What did you think of BlizzConline?

I don’t think any BlizzCon experience with three Diablo games in development is designed for me to do anything but love it as intensely and violently as a thousand exploding suns. So for me, this month’s BlizzConline is an unmitigated success, and a very exciting one too. While there are certain disappointments to be faced in an entirely online convention — no getting to meet any of you this time, for example — as far as a completely online experience goes, this was pretty sweet.

The Diablo D&D game with the folks from Critical Role, Darin DePaul’s masterful hosting, the typical excellent nerdery of so many people on panels — one of the things I love most about BlizzCon is seeing people who are not polished, poised professional speakers but instead passionate designers and players of the games they make excited to share what they’re working on.

Of course, nothing is ever perfect. As a World of Warcraft player, we’re in the period during an expansion where there’s still a lot of game left to go and we don’t know how it is going to end, and as much as I enjoyed getting to interview Steve Danuser for Lore Watch alongside my magnificent co-host Joe Perez, I knew he wasn’t going to tell me what’s up with Anduin or the Jailer yet, much less what’s going to happen to Sylvanas in the upcoming raid. I want more news than I knew I could get, and that’s always frustrating.  But it would have been a touch frustrating even if I’d been there at the con, so I can’t fault the online nature of the con for my ludicrous desire to know everything up front.

But how did you feel about it? Were you just too disappointed that you didn’t get to see your friends or hang out at the Hilton all night? Or were you relieved that the crowds weren’t a factor and you didn’t have to worry about exposure to a global pandemic to attend? Did you wish there was more about Rock N Roll Racing besides the Blizzard Arcade or were you just happy that Blackthorne got mentioned? What do you think about this year’s BlizzConline experience?