April Fools at Blizzard 2019 is Pretty Much No Fools Wilhelm Arcturus There have been points in the past where April Fools was a pretty big deal at Blizzard and each game would have a special joke, a silly new game or outrageous feature, on their respective sites. Blizzard Outcasts from 2014 Things are no longer that funny around Blizzard these days I gather. There are a variety of reasons likely for that, but they all add up to declining fortunes. World of Warcraft, still huge, isn’t as huge as it once was. Overwatch has seen a decline over the last year and reports are that Hearthstone is suffering from franchise fatigue. As such, this year’s entries are pretty much non-existent, somehow managing to be a step down from even last year’s low turn out. I have logged below what I found on the US sites, which I will update if new items show up. World of Warcraft The annual April 1st patch notes are up, titled Patch 8.6.7 Build 5309, a nod to a bit of 80s pop culture. Some traditions never die. Still, it is a somewhat tepid listing this year, featuring entries such as: Feral Druids can now be crowd-controlled by throwing a slice of cheese on their head. Groups of 5 Feral Druids can come together to form one super-bot. Due to noise complaints, Stonebark has been fitted with a shock collar. But that is it. The WoW site has no new entries for April 1. Overwatch Nothing Hearthstone Nothing StarCraft Nothing Diablo III Nothing Diablo: Immortal Already confirmed as not an April Fools joke at BlizzCon. Heroes of the Storm It is still there… but no April Fools joke. Past Years If this year’s lack of effort leaves you longing for bigger or better gags, you can always look back at past years: April 2009 April 2010 April 2011 April 2012 April 2013 April 2014 April 2015 April 2016 April 2017 April 2018 I think it might be telling that the official Blizzard April Fool’s archive stops at 2015. We may be at a point where we can declare April Fools no longer really a thing for Blizzard. But if you’re dying for something on April Fools, I guess you can go play Minecraft 3D. The over-the-top April Fools spirit has hit Mojang… though I am not sure that their impression of a 1994 version of Minecraft is all that different from what they have today. https://ift.tt/2FNJfEi

There have been points in the past where April Fools was a pretty big deal at Blizzard and each game would have a special joke, a silly new game or outrageous feature, on their respective sites.

Blizzard Outcasts from 2014

Things are no longer that funny around Blizzard these days I gather.

There are a variety of reasons likely for that, but they all add up to declining fortunes.  World of Warcraft, still huge, isn’t as huge as it once was.  Overwatch has seen a decline over the last year and reports are that Hearthstone is suffering from franchise fatigue.

As such, this year’s entries are pretty much non-existent, somehow managing to be a step down from even last year’s low turn out.  I have logged below what I found on the US sites, which I will update if new items show up.

World of Warcraft

The annual April 1st patch notes are up, titled Patch 8.6.7 Build 5309, a nod to a bit of 80s pop culture.  Some traditions never die.  Still, it is a somewhat tepid listing this year, featuring entries such as:

• Feral Druids can now be crowd-controlled by throwing a slice of cheese on their head.
• Groups of 5 Feral Druids can come together to form one super-bot.
• Due to noise complaints, Stonebark has been fitted with a shock collar.

But that is it.  The WoW site has no new entries for April 1.

Overwatch

Nothing

Hearthstone

Nothing

StarCraft

Nothing

Diablo III

Nothing

Diablo: Immortal

Already confirmed as not an April Fools joke at BlizzCon.

Heroes of the Storm

It is still there… but no April Fools joke.

Past Years

If this year’s lack of effort leaves you longing for bigger or better gags, you can always look back at past years:

• April 2009
• April 2010
• April 2011
• April 2012
• April 2013
• April 2014
• April 2015
• April 2016
• April 2017
• April 2018

I think it might be telling that the official Blizzard April Fool’s archive stops at 2015.

We may be at a point where we can declare April Fools no longer really a thing for Blizzard.

But if you’re dying for something on April Fools, I guess you can go play Minecraft 3D.  The over-the-top April Fools spirit has hit Mojang… though I am not sure that their impression of a 1994 version of Minecraft is all that different from what they have today.

from The Ancient Gaming Noob https://ift.tt/2uEcNOs