GameGuide

Just in case Saturday, May 16 isn't circled on your calendar, here's a quick reminder that BlizzCon tickets will be going on sale tomorrow. After our gnomish engineers here in Southern California get to work and finish making the final preparations late Saturday morning, they'll activate the ticket-purchase process at 10 a.m. Pacific time and BlizzCon tickets will officially go on sale. If you are unable to purchase tickets tomorrow, a second batch of tickets will go on sale May 30. And for those unable to attend the show, in-depth coverage of BlizzCon will also be offered by DIRECTV as a Pay Per View event, available both via satellite and Internet stream.

BlizzCon 2009 will take place August 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center, and tickets cost $125 each. For further information about the convention, check out the official BlizzCon site, and keep an eye on the ticket sales page tomorrow for the chance to get yours.

Update: Tickets are scheduled to go on sale specifically at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, Saturday, May 16.
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Pay Per View event: …://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/partners/directv.xml
Official BlizzCon site: …://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/
Ticket sales page: …://www.blizzard.com/store/blizzcon09-tickets.xml

BlizzCon 2009 tickets go on sale May 16, and a second batch goes on sale May 30. In anticipation of high demand, we are introducing a new automated queue system to streamline the ticket-sales process and help ensure that purchases go smoothly. So that you know what to expect when ticket sales begin, here's a brief rundown of how the system works:

1) Create a Battle.net Account
We highly recommend you create a free Battle.net account before ticket sales begin, if you haven't done so already. Please make sure the payment information associated with the account is up-to-date by going to My Payment Options in Battle.net Account Management. Doing these things ahead of time will help speed up the purchasing process for you once tickets go on sale.

2) Entering the Queue
If a certain level of shopping activity has been reached on the Blizzard Store, you will enter a queue before you are able to check out and complete your purchase. The ticket queue allows controlled batches of visitors to smoothly purchase tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

On the days BlizzCon tickets go on sale, you will be able to initiate a ticket-purchase request from a special streamlined ticket-sales starting page, which will be linked from our websites and forums. From this starting page, you'll be able to select the number of tickets you want to buy from a drop-down menu, and then click a button to immediately enter the ticket queue.

If you don't encounter a queue, you will be able to purchase the tickets immediately.

3) In the Queue
Once you've entered the queue, you will be redirected to a page which displays an estimate of the time remaining until you reach the front of the queue, along with a meter showing the percentage of ticket stock remaining, updated in real-time. Simply wait at this page (do not close the window or refresh your browser!) until you reach the front of the queue. Please note that being in the queue does not guarantee that you will have the opportunity to purchase a ticket. The system will inform you if tickets sell out before you reach the front of the queue.

4) Finalizing Your Purchase
When your number is called, it's time to buy those tickets! You will have 15 minutes to finalize all details before your session times out and you are removed from the queue, at which point you would need to begin the process again. If you are unsure of any attendee information now, don't worry — you won't need to provide this information until after the ticket purchase is finalized. (Source)

There have been concerns in regard to the use of debit and credit cards for purchasing BlizzCon tickets that we would like to address.

One primary concern is whether or not certain debit cards will be able to make a purchase. The system being used for the BlizzCon ticket sale is slightly different than the one used for the BlizzCon store, or for World of Warcraft subscriptions. That said, as long as the debit card can pass full authorization to our standards like a credit card, and it has the balance available, it *should* work for placing BlizzCon ticket orders. As always, some exceptions apply.

If you are concerned about your own card, we strongly advise contacting your banking institution before attempting to make your purchase, to discuss any possible restrictions that may apply to your card or in any way hinder our attempt to authorize the card. Some institutions will not fully process a large transaction if they believe there may be fraudulent charges being applied. If the bank declines the card, our system cannot retry the same transaction, and the customer would have to try again.

If a card fails to authorize, and that card is retried multiple times, it can result in mutliple temporary charges showing against the account balance. These temporary "held funds" look like duplicate charges, but get released after a certain period (can be days or weeks, depending on the banking institution). If a card can't fully pass validation to get the order placed, please be wary of accumulating X number of $125+ transactions that can temporarily "hold funds" against your card limit. (Source)

Parking @ Blizzcon
Yeah, it does cost money. If the place you are staying is close enough I think the walking is pretty good, just don't forget you will likely be standing throughout the day and possibly carrying lewt, so don't walk TOO far. (Source)

Support Tomorrow
We'll have plenty of people on-site tomorrow morning to ensure the process is running smoothly. Many members of the community team, including myself, will be closely monitoring the feedback on the forums as well. We're very excited to be hosting BlizzCon again this year, and the last thing we want is for ticket sales to the event to cause a negative experience for hopeful attendees.

May the tickets be yours, the hotel of choice booked, and your baggage safely found at the correct claim carousel. (Source)

Tickets going on sale at 10:00AM PDT
Tickets are scheduled to go on sale specifically at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, Saturday, May 16. (Source)