October 21-22, 2011

Join us at BlizzCon…
from the comfort of your own home!
The BlizzCon Virtual Ticket lets you experience the sights and sounds of BlizzCon through a live, high-definition Internet video stream. The Virtual Ticket provides four channels of access to the panels, eSports tournaments, and other activities at the show, warping you straight into the heart of BlizzCon! Check out the Virtual Ticket FAQ for more info!

$39.99 USD

FAQ
What is the Virtual Ticket multi-channel Internet stream?

Those who purchase the Virtual Ticket Internet stream will be able to switch freely between multiple high-definition (720p) channels dedicated to different areas of BlizzCon, allowing viewers expanded access to the panels and events they’re most interested in. The four HD streaming channels are:Main BlizzCon stage coverage, including panel discussions, game-related announcements, exclusive interviews, the opening ceremony, contests, and the closing concert.Panel Stage coverage, including all panels and events on the second stage.Complete StarCraft II tournament stage coverageComplete World of Warcraft tournament stage coveragePlease note that limited standard-definition coverage of the opening ceremony and tournaments will be available online for free — all you’ll need to watch the free streams is a Battle.net account.

If I order the BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket Internet stream, will I receive the BlizzCon 2011-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items?

Yes, if you purchase the Internet stream, you will receive the BlizzCon 2011-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II items (to be announced at a later date). The items will be linked to the Battle.net account used to purchase the Virtual Ticket no later than the first day of BlizzCon.Please note that the BlizzCon 2011 in-game items are available only to players on World of Warcraft and StarCraft II realms/servers in the following regions: North America (including those serving players in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia), Europe, Russia, Taiwan, and Korea.

Will replays be available after BlizzCon is over?

Yes! Anyone who purchases a Virtual Ticket will be able to access on-demand replays of all four channels of coverage for up to two weeks after the end of the event.

I am not a DIRECTV customer; can I order the Pay Per View Internet stream?

Yes. A DIRECTV subscription is not required to order the multi-channel Internet stream. It is available for a purchase price of $39.99 USD (international pricing and availability may vary) and includes both days of the event.

What is the exclusive merchandise sale for BlizzCon Virtual Ticket buyers? When does it occur?

A limited quantity of BlizzCon merchandise is being set aside for BlizzCon Virtual Ticket holders, to be sold in an exclusive merchandise sale occurring in the weeks before the show. After ordering, your Battle.net account will automatically be flagged to get access to the merchandise sale. We’ll have more information to share on the sale at a later date.

How do I order the Virtual Ticket Internet stream?

You can order the Virtual Ticket by logging in to your Battle.net account and visiting the Virtual Ticket ordering page. Please ensure you have a valid, updated payment method associated with your Battle.net account. If you do not yet have a Battle.net account, you can create one for free at https://us.battle.net/account/creation/tos.html.

In what languages will the multi-channel Internet stream be available?

The BlizzCon 2011 Internet stream and DIRECTV broadcast will be available in English only.

Can I purchase the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket Internet stream if I live outside of the United States?

Yes, the BlizzCon Pay Per View Internet stream will be available for purchase in multiple regions around the world. Pricing and availability may vary by region.

Do I need to download anything to view the live stream?

The most current version of Adobe Flash will be required to view the stream.

What are the system requirements to view the live stream?

PC Requirements:Intel® Pentium® 4 2.4GHz or Intel Core 1.6GHz (SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems) or higherMicrosoft Windows® XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft 2000 or later512MB of RAM Graphics card with 128MB of RAM50MB of available hard-disk space for installation Microsoft DirectX-compatible sound card and display adapterAdobe Flash Player 10.0.32 or higherMac Requirements:Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higherSafari 3 or Firefox 3 browser or higherAny Mac with Intel CPU512MB of RAM (recommended)Flash Player 10.0.32 or higherSupported Browsers:Firefox 1.1 or later, Internet Explorer 7.0 or later, Safari, Google Chrome, or Opera

What are the minimum bandwidth requirements for the viewer?

