Blizzard Registers "Mists of Pandaria," the Next WoW Expansion?

In the wasteland of terrible video game-themed April Fools Day pranks, Blizzard'sPandaren race for Warcraft III was the rare joke that was actually awesome. A fake teaser for a new army to be added in an expansion, the Pandaren army was introduced with authentic screenshots, detailed models and serious lore. It was an elaborate-ass joke, and such was its popularity that real Pandaren characters actually made their way into both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft. But according to a recent patent filling, the Pandaren could very well become the subject of their very own WoW expansion.

MMO-Champion (a site famous for digging through WoW patches to reveal the latest items, mounts, and story content added to the game) managed to locate a recent patent application from Blizzard. The application in question is for an upcoming Blizzard product titled "Mists of Pandaria." According to the patent filling in question, the patent has been filed for a piece of "computer game software", as opposed to, say, a WoW-themed novel or comic book.

Obviously, a patent filing is no sure bet for an upcoming game release, but given that the name of the last WoW expansion similarly leaked out from a patent filing, I'm more than a little inclined to believe that, yes, the next World of Warcraft expansion will take you the homeland of the mystical Pandaren (which, given the animal's origins and the "Mists" title, will be some sort of Chinese-influenced continent to explore). Or maybe I just want to believe as hard as I can that we'll see a Pandaren expansion pack. The idea that this April Fools prank would be the basis of its own release is the best damn way to the end the whole joke.

And I'm sure my enthusiasm (and the enthusiasm of many other Warcraft players) for a Pandaren expansion is no accident. Following the "tepid" sales of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (though, in this instance, tepid sales means that the expansion didn't grow the size of the subscriber base for WoW), Blizzard's management announced that they would be changing their expansion pack process, focusing on releasing more expansion packs at a faster rate rather than once every 18 months. By announcing that the latest expansion will finally make good on bringing a fan-favorite race into the limelight, Blizzard potentially dodges the accusation that they're tainting the value of Cataclysm by releasing the follow-up so quickly.

As with so many elements regarding Blizzard's upcoming games, we won't hear definite information of a new WoW expansion until Blizzcon, Blizzard's yearly fan conference. However, like Cataclysm before it, I'm sure we'll see similar information leaks about Mists of Pandaren in the months to come. In the meantime, I'll be sitting here thinking about what kind of class my new Panderan will be. Maybe a Pandaren Warrior? Or how about a Pandaren Death Knight? Pandaren Rogue would be good too...

Yay! I think!

Stopped caring after cataclysm

Quit WoW after I hit 85 on my main and 60 with a new character, but I could potentially be drawn back to this. Aside from the excellent update to Azeroth, I had no interest in Cataclysm, the Twilight Hammer and Deathwings angst. The pandarens are awesome though, and I'd love to roll a brewmaster.

They need something to release right around the launch of The Old Republic.

I've heard some online claim that there are laws in place in China and some other Asian countries that outlaw any depiction of violence against pandas. I've heard others say that those laws are a myth. Seems like it would be a pretty big deal for Blizzard if those laws do exist. Weren't they already forced to not include the Pandaren Brewmaster pet in the Chinese version of WoW or something like that?

Edit: I did a bit of research and it seems that China only originally disliked the Pandaren because they were shown in traditional Japanese clothing? Probably not a big deal for this news then.

This seems pretty silly to me. Not that World of Warcraft has the most serious tone out their, but the surface-level narrative has always been pretty focused and ignorant of the hundreds of mini-Ragnaroses and whatnot that players have following them around. As a new race, Padaren would be impossible to ignore in the same way.

I'd definitely re-up to play as a Pandaren

I bet it will be their game you can play while you wait in line for blizzcon like Failoc-alypse that or a book.

Come on Blizzard....just let me play as a Pandaren in Diablo 3...
 
Scratch that...what do I have to pay to make my monk a protoss?

They need something to release right around the launch of The Old Republic.

*yawn* I stopped reading after "Blizzard"

While I don't care about WoW anymore, this is still a pretty interesting piece of news. I'll be interested to see how China takes the whole situation if indeed this does turn out to be an expansion.

Also, quality write-up Kessler.

