BlizzCon 2009

Blizzard's BlizzCon 2009 took place on the 21st and 22nd of August at the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles. See the main BlizzCon article for more information about the event in general.

This convention introduced the Monk character, and the playable build showed off the Act 2 desert areas known as the Borderlands, along with numerous new monsters and character skills.

Diablo III Playable

Diablo 3 was playable at the show, and in addition to the Wizard, Barbarian and Witch Doctor, the Monk was announced and became playable at 12:30pm on Friday, (2.5 hours after the show opened up) once he'd been announced in the Opening Ceremonies presentation.

• Blizzard offered a sneak preview of what fans would see of Diablo 3 at the show, in the form of a short Q&A with Jay Wilson.

Panels

The following Diablo 3 panels took place. See those pages for transcripts, videos, and more details.

Heroes & Monsters

The Heroes and Monsters panel covered the Monk, some recent skill changes to the other three characters, and also spent some time on various aspects of monster development. The official description:

"The hero you play and the monsters you slay take center stage in any Diablo game. Join us for a look at the design process that brings these characters and creatures to life, as well as the mechanics involved in creating epic and memorable battles."

See the panel page for full coverage.

Diablo 3 Art

This panel featured 7 Blizzard art designers, all heads of various departments working on the look and function of Diablo III. Here's the official description:

"From designing characters to creating concept art to placing the building blocks that form the world: Our artists take players on a behind-the-scenes tour of Sanctuary."

See the panel page for full coverage.

Open Question and Answer

This panel was originally scheduled to cover Diablo 3 Lore, but was replaced with an open (audience) Q&A shortly before the show. Here's the original panel description:

"Sit down with our lore masters as they delve into the past, present, and future of the Diablo universe. We’ll recap the story thus far, provide new information on the tale Diablo III will tell, and grant some insight into what’s in store for Sanctuary."

See the panel page for a transcript of the session.

Diablo 3/WoW Press-Only Q&A

Not an official D3 panel, but this hour long, press-only press conference was hosted by Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft developers, and was not streamed live.

• See the wiki article for the transcript.

Interviews and Game Reports

In addition to the three panels, key members of the Diablo 3 team hold dozens of private and semi-private interviews. There is also extensive media coverage of the game, with numerous fan and gaming sites writing up their play experiences. All of the relevant game information revealed by these presentations is incorporated into the relevant pages in this wiki. You may still enjoy following the links to find the original reporting.

Interviews

Jay Wilson joined some of the WoW designers in fielding questions at a press-only D3/WoW open Q and A.

more...

Gameplay Reports

The vast majority of these from Blizzcon 2009 focused on the Monk.

More....

Frequently Asked Questions

Blizzard released a FAQ for BlizzCon 2009.

• View the FAQ

Other Coverage

As with BlizzCon 2008 there will be a huge volume of media coverage. A full list of all good coverage will be found on the Media Coverage page.

Photo Gallery.