How do you feel about the stripped-down schedule at BlizzCon this year?

BlizzCon 2023 is this week and the schedule has been released and while there’s a lot of interesting stuff being broadcast there’s also a lot missing. With all of the major panels being held in the BlizzCon Arena — and that being the only stage broadcast to those not attending — it makes sense that only the important events would be featured, but is it really BlizzCon without the smaller panels?

My favorite memory of BlizzCon — moreso than any expansion or new game announcement — was the voice actor reenactment of the Reckoning cinematic. Patty Mattson screaming “you are ALL NOTHING!” still gives me chills. The voice actors are always some of the best moments; every now and then I like to listen to Laura Bailey perform her version of the Daughter of the Sea and yes, more chills.

The voice actors aren’t the only people we’re not going to have a chance to spend time with this year. Art, animation, and music are all taking this Blizzcon off, except for maybe exhibits only on the convention floor. We’re also not going to have some of the quirkier panels that BlizzConline had like clay modeling and cooking. While those were likely a one-off due to the pandemic, it would’ve been nice to see events like that enter the regular rotation.

And then there are the Q&As, which while not always the best event did produce some memorable moments that Blizz likely would prefer to forget — it seems that for every fun Red Shirt Guy moment we have a dozen negative ones. These are gone and while I won’t particularly miss them, I do know people in the community enjoyed watching and participating in them.

Granted the smaller footprint of the show may be a side effect of the fact that it’s been four years since the last BlizzCon, and the Microsoft sale that’s been pending for most of the past year may have forced the team to plan smaller. In addition, some of the missing elements could be incorporated in the larger panels — Diablo 4 will have a prepared Q&A as part of their Campfire Chat. But still, hopefully this is not the new normal and BlizzCon 2024 will resemble BlizzCons of years past.

What do you think? Are you ok with just the major panels being broadcast? Will you miss being able to watch the smaller panels? And what was your favorite one of those?