Mists of Pandaria Beta is Live!

[Andy Chalk]

Mists of Pandaria Beta is Live!

Blizzard has the lowdown on how to get into the newly-live World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta.

UPDATE: That didn't take long. As you probably know, in the space of a few hours the Mists of Pandaria beta test went from "very close" to "here and now." The full announcement is up at Battle.net [http://us.battle.net//wow/en/blog/4664620].

Original post: I don't really get how anthropomorphic pandas are going to fit into the whole World of Warcraft [http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Battle-Chest-Mac/dp/B000H96C9M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332362326&sr=8-1] canon, but the great thing about fantasy worlds is that you can do whatever you want with them because you're just making it up as you go anyway. And while I can't help but think that this is some kind of test to see far WoW players can be pushed, the truth is that hordes of them will be beating down the doors to get into this beta. So here's how!

There's actually no great secret or complex process to be followed here, as "Annual Pass" holders, members of the press, fansites, friends, family and opt-in testers will all be eligible for an invite. All you need to do, then, is opt in: Go to the "Beta Profile" page on your Battle.net account, download and run the System Check tool and be sure that World of Warcraft is among the frachises you're interested in helping test. That's pretty much it, aside from waiting for Blizzard to give you the secret handshake that says you're in the club.

As usual with Blizzard betas, it will run for as long as it needs to, it will include as many players as required and there will be no NDA, so you can talk about it as much as you like, but do bear in mind that it's a beta, so bugs, errors and other issues are to be expected. Get it? "Bear" in mind? Eh, there's no appreciation for sophisticated humor anymore.

Full details on the upcoming Mists of Pandaria beta are up at Battle.net [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4639551].


Permalink

 

[Lunar Templar]

who's placing bets the first panda warrior is named Po?

 

[80Maxwell08]

who's placing bets the first panda warrior is named Po?

You think someone hasn't taken that name already?

 

[Darkmantle]

""I don't really get how anthropomorphic pandas are going to fit into the whole World of Warcraft canon,""

two things.

A. they already are canon :/ they were in the wc3 expansion.
b. hey, we have anthropomorphic wolves and cows, I don't see an issue really.

 

[Tanis]

Your puns are unBEARable.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

It's funny how people who lazily say "lolpandas" seem to always forget that there are retconed goats in crystal space ships who worship wind chimes already in the game.

 

[jurnag12]

anc[is]It's funny how people who lazily say "lolpandas" seem to always forget that there are retconed goats in crystal space ships who worship wind chimes already in the game.

Not to mention: Cow people, werewolves, fish people, walrus people, wolf people, bird people, and Sphinx people. Hell, Ox people if you count the Taunka as a separate example from the Tauren.

 

[Branovices]

Yeah, I haven't played WoW in over a year, but I'm tired of people acting like a race from Warcraft III is new. Not to mention Pandaren have been hugely requested by fans for a looong time. I remember before Burning Crusade a lot of people thought they were bringing Pandaren back.

I'm pretty sure even vanilla WoW had a few quests that referenced them.

 

[Funkbucket]

Brace yourselfs,
'Pandas are a copy from Kung-fu Panda and are childish' post are coming.

 

[LordLundar]

As usual with Blizzard betas, it will run for as long as it needs to, it will include as many players as required and there will be no NDA, so you can talk about it as much as you like, but do bear in mind that it's a beta, so bugs, errors and other issues are to be expected. Get it? "Bear" in mind? Eh, there's no appreciation for sophisticated humor anymore.

Sure there is.

This does not qualify however.

 

[Robert Ewing]

I actually hope this goes well for Blizzard. I'm willing to bet that the expansion will be excellent, and will add a lot more the WoW. But the marketing in the light of Kung Fu Panda must be a nightmare... Nobody can take WoW seriously anymore...

Incoming free to play... I know Blizzard said they won't. But they will... Eventually.

 

[Fbuh]

anc[is]It's funny how people who lazily say "lolpandas" seem to always forget that there are retconed goats in crystal space ships who worship wind chimes already in the game.

Magic spaceships. And they're sexy goats. With face tentacles. It's the details that count.

 

[Domehammer]

So glad I got a annual pass. Will be first WoW beta I will actually get into. Though I wonder how few people will get in traditional way of ticking on the beta things on account due to annual pass.

 

[Charli]

It's Started! http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/

(Apparently soon meant: 'Just give us a few hours')

 

[Veloxe]

(Apparently soon meant: 'Just give us a few hours')

Bah, I remember back in the day when "soon" meant 5 years and that's how we liked it! Clearly it's a plot devised by the casuals to ruin Blizz for the rest of us! *rabble rabble rabble*

Anyways, looking forward to getting my hands on monk more then anything else. Hopefully it's not too long before my turn in the waves gets here.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

anc[is]It's funny how people who lazily say "lolpandas" seem to always forget that there are retconed goats in crystal space ships who worship wind chimes already in the game.

Not to mention: Cow people, werewolves, fish people, walrus people, wolf people, bird people, and Sphinx people. Hell, Ox people if you count the Taunka as a separate example from the Tauren.

Well to be fair a decent amount of the retcons you mentioned were jokes that were stuck into canon because they could so that's not really a fair comparison.

I also think it's due to the fact that the "cuteness" aesthetic of the Panderans really makes them hard to take seriously. Had the not done the "cuteness" aspect and made the Panderans look more battle hardened the hate wouldn't be this big. It's really easy to look at them and go "Kung Fu Panda". Too easy.

That and people are pissed about not getting another less crappy looking race to play as on the Horde side, which is fair. There are valid reasons for the hate, especially for this expansion to be following Cataclysm? Come on we know this would've been better accepted if it came out after Burning Crusade.

 

[Vaccine]

Soon = now.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I actually had no idea that the Pandaren appeared in the Warcraft 3 expansion, but the fact that the race originated as an April Fool's joke speaks volumes.

And hey, if the fans like it, that's great, but even so I don't think anyone can argue that it's not cartoonishly goofy. Maybe I'm too hung up on the early lore but I think I prefer my Warcraft set in a "serious" fantasy realm.

 

[captaincabbage]

hhhm, very close, eh? couldn't possibly be coming out on April 1st again, could it?

 

[Baldr]

I actually had no idea that the Pandaren appeared in the Warcraft 3 expansion, but the fact that the race originated as an April Fool's joke speaks volumes.

And hey, if the fans like it, that's great, but even so I don't think anyone can argue that it's not cartoonishly goofy. Maybe I'm too hung up on the early lore but I think I prefer my Warcraft set in a "serious" fantasy realm.

Actually it never started as joke. It was an idea they were playing with for a WC3 expansion, but didn't have the time. That is when they put it up as a joke. Pandaren were scheduled for the Burning Crusade the Alliance race. Azuremyst island was Pandaria. Quarter-way through production they realized it did not fit with what Burning Crusade was. They changed to Draenei, ever wonder why they starting area was on Azeroth? They had to make up the Twisting-Nether spaceship thing to explain that.

The most important thing is the Myst of Pandaria brings in a lot of Eastern-based story telling and Lore which is a nice change of pace to WoW.

And Non-NDA Beta started around midnight. Watching the MMO-Champion stream now.