Didn’t get a ticket to BlizzCon? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Luckily, Blizzard, RayV and DirecTV are offering over 16 hours of the event live for $39.95.

Below is what will be included during the live stream:

Exclusive interviews and commentary

Main stage presentations including opening ceremony

Tournament coverage and team highlights

Additionally, you will be given the exclusive BlizzCon 2009 WoW in-game pet; Grunty the Murloc Marine.

Read (RayV)

Now don’t get your hopes up too high because unfortunately we weren’t able to secure any Blizzcon tickets to give away to you guys, the readers. Fortunately, there is a slew of websites that were more fortunate than us and were able to get their hands on some Bilzzcon tickets to give away.

Below is a compiled list of all known fan sites holding Blizzcon ticket giveways, courtesy of Starcraft Wire:

StarcraftWire.net – Giveaway 1 – Giveaway 2

BlizzPlanet

Diii.net – (coming soon)

Diablo-Source

StarCraft-Source

inStarCraft

StarCraft II Australia

StarCraft 2 Source

TankSpot

World of Raids

WoW Interface

So, you won’t be getting a Blizzcon ticket from us but at least you still have the opportunity to get your hands on one while Blizzard prepares to put some more up for sale.

You can read more about Blizzard’s annual convention, Blizzcon, here.

Roper, speaking to VideoGamer, stated that he prefers a “grittier” look to the series rather than Blizzard’s current colorful approach.

"You know, I liked the darker, grittier [style]," he said. "It makes complete sense to me where they went because they basically took the Diablo universe and then approached it from the Blizzard Irvine stance for the visuals.”

"That’s the way they approach things. It wasn’t that I looked at it and went, ‘Oh my god that looks terrible.’ I was like, that looks like Blizzard. The guys in Irvine. That’s what it looks like to me. Their interpretation of it."

Many fans of the series have been pissed off at the artistic changes, going so far as to provide Photoshop-altered screenshots showing a darker, grittier Diablo 3. Lead designer Jay Wilson recently joined the debate, going so far as to pointedly respond to the complaints while refusing to make changes.

Those looking to suck up every ounce of information regarding Blizzard’s forthcoming Diablo 3 are in for a treat. Blizzard has recently updated the game’s official website with 5 new, never before seen screenshots.

Featured in the screenshots is a plethora of eye candy sure to make any Diablo fan go crazy. Unfortunately there is still no set date for when the game will be released. 

I don’t know about you guys, but it is getting increasingly harder to make a descision about which upcoming Blizzard title I am looking forward to more; Diablo 3, or Starcraft 2.

You can check out the new screenshots at the official website, or you can head over to Big Download which has them in a gallery for easier access.

The game doesn’t even have a set release date and already information regarding ingame classes are already, apparently, being leaked.

According to Diablo3x, they have the full list of what the skill tree for the Barbarian class will look like, including three different paths:

Juggernaut Skill Tree
Juggernaut skills is mostly active attack skills that are controlled by the player from the hotbar.
Battlemaster Skill Tree
Battlemaster skills are passive buffs for the Barbarian Class.
Berserker Skill Tree
Berserker Skill is agressive attack skills and passive buffs that alter damage, attack speed and similar effects.

For a full list of what the skill tree may be you can head to Diablo3x to get the full scoop.

In an interview with Wired, Pardo also talked about the company’s plans for DRM and digital distribution.

"Battle.net really is our most effective DRM," he said. "That’s really kinda been the thing that’s always saved us from a lot of the PC piracy that I think hurts a lot of other single-player-only games."

The company plans on relying on the multiplayer service for its upcoming releases. He also talked about Steam, noting that Blizzard plans on supporting its own digital distribution service.

StarCraft II is expected sometime in 2009.

"Every game we have the discussion about which platforms make the most sense," said Morhaime. "As Diablo 3 takes shape, I think we’ll do an evaluation."

He added that the game “might work very well” on consoles, but that there are technical limitations that they need to get past first.

Jay Wilson, the game’s director, also spoke on the topic, noting that Diablo 3’s control scheme would work quite well on consoles.

"If we did it, we would want to do a really high quality version–we wouldn’t just want to do a port," he said. "We would never make that decision if we thought we had to compromise the overall quality…we could probably do it at any time, we could release the game and then decide we wanted to do a 360 version or a PS3 version."

However, Wilson notes that they are yet to take any decision on a multiplatform release. Though with the game more than a year away, they’ve got ample time.

The site notes that the official BlizzCon program lists the game under “open gaming”, along with StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

No release date for Diablo 3 is currently known, though it is expected to be released late next year.

Lead designer Jay Wilson predicted that some fans of the series will hate the next class his team will announce, adding that the swapping of classes is necessary to establish the game’s “identity”.

“All the Barbarian players are delighted and all the Necromancers hate us. I understand, I don’t begrudge them that,” he said. “I would hate me too! But what I would say is that when we announce the next class, which is quite similar to a previous class, then all those players will hate us too.”

Diablo 3 will retain only one player class from its predecessors. Wilson would not offer any details as to what the third announced class would be.

No release date is yet known for the game, though it is expected in late 2009.

“We’re not saying [Diablo III] is the end of the Diablo universe, but we are trying to bring this storyline to a close,” said lead designer Jay Wilson. “It’s not just Diablo III–we’ve got plans beyond.”

Wilson also revealed that the game will feature several characters from the first two titles, including Deckard Cain. He also notes that there will be characters from some of the books.

Diablo 3 is expected to be released sometime next year exclusively on PC.