Alright Blizzard, we gotta have a little chat. I was doing okay until you started this whole, "let's take LAN out of Starcraft 2" because ultimately, as long as I got a finished product in hand, I was going to be pretty okay with it. Then, I get out of WoW after hitting level 70 with my Death Knight and having a few mid-sixty characters. That was okay because I needed to get outside since I was forgetting exactly what color the sky and that big glowing orb that floated there was. But now with Cataclysm, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 next year, you never want me to go outside ever again, do you?

Don't you realize I have a family?

You knew I would want to play as a Goblin, I know you did. The leveling experience is just fine, but now that you've given me the incentive to shoot for the moon and move through until I hit level 85, well that's just cruel. Okay fine, I bet the starting area's are going to be shoddy for the two new rac...they won't? Hold on a second. What's this whole reshaping the face of Azeroth? What do you mean that several territories will be changing hands? The Barrens is getting split in half? The Horde is getting Southshore? I know these are a lot of questions Blizz, but all of this information is staggering.

I admit, that I didn't have the desire to have a flying mount because, why fly if I can't fly in Azeroth. It wasn't rewarding enough for me to just be able to do it in Northrend or Outland and oh, I see, I can do that now too. Well haven't you just thought of everything. I was happy when I got out Blizzard, but being able to play as a Goblin or Worgen and the supposedly streamlined experience from 1-60, I'm going to come back. But you'd know I would come back, because nobody gets away from Blizzard, do they?

I admit that the overall proposal here is rich and worthwhile, and yes Blizzard, I admit that I've missed you sometimes when I'm on Xbox Live alone, but this is madness I can't come back to Azeroth. I'm already going to be playing Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 and unless you can make a time machine a pre-order bonus or pack it in with the collector's edition, where am I going to find the time. Granted, once the world ends, I don't think my generator will have enough power to keep my computer going and the floodlights that'll keep the legions of the undead at bay.

But we'll see what happens I guess.

In the meantime, I'll say it straight that Blizzcon 2009 looked to be something amazing this year and hopefully, as always, next year will be the same. But this year will be a hard act to follow. It would be like me going on stage after Trent Reznor, and all I had was an accordion. Somehow I get the feeling the audience might be a little disappointed.

In an unusual deviation from my regular posts, I felt this was necessary. It isn't exactly an open letter to Blizzard. More or less, its a lamenting for the time I know I'm going to lose next year to these games. I'll place the bare details at the bottom of the post for what you absolutely should know that came out of Blizzcon, but I will say this for my sake, I'm really pulling for that time machine.

WoW - Cataclysm Expansion announced for 2010.
* Two New Playable Races: Adventure as one of two new races—the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.
* Level Cap Increased to 85: Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.
* Classic Zones Remade: Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.
* New High-Level Zones: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj'ir beneath the sea.
* More Raid Content than Ever Before: Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.
* New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.
* Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.
* New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.
* Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.
* Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

Diablo 3 - Monk class announced.

Starcraft 2 - Single and multiplayer details announced. Spoilers here, spoiler-free here.

Battle.net - updates and an impending revamp.

Forgive my rant, but maybe Blizzard had it coming.

--Andrew
spawn more overlords