Blizzcon 2008 - and California Friends

The tickets for Blizzcon sold out within 15 minutes of their website getting fixed this year, I was lucky enough to have a friend who snagged me a ticket while the snagging was good. (thanks Tom.)

Blizzcon is basically a convention for Video game enthusiasts - specifically games made by Blizzard. (world of warcraft / Starcraft / Diablo)

I had a blast, and Blizzcon was only part of the reason. I got to spend time with some great friends that I hadn't seen for a long time.

Here are some photographs to highlight the trip:

Since so much of our first day was spent waiting in line, here are a couple of pictures to really get the feel of it:




They dubbled the line back on itself several times in the Parking lot - it was amazing, but there weren't people hopping lines and crowding. Even though there were no dividers to keep the lines separate.



At least there were some cool costumes to look at:

Here's a couple that came as Cows - Er Tauren's:



And then a Priest and Warlock Couple: (I removed three people from background of this photo - and if your looking close you can tell - but over all, it turned out pretty good I think!)



Some folks put a touch more effort into their costumes than others did, though, if I ever "cos-Played" (which I won't,) this is more along the lines of how I'd roll:





This was my favorite Costume that I saw - the guy she was with must have been a saint - so many people stopping them to take her picture! :



( I tried to erase the back ground here, I didn't chop off too much... part of the robe I think got lost in the transition.. woops heh.

Anyway I really though this one was the best on there, I guess the girl on the turtle won 1st place... I think it was because of the huge turtle - which was cool, but this looked like a much better costume in my opinion anyway.

Ok, Next we have a guy holding a sign up for his guild to meet him at... This was a great Idea if your trying to meet a group. I mostly pasted this because I ran into an almost exact photo, on the MTV coverage of the event. it was like 'proof' that a 'real' photographer thought something that 'I' thought was an interesting shot 'WAS' an interesting shot too." anyway - here it is:




Once we got inside we got to see lots of cool stuff, like:

Big Screen TV's where they broad cast the main events / announcements etc. There were moer than 10 of these monster monitors, it was great that no matter where you sat, you could see what was going on:





Here is Sarah Louise Kerrigan from StarCraft - (she's in the process of turning into the queen of Blades in this poster:




And here is a cool Statue that they had of the afore mentioned 'Queen of Blades" (with my noggin in the shot as proof that I was there I guess...)



Here are a couple of the rows of computers that they had set up where we could demo the upcoming games - (A real highlight of the Convention.)



Me (Wade), Andy, and Tom playing a little World of WarCraft - Wrath of the Lich King, before it was released.



Here is a Screen shot taken with my Digital Camera of World of WarCraft:
(that poor toon only lasted for the 15 mins that I was able to play, however, I was pretty proud of him for beating down a Rogue who challenged me to a duel right as I logged in.



Here is a Screen of Diablo III: (I'm really looking forward to this game, I think it's going to rock!



And Finaly the last 'Screen Shot' that I took a picture of, for shortly after snapping this one, I was informed that we weren't supposed to be taking pictures of it! woops - who knew! :



Here is a pick of me, getting ready to play - I set the camera on the monitor in front of me and snapped this pic of me and my Blizzcon Badge. Don't I look happy!??!



I also got into a WoW Mini's Turney so I could buy some of the figures before they were officially released. that was fun, here's how the game looks:



and now for the booth babes... C'mon they make interesting pictures don't cha think? :-P

Here is the costume that won the over all prize, she is on the back of a big turtle, and I think it was the turtle that put her over the top.



Here was a group that dressed up, on the left is a Defias Bandit (or pirate maybe,) a Draenei, and I think that guy is a Night Elf...




The Night Elf on the left was really into her role, the one on the right... not so much. I don't blame them, there were allot of people that were takeing pics, and I mean you can only pose so long before you want to get in line and play one of the games too right?



I guess just in case no one interesting decided to dress up, Blizzard hired a few professionals: These two were paid for sure. (I asked, though I stopped just shy of asking how much :-P.)



This was another group of hired models... I Was trying to come up with some funny comment about what the girls do when they aren't trying out for 'Americas Next Top Model..." but nothing ever really solidified.. so, create your own caption, I guess:



I was on the phone with my Brother right before I took this picture so I guess I'll dedicate this shot to Blaine, this ones for you Bro! (sorry it's so blurry, it was dark and I had nothing to brace the camera on.) :





and the Coolest Booth Babe of all award, has to go to Felicia Day! yay, she was both at PAX and Blizzcon and so was I - (I guess she really knows her fans heh.) This time she had the whole cast of 'The Guild' with her signing autographs and such. I bought the DvD and really should have had them sign my copy, but the line was really long. I got one of the 'guards' to take a pic, and she smiled at the camera real nice, even though I was cutting, but - Alas, I didn't have it set very good so Flash is all washed out, and with out Flash is all blurry, we'll go with the 'blur' and have to ask forgiveness for the fuzziness.





Blizzcon was great, but some of the best times were spent after the convention hanging out at Tom's house, where I was staying for the duration. Here is a picture of when we met Marcel, he was attending a Microsoft Convention across the street and was wishing that he could be with us the whole time it was going on... it was just such a pain to get tickets, maybe next time we can all make it!




Here is a pic of Tom, Marcel, Andy, and Me Wade - I really hate these pictures that prove that I really am as Fat as the Scales say I am... but I digress....



Here we are getting preped to play a little Rock Band - Andy, Tom, Wade, Marcel and Cammie. (note that it appears as if Andy is practicing his big solo finish...)



Here is Cammie, and Pearl - Pearl and Tom were such Great Hosts! Thanks so much for letting me stay at your place, not only did I save on Hotel bills, but I had a blast the whole time I was there too! you guys are Awesome!!




This is what I got back home to, I took this picture as I got out of my car, before even going inside - A yard full of SNOW! it was like Idaho was just mocking me, saying "hope you had fun in the sun, Becuase now it's G'onna Get Cold!" It's what I get for living in Idaho - (I jest, I love the state, and it's great being close to family.... but it is terribly Cold in the winters! That's no Joke!)





and I'll end this Blog entry with one of my favorite shots of the trip, Andy on the Rock Band Guitar - He's an Animal!




Wade -out.