DiabloFans

I'd pay $175 to play a Diablo III demo ALONE. But I'd also like to sit on some panels and watch some SC2 matches. I think $175 is reasonable price for what you get. If the $25 increase happens every year, then yes, they will become overpriced.

Paid $300/ticket last year on ebay. Total trip cost about $1000/person. Was it worth it? If you have $1000 to spend hell yea. For that cost I don't think I'll go again, but everybody should try to make it once.

I agree with AcidReign, as it stands $175 is reasonable but it something special and new had better peak its head this year if they are going to keep upping the price annually.

Either way flights from Australia make this a tad of an expensive journey so I'll be streaming online.

Quote from Eldius

Blizzcon tickets are more expensive than Comic-Con tickets...there is something truly wrong with that.

Well at Comic-Con, the people have to pay to set up booths, so the 'weight' of the cost to put on the event isn't entirely on the customer. At BlizzCon, tickets and the gift store are really the only way Blizzard makes back any of their money. That being said, you do bring up a legitimate point.

From what I believe I heard, I think they are opening more of the convention center to fit in more guests and exhibits. Titan might finally be unveiled, but what I'm really hoping and planning to see is an official Diablo III release date announcement, as well as an area of the show floor to play the console versions of Diablo III.

Not that I would choose to play D3 on consoles anyways, but Blizzard is a business, afterall, and seeing more people be converted to Diablo fans would be nice. Maybe the console and PC crowd could grow and surpass the WoW community.

IMO what you receive for $175 is fair and decently priced. Blizzcon is an exclusive event, and everything at blizzcon will end up on the web eventually. Its basically the same cost as a years worth of WoW game time. I personally cannot afford this being a college student and having a (hardly) part time job, but compared to other events/trips a person can take, it is not very expensive.

have any of you been to another convention with blizzards standards? i end up paying $300-1000 a day for that kind of stuff usually. Blizzcon is underpriced!

Unfortunately, it's just a matter of time before it show up on YouTube. I did a quick search of Blizzcon 2010 Diablo 3, and poof, there was a tonne of vids from there.
No, you don't get to play demos, and no, you don't get the grab bags, but you save $$$ in the long run.

It's simply not plausible to take everyones' camera phones and such to prevent recordings.

For 2 days meeting other Diablo fans and sharing the experience of the demo, plus all the panels and shows I would say it is money well spent for those attending in the flesh.
Last year I bought a Virtual Ticket for 30 bucks and have to say it was worth every cent.

This year I will be doing the same.

Oh and one last thing, you get to watch the video stream in HD quality ,,,, LIVE!

Quote from Daemaro

If you can somehow manage to GET a ticket before people buy them and put them on ebay (:P) It's mostly the travel and hotel that kills you, if you don't live close.

I personally would rather just buy and watch the live stream. The flight and hotel I couldn't afford.

Same here. I have 0 money for travel.

Blizzcon is awesome and if you can afford to throw down money to travel there you should go for it. I think last year my total cost for everything including tickets, plane tickets, rental car and hotel was a little over $800 per person. Then I had finals fall on that weekend and had to cancel. They should just hold Blizzcon in early august, don't know why it has to be in october. Anyways, if you are a blizzard fan and have someone to go with it can be a hell of a lot of fun. Just don't go looking to score some pooty tang.

It's nothing compared to travel costs. A good concert costs the same, but that's just one night of fun. Blizzcon gives you two nights and two days. The only reason I haven't gone is the travel costs. If I just had to pay $175 I would definitely try to get tickets, but the other $1000 or whatever for travel is just too high. Also when I want to take a vacation I like to get away from the city and just relax. I'd be so excited at Blizzcon I wouldn't get any sleep. I would come back home more tired than when I left.


Edit: Another thing...
On the other hand, the online pay per view thing is a complete rip off. Someone inevitably records everything and posts it on Youtube in high definition, all free to view. I could see maybe $10 for access, but with all the problems I don't see how someone would pay for that. Last Blizzcon the HD mode didn't even work for most people. People that paid money for HD had to watch low res because of the bugs. There were also lag issues, hiccups and timing issues.

They even hyped up this big SC2 showmatch between Boxer (former Brood War champion) and FruitDealer (then SC2 world champion), but it never got shown on the live stream due to some error. I only watched the free stuff, which was the opening ceremony, some of the WC3 tournament, WoW tournament, and the showmatch (which was never shown due to bugs).

All over the forums paid viewers were having the exact same issues as me. I was really glad I didn't spend any money on that and just watched everything on Youtube. That's another thing. You could only watch the videos on demand for that weekend. After that, they were removed so even people who paid couldn't watch if they were busy that weekend or something. Youtube on the other hand you can still view everything today with no problems. /end rant

Just because the "Ticket price doesn't matter compared to travel and other costs" doesn't mean they are not overpriced. I really find hard to believe they don't profit from Blizzcon. It's ok for them to profit, nothing against that, I just don't like cheap lies just to excuse their prices.

I think the ticket price itself is fair enough, most of the concerts i've been too, the ticket price is about that, and all im doing is standing there and rocking out, whereas in blizzcon you would be doing all this extra cool stuff for hours hehe. Big hitter would be travel/accomidation, but in the same regards it'd cost me a tad more for flights being in australia than in the national flight in the US

There needs to be an option for too cheap.

Tickets sell for around $300 on ebay, so the price doesn't match demand. Most people that reach checkout buy the maximum number of tickets because even if they can't use them all, they know they call sell them for a profit.

Quote from Eso

There needs to be an option for too cheap.

Tickets sell for around $300 on ebay, so the price doesn't match demand. Most people that reach checkout buy the maximum number of tickets because even if they can't use them all, they know they call sell them for a profit.

Well I figured that if you thought they were too cheap, that also means they are reasonable for what you get. Or well I guess more than reasonable.

I won't feel any remorse scamming these people but maybe that's just because I'm a bad person.
I'm on the job right now actually.
Ah...nothing like feasting on the profits from swindling desperate, befuddled maggots. It is both satisfying and an excellent source of easy income.
I encourage everybody to do it at least once.

Quote from Don_guillotine

The problem is -- as others have said -- that the flights and hotels from here (North Europe) would cost $1,500-$2,000/person by minimum, which is far too steep for me.

Likewise. If Curse were to fund the rest of my trip I'd happily pay the 175 though

Seeing as I haven't been to Blizzcon I find it hard to value whether 175 is overpriced or not, though I suppose I would find it worth my money at least once just for the sake of the experience.

Quote from f1reburn

Somewhere I read/heard that Blizzard was losing money on Blizzcon. I can imagine things like security costs must be huge. So in my eyes the price is justified, especially considering the demand. If I lived in Anaheim I still wouldn't purchase a ticket.

They have said that, and I don't expect this year to be different, even withthe raised prices. Marketing costs