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Three Reasons Vin Diesel Should Host Blizzcon
I see by my calendar, my various guilds chat, and my @RokkTalk twitter feed that Blizzcon 2015 is just a few days away. I love going to Blizzcon, and I’ve been fortunate enough to attend two of them in the past. It’s a great experience where for two days you get to celebrate Blizzard gaming culture, put real faces to the virtual names you’ve spent so much time with online (and perhaps stalking), and get drunk repeatedly with other socially recluse gamer types. It’s like wrapping yourself in a warm nerd blanket for two days, and that’s quite a bit of all right if I do say so myself.
Now due to poor luck and a poorer wallet, I won’t be able to make it to Blizzcon this year. However, I am definitely hopefully optimistic that I will be making my Blizzcon return next year at Blizzcon 2016 (assuming they have a ‘con next year, and that they have it around the same time of year as Blizzcon 2015).
It’s practically right around the corner!
It’s probably a bit premature to start speculating as far as who might be hosting Blizzcon next year. Good social form suggests that at the very least, we wait for this year’s ‘con to happen before looking ahead to next year. Otherwise it comes across a little like calling dibs on your sick grandmother’s good china before she’s even passed away. It can come off as a little insensitive, is what I’m saying.
With the Warcraft movie being released next summer, there’s going to be plenty of focus on Blizzard Entertainment from the general, non-gaming world and their applicable media. The tangential hope on Blizzard’s part is that people will like the movie, then want to check out the game that the movie is based on. Blizzcon could have quite a few more eyes on it than in previous years. Plus, depending on when they have it, they may have some big things to discuss – expansions, Overwatch, a Warcraft movie sequel.
So it would make sense for Blizzard to get a big name host for such an event. A name with some real star power behind it. A major celebrity, not just like a niche celebrity of geek culture. Outside of Felicia Day, there are only a handful of geek culture types who have both the celebrity stature and the ability not to melt down into a socially awkward pile of nerve goo while standing in front of twenty thousand screaming fans.
That’s why Blizzard needs to sign up Vin Diesel to host Blizzcon 2016.
No, I’m serious. Here’s three reasons that show just how serious.
#3. He Brings Mainstream Attention.
Thanks to the Fast & Furious franchise, Vin Diesel is a needle mover. He’s the kind of A-list celebrity that gets people’s attention no matter what he does. Unlike Kardashian types, he actually does it by working on multi-million dollar movies and earning fans, rather than, uh, whatever these Kardashian things do for attention.
Vin Diesel’s social media muscles are as impressive as his real ones (when he’s not in dad body mode). He’s got about 5 million Facebook followers, and over 12 million followers on Instagram. Compared to the social media numbers that Chris Hardwick and Wil Wheaton have, which are respectable to say the least, Vin Diesel puts up some beast numbers.
Now you take a mainstream celebrity like Vin, and you have him mention this Blizzcon thing once in a while. It’s going to reach more than just the “geek niche” ears. It’s reaching everybody. That kind of promotion is definitely something that I’m sure Blizzard would not shy away from, especially with their movie coming out in June. Blizzcon hype might not help promote the movie (unless Blizzcon hits around the same time the movie does), but the real movie money comes with the DVD sales. And if the movie launches in June, the DVD should be dropping around Blizzcon time. It couldn’t hurt to have Vin post a pic of himself holding a Special Edition Warcraft DVD to his 12 million Instagram followers.
#2. He Can Make Blizzcon Feel Badass.
One of the things that makes a good host is that they are relatable. More often than not, stereotypes exist for a reason. So when you look at guys like Wil Wheaton and Chris Hardwick, and you listen to them talk about their past, you get the feeling that “Oh they’re just like us.” They are geek culture personified, and they’re just the kind of people you expect would be hosting Blizzcon. They are a reflection of what you think of when you think “this guy plays Blizzard Games.”
Dominic Toretto. Richard B. Riddick. Xander Cage. Hell, let’s throw Groot in there too just for good measure. Vin Diesel is known for playing badass characters. Plus, acting aside, the man is built like an Orc. Sounds like one too. Having him host Blizzcon would be like giving it a badass seal of approval. It would reflect not just the geeky aspect of Blizzard entertainment, but the badass side of it – especially with the addition of IP’s like Overwatch, which are less fantasy and more “shoot people in the face”, run-and-gun style.
#1. He Has The Resume.
