Pandaren Join World Of Warcraft In Next Expansion

[Bobbity]

A bit silly, yes, but I suppose that it's an interesting prelude to the final Burning Legion expansion pack.

True, WoW has been getting sillier and sillier recently, but there've still been some pretty epic moments, even in Cata, so I don't mind.

That said, I'm more than a little bit disappointed that the expansion wasn't the War of the Ancients, via the Caverns of Time. The instances about it are kind of cool, but they'd be nothing to a whole expansion based around it.

[HEADING=2]Oh, and there's still one more lore villain left: Sargeras.[/HEADING]

 

[thirion1850]

Fml. Really? You're gonna ruin the Pandaren for me now? :/ God dammit Blizz, I don't wanna resub to your game. >.< Why are you making it so hard for me to resist now?! I mean, I freaking RPed a martial artist that was taught by a Pandaren brewmaster during his travels on Azeroth. D:<

 

[ZeroMachine]

That said, the important non-panda bit of this expansion is the game's upcoming "Pet Battle System." A quick glance at the official page [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists-of-pandaria/feature/pet-battle] might convince you that this is an attempt by Blizzard to replicate Pokémon within World of Warcraft, and according to every source I'm hearing from that's exactly correct. In place of Nintendo's beloved 'mon, Blizzard is using creatures from throughout the vast Azerothian bestiary, but otherwise the basic ideas of capturing, collecting and battling miniature beasts is entirely intact.

I shudder to think what those murloch marines people got from blizzcon will be able to do with those rifles of theirs. Especially when they're on stimpacks.

... Alright, don't even know how you managed to quote me with that, dude

 

[Ghengis John]

That said, the important non-panda bit of this expansion is the game's upcoming "Pet Battle System." A quick glance at the official page [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists-of-pandaria/feature/pet-battle] might convince you that this is an attempt by Blizzard to replicate Pokémon within World of Warcraft, and according to every source I'm hearing from that's exactly correct. In place of Nintendo's beloved 'mon, Blizzard is using creatures from throughout the vast Azerothian bestiary, but otherwise the basic ideas of capturing, collecting and battling miniature beasts is entirely intact.

I shudder to think what those murloch marines people got from blizzcon will be able to do with those rifles of theirs. Especially when they're on stimpacks.

... Alright, don't even know how you managed to quote me with that, dude

Wow me either. That was some weird kind of forum hiccup. :/

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

While I will NOT be resubbing to WoW, I will be eagerly watching this xpac, only because should it succeed, AND that success rides largely on the "Pet Battle System," then it will FINALLY set a precedent that we can show to Nintendo to convince them to finally make a god damn Pokemon MMO.

 

[klaynexas3]

A bit silly, yes, but I suppose that it's an interesting prelude to the final Burning Legion expansion pack.

True, WoW has been getting sillier and sillier recently, but there've still been some pretty epic moments, even in Cata, so I don't mind.

That said, I'm more than a little bit disappointed that the expansion wasn't the War of the Ancients, via the Caverns of Time. The instances about it are kind of cool, but they'd be nothing to a whole expansion based around it.

[HEADING=2]Oh, and there's still one more lore villain left: Sargeras.[/HEADING]

i'm not that great with the lore of it all, so correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't Sargeras's soul lost after Medivh was killed? if not, then they still have him at the disposal, but he doesn't even have his corporeal anymore, so that might be a bit troublesome on how they make him any bigger threat than Deathwing destroying most of Azeroth. and there still are a few more villains to be used against Azeroth, probably even more deadly than if Sargeras entered Azeroth himself: the old gods. after they finally unleash them, it'll be much worse than Sargeras and Deathwing, so that'll most likely be the last lore based WoW game. then they might either have to drop the universe all together, or move on to another world in the universe. what they should do is make a warcraft prequel game where you play out the story of how Sargeras betrayed the other titans and the shaping of the universe and whatnot. it'd be worth a shot.

 

[J-meMalone]

Double post, longer version below, apologies.

 

[FFHAuthor]

Wow...part of the lore? Honestly?

Jesus, you kids make me feel old when you call Warcraft 3 a 'long established' source.

I remember when...Ungh...when Warcraft 2 was NEW.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

While I like the whole Pandara Continent and Pandaren are a perfect addition to WarCraft, my main problem is: They start off Neutral and can join either Alliance Or Horde! I don't like that one bit; instead of two new races, they only include 1! I'd rather it be one of two ways:

1: The Pandaren join the Horde (Thanks to Chen Stormstout) and the Alliance get Furbolgs.

or

2: The Pandaren join the Alliance (Something about Dwarves or Night Elves) and the Horde get a completely new race: Originally a hidden race, forged by the Old Ones themselves, whatever these insectoid creatures are have decided to not worship the Old One's, and have thus suffered their wrath. Upon escaping to an Island (Near the Pandaren Starting Zone), they set up contacts with the Forsaken and the Orcs, who have realized these Insectoid critters really do want to change, and since they can relate, start accepting them into their ranks. They'd also mostly fight Night Elves and the Traitor Faction of Tauren (The Grimtotem tribe) to keep their island to themselves.

However, Monks will probably be awesome, so I can't wait to play with it. Just please Blizzard, put the Pandaren into the Alliance Faction or Horde Faction, and create a second race... Pretty Please?

 

[J-meMalone]

WoW has really jumped the shark here...

The talent system doesn't need a rehaul, it just got one and it was great in my opinion (unless they messed it up since I stopped playing).

The monk is a druid without the casting option.

A race with an option is rather stupid, also could make PvP a touch more confusing.

And don't get me started on pet battle system.

