#250 - July 31, 2008, 6:10 p.m.
Q u o t e:
I wouldn't mind shelling out a few hundred dollars to to to Blizzcon... In fact, I'd do it gladly. But to cross from the east coast to CA, paying for flight, hotels, ticket costs (all in expensive California format on top of that) Is just not something I can afford to do.
Why cant there be some kind of big event held on the east coast? Not all of your playerbase has massive amounts of disposable income (and yes, I know there s no convention center in the world large enough to hold us all), but we would all appreciate a chance to be able to take part in such a major event. On top of not being able to be there for the experience, the announcements, and the general atmosphere, even if we pay for tickets, we aren't entitled to get the prizes (special in game items and beta keys??) that attendees can get.
Give those on the east coast who cant afford to spend thousands of dollars in travel fees a chance to have some fun for once, would ya? :(
As someone who originally came from the east coast (suburbs of New York), I wholeheartedly agree with your desire to see a Blizzard event on the east coast. When discussing locations for BlizzCon, this is a topic that comes up frequently, and we ourselves would love to hold an event that is closer to our east coast audience. Ultimately, the determination comes down to, "how can we hold the highest quality experience that we can provide to our gamers."
What may not be obvious to players is that the entire Irvine office is mobilized for BlizzCon, and we have members of all departments assist in every facet of the event. Support teams, community managers, QA staff all pitch in, and that's the kind of effort we couldn't reproduce if the venue weren't driving distance from our offices.
As community manager, I'm naturally inclined to defend our decisions, but please believe me when I say this decision was made with the best interests of our players in mind.
Who knows, maybe someday we will be discussing a BlizzCon at Javits Center. ;)