The Mists of Pandaria Hold Many Secrets, Also Pandas

@jabbertrack said:

@Scotto said:

...

So they put out an expansion featuring racial stereotype kung fu pandas, in a world that already includes a movie franchise literally called KUNG FU PANDA, and featuring a new race that have an incredibly tenuous connection to the existing Warcraft history (though it is there). They are forging ahead into uncharted waters, with a story you're given no default reason to care about, unlike the others.

So some will laugh at the silly pandas (rightly or wrongly) and use that to justify not giving it a chance, and others will yawn at the lack of immediate stakes in this expansion (unlike all the others). It'll slow the subscriber bleeding for a while - this is WoW after all - but I predict it doesn't have nearly the impact of the previous expansions.

With the exception of Sargeras, all of the "major" established villains in the Warcract universe are dead and gone - you've even fought historic evils via the Caverns of Time, like Archimonde. This expansion just feels like fumbling in the dark.\, trying to wring the last drops out of a lorebook that is all but scorched earth.

At least this person recognizes that there is actually a link here from Warcraft. It should be pointed out that Pandas, Pandarian Brewmaster, all this shit was in Warcraft 3. Released in 2003. If ANYTHING... DreamWorks ripped off Blizzard.

This storyline was a part of Warcraft before World of Warcraft was even released.

When I played those missions in Warcraft 3 I was actually disappointed that a character like that didn't get more development. He was nice departure from the seriousness of the rest of the Frozen Throne plot.

The Founding of Durotar bonus campaign was particularly cool.

Not a lore nerd for Warcraft... just seen enough people claim that Blizzard is ripping off something THEY created.

Blizzard didn't really "create" the idea of cartoon bears native to the Asian subcontinent, who know martial arts. Blizzard didn't "steal" the idea either, so anyone saying that is an idiot. Lots of cartoons have featured anthropomorphic animals that are essentially just racial stereotypes.

I'm familiar enough with the Warcraft mythology to know that Pandarians weren't pulled out of Blizzard's ass for this expansion, as you noted. HOWEVER, I also recognize that the Pandarians as a land and a people, have almost nothing to do with the Warcraft mythology to date. Their history with the Warcraft lore amounts to one supporting character in Warcraft 3. For that reason, I'm not enthusiastic about their inclusion in the game. I felt the same way about the Worgen. The Dranei were an interesting inclusion, because their history tied into the existing story in a really interesting way.

I'll never count WoW out, because of what a phenomenon it has been, but it feels like the sea change is already starting to happen - subscribers are leaving, at the same time they are releasing the first WoW expansion with very mixed reactions from players.

@Shaanyboi said:

@bemusedchunk said:

LOL KUNG FU PANDA JACK BLACK WARCRAFT II REFERENCE GUILD WARS 2!!!!!

Boom

qft

@Scotto said:

...

So they put out an expansion featuring racial stereotype kung fu pandas, in a world that already includes a movie franchise literally called KUNG FU PANDA, and featuring a new race that have an incredibly tenuous connection to the existing Warcraft history (though it is there). They are forging ahead into uncharted waters, with a story you're given no default reason to care about, unlike the others.

So some will laugh at the silly pandas (rightly or wrongly) and use that to justify not giving it a chance, and others will yawn at the lack of immediate stakes in this expansion (unlike all the others). It'll slow the subscriber bleeding for a while - this is WoW after all - but I predict it doesn't have nearly the impact of the previous expansions.

With the exception of Sargeras, all of the "major" established villains in the Warcract universe are dead and gone - you've even fought historic evils via the Caverns of Time, like Archimonde. This expansion just feels like fumbling in the dark.\, trying to wring the last drops out of a lorebook that is all but scorched earth.

At least this person recognizes that there is actually a link here from Warcraft. It should be pointed out that Pandas, Pandarian Brewmaster, all this shit was in Warcraft 3. Released in 2003. If ANYTHING... DreamWorks ripped off Blizzard.

This storyline was a part of Warcraft before World of Warcraft was even released.

When I played those missions in Warcraft 3 I was actually disappointed that a character like that didn't get more development. He was nice departure from the seriousness of the rest of the Frozen Throne plot.

