World of Warcraft will leave a staple of this year’s BlizzCon, breaking with convention tradition for the first time in history.
World of Warcraft dropped its biggest attraction at this year’s BlizzCon, breaking with event tradition for the first time in history.
For the first time in more than 15 years, World of Warcraft will not have a live Q&A at BlizzCon. (Photo: BlizzCon)
Although they plan to hold a Q&A after the convention, World of Warcraft is breaking tradition in a major way by not holding a live Q&A at BlizzCon this year. Every year since the third convention in 2008, World of Warcraft has had a live Q&A session during BlizzCon. Over the years, this section has brought players some memorable moments and legendary moments, such as Ian “The Red Shirt” Bates’ legendary question that has been immortalized in World itself. of Warcraft.
However, this year World of Warcraft will not hold a Q&A session at BlizzCon. Instead, players will be able to submit questions directly during BlizzCon or on the forums, starting November 3. At a later date, World of Warcraft will share videos answering some of these questions, but the video will not stream live before. It didn’t give a timeframe on when to expect this video, but players will find out more once Blizzard reveals what’s next for its franchise at BlizzCon.
There could be many reasons why World of Warcraft made this decision. All of Blizzard’s Q&A segments have been scrutinized, but many believe this measure may have been pre-emptive damage control, as this was the first live Q&A of BlizzCon since sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits surfaced several years ago. Furthermore, their final World of Warcraft Q&A panel during BlizzCon in 2019 was interrupted by a protester on behalf of Hong Kong, so they are almost certainly looking to avoid similar scandals surrounding surrounding the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East at this time.
Instead of online answers, gamers will now send questions to the developer to compile. (Photo: Twitter)
Fans were understandably disappointed to learn that World of Warcraft won’t be doing a live Q&A. Some believe it could be a sign that Blizzard is hesitant to engage directly with its audience after the sweeping changes Blizzard went through between being acquired by Microsoft and the general restructuring. Many also believe that the questions Blizzard chooses to answer in the upcoming Q&A video will be ‘boring’ questions, instead of questions they want answered.
However, Warcraft still has a lot to show off at this year’s BlizzCon. A new expansion will likely be announced there, as well as anything coming soon for Classic WoW, not to mention exciting news from Hearthstone and the launch of Warcraft Rumble. Even without the Q&A, fans of the Warcraft series won’t want to miss BlizzCon 2023.