I think i'll be ass-deep in Guild Wars 2 by then. I learned my lesson with Wrath and Cataclysm, i get excited, resubscribe, and in the end i'm playing the exact same game I unsubscribed to, all over again.  

This could be probably the only thing to bring me back to WoW.

WHO CARES! 
 
God, I heard this and was nearly sick imagining people saying "I can't wait till Pandren."  I've played WoW since Vanillia, and it doesn't matter what they add to it at this point, I can't imagine them bring life back to the game. 
 
Blizzard has hit Peak WoW, and like Peak Oil, there is nowhere to go but down.

They are finally putting in Pandarens :(   little late though.

NEVER!

Maybe?

This sounds way too serene for being a WoW expansion. Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm all point towards the greater conflict of the expansion, but Mists of Pandaria does not really seem to do that.

If there's a monk hero class to go along with it, then I'm in.

You can already be a Goblin, who needs anything else?
 
Also they'll be Alliance scum anyway, just like Worgen. Maybe the horde equivalent addition will be Ogres, that would be pretty sweet.

Way too silly to be it.

I'm pumped!

If they bring in pandarians then I am down to replay every class to 85 -.- I dont care for wow much this expansion but this simple addition to the game could bring me back for a long time... I just want to be a drunk panda!

@nonny said:

This sounds way too serene for being a WoW expansion. Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm all point towards the greater conflict of the expansion, but Mists of Pandaria does not really seem to do that.

Shit can't get more chaotic than a Cataclysm. It has to turn into a state of serenity eventually. :P

@BD said:

I bet it will be their game you can play while you wait in line for blizzcon like Failoc-alypse that or a book.

Thanks for the link. That was pretty awesome.

I'll only come back if there is a new class. It doesn't need to be a hero just something different.

edit: links were not legit.

This seems like some kind of weird counter-intelligence to me since they would probably never be able to release this in China.

It's also pretty gross that rather than focus on releasing new and interesting content they are just going to make it as fast as possible and stick it behind a pay wall in addition to their monthly fees. There is a good reason a lot of people have decided to stop playing WoW.

Unless TOR turns out terrible (it probably won't) then I will never go back to WoW, pretty tired of the setting.

@Warchief: Those were outed as fake a long time ago.

I will roll a Pandaren Brewmaster.
 
Gonna a have a 'Drunken Master' ressource mechanic.

Panda warriors wearing Chinese-ish garb?

@Brockly46 said:

Stopped caring after cataclysm

Amen to that.

@Vegsen said:

@Brockly46 said:

Stopped caring after cataclysm

Amen to that.

Yep.

WHO CARES!  God, I heard this and was nearly sick imagining people saying "I can't wait till Pandren."  I've played WoW since Vanillia, and it doesn't matter what they add to it at this point, I can't imagine them bring life back to the game.  Blizzard has hit Peak WoW, and like Peak Oil, there is nowhere to go but down.

I really really really doubt this will be an expansion, maybe it will be a starcraft 2 map or something along those lines, but an actual expansion for world of warcraft never. I know never say never but the pandaren was just a joke and there is pandaren companion pet but that's a joke too. 

Jumping the shark? Nuking the fridge? Mists of Pandaria?

I'm not saying blizzard is going to stick to this 100% but metzen has always said they're a silly race, not in the canon and won't ever be in any sort of narrative

@SamDrugbringer said:

WHO CARES!  God, I heard this and was nearly sick imagining people saying "I can't wait till Pandren."  I've played WoW since Vanillia, and it doesn't matter what they add to it at this point, I can't imagine them bring life back to the game.  Blizzard has hit Peak WoW, and like Peak Oil, there is nowhere to go but down.

People care.  Doi.  And I don't get what you mean by "bringing back life to the game."  It's plenty active right now.

@GioVANNI: noted will pull down. Thanks

SAMURAI PANDAAA

I condemn this shoddy journalism! You wait for the official announcement before writing anything about the game, sir!

Just sayin' if Brad Nicholson were still around and posted this, everybody would jump down his throat for posting "Non-news" and "rumors"

There's no way we'll see an actual Pandaren character that could die/be killed, because China would probably ban it. So I'd expect to be investigating the ruins of the long-lost Pandaren empire or something similar.

The only thing WoW-related that I ever cared about was the episode of South Park.