Pandaren Join World Of Warcraft In Next Expansion

[Zeriah]

The DotA battle ground and Pokémon ideas are fantastic. A big problem with WoW is how much it tends to become stagnant a few weeks after each content patch. Having DotA and Pokémon means there will always be something very interesting to do in its own right, rather than just carrot on a stick stuff which becomes pointless when you already have the carrot.

If there's a rated battleground version of DotA I will be so happy.

An entire expac based on a running gag is a horrible idea though. If only this was the Emerald Dream...

 

[anian]

Stephen Colbert thought it was safe in the virtual realm of Azeroth...not anymore.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

All I can say about this new expansion is this...

If Blizzard doesn't make one of those "I'm a (insert celebrity here) and I'm a (insert class here)" commercials using Jack Black, I will be VERY disappointed.

World of Kung Fu Panda

Only if they get jack black to voice all the pandas will it be worth it.

Note to self: Check ALL posts before posting to avoid NINJA'D-ing.

 

[-Samurai-]

I guess you could say that they're Pandaren to the WoW lore crowd? Right?....Right?

 

[McNinja]

I would start playing again, but I'm not that stupid. There's no way I would even think of starting anew with a Pandaren without the RaF exp bonus.

In other (unsurprising) news, the WoW forums are blowing up with complaining and people yelling at the complainers.

 

[Helios_(DEL)]

Did i just see humanoid pandas? wtf has happend to the war craft universe.

 

[Shamgarr]

I don't even like World of Warcraft, but this still depresses me. At least before this, though I thought it was stupid, I had at least some level of respect for the franchise garnering such a following. But this is so retarded. And what a terrible time to make this addition, with The Old Republic coming out soon, you'd think they'd have done something- anything- to keep their fanbase from going over. Sure a level cap might help them, but still... Purely from a business perspective it seems retarded. Not to mention the fact that the idea of Panda Ninjas is so dumb it's absurd. The creative department literally sat around brainstorming and someone was like, "what about that Jack Black movie?" and literally no one thought to stop and say, "this is fucking retarded."

Sure people make the argument that they're trying to widen their appeal to a broader audience, but I simply can't fathom someone being like: "you know, I really wasn't feeling this whole 'World of Warcraft' thing, but now that you can play with ninja Pandas, I just have to check it out!" It's so stupid it offends me as a human being. Plus, why the hell are they trying to broaden their audience? It seems like they should be focusing more on their already established fanbase, trying to keep them as fixated on the game as possible (although I suppose they already are if they've been committed so long).

A dark day for gamers everywhere

 

[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?

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.

/facepalm

I'm talking about content patches, not content included in the boxed expansion you had to pay for on top of your subscription.

The fact is that ON TOP of the Cataclysm box price, you've paid a subscription for over 9 months and only received 2 content patches (4.1 and 4.2). That is, you've paid around $135 for three raids, two of which are rehashes from vanilla(changing the bosses doesn't make old content new).

The content:dollar ratio in WoW is absolutely terrible. I could have bought 3 full games with the money you've paid to keep playing the same content over and over again.

 

[Artemis923]

Jackblack, Lvl 1 Pandaren Monk...

Gross.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Not to mention the fact that the idea of Panda Ninjas is so dumb it's absurd. The creative department literally sat around brainstorming and someone was like, "what about that Jack Black movie?" and literally no one thought to stop and say, "this is fucking retarded."

No. Pandaren were in Warcraft long before this film.

The content:dollar ratio in WoW is absolutely terrible. I could have bought 3 full games with the money you've paid to keep playing the same content over and over again.

Luckily, nobody is forcing you to pay/play the game.

 

[LetalisK]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

 

[Loop Stricken]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

No?
You've stopped playing, you've had your fill. The game is going to remain much the same; click button, things die.

 

[LetalisK]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

No?
You've stopped playing, you've had your fill. The game is going to remain much the same; click button, things die.

I'm curious, is the talent system really in need of another revamp? I've been gone from the game for 6 months, but it seemed to work really well. It's just barely been redone and they're messing with it again.