Also

Blizzard is really running out of ideas. But that's what happens when you kill off all the best characters from the lore.

I wonder who the main villain is going to be for this expansion.

Like most other expansions Pandaren was something they really wanted to do for a long time, but were held back. The Pandaren originally slated for the Burning Crusade as part of the Alliance, Bloodmyst and Azuremyst Isle were originally the Pandaren starting areas. Blizzard is not running out of ideas, they are trying to implement the ideas they couldn't fit into the other expansions. Blizzard is also an international company, they have to cater to a wide audience and they understand that more than most. As for a main villain, there not going to really be one except the opposite faction. (Battlefield raids?)

The pandaren are a transition from factional fighting to uniting the Horde and Alliance for the eventual battle with Sargeras somewhere down the road.

Taking an un-used idea then stretching it out to fill an expansion pack sounds like they HAVE run out of ideas to me...

As for uniting the factions, that kinda takes a significant chunk of the "war" out of "World of Warcraft." And I personally find the uneasy truces between the Horde and Alliance to combat larger threats has been a nice touch. Plus what would happen to PvP if the Horde and Alliance unite?

 

[Twilight_guy]

How exactly is this going to get by in China? Blizzard didn't release these panda men before because of the Chinese frowning on dead Pandas. Has that changed?

 

[Jaebird]

It's about time they introduced a new race AND class. People can ***** all they want, because I see this as a legitimate excuse to start a new character.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Not that I got that out of the way, as much as I LOVE Pandarens, having an entire expansion based around them rather than a hefty patch just seems kind of silly and self defeating. Ever since Burning Crusade, the expansions have tackled ENORMOUS loose ends in Warcraft lore (the defeat of Illidan, the long-awaited war against the Lich King, the return of Deathwing) but this? It's a step in a strange, backwards, and sideways direction.

But I guess they just needed to do something light hearted.

They have pretty much run out of the "Big Bad" monsters haven't they? Can't be that many left, whats there left to do when you have defeated the ones who created the universe itself?

There is only so high they can go, odds are it'll be a sharp drop once that happens.

Yeah this looks lighthearted, but also an indicator they are almost at the end.

 

[fundayz]

What I don't get is how they can justify having another CHARGED expansion when they have barely put out any content since the last one.

Seriously, since Cata release WoW playes have paid over $135 in subscription fees and what have they received out of it? Two rehashed dungeons and ONE(1!) legitimate content patch. And they want their customers to drop ANOTHER $50 dollars in a few months?

 

[Loop Stricken]

WoW has really jumped the shark here...

The talent system doesn't need a rehaul, it just got one and it was great in my opinion (unless they messed it up since I stopped playing).

The monk is a druid without the casting option.

A race with an option is rather stupid, also could make PvP a touch more confusing.

1) The talent system introduced in Cataclysm (ie the 'choose a spec at lv10') remains, and you still receive abilities relevant to your class. But now as you level up you receive a choice of abilities that will alter your playstyle. The idea is that all builds will be viable, no build will be useless, and at endgame your character is defined by how you want to fulfil your role and not by what a spreadsheet has told you is best.
There will undoubtedly be optimal builds, but they shouldn't be so much better than anything else that you're going to screw your raid over by choosing something else.

PvP: If it has a red name or a differently-coloured flag, and is hitting you in the face, you kill it. Simple.

Monk: Unless you're currently designing the monk character, you don't know how it plays.


Factions: They are not uniting the factions. This expansion is likely intended to reintroduce aspects of the war between the Alliance and Horde, not diminish them; this point has been reinforced time and again during the Blizzcon panels.

Also, you've stopped playing. Move on.

 

[Loop Stricken]

What I don't get is how they can justify having another CHARGED expansion when they have barely put out any content since the last one.

Seriously, since Cata release WoW playes have paid over $135 in subscription fees and what have they received out of it? Two rehashed dungeons and ONE(1!) legitimate content patch. And they want their customers to drop ANOTHER $50 dollars in a few months?

So let's see, that's the entire old world revamped, Mount Hyjal, Vashj'ir, Deepholm, Uldum and Twilight Highlands as new levelling zones, Blackrock Caverns, Grim Batol, Halls of Origination, Lost City of the Tol'Vir, Stonecore, Throne of the Tides, Vortex Pinnacle as new dungeons; Shadowfang Keep, Deadmines, Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman as 'rehashes'; Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, Throne of the Four Winds and Firelands as raids with Baradin Hold as a thing you can do for free loot.
In a matter of weeks 4.3 is released with End Time, Well of Eternity and Hour of Twilight dungeons; and the eight-boss long Dragon Soul raid.

Yep, no content in Cataclysm.

 

[Catalyst6]

Damn it, Blizzard. I quit WoW because I realized how addicting and time-devouring it was, literally. This *isn't helping*.

 

[Lataziba]

having pandaren in WoW is a good step...but not a strong one...personally if i wanted an expansion for WoW i would explore a bit into the burning legion. where they come from ect. we have only seen a single glympse of Sargeras in WoW...but maybe thats rushing into more intense stories...

 

[Vaccine]

Honestly, at face value the concept is cheesey as all fuck.

But then I look at the redesigns to the talent systems, and the ability to build my skills the way I feel, the 2-3 player dungeons, the massive new zones to explode(They're not letting you use flying mounts from the get-go, you have to hit 90 first) just makes me wish they'd skip 4.3 altogether.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Honestly, at face value the concept is cheesey as all fuck.

Honestly, at face value I thought "oh god, why did it have to be pandas?"
I mean, I don't like pandas. I might've posted on this board how we should basically kill them, or at least stop trying to help them.
But I'm liking the look of this expansion. because, Pokémon!