You will need a broadband connection such as DSL or cable with at least 1.2Mbps download bandwidth.

I purchased the BlizzCon 2011 Pay Per View event through DIRECTV. Do I have to pay for the Internet stream?

No, the Internet stream is included for free in your DIRECTV Pay Per View event purchase. After ordering through DIRECTV, you will receive an email containing a code that will grant one Battle.net account access to the Virtual Ticket Internet stream and the BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items. Enter this code through the DIRECTV code redemption page at any time, and your Battle.net account will be flagged to the Internet stream. Make sure to redeem this code using the Battle.net account you wish to receive the in-game items.

When will the BlizzCon DIRECTV Pay Per View be available in the United States?

Existing DIRECTV customers in the United States will be able to order the BlizzCon Pay Per View event though DIRECTV beginning Monday, October 10. Please note that you will need to purchase the event through DIRECTV, not the Blizzard Virtual Ticket web page, in order to view the Pay Per View event on television. Visit www.directv.com/blizzcon for more information.New customers who order DIRECTV through their special BlizzCon promotional page at www.directv.com/blizzcon before September 25 will receive the BlizzCon Pay Per View event and Virtual Ticket Internet Stream for free.Customers who order through either method will receive a code from DIRECTV via email granting access to the Internet stream and the in-game items.

Happy Friday, everyone!

We’d like to get this day started by offering you a first look at the legendary daggers coming with the patch 4.3 raid, Dragon Soul. We’ve got them set up on a night elf rogue wearing the upcoming tier 13 armor.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150323249109034&set=a.10150277767579034.343653.138011799033&type=1&theater

Enjoy!

In World of Warcraft content patch 4.3, players will make their ultimate stand against Deathwing the Destroyer. Almost a year has passed since the corrupted Dragon Aspect burst forth from the Maelstorm to bring the Cataclysm down upon the mortal races. Now the determined survivors from the Horde and Alliance have rallied to unleash vengeance of their own.

To prepare for this earth-shattering battle, the Blizzard Insider recently discussed the upcoming Dragon Soul raid with Scott Mercer, lead encounter designer from the World of Warcraft team. Read on for all the epic details.

Scott Mercer: Deathwing has changed the face of Azeroth probably more than any other villain in Warcraft’s history. He tore the Barrens in half. He caused tidal waves that transformed both continents. He even burned his claw marks into Stormwind Keep, leaving his personal signature on the Alliance capital. In many ways Deathwing embodies the Cataclysm itself, not just as the direct cause of it, but also as the thematic center of the expansion. His violent transformation from Earth-Warder to Destroyer ultimately led to all these changes across Azeroth, so in a very direct way, his character arc represents the force that set the entire expansion into motion.

That said, we’ve been building towards a showdown with Deathwing for some time. Players have been wrestling with his Twilight’s Hammer minions since before Cataclysm, and we’ve already seen Deathwing defeat Alexstrasza in single combat. The powers that be in Azeroth know Deathwing presents a mortal threat, so in the wake of all the chaos and destruction, forces are finally rallying to oppose him. That’s how patch 4.3 begins, with the major players of Azeroth gathering to decide how they are going to tackle this seemingly unstoppable monster.

Insider: Can you tell us about the new 5-player dungeons that lead into the Deathwing raid?

Scott Mercer: The short version is that the players are sent on a series of quests to recover the Dragon Soul artifact so Thrall and the other dragonflights will have the firepower they need to confront Deathwing. The new 5-player dungeons involve the Caverns of Time and require the players to go forward in time to witness a future where Deathwing has destroyed the world. Then, from that bleak future, they must go back in time to the War of the Ancients to recover the Dragon Soul and bring it back to the present. We’ve discussed a lot more details on the new 5-player dungeons in other interviews. They’re going to lead in directly to the patch 4.3 raid instance, which is called Dragon Soul. When the raid begins, the players have recovered the Dragon Soul artifact and arrive at Wyrmrest Temple to find it under siege by Deathwing’s forces.
Insider: Aside from a battle with Deathwing, what other encounters do you have planned for the Dragon Soul raid?

