Every year Blizzard Entertainment hosts their own
game event for the fans. This has been a banner year for Blizzard with the
release of Overwatch and World of Warcraft: Legion. BlizzCon was hosted in Anaheim, California and fans could’ve
watched the event if they paid $39.99 for a virtual ticket. Blizzard came out
with more announcement than I thought. Just about every Blizzard game has
something new to give very soon.
Diablo 3
The rumors coming in to this
event were involved and active. The Diablo
4 rumors were coming in hot, a lot of gamers believe that it was going to
happen because of the 20th anniversary of the franchise, but it didn’t.
Instead Blizzard is going to remake parts of Diablo into Diablo 3 in a free
update called “Darkening of Tristram”.
That, I think is better than releasing another sequel. With how the release of
Diablo 3 went, I just want Blizzard to iterate and make Diablo 3 the best game
it can possibly be. The update will feature 16 dungeon levels with four boss
fights from the original game. Frank Pearce (Blizzard Co-Founder) wanted the
update to feel and look like the first Diablo. To do that they’re adding visual
filters to make it look more pixelated. And character movement will be locked
to eight directions. This free update will go live sometime next week.
There is also a new class
that will be introduced to Diablo 3 – The Necromancer. “The Necromancer is
inspired by Diablo 2’s version” and” will take full advantage of everything
Diablo 3 has to offer.” Says Frank Pearce. The new class will come to Reaper of
Souls in 2017 as part of a “character pack”.
Images from” The Darkening of Tristram”
update
Hearthstone
Hearthstone,
the biggest success out of a digital card game isn’t walking away from BlizzCon
without something new. A fourth expansion called, “Mean Streets of Gadgetzen” will be available early December. The
expansion will come with “Tri-class” cards and three new factions, Grimmy Goons
(Hunter weapons), Jade Lotus (Stealthy/Assassins), and Kabal (Brew potions). Tri-class
cards can be used in multiple decks. Example, Kabal can place mage, priest, and
warlock and be played with any one of those decks.
For more information about “Mean Streets of Gadgetzen”
Heroes of the Storm
Blizzard’s MOBA division is
still new and of course there will be new announcements for Heroes of the Storm. There will be new
heroes, which are Varian Wrynn and Raganros. Varian is a hybrid class that
can tank as well as do massive damage. Varian
will be in the public test servers (PTS) next week, and Raganros will come in December.
Overwatch League
Overwatch was the biggest
story during this event. I expected a lot of interesting news, and man did they
deliver. Let’s start with the Overwatch
League. Blizzard is the first to get into the e-sports scene with
starcraft, now they want to change the way e-sports is presented. Each team is
city-based, also you need to be invited by being a high rank overall, or placed
high in small amateur tournaments. Once accepted you must fight because the
team that plays the poorest will get booted from the league. There will be
teams that are holding permanent spots so that owners, partners, and sponsors
will have confidence in their team.
Blizzard wants each season to
be short and exciting. The first abbreviated
season will begin in 2017 and aimed at a full season in Q3 2018 during spring
and summer. They are also choosing to have an off-season for players during
fall and winter. During the off-season players, can get invited to an Overwatch
combine to show-off what you got to owners and sponsors. Now the big question,
what is the prize pool? Well there isn’t any. Blizzard would like to make it a
contract salary with full benefits. This is all too familiar.
For full details of the Overwatch League.
Arcade mode
There’s a new mode called
Arcade. Arcade mode will give players more ways to play and more loot to unbox.
This mode will take over weekly brawls, but is a mix of other modes. Mystery Duel a 1v1, best of 9, small map
that randomly chooses your hero. Elimination
is a 3v3, best of 5 match, the catch is you can’t change your team composition during a match. And No Limits speaks
for itself. Play as any hero no matter how many doubles. While in Arcade you
can earn up to three loot boxes per week, you earn the loot boxes by winning
any Arcade matches.
Sombra
Last but not lease, Sombra the newest hero. This rumor was
going on for many months, even before Ana was released. Finally, Sombra is here
with electrifying abilities. She is an offensive hacker that has the ability immobilize
her enemies. Her basic attack is a machine
pistol, a short-range attack. Her first ability is Hack; she sneaks around her enemies and stun them in place. Another
ability is Thermoptic camo, it increases her speed and grants invisibility.
For quick getaways Translocator is
the ability to use, she throws a device and can zip back to that location. And
last, Sombra’s Ultimate EMP will
disarm everyone around her. Sombra will be open to the PTS only on PC next
week.
What a packed year for Blizzard, with Overwatch being an immediate massive success. Bring players back to World of Warcraft with Legion. And now fans can get excited for all their other games because of the news from BlizzCon. This was a way for Blizzard to give back to the fans and as a fan I couldn’t be happier with everything Blizzard puts out. I hope next year is as good as this year.
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