Tomas Hernandez is owner of Blizzplanet.com since 2003. I post news about World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Careers, and the Warcraft film.
Blizzplanet is a leading fansite covering news about upcoming Blizzard Entertainment licensed products. I also post previews and reviews. I have interviewed book writers and Blizzard game developers.
I was previously an employee of the OGaming Network (2003), and IncGamers (2008-2010). I was a guest newsposter for GosuGamers (World of Warcraft) a few years ago and for Diablofans.com (formerly Diablo3.com)
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Danny Perschonok attended the E3 2018 World of Warcraft Storytelling panel by Christie Golden, Terran Gregory, and Steve Danuser. The panel didn’t go deep into what we should expect post-launch, but it let us glimpse a bit into the process of storytelling, which is not simply done by Christie or Terran as an individual. There is a whole team of over twenty quest design developers and about 15 story development writers who chime in, share ideas, and the combination of those ideas and group decisions shapes the story.
There are two nuggets of info that came out of the panel. Someone (or plural) is going to die in this expansion, and as mentioned by Daniel Stahl at PAX East 2018, something our way is coming soon before launch. According to Terran Gregory, there is some stuff coming soon that Blizzard hasn’t done before.
That’s very intriguing on itself because we have seen that kind of stuff Blizzard has never done before:
Audio Dramas (A Thousand Years of War, The Tomb of Sargeras)
Digital Comics (Latest ones: Reunion, Three Sisters, The Speaker)
So, really, to hear that something is coming that Blizzard hasn’t done before is exciting, and enigmatic. Could you even make a decent guess? There is actually something Blizzard did recently in Heroes of the Storm that might qualify as something never done in World of Warcraft. If you watch the Heroes of the Storm Mecha Storm Trailer, you will quickly notice that it looks like a Robotech TV Cartoon.
Imagine close up one-on-one combat, and full army combat scenes in the same vibe as Mecha Storm, and that would be awesome. Other than that, I can’t even fathom what could qualify as something Blizzard hasn’t done before for a World of Warcraft pre-launch crossmedia.
The Warfront: Stromgarde’s Wartime Donations daily quests have been added to Battle for Azeroth Beta. The idea is that in order to open the Warfront, players have to unite to provide resources for the war effort. Works similar to how players gather resources for the Broken Shore buildings, but instead of a table each player donates profession materials to their respective trainer at Port of Zandalar or Boralus Harbor.
The World of Warcraft: Before the Storm novel by New York Times Bestselling Author Christie Golden is now shipping to homes, and if you order it as a digital download for PC, Kindle, or any mobile device (with internet access, Firefox, or Chrome) you can read it there too.
Below you can see I got my digital download of Before the Storm automatically delivered to my Kindle for PC app.
Blizzard Entertainment’s production director John Hight just teased at E3 2018 via IGN the Blood Troll race might be coming to World of Warcraft. It didn’t sound official, but mostly teased.
“On the opposite, there is Zandalar. There are a lot of troll fans out there, and I think they are going to be pretty excited about what we are doing with their culture, their mythology, and they get pretty hairy, pretty sinister. Blood Trolls are a pretty cool looking group. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see the opportunity to play as Blood Trolls at some point.”
Thanks, @blakegoodman13
UPDATE: Don’t be alarmed, there are no plans for a Blood Troll allied race in the foreseeable future. Blizzard is aware of what was said at E3, and quickly responded:
Ornyx: Just to clear the confusion, there was a small segment in yesterday’s E3 interview with IGN in which we weren’t entirely clear – but we want to clarify that Blood Trolls are not currently planned as an Allied Race.
It can be easy to mix up words in interviews when you’re covering a range of story points such as that of the Blood Trolls and their interactions with the Zandalari – but we just wanted to be sure we could get a note out on this before we get more Allied Race rumors flying around.
Battle for Azeroth Beta build 26788 introduced the initial questline that depicts the community effort to gather resources in preparation to the War Front: Stromgarde. After the intro, there are three chapters in the War Front: Stromgarde storyline achievement: Faldir’s Cove, Refuge Pointe, and Myzrael’s Tale.
I was invited by Dell-Alienware to watch their press E3 webcast presentation where they unveiled their new product: Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop 5676.
As you know, Blizzard Entertainment is going to discontinue support for 32-bit clients. Those who haven’t upgraded their computer systems for a long time will be affected, and need to find a gaming desktop solution.
Personally, I have built my last three computers by choosing which parts I need, assembled it, and installed the OS. Not everyone knows how. If you don’t know how to build a computer from scratch, then you need a pre-built solution.
The Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop 5676 starts at $849.99 and goes on sale on June 12, 2018.
Dell didn’t mention the CPU name, but from the webcast media I can confirm it is a 8 cores/16 threads 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen CPU. Their current flagship only has 4 cores/8 threads.
Here are some of the specs for the 2nd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors with split-second responsiveness and powerful multitasking capabilities for exceptional gaming experiences.
Select configurations are available with Radeon graphics that are ready for VR with options up to RX580 allow faster, smoother gameplay, and are designed to help you dominate DirectX 12 gaming and virtual reality landscapes. And with dual graphics support, you can double down on power and speed for the ultimate gaming performance, and any other graphic-heavy tasks.
With up to 32GB DDR4 RAM, this gaming desktop is loaded with memory to ensure overall super-powered performance and intensive multitasking.
Dual-drive storage options include a high-capacity hard drive with up to 2TB HDD, and a responsive solid-state drive with up to 256GB for faster boot and load times so you can get into the game quicker.
With its unique, finned chassis and air-cooled technology, the Inspiron Gaming Desktop is purposefully designed for optimal airflow and temperatures for uncompromised, uninterrupted gaming performance. Choose the interior LED lighting option for an even more gripping gaming experience.
Transfer files, and connect and power devices with blazing-fast speed thanks to a USB 3.1 Type-C connector that supports newer, next-gen devices and up to six easily accessible USB 3.0 ports.
Five storage bays offer plenty of room for expansion, including up to three hard-disk drives, up to two solid-state drives and up to two PCIe x16 slots for graphics upgrades.
Blizzard Entertainment has published the third Battle for Azeroth digital comic “Three Sisters,” featuring the Windrunner sisters: Alleria, Sylvanas and Vereesa. Turalyon and Alleria arrive to Stormwind, and Alleria informs her husband that she must visit her homeland to secure the Windrunner Spire from the undead. She wishes to meet her sisters as well.
In the comics, we get a glimpse at Vereesa’s twin sons.
Alleria and Vereesa discuss the scene in the “WAR CRIMES” novel, where Vereesa and Sylvanas unite to assassinate Garrosh Hellscream with poison. At the time, Vereesa sorrowed Rhonin’s death.
The artwork in this comics does justice to World of Warcraft. Many props to artist Antonio Bifulco and colorist Sebastian Cheng. I wish future ones are as terrific good as Three Sisters.
Christie Golden and Andrew Robinson added a lot of continuity nods, and deliver the problematic drama about three sisters who each have followed a different path, each have a regret and an anger toward each other. However, they are bound together by love for each other. Bound by past memories. Maybe even bound by hope? Or maybe not.
At the end, we are left with a cliffhanger of sorts, about what the future might hold. That depends on the fate of one of them at the end of the Battle for Azeroth’s finale.
Personally, I would like to see more digital comics come out more often. One for the Horde readers, and one for the Alliance readers. Preferrably each chapter in the Battle for Azeroth story (Patch 8.1, 8.2, 8.3).
