Another year, another BlizzCon, and another set of memories. Even though there wasn’t a ton of breaking news from the convention, I had a huge blast. I saw some old friends again and made some new ones.
Most of the team that was from out of town stayed at Eden Roc. It ain’t exactly the Hilton, but for our purposes it was perfect. It had a dorm room type of atmosphere. We had 10 beds spread out over 3 suites (some rooms had 3, some had 5, etc). If you’re planning on going with a large group of people, I would recommend it. The wireless was limited to only a few areas but I spoke to the manager about it and I’m hoping there’ll be increased coverage next year. The staff was friendly and down to earth.
From my Guild
I met up with Viktory, Loganw, Erushia, Bisquic, Xonthebeach, Tessah, Ophelie, and Bruherd. Retired players such as Dannamoth, Mythik and Neru were on hand.
First thing we did when we all got there was get lunch.
I demolished my burger. The guild was stunned.
Getting iced – So apparently this is some phenomenon that’s been making its way around. I’d only just heard of it now. It’s a drinking game where if someone hands you a Smirnoff Ice or if you spot one, you have to get down on one knee and chug it. However, if you happen to be carrying one on you, you can make like a Mage and “Ice Block” where the attacker must then chug the one he planted along with the one the defender had.
This can happen at any time. The ice can be planted anywhere. The first person who sees it, and if they’re in the presence of someone else, must do it.
Why Smirnoff? Because its ugh.
My guild iced me once. I just got out of the shower and we were discussing stuff. They asked me about my Macbook. And sure enough, I rounded the corner and there it was right in front of my computer.
Guildies icing their GM. All I can say is, mango flavour sucks.
One of the perks of being on Conquest? I bought them all drinks.
“Hey guys, what do you want?”
“1 Jack and Coke!”
”Make that 2”
”Hey I want one!”
”I’ll take one as well!”
”Six!”
”Seven!”
Oh what the hell.
“HEY AJ! TEN JACK AND COKES!”
I am too generous. But they’re a great team.
Things to do next year
Business cards – Spoke with players who were interested in joining a steady guild looking to progress. I’ll need to be better armed next year with guild business cards. All I had were blog cards. Judging by all the recent apps, it seemed as if the people I spoke with were mostly Death Knights.
Track jackets – Heh, this I had a nice chuckle about. The team wanted guild shirts for next year. One of the guys said “Screw tshirts. Let’s go for Conquest track jackets!”. Not a bad idea. Something I’m going to look at for the future. Then Lodur comes along asks “Can I be an honorary Conquest member for a jacket?” Totally, it can be done. But that got me thinking, maybe I should get a Team Matticus track jacket instead for both friends and guild members that might be interested.
The convention
Most of day 1 was spent observing the panels.
Some people call it taking notes. I call it analog live blogging.
As for the demos, I didn’t bother with Diablo 3. The line for that was longer then the line for the mens room. Checked out Starcraft Bejewled and Blizzard DoTA though. Those were fun maps. Can’t wait for them to come out. Met with an editor from the WoW Magazine.
The meetups
WoW Insider Reader Meetup
Had the whole patio and the whole pool area. Unbelievable turnout. It was great to see the whole WI crew in person once again. Managed to snag a picture with Felicia Day and Ghostcrawler! I got to meet and hang out with Dawn and I saw Lodur there. The guy forgot to give me the list of movies I need to see to get pop culturally educated.
* I still owe the SC2 guy a drink, but wasn’t able to hunt him down. You know who you are! Next year!
Twisted Nether Meetup
I dropped by to say hi to the TnB folks again at Bubba Gump. It was good to finally see Stop, some of the Big Crits fellas, Beru, Hydra, Saresa, and others.
Raid Warning Meetup
Hung out with Brian, Seven and more people. It was located at Dave and Busters in a nice 200ish seat VIP room. Roomy and spacious. Somehow, I got conned into a drinking contest. The person who could beat me downing a Corona got a 30 day time card.
And there were a lot of people that wanted that time card. Like seriously, it doesn’t take much effort. I knew there was no way I was going to get it. Not with that lime that was stuck in the neck of the bottle. 20 minutes later, I finished the Corona. Yay!
I also wish to extend my gratitude to both Dannamoth and Erushia for giving the new friends we met a lift home. Way to represent. Very proud.
I was extremely humbled by the amount of people who recognized me and who came up to say hi, exchange handshakes, high fives and hugs. Thank you for making it a truly surreal experience.
Good seeing Daewin, anafielle, Saresa, BeruHeals, EntropiaWoW, Shandris, StoneyBaby, ModernMage, StoppableForce, Fimlys, Shadowembrace, Strio13, Hydra, Brian, Seven, the entire WI crew, some of the blues, and there are undoubtedly more people that I missed.
Can’t wait for BlizzCon 2011! I hope to see you again next year (or for the first time)!
What were your most memorable moments from BlizzCon? And more importantly, do you plan on going (again) next year?
It was good to finally meet you, sir! Hope to see again in the nearish future!