Written by: OmegaBob

Thursday 10/21 – Day Zero

Nerds. I hate them. The main reason that I hate them is that many are not even aware that they are nerds. If they have friends, more than likely they are nerds, too. When they congregate together, they can get loud and obnoxious, freely blabbering on about anime characters that no one has heard of before, making their little gaggle feel like an exclusive club. Within the nerd-type are various factions, one of which is the video game nerds. What happens when a large group of video game nerds come together to form an exclusive super club, where they can feel free to express their personal shame without fear of being ridiculed, mocked or punched in the eye? Blizzcon!

October 21, 2010, Anaheim, California, Anaheim Convention Center, 4-10pm – This is the day and times that the attendees of Blizzcon 2010 can start to pick up their badges and goodie bags. As I walked down the street to pick up my items, I begin to realize that I still have not gotten over my hatred of nerds. They are really rude! The sidewalks on West Convention Way are tiny so, of course, what do nerds do when opposing pedestrians are coming towards them? They do not move out of the way! In order to teach them a lesson in common courtesy, I did not yield and bumped into quite a few of them until as a collective, they realized that they should move out of the way for me. I could go on and on about about how 50% of them are overweight and how many have disgusting habits like smoking or not bathing; however, my rage against the nerds is probably not what the nerds reading this want to read about. You want to read about Blizzcon 2010. Fine! End nerd rant!

After all their experience (read: failures) with organizing the elements of previous Blizzcons, it appears that Blizzard likes the way it was done in 2009. The ticket distribution this year was done in the exact same way as last year: huge, winding cattle lines leading down into the gigantic basement hall. At the end of the lines, Blizzard staff direct the masses to the various PC terminals, where a con-goer’s e-ticket is scanned and a badge is instantly printed. I studied the software/UI that was used and it does appear very streamlined. Next, one is directed to a booth line where a lanyard/badge holder and goodie bag are handed out. End of process.

Of course, I decided to follow the lesson I learned from my first visit to Blizzcon and did not attempt to pick up the badge/bag at the start time as the wait would probably be a few hours long. Instead, I chose the wiser option: spend the day at Disneyland, located right across the street, and then head over to pick up the ticket an hour or so before the cut off. I was able to get my swag in about 10 min.

Speaking of swag…another fail for Blizzard! Anyone thinking that last year’s bag was disappointing would be shocked to hear that this year’s goodies were even worse. Yes, there was a Deathling figurine from Sideshow in it and an in-game pet, but that’s pretty much it. They were kind enough to add an authenticator (which no one needs nowadays and which has been included in the bags for the past three years now -overstock anyone?), a Starcraft 2 demo disc (huh?), a metagame bookmark (run from vendor to vendor during the con to finish the ‘quest’) and a few adverts. Blizzard really hyped this year’s bag up, but apparently, they still have a lot to learn. In fact, the only thing Blizzard learned in regards to the badge/bag was to go back to supplying a cloth lanyard instead of a way-too-thin chain (mine broke off early during the second day last year).

On the bright side, however, I did pass Robin Thorsen & possibly Amy Okuda, Clara and Tinkerballa from The Guild, on the street, so not a total fail. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.