The Founding of Durotar bonus campaign was particularly cool.

Not a lore nerd for Warcraft... just seen enough people claim that Blizzard is ripping off something THEY created.

@Floppypants: The reason that I think it will have to be Sargeras is because I believe that Blizzard has one more expansion left in them, and if this will be their last expansion, it will have to be something that wraps their lore up real nicely in a really nice bow. One way that they could make the expansion interesting and a little less like TBC would be to incorporate some sort of Alliance/Horde co-operative element in that region. Just an idea.

I enjoyed the video more before the Panda showed up. There's an almost nil chance of my ever playing this, though.

@sephirm87: It's plausible that Sargeras could be a central villain for an expansion, but I don't see how that would work. Where would we go to fight him? Who would live there? How would it not feel like Burning Crusade 2.0?

My guess is that their next expansion is even more out of left field than MoP. Something just completely unpredictable.

@Floppypants: I honestly feel like this expansion will be the one that shows the story of how Garrosh Hellscream finally brought the Alliance and Horde together to defeat him, and the next expansion will have this new confederation enter the Twisting Nether to fight Sargeras as the main villain. New level cap 100. I am calling it right now.

This is the dumbest thing I have ever watched.

this trailer was sweet now they should go rip off Rango next

The bit where the Human slowly hands the Orc his spear made me laugh harder than it maybe should have.

Fuck WoW, I'd play a game that only had Pandaria shit in it.

This trailer raised then immediately dashed my hopes for a Warcraft: Orc vs. Wild Edition.

@Sooty said:

Nope. Guild Wars 2 means an MMO is finally worth considering that is not tired old WoW.

Pity that GW2 looks and plays like arse from the beta weekends :( I'll still play for a bit.. but it's a massive disappointment.

Yesss, Kung Fu Panda 3!!!!...wait...

Mists of Pandaria? Really? they couldn't come up with anything better than Pandaria?

@John1912 said:

@ExplodeMode said:

@oldenglishC said:

( •_•)>⌐■-■

Looks like the WOW development team ...

(⌐■_■)

BEAR - ly have any ideas left

YEEEEEEAAAAHHH!!!

With a growing Chinese audience...

It looks like WoW is starting to pandaer.

Fixed*

God fucking damnit. I love you guys (^_^)-b

@Karkarov said:

Great trailer with absolutely no gameplay in it, call me "surprised". And by great I mean average as hell. Why didn't they just show clips of Kung Fu Panda, other than an actual human being there the differences are minimal at best.

The only real question is how fast will the game fall to under 9 mil subs after the launch of another boring same ol same ol WoW expansion with ever so slightly improved graphics and panda's. Which by the way they previously said were just a one shot joke they would never put in WoW because they were not proper for the lore.

Laughs all around.

Except for the whole part where the pandaren where supposed to be the new alliance race in TBC.

I'm really tired of people dismissing this whole expansion because "lol pandas". I've played the beta and the pandaren are one of the most interesting races in WoW. They're very new and fresh, and have very different views on things than literally every other character in WoW ever.

mmos are like fps to me, just the same old shit over and over again. just in a slightly different and more expensive format. hope Guild wars is as interesting as people seem to think it is.

@ExplodeMode said:

At the end of the video the panda should have asked them to collect 20 pieces of bamboo and to kill 40 murlocs.

You'd be surprised how much questing has changed in WoW. On the MoP beta You start off by gunning down alliance troops and then learn to meditate. It's much more advanced than gather 10 mammoth tusks these days.

@ExplodeMode said:

@oldenglishC said:

( •_•)>⌐■-■

Looks like the WOW development team ...

(⌐■_■)

BEAR - ly have any ideas left

YEEEEEEAAAAHHH!!!

With a growing Chinese audience...

It looks like WoW is starting to pandaer.

Fixed*

@ExplodeMode: Very nice. (golf clap)

@oldenglishC said:

( •_•)>⌐■-■

Looks like the WOW development team ...

(⌐■_■)

BEAR - ly have any ideas left

YEEEEEEAAAAHHH!!!

With a growing Chinese audience...

It looks like WoW is starting to pander.

At the end of the video the panda should have asked them to collect 20 pieces of bamboo and to kill 40 murlocs.

