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Who: Blizzard Entertainment Developers
Greg Street – Lead Systems Designer
Ion Hazzikostas – Lead Encounter Designer
Cory Stockton – Lead Content Designer
Dave Kosak – Lead Quest Designer
Bios below!
What: Live Developer Chat. Text-based. All questions are moderated and answered in a queued format.
This chat interface utilizes Java so make sure you are up to date prior to chat: http://java.com/getjava
Where: Here! Best Buy Unboxed. We will update the link below to direct you to the chat when it goes live.
http://bbyurl.us/MistsofPandariaChat <-- Click to view transcript!
When: Tuesday, September 18th at 6 PM CST
Pre-order World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria NOW on BestBuy.com
Developer Biographies
Cory Stockton
Lead Content Designer
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
As Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.'s lead content designer for World of Warcraft®, Cory Stockton is responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of all exterior zones, dungeons, Battlegrounds, Arenas, and cities. He is also involved with many other aspects of the game, such as dungeon scripting and the Pet Battle System.
Stockton started at Blizzard Entertainment® in June 2005 as lead dungeon designer before transitioning to his current role. Prior to his arrival, he was a lead designer on the Ratchet & Clank series and also contributed extensively to the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver series.
In his spare time, Stockton plays games extensively, and enjoys collecting classic consoles and games. He holds an associate's degree in computer animation from the Art Institute of Phoenix.
Dave Kosak
Lead Quest Designer
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
As Blizzard Entertainment's lead quest designer for World of Warcraft®, Dave Kosak oversees the development of all quest content for the game and its expansions, as well as contributing to the overall fiction of the game world.
Prior to joining Blizzard Entertainment, Kosak was a co-founder and original creative director of GameSpy.
Greg Street
Lead Systems Designer
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
As the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft®, Greg Street is one of the two lead designers on the team that reports to the Game Director. He leads a team that is in charge of World of Warcraft class, item and tradeskill design. He and his team also design the user interface for the game and handle all of the various combat calculations and number tuning.
Ion Hazzikostas
Lead Encounter Designer
Blizzard Entertainment
As lead encounter designer on the World of Warcraft® team, Ion Hazzikostas’s primary responsibility is overseeing the creation of the game’s dungeon and raid content.
Hazzikostas joined Blizzard Entertainment in the summer of 2008 as a game designer, and his responsibilities have included raid boss design and implementation, class design and balancing, and maintaining the World of Warcraft achievement system. Prior to arriving at Blizzard, he worked as an attorney at a law firm in Washington, DC.
In his spare time, Hazzikostas enjoys exploring Southern California in search of craft beer. Having grown up in New York City, he is a lifelong Yankees fan.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Synopsis
After the Horde and Alliance battled at the epicenter of the Cataclysm in the last chapter of the World of Warcraft saga, one single discovery sent shockwaves throughout the entire world of Azeroth and forever changed the landscape of the epic, unfolding war. Shrouded in mist, untainted by war and harboring powerful secrets that the world had forgotten, the continent of Pandaria spent millennia completely unknown to the members of the warring Horde and Alliance. But all of that is about to change. Like it or not, the Pandarens are about to be dragged into the World of Warcraft, where they just may alter the path of fate forever.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria deports you to a mysterious new land rich with a lush ecosystem, strange creatures and an enigmatic new race, the Pandarens. For the first time ever in a World of Warcraft adventure, you have the opportunity to play as a member of the neutral race — and ultimately decide whether these new people will join the ranks of the Alliance or the Horde. Just as tensions between the two warring factions are reaching a breaking point, the Pandarens can make or break the battle for one of the armies, with the keys to hidden secrets that could change all of Azeroth. Within the new race, discover the powerful Monk playing class, one with incredible martial arts skills and the abilities to act as a damage dealer, healer or tank during battle. Reach new heights in the realm of Azeroth as you advance to the all-new level cap of 90, and unleash potent new spells and abilities, explore uncharted zones such as the lush Jade Forest and treacherous Kun-Lai Summit and take on challenging new content. Step up the MMORPG action in new modes, including a five-player Dungeon timed challenge, tactical Pet Battles and a flexible new type of PvE challenge that allows you to work with friends to achieve goals in tandem. The secrets to new success and power are within your grasp — if you can cut through the Mists.FEATURES
- Cut through the fog of mystery surrounding the long-lost, recently rediscovered continent of Pandaria in the fourth expansion to the award-winning MMORPGWorld of Warcraft
- Unlock world-changing secrets that have been hiding in the mists for millennia, just as tensions between the Alliance and the Horde escalate to a breaking point
- Explore the lush Jade Forest, treacherous Kun-Lai Summit and other exotic areas of Pandaria, and meet the enigmatic, native Pandaren race, originally seen only in Blizzard's Warcraft III
- Decide for yourself whether WOW's first-ever neutral race sides with the Alliance or the Horde, as you venture through Azeroth as a Pandaren
- Harness the powers of the all-new player class, the Monk, to unlock the secrets of Pandaren martial arts and engage in battle as a damage dealer, healer or tank
- Advance to an all-new playing cap of 90 to access potent new spells, abilities, uncharted zones and challenging content
- Customize your character to suit your personal playing style with the newly overhauled and improved talent system
- Team up with allies to mount a defense against invading monsters and achieve other common goals with a flexible new type of PvE challenge
- Race against the clock and master your coordination skills in the five-player time trial of the new Dungeon challenge mode, and earn prestige rewards for coming out on top
- Prove that your companion pets are the kings and queens of the pint-sized battlefield by challenging other players to tactical Pet Battles
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes fourteen #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.
Midnight Openings
Select Best Buy stores will be hosting midnight openings on 9/25/12 giving you the opportunity to be among the first to dive into World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. To find out which stores will be opening at 12:01 a.m. visit BestBuy.com/GamingEvents