At first glance, Vin Diesel seems like the absolute last guy who should be hosting a video game convention. A muscle car convention, maybe. He’s an action movie star who has starred in multi-million (and damn near billion) dollar movies. He appears unrelatable to the typical WoW player. In fact, he looks like the kind of jock who would be giving swirlies to gamer geek types back in high school.
But that’s where you’re wrong. You see, Vin Diesel is one of us and has been for quite some time. Much like previous hosts Chris Hardwick and Wil Wheaton, Vin Diesel also has a foot in geek culture. He has discussed in the past, and not-so-distant past, his love of Dungeons and Dragons. Check out this video where he plays D&D with the Nerdist crew.
There’s something about watching a big dude like Vin get his flex on when he lands a critical hit. Something awesome.
Sure, so he can roll the dice. But what’s his gaming cred like? Well, the man just happens to have founded a video game development company, Tigon Studios, that makes video games based around his Riddick movie franchise or his D&D characters.
But what about WoW? Shouldn’t someone who hosts Blizzcon actually know something about the game? I’m sure Jay Mohr would disagree, and he hosted Blizzcon twice. But fear not. Unlike Jay “Did he or didn’t he?” Mohr, Vin Diesel has actually played World of Warcraft. And he did it with Paul Walker.
So yeah, I think he has the resume.
Perhaps you agree with me. Or perhaps you think I should increase my medication dosage. There’s no way I can know this. Let me know in the comments below if you think Vin Diesel might make a good Blizzcon host. If not Vin, then who?
#RokkTalk – WTF Are You Doing
Hello Internet! Here’s a taste of a FAQ that I recently put together. These aren’t necessarily questions that anyone has asked me. It’s more of what I would imagine people would ask me if they were curious.
Or cared.
Or read my blog at all. To the FAQ’s!
What’s the deal with your blog?
The deal is this: I’m a casual player. By that I mean my hours are casual; unless I’ve got some days off I’m not even online. But when I log in I do my damndest to make the most of that time. Leveling, getting gear, making gold, these are things that are considered “my jam”. I will therefore take some time and find information to make me more productive.
World of Warcraft seems to swirl around raiding. There’s plenty of sites out there that will explain how a certain class should function in a raid, where to get the gear for raiding, and how to gem/enchant for raiding. There’s fewer sites that tell you how to make enough gold to pay for repairs. Or how to get a new character up to raiding level.
That’s bullshit. Not everyone plays the game solely to raid.
I’m not the only one looking for answers to these “casual” issues. So when I find something, I post it and let others know about it. If I help one person, mission accomplished.
You’re not even posting original content half the time. What gives you deadbeat?
What gives is shut your whore mouth. First, people who post content are most likely not the first person to come across the content they are discussing. So what I’m doing is rehashing rehashed content. I could make my own Youtube video about the topic, but why reinvent the wheel? Second, I don’t like to blindly post stuff without trying it first to see if it works. Your Mileage May Vary, and my mileage is valuable to me. “Farm this spot and make 6000g/hr” might work well on video, but that doesn’t mean it’ll work out in practice. There might be a gear disparity between Average Jane and Youtube Person. Class may make a difference. There are issues to be considered, so I’ll try at least to practice it before I preach it. Oh, and thirdly I’ll give credit where it’s due (if I can, and there’s credit to be had).
But you talk about raiding yourself! Aren’t you contradicting yourself?
My “Alpha to Omega” series is a casual approach to LFR (AKA “tourist mode raiding”). It’s nothing overly difficult, but there are many people who are intimidated by the process. I just want to show that raiding doesn’t have to be an elitist circle-jerk or anything like that. Pay attention, do your best, and don’t be afraid to shit the bed. Do that, and you’re golden.
I read your blog. You have a lot of alts.
I do. Not counting my Alpha to Omega Mage, the swole beast known as Odingreen, I have 13 characters at level 100 and OG’s on the way. Out of those 14 characters, I have three hunters, three warriors, one monk, six death knights, and one mage. Most of those characters are part of a garrison gold-making hydra, which means I log onto the for maybe a minute a day, five minutes on what I call “Salvage Days” (which is when I open all the boxes, crates, and sacks from running garrison missions and vendor whatever falls out). Only a couple of those characters get any kind of serious play, because like I said – I don’t play often.
So there you have it, some Q’s that could have been FA’ed of me. Thanks for taking the time, readers of internet stuffs. Oh, and if someone actually has questions they want to ask me, feel free to ask them in the comments below!
Rokk Talk 