Holy shit, Blizzard has done it again.

This might be their best cinematic ever... epicly awesome.

That just annoys me: the cinematics are this good, but the game is drawn in crayons...

@bemusedchunk said:

LOL KUNG FU PANDA JACK BLACK WARCRAFT II REFERENCE GUILD WARS 2!!!!!

Boom

GOD DAM, If Blizzard knows one thing it is how to make a god dam cut scene.

No matter how much I hate Blizzard sometimes for stupid shit they pull, I know they can do a hell of a cinematic. Always impressive.

@Scotto said:

@Chris2KLee said:

Probably end up doing my customary 1 month new content tour then bail again.

This is basically what I've done for the past two expansions.

This is what most people do, actually. They leave, come back, see what there is to see (Shiny new pallet swaps, a couple new dungeons) and then leave no more than 3 months later. Just shows that people like the idea of WoW, but not exactly its execution. Its 8 years old, and people are always looking for newer things.

I think i might actually jump back in to try this out for a little while.

Cool

That's....boring.

@Chris2KLee said:

Probably end up doing my customary 1 month new content tour then bail again.

This is basically what I've done for the past two expansions.

@Floppypants said:

As for the "racial stereotype kung fu pandas," I think you have to be a miserable cynic if that's what stops you from playing the game. It's a bit hypocritical to blame Blizzard for killing off major villains, and then also blame Blizzard for expanding the world in a way that allows them to write new major villains. The continent of Pandaria has a ton of cool, new evil dudes to kill.

I didn't "blame" them for killing off all of the major villains in their world - that's a natural byproduct of the game being out for many years now, and I thought they did a good job with all of them.

Nor am I "blaming" them for trying to expand the world, as though that's a bad thing. I'm acknowledging that this expansion, unlike all of the others, has no pre-established ultimate focal point.

As for the rest, I'll agree to disagree, but not without noting that the game has been bleeding hundreds of thousands of subscribers for the first time ever (I was an early one). The fantastic things keeping you interested are clearly not being perceived the same way by everyone.

Nor do I think it's miserably cynical to acknowledge that we live in a world that's already populated with a silly kung fu panda, and that will no doubt color the perception of people, to the Pandarians. This is pretty much indisputable, as opinions of the Pandarian expansion have been sharply divided and opinionated since day one. If it doesn't bother you - great.

Kung-fu Panda

Probably end up doing my customary 1 month new content tour then bail again.

This makes me wanna play this game a whole big bunch. I know it's just (gorgeous) cg, but, well, there it is. The moment when the dude handed the orc the stick killed me.

I wanted Panderians before Lich King came out. There's no way I'm going back now, but I wish them the best. I have a lot of affection for WoW still.

@Scotto: They've burned through the major villains from Warcraft's RTS days, but that's pretty insignificant. Warcraft's MMO audience and RTS audience don't have a lot of overlap, and there are even less that only play WoW because they're Warcraft lore buffs.

That said, Mists of Pandaria is giving it a honest, strong effort to write new stories that players are going to care about. Starting with the 5.0 patch that launches later this month, WoW's first "scenario" will be added to the game where the Horde attacks Jaina Proudmoore and destroys Theramore. If you want more, there's a book coming out on the same day about the events in the scenario ("Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War").

The developers have said that MoP will culminate in a raid on Ogrimmar itself to remove Garrosh Hellscream from power. This is a character who was introduced in Burning Crusade, not Warcraft 2 or 3. While Garrosh isn't the same threat to all life on Azeroth that Deathwing was, it's just as compelling to me. It'll be interesting to see how the developers turn Ogrimmar into a full, proper raid instance.

As for the "racial stereotype kung fu pandas," I think you have to be a miserable cynic if that's what stops you from playing the game. It's a bit hypocritical to blame Blizzard for killing off major villains, and then also blame Blizzard for expanding the world in a way that allows them to write new major villains. The continent of Pandaria has a ton of cool, new evil dudes to kill.

Again though, WoW's success has little to do with Illidan, Arthas, and Deathwing. Subscriber numbers didn't swell to 12 million because 12 million ex-Warcraft 3 players had blue balls waiting to kill the Lich King. WoW's success has much more to do with continuously innovating with their game systems and feeding subscribers regular doses of fresh, high quality content.