Scott Mercer: When players first arrive at Wyrmrest, they have to fight off a variety of Deathwing’s minions who are laying siege to the temple. There’s Morchok, a stone giant who is pounding the base of Wyrmrest, and Warlord Zon’ozz and Yor’sajh the Unsleeping, two servants of the Old Gods in league with Deathwing who are summoning more minions to sack the gates.

In addition to lifting the siege around Wyrmrest, the players also have to return to the Eye of Eternity to get the Focusing Iris so the Dragon Aspects can refocus their power into the Dragon Soul. We have some new gameplay elements in mind for these raids, including a mechanic where players are granted the ability to dodge a deadly attack from a twilight dragon by phasing away.
Insider: What details can you tell us about the Deathwing raid? How does it differ from other raids?

Scott Mercer: Dragon Soul is the most story-driven raid we’ve ever created. We’re even building several cut scenes to transition between the last three stages of the final encounter with Deathwing.

The first stage occurs as players are flying on an airship, chasing down Deathwing while his Twilight’s Hammer drake riders are swooping in to harry the pursuit. In the second stage, players paratroop commando-style onto Deathwing’s back and start ripping up his armor, trying to pry a hole big enough to give Thrall a clean shot with the Dragon Soul. During this phase, players are actually riding on Deathwing as he’s swooping around and trying to knock the players off with barrel rolls and such. Players will have to hang on at key points in the fight to avoid falling while also tangling with all kinds of monstrosities that are rising out of Deathwing’s corrupted magma blood. Once the players get enough of Deathwing’s armor off, Thrall blasts Deathwing with the Dragon Soul and sends him crash-landing into the Maelstrom.
Insider: Very cool! And the final stage?

Scott Mercer: Well, the interesting thing about Deathwing’s armor is that it wasn’t really built to keep things out—he doesn’t have to worry about weapons like swords and arrows. Instead it was built to keep things in. His body is this incredibly volatile mixture of corruptive energy and burning magma, so without his armor to hold it all together, he starts to lose it and come apart in all kinds of crazy ways. The final stage of the raid begins when Deathwing’s deformed body rises out of the Maelstrom to face off against the players in the final showdown. I won’t go into too much detail about this final stage, but I will say that it’s going to be unbelievably epic. Even in his weakened state, Deathwing still presents a major threat, and bringing him down will require the combined efforts of the players, Thrall, and even the other Dragon Aspects.
Insider: What difficulties did you encounter while designing the Deathwing battle?

Scott Mercer: It took a lot of new technologies to set up the fight on Deathwing’s back. The artists in particular focused on selling the fantasy that you’re grappling with a giant dragon midflight. We’ve never done anything quite like that before. Overall, setting the right scope for an encounter like Deathwing required a lot of development disciplines working together—artists, coders, encounter designers, level designers, and animators. We built corrupted Deathwing as a giant set piece with a lot of moving parts—probably our most complicated character model to date—but we felt it was necessary to convey the epic scale and do justice to the final boss of Cataclysm.
Insider: Let’s talk loot. What rewards await players who are strong enough to tackle Deathwing the Destroyer?

Scott Mercer: There will be a new tier of armor sets, of course. We’re also adding a new legendary weapon—a pair of daggers for rogues—with a new quest chain involved in obtaining them. The artists and animators are working on a new mount, a drake from the red dragonflight that borrows many visual elements from the Alexstrasza character model. Players can get one version of the new mount as the reward for the meta achievement for completing all other Dragon Soul achievements. There will also be a second, rarer version of the mount, that’s obtainable as a single, guaranteed drop off Heroic corrupted Deathwing.

Every year, the brewmasters from Drohn’s Distillery, T’chali’s Voodoo Brewery, the Barleybrews, and the Thunderbrews celebrate their handiwork with two weeks of fun, frivolity, steins, spirits, and sausages right outside the gates of Ironforge and Orgrimmar. It’s an event that includes many opportunities for characters of all levels to drink together, participate in intoxicating quests, and earn many achievements that are only available during this holiday.

