Project Lore

[caption id="attachment_5290" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I Love Clutter, But Not At $5 Per Ball"][/caption] Don't worry if you weren't lucky enough to score BlizzCon tickets, or you were lucky enough to trick someone into giving your Press Passes, because the store isn't all that impressive.  Actually, in my opinion it's a bit of a disappointment.  The BlizzCon 2009 section contains just five pages, forty products, to chose from. I, like pixiestixy, was incredibly excited when I heard that Blizzard would be offering attendees a chance to purchase the company's branded goodies outside the show.  Not only does it allow us to avoid lengthy lines and enjoy the festivities to the utmost, but, and this was the clincher for me, there's no need to worry about becoming a pack mule the rest of the day.  Or needing to bring an extra suitcase for all the stuff your friends make you buy.  Nope, we just buy our goods via the intertubes and forget about needing the extra cash at the show.  Look at that, Blizzard is even helping us budget our disposable (to them) income!  Too bad the items aren't exactly show stopping. Blizzard's attempt at smoothing the purchases process is not lost upon me.  It is appreciated, but I'm a bit upset as to what is offered in the "exclusive" store.  It's "exclusive" because a large portion of the goodies are actually available to the general consumer, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King for instance, already (or have been) on the Blizzard store or are leftover treats from last year.  Bubble Hearth Beach Balls, Inflatable Frostmournes, and gaming mice can make fine purchases, but the store was touted as a bonus for attendees, not a 2008 flea market or eBay replacement. As I mentioned, the idea was not lost upon me, and it is by no means all bad.  After all, the items that are new (I have no idea exactly how many are new) don't encompass everything that will be on sale at the show proper.  The offerings are just a "selection".  But in terms of serving customers, it's a pretty poor storefront.  Short, useless descriptions (what does the StarCraft 2 puzzle look like finished?) and the inability to filter the goods in a reasonable fashion caused me to close my wallet sooner than I expected. Of course that was after I purchased the stupid puzzle (need more wall ornaments), a plushie, magnet and two posters anyways.  Now I have to think about how much more I'll drop on the non-selected goods.  God I am such a sucker.  At least the lines should be shorter. What did you pick up, and how was your shopping experience?  Where you underwhelmed by the selection of goods as well, or did you expect numerous repeats?

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Blizzard's got excitement coming at us from all angles this week. First, we got Patch 3.2 much sooner than many expected (although Heartborne let us all know his suspicions before the fact). And starting today, we get a short preview of sorts of BlizzCon through a special pre-sale of convention goodies. Blizz sent out this message to ticket holders Monday:

Heading to BlizzCon 2009? Planning to purchase some souvenirs at the show? We wanted to send you one last reminder that for the first time ever, you'll be able to shop for items from the BlizzCon 2009 store BEFORE the event during our limited-time-only, online BlizzCon 48-Hour Sale!

• Between 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on August 5 and 10:00 a.m. on August 7, log in to the online Blizzard Store (www.blizzard.com/store) using the Battle.net account you used to purchase your BlizzCon 2009 tickets.
• Click the special "BlizzCon Sale" button in the lower-right corner of your screen.
• Browse new BlizzCon 2009 items created especially for attendees, add them to your cart, and then proceed to check out.
• Items will be shipped directly to your home.
• Enjoy the show!

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