Honestly, this game could use an Asian vibe considering how many Asians love the game. Night Elf architecture doesn't count.

Nice CG, no urge to play the game again though.

I'll give Blizzard two things- They do CG really, really well and they have a knack for comedic timing. There's nothing here that's interesting enough to get me to pay $15/mo to roll another alt or gear-grind 5-mans to raid 10-mans, though. After playing GW2, I think that's my MMO of choice from here onwards, until something can top it. If you'll notice, though, Blizzard is very good about putting out expansions for WoW about the time serious competition comes onto the MMO scene. I do have a prediction, though- You'll see a dip in subs after GW2 hits, a bump in subs once MoP launches, and then within 3-4 months, people will be complaining about hitting the level cap in a hurry and that the grind is back in force. Its been that way every MMO launched after WoW- but people still keep going back to the trough for more.

I predict this expansion will be the beginning of the precipitous decline for WoW - not because I think panda monks are any more absurd than the other animal-people in WoW, but because they have reached the end of the established Warcraft lore.

The Burning Crusade, Illidan, Arthas, the black dragonflight - all of these had a well-rooted basis in Warcraft's lore prior to WoW (or earlier in WoW's own lorebuilding, like the Deathwing connection to Nefarian, Onyxia, and the red dragonflight), and Blizzard have essentially "burned" through them all. The next step up would be some sort of expansion involving Sargeras himself, but they obviously don't want you essentially fighting the prime evil yet.

So they put out an expansion featuring racial stereotype kung fu pandas, in a world that already includes a movie franchise literally called KUNG FU PANDA, and featuring a new race that have an incredibly tenuous connection to the existing Warcraft history (though it is there). They are forging ahead into uncharted waters, with a story you're given no default reason to care about, unlike the others.

So some will laugh at the silly pandas (rightly or wrongly) and use that to justify not giving it a chance, and others will yawn at the lack of immediate stakes in this expansion (unlike all the others). It'll slow the subscriber bleeding for a while - this is WoW after all - but I predict it doesn't have nearly the impact of the previous expansions.

With the exception of Sargeras, all of the "major" established villains in the Warcract universe are dead and gone - you've even fought historic evils via the Caverns of Time, like Archimonde. This expansion just feels like fumbling in the dark.\, trying to wring the last drops out of a lorebook that is all but scorched earth.

If you have played The Mist Beta, you've seen just how how advanced the Pandren player models have gotten. Their faces are heavily articuluated and every movement flexes and moves like you'd expect. it puts the old Orc and Human models to shame as stilted.

No gnomes. No go.

When I see someone complain about how the Pandas make this game less hardcore or whatever, I really have to wonder, what else in the cartoon game makes your shell of masculinity crack? When you see the Panda does it make you feel funny? Does that funny feeling bother you? Do you overcompensate for that funny feeling by calling it out for being 'silly'?

CE, day 1, lets do this.

@Karkarov

Uhm you do know that there are a lot gameplay trailer out for WoW: MoP. Hell, there is no NDA or anything, the whole internet is full of WoW gameplay, apart from basically everyone who already has the slightest interest already knows the game well enough.

In regards to Kung Fu Panda, you probably never even played the Warcraft 3 campaign, did you? Chen Stormstout? "Have one on the house"?

I've even read that the Kung Fu Panda movie credited Blizzard in their movie...

But you're full of shit either way.

@bemusedchunk said:

LOL KUNG FU PANDA JACK BLACK WARCRAFT II REFERENCE GUILD WARS 2!!!!!

Fucking awesome! I actually laughed reading the list of animal dudes. Naked Walrus man, HA!

I've preordered this addon, I enjoy wow. Its very playable, smooth and combat flows. Some of my friends are on it and we have a good laugh raiding. I've tried other mmo's but I still come back to this one. Having played since final beta with a few breaks, i've seen the good and the bad and its still better than many if not all of the other mmos out there. The only really different one is EVEOnline and thats a whole different ball game.

Just a humble holy priest.

Awesome cinematics as usual, worst part is having to return to WOW.