 

[PrinceofPersia]

I ain't buying that.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

No?
You've stopped playing, you've had your fill. The game is going to remain much the same; click button, things die.

I'm curious, is the talent system really in need of another revamp? I've been gone from the game for 6 months, but it seemed to work really well. It's just barely been redone and they're messing with it again.

The idea is that, whilst the idea behind talent trees is a way to customise your character, the reality is you go to ElitistJerks and just pick whatever it tells you is best.
With the new change, you still choose your desired role at lv10 and receive role-defining abilities, and continue to learn your skills as you level.
The new talent trees are essentially perks now, that give you skills for survival, utility, crowd control and the like to choose from. The idea is that they aren't really subject to minmaxing, but one talent might be more viable at any one time than the others.

 

[Aeonknight]

So.... any bets on how long before the stupid "makes me a sad panda" meme comes back?

 

[Moosejaw]

I, for one, am glad they went with a way more lighthearted approach instead of thinking up a brand new evil dude for everyone to make terrible speeches about. After playing this game for 6 years on and off, it's about time they switched it up. I'll probably get the expansion, hang around for a few months to suck up the new content, then bail until the next one.

 

[Zulnam]

Monk class - awesome
New Areas - cool
Challenge system - alright
New talent calculator (AGAIN) - fair enough
Pandaren race - ok i can sort of accept it


BUT NOW THEY'RE DOING POKEMON BATTLES?!

I knew bliz was singing to the kiddies since the first expansion when both blood elves and draenei males had only spikey anime-like hair, but this is going a bit too far.

Well i was planning on quitting MMOs anyway.

Also, I don't mean to sound racist or xenophobic or anything, but the whole idea of asian culture/architecture/theme just doesn't interest me.

 

[LetalisK]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

No?
You've stopped playing, you've had your fill. The game is going to remain much the same; click button, things die.

I'm curious, is the talent system really in need of another revamp? I've been gone from the game for 6 months, but it seemed to work really well. It's just barely been redone and they're messing with it again.

The idea is that, whilst the idea behind talent trees is a way to customise your character, the reality is you go to ElitistJerks and just pick whatever it tells you is best.
With the new change, you still choose your desired role at lv10 and receive role-defining abilities, and continue to learn your skills as you level.
The new talent trees are essentially perks now, that give you skills for survival, utility, crowd control and the like to choose from. The idea is that they aren't really subject to minmaxing, but one talent might be more viable at any one time than the others.

It sounds like Blizzard is chasing the dragon to me, then. If there is any significant amount of customization available in the talent trees, there will always be an "Optimal Build" for warrior tanking, for example.

 

[Taunta]

I used to play WoW, left at the beginning of Cataclysm because I was pretty much "over" WoW. Am I weird for not being excited by this at all?

No?
You've stopped playing, you've had your fill. The game is going to remain much the same; click button, things die.

I'm curious, is the talent system really in need of another revamp? I've been gone from the game for 6 months, but it seemed to work really well. It's just barely been redone and they're messing with it again.

Loop Stricken said it well, but allow me to chime in:

In early development, talent trees weren't even in the game. They were put in because Blizzard wanted you to feel unique, and not like you're the same as every other person that plays your class. But with the old and current talent systems, they failed that goal, because all the talents were power based and therefore there would only be one (with slight variations on the one) acceptable tree, and you would be laughed out of any raid or arena if you didn't have the right build. There is no gameplay, fun, learning, or choice involved in talents nowadays. You just go to EJ or look someone up and copy their cookie cutter build.

The talent tree change in Cataclysm wasn't really aimed to fix this problem, it was aimed to take all the junky, stupid, and useless talents out of the trees, but Blizzard and the playerbase still aren't satisfied, so they threw their hands up, said "fuck it" and are overhauling the whole thing.

In the next expac all your mandatory talents, etc, will be given to you as part of your spec or class, and the new talent trees are all completely optional. You're given three options a row that all basically do the same thing, and you can only pick one, so you pick the one that you think you would enjoy, not the one that would be best for your dps. I think only about 2% of the talents I've seen so far at Blizzcon would create a dps difference, but of course they're all subject to change.