Project Lore

As of this writing we are just a scant few minutes away from the doors opening and 50,000+ people descending on all that is Blizzard. The crowds are in a fervor thanks to battle cries of "for the Horde" and "for the Alliance" ringing out every few minutes. Costumes are in play and things are about to get absolutely insane. Here's a few pictures from Day 0 and earlier this morning. Here's the insane line that stretched to the next city block.  This was to pick-up the official lanyards and SWAG bags, not to get in the show! We Just Found The End Waiting...and waiting Here's the insane line that stretched to the next city block.  This was to pick-up the official lanyards and SWAG bags, not to get in the show!

The official SWAG bag.  The highlight for most is the action figure, and Grunty vanity pet key (not pictured).  There's also an included Authenticator, which is nice for those who don't already own one. iTZKooPA With (some of) The Guild My friends and I got to meet the whole cast of The Guild (should have an interview with them later).  They are all incredibly friendly and approachable people. iTZKooPA With The Money Makers Funny story here.  I recognized Metzen from a mile away, but it took me a second to realize who he was chatting with, Mike Morhaime.  None other than the company's president.  The hilarity came in after we took the picture.  People began to realize who Metzen was, but no one else asked Morhaime to be a part of their still.  I thought one group even asked him to take their picture with Metzen! Inside Line Higher Up Inside Line Here is the crowd inside the convention center before the doors opened.  There was also a substantial line outside at this time. I stole SOOO Much OJ From Here The hush-hush super secret press room.  They treat us much better, seating and technologywise, than at E3. Okay, it's time to go find a seat for the opening ceremonies.  I'll do my best to do some blogging via Twitter, so @iTZKooPA if you want my 140 character up to the minute thoughts.

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The Line As We Approach Launch

I pulled up to Gamestop last night just after 10:15 PM to see about fifteen people milling around outside the store.  After fumbling with my bikelock in the 46 degree weather for a few minutes, I finally joined the crowd and jumped in on my first discussion, QQing about Retribution Paladins and how badly they need to be nerfed.  Not that anyone would care two hours from now, when they are home and installing Wrath of the Lich King. The kind employees at Gamestop invited all the fans in while they began processing last minute transactions.  Thankfully, the Philadelphia midnight launch did not have any credit card problems.  After the first batch of purchasers completed their transactions and the murmurs grew louder, I loudly introduced myself to grab their attention for a highly unscientific poll.  “Who thinks the servers will be playable in the next 24 hours?!” I asked. A few hands went up, but the general consensus was that lag, stability and over population (queues) would cause issues for many players.  A few players told me that this thinking was exactly the reason they decided to attend the midnight release.  They figured they would have the servers to themselves for a handful of uninterrupted, non-laggy hours to get ahead of the curve.  As of press, my server (an original server) is still fine, although there are reports of trouble out there. After we had warmed up and purchased our copies, the kindly employees threw us out into the cold again (“Line up outside if you want to get Wrath”).  As the line grew, passersby asked us what the hell we were in line for.  Being the angst-filled, impatient, basement-dwelling gamers that we are, we made stuff up.  Halo 4, Gears of War 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, free STD tests, and a few others that I can't print.  I also heard a few other items of pure gold while in the chilly air:

• Question: “What do you call a gnome escaping from Alcatraz?  A small medium at large.” (Player)
• “Aren't you too old to be waiting in line for a video game?” (An old lady after I told her what we were in line for while taking the picture).
• “All right you little warlords, up against the wall if you want the game.” (The cop helping out with crowd control).

These fellows demanded that they be put on the interwebs since they were in the front. Thanks to Patrick Mulhern for the pics!

The line ended up extended well around the corner by 11:30 PM, with every copy the store received reserved and paid in full.  By 12:30 the line had been cut in half, with the second purchaser sprinting out of the store, game in hand, as he shouted something like 'I'll be the first to 80, bitches!'  He was running so fast that I couldn't hear him clearly.  Needless to say, he was excited.  By 1:00 AM the line was gone, but the employees were still cleaning up in the store.  Sorry guys. How did your midnight releases go?  We didn't have a single cosplayer!

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