A couple of days ago I wrote a news item about how Blizzard Entertainment plans on implementing achievements in World of Warcraft. Well this is just the first phase in a larger plan. According to Blizzard, they plan on implementing achievements into all their upcoming titles. Apparently, there will be a Blizzard Level system which totals your achievements to a single Blizzard account.
Jeff Kaplan, World of Warcraft designer, said: “Your ‘WoW’ score would be just one factor that will go into your Blizzard Level. And rather than call it a ’score,’ we just wanted it to be like you’re leveling up on Blizzard games… You’ll have this Blizzard identity, and you’ll be able to see things like ‘Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW. That sort of thing.”
This is a great idea. The only issue I have with it is that Blizzard’s games are already addictive. Now with achievements I think they surpass cigarettes and are on par with heroin.
Last week, Blizzard Entertainment launched a new site with some pretty radical changes, namely the introduction of a digital download store. For the first time, gamers can purchase digital copies of Warcraft III, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and StarCraft Anthology. More games (Diablo) are promised to be added later on.
Today Blizzard Entertainment announced that they will be hosting a series of tournaments using the Arena system in World of Warcraft. Competitors will come from Europe, South Korea, North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau and will have to pay a $20.00 entry fee.
