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Mike Morhaime takes the stage after an introduction that asks show attendees to respect each other and not act like a bunch of tchotchke hungry douche bags.

Mike talks about how awesome Blizzard is, before taking a brief pause to resume talking about how awesome Blizzard is.

He talks about how this years tickets sold out in less than one minute — less time than it takes Ret pallys to storm the forums after a nerf. Read more…

Blizzard has some big plans in store for Warcraft lore lovers. The company has announced their intent to tie Wrath of the Lich King dungeons in with the World of Warcraft lore.

New dungeons will be connected to quests lines in an effort to further embellish the backstory behind Northrend, Arthas, the Titans, and others.

Below are some bulleted highlights from the Dungeons and Raids Panel, followed by detailed boss encounter information, and several clips from the panel itself. Read more…

Any World of Warcraft player that has ever tried to carefully hurdle a pesky stream with their land mount, only to miss, get dismounted, and have to mount back up again, will be happy to know that Blizzard has heard your frustrated cry for help.

We just got word that the first patch to be released, after the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, will allow mounts to swim beneath you as you make your way through water.

Day one of BlizzCon 08 wrapped up with a dance contest hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, and while there were no shortage of contestants, the gentleman below was our hands-down favorite “funny” dancer of the night.

Anyone who has seen the SNL Chippendales skit featuring Patrick Swayze and the late Chris Farley will really appreciate the moves and music exhibited during the clips opening routine. However, those who play the World of Warcraft game know the dance better as that of the Boomkin.

If funny is not your cup of tea, hang around for the final dance. Jamie and her “undead female” routine will have you wishing for a gaming geek themed strip club. Hit the jump. Read more…

BlizzCon 08 had no shortage of special guest appearances. In addition to the truck loads of draenei and night elves, the outskirts of the event are being patrolled by none other than Thrall.

Check out the mighty Horde Warchief in action after the jump. Read more…

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Druids in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Mages in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Priests in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

Word from BlizzCon 08 is that the new StarCraft II single player game is being split into three separate campaigns. According to Blizzard, the game was becoming so large that they felt it would be best to split it into three separate products — each with their own respective ending.

Each of the products is listed out below followed up by its focus. Read more…

Blizzard talks about the changes made to Hunters in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft.

The Ripten BlizzCon 08 team got their hands on Diablo 3 not long ago, and spent a decent chunk of time checking out the new Wizard class.

One of the first things that they dove into was the talent tree. It should probably be noted that video cameras and photographs were strictly prohibited for both Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Just like WOW, there are 3 areas to spec into.

Hit the jump for a brief overview of the Wizard tree. Read more…

The Ripten BlizzCon 08 team wrapped up the Class Discussion panel and shot me over the following highlights broken down by class. By far, the most interesting piece of news that came out of the panel would have to be the announcement of duel specs.

Hit the jump for a full list and make sure to check back later for video footage of each class discussed in the panel. Read more…

Blizzard wasted no time in updating their official site with a brand new trailer showcasing the newly announced Diablo III Wizard class. We will be hitting you with some talent tree info on this class shortly, so stay tuned for more of our BlizzCon 08 coverage. In the mean time, hit the jump for the new Wizard trailer. Read more…

Ripten’s official main tank, Robert Hernandez (aka Battlerob), prepares to aggro a giant statue of Illidan on display at BlizzCon 08. Sorry loot whores — it appears that a crafty rogue has already pick pocketed the Warglaves.

Find out exactly what Blizzard has crammed into this years BlizzCon 08 swag bag, as Ripten’s Donne Ingalls gives you a first hand account of all the goodies inside.

Highlights include a “bind on equip” Blizzard Authenticator to protect your account, trading cards, a Paladin bubble, Horde mask, QQ tissue box, and a Blizzard branded beer can sleeve for the drunken dwarf in us all.

Hit the jump for a virtual rummage through a mountain of swag. Read more…

BlizzCon 08’s opening ceremony revealed the third of five Diablo 3 classes — the Wizard. Get a first glimpse of the sultry female as she hurls lighting, fire, and icy gobs of destruction at her would be enemies. Read more…

Ripten is so prepared!

Our swag is in hand, and we just got done watching the opening ceremonies here at the Anaheim Convention Center. The game plan was to live blog it all, but it was essentially over before we knew it.

The BlizzCon 08 opening ceremony was short, and to the point. A Diablo 3 Wizard class was revealed, and a brief demonstration was given. Lightning bolts took over the stage, and the crowd erupted with an overwhelmingly positive response.

“A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow.”

Blizzard founder, Michael Morhaime, closed out the ceremony by instructing everyone to “have fun”, and we plan to do just that. Step into our consecration and hang out for a while. We’ll be bringing you news as it happens throughout the day.

Blizzcon 08 is about to open its doors to the world, and that has many of us discussing our favorite MMO moments, both in game and out. A hands-down personal favorite of mine is the World of Warcraft South Park episode from 2006.

In the event you’ve been strapped to a pipe in a strange basement for the past two years, broke free, stumbled onto a Blizzcon 08 ticket, and decided to go, you may have missed the following South Park episode. Everyone else has no excuse, but you’re free to watch it anyway.

Hit the jump for the classic South Park World of Warcraft episode, and witness Cartman stack sunder armor as only he can. Read more…

Blizzard fans have zerg-rushed the Blizzard website into submission over tickets to BlizzCon 08, so Blizzard has come up with a solution to sell the tickets in waves.

Did you ever play “Red light / Green light” as a kid, where you can only run forward when the “it” person says go? Seems that’s the game Blizzard is playing with its BlizzCon 08 registration. Read more…

Many BlizzFans mounted up and rode towards the portal that is Blizzard’s BlizzCon 08 ticket purchase page yesterday only to be turned away. After what one can only assume were several attempts to resolve the issue, Blizzard eventually pulled the site offline and issued the following statement: Read more…