Beta info. (Pictures on Jace Hall Show)

[Crazy_Jonny]

Gifted is part of the rebel alliance, and a traitor. Take him away!

Help me Jim Raynor, your my only hope

[rcp181]

Yeah, no offense but thats pretty naive. People, including myself, invest in companies of particular industries since thats what their stocks are compared against. Activision Blizzard is a videogame company in the videogame industry, of course the investors look at their development and release line-up. People don't look at a company and say "Oh gee, they just made alot of money, I'm going to invest in them." Its about prediction and the best way to anticipate growth in a company, and consequently its stock, is to examine the products they are releasing and plan to release in the future.

Examining ATVI's value as a company and it's stock value includes a MUCH larger picture than SC2 alone. Like I said to Rick, Activision has a lot going on. Yes, SC2 matters, but the beta does not. A single sentence in the conference saying "We're on track with SC2" would be more than enough.

And no offense (seriously, not parodying you), but these calls are most strongly intended for a specific audience of investors, and you don't strike me as a million-dollar investor.

Keep in mind this whole topic got started off of whether or not a beta announcement would be a significant event at an earnings call. The answer is: A single sentence saying "Starcraft 2 is still scheduled for a Q2 release" would work just as well as some big beta announcement.

[Crazy_Jonny]

Keep in mind this whole topic got started off of whether or not a beta announcement would be a significant event at an earnings call. The answer is: A single sentence saying "Starcraft 2 is still scheduled for a Q2 release" would work just as well as some big beta announcement.

Not necessarily, because announcing when the beta starts indicates a set release window in 4-6 months. Announcing the quarter of release might be less reassuring.

Nevertheless, I believe since they are making this a public conference over the internet, that Blizzard is not just aiming for investors.

[TheEconomist]

Here's a little something I wrote on another forum that I think applies here fairly well:

When it comes to Blizzard, often times it's not the strength of a single rumor but the number and timing of them. Right now, there's sooo many rumors and news items coming from various areas of the internet hinting at a beta soon from every angle. That's incredibly similar to how it was with the Diablo 3 announcement and the StarCraft 2 announcement. You know, the one that most people didn't think would happen and Blizzard themselves had denied

For example, I waited anxiously on the forums for months for the announcement of Diablo 3 and many times there were singular, strong rumors which seemed to point towards the announcement. However, it wasn't until there were many smaller rumors happening all at once (like is happening now) that the announcement was given.

This is one of the things I've learned from Blizzard over the years and is the major reason I never got my hopes up before as much as I am now. From what I've experienced in the past, this is the closest to the past announcements that has happened thus far. If you're feeling too cautious to get your hopes up then I understand. But, if you're not worried about disappointment, then I think we have a lot to be excited about!

--

Also, I do find Gifted's comments interesting but, in the end, it's just more off him playing with us so I'm going to not think about it much because my hopes are already getting a bit too high for my comfort.

[rcp181]

Not necessarily, because announcing when the beta starts indicates a set release window in 4-6 months. Announcing the quarter of release might be less reassuring.

How would an investor know the beta will be 4-6 months? They won't know it off the top of their head like we do.

The only way they would know what the beta entails in terms of a release date would be if Morhaime/Kotick told them during the conference, in which case no matter what you have investors taking Blizzard at it's word that "Starcraft 2 is on track for a Q2 release."

Blizzard probably wants to generate a lot of hype with their announcement, and a lot of that hype would be wasted on investors who just care about the bottom line.

Nevertheless, I believe since they are making this a public conference over the internet, that Blizzard is not just aiming for investors.

Very possible, but nothing I've gotten my hopes up about. Also like I said it could be an announcement regarding the new IP MMO.

[Gifted]

*the fingers are twitching.. the keyboard is afraid... Gifted starts typing.... Defcon 3 starts*

Incoming...

[Rashed801]

*the fingers are twitching.. the keyboard is afraid... Gifted starts typing.... Defcon 3 starts*

Incoming...

Incoming what??

[ArcherofAiur]

*the fingers are twitching.. the keyboard is afraid... Gifted starts typing.... Defcon 3 starts*

Incoming...

Oh god! Weve gone to Betacon 3!



Seal the bunker doors. May our children forgive us.

[rcp181]

Tychus I think you summed a lot of things up pretty well. Any one of these things happening on their own would feel pretty meaningless, but when they all happen at once like right now I think we all have a little reason to be excited

As for my final prediction on the conference call: I don't think any of us reading this now are going to care about the conference call because we will already know what we want to know by then.

[electricmole]

Do not release the beta if the zerg is still like the zerg in sc1 and the hellion buggy is still the same. thank you.