Blizzcon 2008 Questions

I admit I have a few questions. I've read all about the fact that there will be a Blizzcon this year (in October). Tickets, as far as I know, are not yet available for the event. However, it does raise some interesting questions for me.

Blizzcon has traditionally been used as a public relations event to announce new games and expansions. The timing of this event seems to be off, though. Vivendi (the parent company of Blizzard) expects that the second WoW expansion will be released "in the second half of 2008." If that expectation is true, we would presumably already have a release date by the time of Blizzcon 2008.

With the announcement of the date of Blizzcon, I don't think anyone expects to have WotLK before October 10. We also don't expect the date of release to be a big announcement at Blizzcon. If Blizzard will make the projected release of WotLK, that release date must already have been released.

So what will Blizzard announce?

One possibility is a Starcraft II update or release date. Development is still continuing on on that title. Another possibility is Diablo III. Blizzard acquired the diablo3.com domain name from a fan site. While the acquisition of this domain does not ensure the eventual release of Diablo III, I fully expect Blizzard to return to the Diablo world eventually. Another possibility, from what is already known, is that Blizzard also has a non-WoW MMO in planning. What this MMO will be is unknown, but part of the Blizzcon 2007 attendance pack was a beta key to an unannounced MMO. They could certainly fill us in on some more details of that in October.

So, that's my thoughts on what Blizzcon means. I'm actually thinking trying to go this year. I'll be very excited to get my hands on the loot bag and wonder what kind of Murloc-Themed in game item will be available this year.