2023 Blizzcon Reaction Thread

Big Phoenix said:

Good god that cinematic is awful. 4 minutes of them standing around talking when the story/lore of modern WoW is absolutely pants on head retarded.

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Koushirou said:

For me, anyway, it was always an opportunity to meet/see guildies old and new since it's a single date folks can plan around and we'd have some bumper days around the convention to go fuck around Anaheim/Disney/Knotts, etc. Some of my best memories are from the Blizzcons I attended. And for almost all the years I went, the event itself was a lot of fun; getting swag, watching the SC2, games live, getting photos with the casters/players, chilling at the hotel next to the convention center and just mingling with all kinds of people famous or unknown in the scene. It was sad when I finally got to take my husband to his first Blizzcon in 2018 and you could tell it was already declining in quality quite a bit, so he never really got to enjoy a good one. Less people I knew playing, too, so there weren't as many folks to hang out with.

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Fucker said:

Holy shit. I'd call these people complete clowns, but they aren't on that high of a level.

I posted the same thread on the official Blizzcon forums. Would appreciate a like/upvote over there so we can ensure Blizzard knows how we feel. It's okay if you disagree, I just want future Blizzcons to be better, for everyone.
EDIT: now that the closing ceremony is finished, I'm honestly a bit taken aback. Serrafim only performed for 30 minutes, if that? Not to mention, the community night contest did not have any panel/guest judges. Don't get me wrong, the four gals did great, but what is happening Blizzard..
For context, my partner and I have been to the last 5 BizzCons (latest one in 2019 pre-pandemic), and this by far was the worst one for many reasons. Based off of similar threads I've seen pop up here, on Reddit and speaking with folks at the convention, I think the general sentiment is that this year was *extremely* disappointing and I hope Blizzard spends time reviewing our feedback and takes action for the next one. General thoughts, and I'm interested to know if you guys feel the same or if I'm way off-base with my expectations:
Disorganized & Poorly Executed

• Getting into the convention Friday morning was an absolute nightmare. The line was blocks down harbor and into residential areas (folks were even coming out of their home to take photos), and unlike previous years, they didn't close down adjacent streets for safety and proper line management. This poor management led to thousands of folks missing the opening ceremony and it was so clear that the outsourced production parties/security had no idea how to handle this. Combine that with the Anaheim Police Department needing to intervene for public safety, it was just awful.
• The entire convention felt disorganized and poorly executed, you could just "feel it". Poor security, line management to get in the convention but also within the halls themselves, directions, and registration process. Both Blizzard Crew members and convention workers themselves often provided conflicting information on questions we asked, particularly around the Portal Pass, and it was very frustrating to deal with.

Portal Pass
Absolute huge waste of money. Between my partner and I, that was an "extra" $1000 we spent for literally nothing, really. We were promised dedicated lines and early entry, demo experiences in the lounge, dev meet and greets, but they could barely deliver on any of that

• We were straight up being routed with general entry and at one point saw hundreds of portal pass folks blocks back waiting to get in despite purchasing dedicated lines and entry. Turns out, there was a smaller side entrance that no one knew about, and it wasn't until we checked in BlizzCon facebook groups / reddit that we knew this existed. Security and Blizzard Crew members were directing portal pass holders to the wrong area.. rendering the value of "early entry" useless because on the first day no one could get in or was effectively being told where to go.
• The "demo/gameplay experience"S"" was just a few consoles loaded up with Overwatch 2. No other demo's. Just one. Single experience. Not plural.
• The "viewing lounge" was small with not large enough of a screen to really enjoy it.
• The developer meet and greet schedules were never posted until today I believe.. it was just random, and not what we were sold at all.
• Food was "meh" and very overpriced.
• The advertisement for the pass was that there was "and more". There was no more. The above is it.

Downsizing & Lack of Content

• You felt the downsizing of the convention *for sure*. Two less halls, no eSports outside of Overwatch World Cup, but arguably more people crammed into tighter spaces made it so hard to really enjoy anything. There was very little to do, "experience" or even observe in any of the Halls. Thankfully some of them were cool to look at, but outside of that, honestly quite boring.
• No panels. I mean, what? No engineering, art or voice acting presentations (this I understand because of actor/writer strikes, but still). It was so empty in terms of wanting to learn more and experience things, and outside of the major keynotes that took place at specific times, there was nothing to enjoy in between those talks.
• All of the keynotes were done in the "arena" which was an annoying experience to deal with. Folks would camp there and it was very difficult to get in to see the talks you wanted to in person. If you couldn't get in, you were expected to view them "elsewhere" as they were supposed to be "simultaneously" broadcasted throughout the hall. But this year, there was very little places to sit because of the downsizing, and the screens that existed in the halls that were removed (esports, HOTS, SC, etc) were used to help show that information.. but they're just gone.
• No live events to get hype about as you traversed the cons. In prior BlizzCons, they had WoW Arena Championship, HOTS, Overwatch, MDI, and other events that you could sit and get hyped about while you took a break and ate your lunch, etc. There is none of that here. It felt soulless and if you weren't constantly moving throughout the hall, you'd just be bumped into and asked to move. Total sheep behavior, can't even sit down to enjoy anything.
• No cool experiences like the art installation walkthrough that you used to be able to view and/or purchase that wen't to charity.
• Very few gaming vendors doing any type of raffle/etc. I only saw like 3, none of which were particularly large brands like how they've been in the past.

Poor Layout & Planning

• The Warcraft hall was insane. Darkmoon Faire should NOT be in the same hall as WoW, Hearthstone, and now Rumble. There's too much Warcraft IP in that space and with the popularity of the DMF, it made it unbearable. In fact, it's so busy that they straight up closed access to it today and the line to get in was 4 hours. So, if you were expecting to do any merch collecting or pin trading there, good luck. Previous years this was on the 3rd floor with much more space, and absolutely should be done like this again going forward.
• The halls were joined by a single walk space in the middle of them that spread horizontally through them. Combine that with the fact that they had things stretched vertically throughout the halls, navigating to anything effectively was very difficult and made line management even more hard for them.

Merch

• Without a doubt the merch this time around was awful and I'm truly surprised about it. It was all very bland, and for the few interesting pieces they did have (plushies for most folks), they sold out so fast which honestly just isn't the vibe.
• Like in previous years, there was no cool key art or really any cool collectables to get. No posters, just bland clothing, keychains, etc. Most of what was at the convention is available on the Blizzard Gear Shop, so it really just isn't worth getting anything there.

Community Night & Closing Ceremony

• These should not be combined. It offered a nice break out and with the implementation of these both being done in the BlizzCon Arena.. there is no way people are going to be able to enjoy this in person. Why even do this? Keep it so community night is Day 1 and Closing Ceremony / Music performances are day 2.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. Please really think before considering purchasing a portal pass going forward. It was not worth it and I wish I could get my money back for it.
I hope ya'll were able to make the most of it! We did our best, but it's still very frustrating to think about. Blizzard knows better.

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Fucker said:

You missed my edit. It wasn't my post.

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Ambiturner said:

Still can't picture a scenario where this shit would ever be worth $800 a ticket

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