by members of Team Liquid, not one 2v2 squad lost a game to a team that was not a part of Team Liquid. In short, we were the only people good enough to beat ourselves. omgbnetsux and I, Hot_Bid and yubee, NeoIllusions and Panorama, and CharlieMurphy and x_woof_x all went undefeated, provided we weren't playing against each other. And this wasn't some pathetic 2-0 or 3-0 victory over the masses; Hot_Bid and yubee claim to have gone something along the lines of 14-1 (losing only to CharlieMurphy and x_woof_x). As of right now, we number ourselves among the greatest StarCraft 2 players on the planet.
Our collective experience with the game led us to a unanimous conclusion: the Protoss race is too strong. I have no earthly idea how a Terran could ever beat a competent Protoss, to be honest. I'm sure that the game will be subject to relentless balance changes, especially as the Zerg race is more-fully fleshed-out, but as of right now, Protoss players enjoy a healthy advantage, provided they know to make Phoenixes—lots of them. They're cheap. They're fast. They can harass. They can directly engage. They do a lot of damage to air units. They do a lot of damage to ground units. We just don't know what to do against them, given their sheer amount of mobility, economy, and strength. In a way, PvP has turned into ZvZ; the only real counter to Phoenixes is, well, more Phoenixes.
But as I said above, I really don't want to get into specifics; the game is ever-changing, and I have absolute faith that Blizzard will balance StarCraft 2 before release. They've shown that they have a complete and total commitment to accomplishing this task, and from my very limited contact with the development team, I believe them to be both sincere in their resolve and capable of achieving this goal.
As for the professional games, I recommend that everyone watch the Bo3 between Iris vs. Ra. Although the third game is a bit of a disappointment, the series contains some incredible play from both sides, including what I'm prepared to call a "pimpest play.” If you watch nothing else, watch Iris' initial spider mine placement on RLT.
Beyond that, everyone should be sure to congratulate Tasteless on what a great job he did with his commentary. At the risk of sounding inflammatory towards World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3, I have this to say: as World of Warcraft-focused as the majority of BlizzCon was, StarCraft was the most popular spectator sport on display. I never had problems finding a seat when the Warcraft 3 or World of Warcraft matches were on, but when StarCraft games were going, it was standing room only. A crowd of people oozed outward on all sides of the seating, and practically everyone from Team Liquid sat cross-legged on the floor in the very front. The crowd was massive, but more importantly, they were engaged. Random fans behind me who knew only the very basics of StarCraft were cheering wildly as defilers plagued zealots or vultures picked off probes. Even if those people will never again play StarCraft, it's important to note how successful it was as a spectator sport; these people were glued to the screen, and Tasteless was a large part of that experience. I also have to give Bunny massive, massive props for mentioning the Power Rank in the middle of a broadcast. “Iris is #2 in the Power Rank, the Team Liquid Power Rank, isn’t he?” Why, yes he is!
Lastly, I’ll leave you with my impressions of some of the people I met. I want everyone to understand that I mean these in the nicest possible way; please don’t take them too seriously.
Tasteless – He’s not putting on an act during his commentaries: he’s seriously insane. And it’s hilarious.
Yubee – What a goofball. He repeatedly went BBS in multiplayer SC2 so that people who were interested in exploring the game rather than playing it would be defeated and booted from their computers within five minutes.
Testie – He’d like the world to believe that the whole “social interaction” thing doesn’t really interest him, but in reality, he’s a pretty nice guy. His Canadian accent is THICK.
Dknight - ahahahahahahaha
Hot_Bid – This guy makes comedy seem like a job. He’s this tiny bundle of energy, and at least ten times a day, he’d chime in with, “Guys, you know what would be hilarious? If we….” The comedy highlight was when he convinced the group of us to ask mnm at least 20 times exactly how many bills there were going to be at the TL dinner. Then to add insult to injury, he told the waitress it was mnm’s birthday. She got a free dessert out of the deal, but then again, she had to put up with our singing.
NeoIllusions – He’s a quiet, nice guy. I have kind of a man-crush on him, but I don’t think he feels the same way about me. Still, I got my hug when we parted ways, and that’s what counts.
Panorama – He’s really outgoing and mellow. Whereas I was paralyzed with fear and awe whenever I gazed upon Reach, Panorama would just walk up to the pro-gamers without hesitation, drape his arm over their shoulders, and take a photo.
Manifesto7 – Rest easy, Team Liquid: Mani is an all-around stand-up guy. We couldn’t have anyone better at the helm, and when I told him that, his response was a humble, “I was just in the right place at the right time.”
x_woof_x – Like NeoIllusions, x_woof_x is just plain adorable.
Meat – He’s an unintentionally hilarious guy, and I don’t think he stopped smiling for a full 48 hours. You could tell he was so glad to be there; I’m glad he was able to make it.
CharlieMurphy – Like Tasteless, CharlieMurphy is not putting on an act. Every bit of his online personality and more is present when you meet him in real life.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/6.JPG)
yubee looking like a used car salesman and Hot_Bid peeking as I tell him that I put the camera away.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/DJEtterStyle/REACH.JPG)
SUCCESS. Check out my mock-Korean picture pose!