But it’s mainly about the brew!

With so many revelers enjoying the fermented fruits of the harvest—pretzels, cheese, and booze—it’s only a matter of time before the Dark Iron Dwarves from Blackrock Mountain will crash the party. You can team up and drive them back to the Grim Guzzler to earn valuable Brewfest Prize Tokens. If the Dark Iron are already running for the mountains, you can also earn tokens by completing daily keg deliveries, barking runs for the brewers, and other quests that you can drink your way through. After a few too many, you might even spot a pink elekk or wild wolpertinger.

This is also the only time of the year that groups of players can track down and fight the mug-wielding boss Coren Direbrew in Blackrock Depths. Coren Direbrew is even more powerful this year than in years past, with a stash of loot that he has spent all year improving and updating, and defeating him is your only chance to win a Swift Brewfest Ram or a Great Brewfest Kodo. Don’t forget, as with any holiday-related boss you can queue up to take him on directly from the Dungeon Finder.

Don’t forget to join Gelbin Mekkatorque or Vol’jin at the stand in the Brewfest grounds at 6:15 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. every day during Brewfest, for the tapping of the keg. They’ll get your day or night started right with a buff that grants 10% extra experience from your kills for two hours.

World of Warcraft patch 4.3 will offer players the opportunity to take the fight to Wyrmrest Temple and beyond, assisting Thrall and the Dragon Aspects as they seek to bring an end to the Black Dragonflight once and for all. 10- and 25-person raids will get to take on Deathwing himself, with three levels of difficulty to consider and epic gear to claim.

Forged by Deathwing during the War of the Ancients, the Dragon Soul harnessed the power of the other dragonflights, until it was ultimately destroyed. After recovering a version of the artifact from the Caverns of Time, Thrall and the allied dragonflights now rally at Wyrmrest Temple in a desperate bid to use its might to defeat Deathwing.

Created by the titans as a sanctuary for all Dragonkind, the crumbling Wyrmrest Temple is now the final hope for the forces allied against the black dragon Neltharion, once the Earth-Warder and protector of Azeroth, now Deathwing the Destroyer. It is here that the remaining aspects—Alexstrasza, Ysera, Nozdormu, Kalecgos, and Thrall—have gathered to empower the Dragon Soul—Azeroth’s last chance to stop the great behemoth. As they begin to charge the Dragon Soul with energy, Deathwing and his entire army assault Wyrmrest Temple. Players must thwart the attacking forces long enough for Thrall to charge the Dragon Soul.

Before you face Deathwing the Destroyer, you must prevail against six mighty bosses.

The most powerful elemental still under Deathwing’s sway, Morchok—once a passive guardian—is now convinced that his only respite will come with Azeroth’s demise. Morchok rages against the foundation of Wyrmrest Temple, Azeroth’s last beacon of hope in the Hour of Twilight.

Countless ages ago, Warlord Zon’ozz and his soldiers waged endless war against the forces of C’Thun and Yogg-Saron. Millennia have passed, but the warlord still serves the chaotic might of the Old God N’Zoth. Deathwing has now unleashed this legendary faceless one to crush the defenders of Wyrmrest Temple.

More an abomination of dark energy than a dragon, Ultraxion has spent his short life absorbing the essence of captured nether dragons. Ultraxion is the only twilight dragon Deathwing has praised, and his arrogance is overshadowed only by the crackling energies surging through his twisted form. Loyal to his master, Ultraxion swears to bring about the fall of Wyrmrest Temple.

Your assault on the massive Deathwing will begin a battle unlike any other. It is a fight so wide-ranging and intense that it comprises two unique encounters, taking place across Azeroth. Taking to the skies, players will parachute from soaring gunships to attack the monster mid-flight and attempt to weaken him by ripping away his armor, exposing the molten flesh beneath. Should they succeed, they will plunge into the depths of Maelstrom for the final encounter.