TWC @ Blizzard's HQ :D

[Namo]

  
Last week, me and pbob had an opportunity few Blizz fanboys get: as TWC's representatives, we went to Irvine for a visit to one of the greatest video game Mecca, Blizzard's HQ.



Originally, it was for a press event but Blizzard wasn't ready to showcase what we were supposed to see. But we were still able to spend the day there.

Blizzard's campus is massive. There's 3-4 buildings on the campus, enough room for the 1000+ employees working there. I don't have a picture of the gates, but they look a lot like the ones at Pixar Studios

But I do have a picture of one b****in' Wolf Rider:



Now that's really epic. The details on it are incredible.

But there's awesome stuff inside as well:

Next to the reception desk is this statue of Nova:



Frostmourne



and a dwarf hunter, I guess



Here's a couple more pics from inside:

Now this was awesome, at least *I* thought it was awesome (I guess not all our colleagues from the other fansites agreed, but whatever :) ). We saw plenty of those little screens while we were visiting the buildings: these screens show the locations of all the WoW players currently playing in the world. It's awesome.



There's also a bunch of Starcraft posters in the corridors:



There's also the WoW maintenance clock:



And for emo/goth Diablo kids:



:)

There's a lot of cool stuff I didn't take picture of, but you get the idea.

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Now of course, we weren't there only for a visit. It was a StarCraft 2 Fansite event. So we got to see some live SC2 games.

I didn't take any notes, because I suck at it, but pbob did, so here's the highlights (thx a lot  :) ):

Observer/Replay Functionality:
New drop down menu during game for observers and replay
-   Check constantly updated statistics during game
-    Resource harvesting with harvester recount
-    Spending/economy
-    Army size, unit type and counts with unit pictures for quick recognition
-    APM with both average and current
Post game review
-   Has build order, excellent for understanding the strategy involved and a great learning tool for the less experienced players in understanding how the pros order their build
-   Combat efficiency, with colored graphs to show progress of all players in game
-   Graph for each of the categories included in the drop down menu during the game
Replay functionality
-   Rewind now available
-   Progress bar to show time in game with the ability to jump ahead to a certain moment similar to watching a video on youtube

Roundtable Discussion (interesting highlights):
-   Immortals take too little effort to tech to, and too good for their cost. Possibly moving to robotics (unable to be warped in).
-   Plague -> Infestor not much liked by in house team
-   Disruptor (Protoss) needs a direction. Intended as a spammable caster, but too many things going on at once. Also needs a lore background.

After that we went to the PR room to play some Starcraft. Let me say it's amazing. I played 2 games during last year's Blizzcon, but during those 2 games, I didn't get a chance to really try everything I wanted. But I did during the afternoon last Monday, and it was great. The game looks very solid and I'd say the game is likely pretty close to beta. I don't see why it wouldn't be.

And a word on the Blizzard people. They were all very cool with us, answering our questions and dealing with our lame jokes :) I really liked the part were Cavez sat with us and answered questions on the fly. I saw a man passionate by what he does and I respect that a lot. But all the people were amazing with us. I really appreciate what Blizzard did for us. Not all gaming companies are willing to invite their fans to their office.

All in all, it was a great day, and it was worth the red eye-flight  

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And now new screenshots!

The latest tech-trees!

Protoss   Terran   Zerg

And gameplay screenshots:

                 

I also have some b-roll footage that I might post later if I can find a way to easily compress it, so stay tuned.

[Ortus Phoenix]

JEALOUSY

[Monkey4Love]

Wow. Nice job guys.

Observer/Replay Functionality:
New drop down menu during game for observers and replay
-   Check constantly updated statistics during game
-    Resource harvesting with harvester recount
-    Spending/economy
-    Army size, unit type and counts with unit pictures for quick recognition
-    APM with both average and current

HaWt!

[ChainRaven]

*ogles*

Those replay/obs functions are definitely above and beyond Wc3's.

[Squallish]

Rewind is much needed.

Sounds like the game's almost ready to go.

[crzynub]

wow that's so cool. i particularly like the map of wow players online :D the june b-roll footage i assume your talking about is on youtube, as my friend so readily linked to me

[Namo]

probably yes

[DrunKBunny]

Did you guys play in the 2v2 tourney?

[pbob]

Rewind is much needed.

Sounds like the game's almost ready to go.

The new functions are so awesome for noobs like me. Such great learning tools built-in for anyone wanting to study up. And having a rewind/fast forward is so thxly.

Did you guys play in the 2v2 tourney?

Yeah, but got pubstomped by the Team Liquid guys. Then in the loser's bracket fought tooth and nail, but in the end lost. I'll post more on that later

[7_SeCoND_KiLL]

youtube footage: [yt=425,350]mUi2xTUTsrg[/yt]
Manlots looking even manlier.. Ultralisks look too big.

[Namo]

the ultras are ridiculously big. Unless they're intended to be road blockers or something...

BTW I have the HD version of that footage. I can probably upload it to my personal website and give the link to those interested in getting it. We'll see.

[Noodles]

I didn't read that very closely but will we be able to watch replays on bnet with friends and such?

[pbob]

I didn't read that very closely but will we be able to watch replays on bnet with friends and such?

They haven't given us much on the functionality of B.net with the new releases.  However, this should make it a lot easier to match up when watching replays. I remember counting down with friends on vent to make sure we started at the same time. At least now if you pause during a replay, and someone misses it, sooo much easier to link back up.

[JusticePao]

Wow, the experience sounds so cool. Approximately how many lucky people got to go?

The new screenshots look awesome too. Now if the amount of units in those screenshots are the average amount in normal games then I'm starting to get excited.

[HEMA]

Hydralisk down to tier 1? (1.5?)

also, why the f*** is there a building called "dark shrine" at least call it "shadow shrine" or something which sounds a biiiiiiit better

But you did a great job guys!