Views from the West – A blog about public relations & social media in the Rocky Mountains

Nerd. Geek. Dork. Whatever.

My friend Matt and I have returned from BlizzCon, and it’s safe to say we’re not nearly as nerdy as we thought we were. In fact, we’re not even close. While I will most likely remain the King of Nerd-dom at JohnstonWells (the mere fact that I went to BlizzCon assures that title for the foreseeable future), I am but a lowly peon in the worldwide Kingdom of Nerds.

Proof:

Note: I’m NOT in the video.

Unusual costumes aside, BlizzCon was undeniably cool.  It was a much larger convention than we thought it would be.  It took up three halls in the Anaheim Convention Center, and they sold 15,000 tickets for the event (I’m not sure how many people actually attended).  The place was absolutely packed.

I won’t bore you with the details of all the various things we did at BlizzCon. But here are a couple of interesting WoW-related tidbits:

• During the opening ceremony, Mike Morhaime, the co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said that World of Warcraft’s 11 million subscribers would make it the 75th most populous country in the world (there are 195 countries according to About.com). That’s pretty amazing if you think about it.  A virtual world with 11 million inhabitants. If you’re interested, there is an article today on Eurogamer.net that says analysts are predicting another one million NEW World of Warcraft subscribers within the next year.
• The common perception is that most MMO gamers are teenage boys.  Not true.  I would say most of the people at BlizzCon were older adults (men and woman) in their late-20s to 40s.  I also saw quite a few families…moms, dads, kids…even a grandma or two. Backing-up what I saw is Nick Yee’s data on MMOs.  According to his research, 43 percent of MMO gamers are aged 18-49 and 19 percent are over 50.
• WoW is big business…and I’m not just talking about subscription fees (11 million x $15/mo…you do the math).  One of the longest lines we saw at BlizzCon was for the Jinx store (we’re talking 1-2 hour waits here, btw).  Jinx was selling a collectible Murloc plush – a big hit at BlizzCon – for $40 each.  Thousands of gamers were lined up with cash ready.  I think it sold out each day as well. For the record, I didn’t buy one (not patient enough to wait in line). If you must have one of these cute little fellas, they are going on eBay for about $200.

If you’ve read our two posts on BlizzCon and want to learn more about MMOs and virtual worlds (and honestly, who wouldn’t?), I suggest the following:

• Visit the virtual worlds section on IncredibleInternet.com for more information about Nick Yee and his research.  You can also visit w00t! to watch his new podcast.
• I also recommend visiting Nick Yee’s website for info on his research about MMOs and virtual worlds.
• If you’re dying to learn more about World of Warcraft, check out WorldofWarcraft.com, WowInsider.com or WowWiki.com.
• And finally, visit Massively.com for a great blog about all MMOs.  World of Warcraft is the most popular, but there are hundreds of other ones out there!

So BlizzCon 2008 comes to an end.  I had a great time, already thinking about next year.  Hope to see you all there!  (yeah, right…)

Lesser geek, out.