NEW EXPANSION: MISTS OF PANDARIA

... from here. I on the other hand welcome our new fuzzy giant-racoon masters.

So the pet battle system...Pokemon anyone?

Well, I'm done. I just can't take this shit seriously anymore.

PvE scenarios?  Freakin' finally.  I hope this is more modeled after GW2 or at least better implemented than WAR.  New gameplay modes are always welcome.  And Monk?  Sweeeet.  Hope the teddy bears aren't the only ones who can be one.  Not into the fur thing.

Any release date?

New Features

• The pandarens are the new race.
• The female model isn't done yet.
• At level 10, you will get to choose between horde and alliance.
• Pandaren Classes: Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior
• Racial - Epicurean - Increase the stat benefits from food by 100%
• Racial - Gourmand - Cooking skill increased by 15.
• Racial - Inner Peace - Your rested experience bonus lasts twice as long.
• Racial - Bouncy - You take 50% less falling damage.
• Racial - Quaking Palm - You touch a secret pressure point on an enemy target, putting it to sleep for 3 sec.

Monk New Class

• Brewmaster - Tank spec
• Mistweaver - Healer, a healer who can stand up in melee and will let players experience a "new healing style"
• Windwalker - Melee DPS
• This is not a hero class, and it will start at level 1

What mounts will the pandas have?

Maybe a beer cart pulled by a yak?

I think Blizzard is loosing their touch! BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, they are getting rid of talent trees too?

I guess they are changing warlocks, shamen and druids also.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

The new talent "trees" are up on MMO champ. They could not be more cookie-cutter.

All the talk they gave about how it would make specs individual, and yet these look like they'll be even more generic than what we have now.

I can get behind the Asian/Chinese theme.  We've done dinosaurs, bugs, zombies, elves, nordic, Native American, Egyptian and a few others I'm sure.  Ancient far East seems like a nice design view.  But the rest of it...   Oh well, maybe I'll just level to 90 then play D3 for the next 2 years. 

:)   But seriously...

There's lots of negativity. Seems like a third of the guild is saying "wtf pandas" another third is "wtf talents" and the rest are shrugging or excited.

I'm excited. Primarily because the game is stagnant and aging poorly at this point. Plus the Cataclysm expansion, which sounded really cool ended up petering out really fast. They need to pump life into the game, and they need to fix shit. Having a talent tree with multiple talents that no one uses, but just uses cookie cutter builds is a shit system. I'm excited to see if they can fix it. Maybe, maybe not. But it's not working now, so I'm not seeing the harm.

As for pandas? I'm surprised they put them in, but I think it's pretty neat. Asian theme worked for Guild Wars, and I'd rather there be pandas than kung-fu humans. Plus, the monk class really excites me. (I still want a bard, though)

I'm really excited about the pokemon thing. It will add a fun mini game into the meta game to play around with, and it's completely optional.

I play games to have fun. Comedy and lighthearted stuff is way more fun than SUPER SRS BUSINESS. That's why GTA can blow me, but I can't wait to play Saints Row the Third. I've always enjoyed games that joke around and have puns and funny situations because it's entertaining. Considering that for the past 5-6 years, when WoW has been trying to be SUPER SRS and the end result is writing that would make Shakespeares horse fall over dead... I'm really looking forward to a change of pace.

Of course, whats-his-5'oclockshadow did keep going WAR WAR WAR EPIC OMG WAR.
So it probably won't be as lighthearted as I'd like.

The screenshots of Pandaria all look very attractive, they do a great job with the game world and the solo questing with every expansion.

The panda-people and the new monk class do seem like rather desperate attempts to keep fickle players from defecting to a certain upcoming game.  That said, I am sure I will try both.

I am pretty disappointed with the talent system changes, it looks seriously dumbed down.  I can't imagine the hardcore raiding crowd will like it much.  It looks hard to tinker around with. 

I find it bizarre they chose to have a "pet combat" system; the one EQ2 introduced five years ago was derided by EQ2 players as a half-baked pvp system no one liked or used.  It only went into the game because EQ2 had no battlegrounds up till that point and was abandoned almost totally when battlegrounds did appear. 

By the way, the panda-people made their way into EQ2 last year as the Hua-Mein, though not as a playable race. 

From someone who was there it's very exciting. I don't know how many of you sat through all of the details, but there's a lot more to this than Pandas.

(just have to point out... Furbolg, Tol'vir, Tuskar, Wolvar, Snobold, Murloc... can anyone suggest Blizzard has been inconsistent in its use of anthropomorphism? Yet no complaints that any of these don't belong in the lore or Warcraft.)

When I first came to wow it took me a while to get over the art style, I hated it. Overscaled/underscaled body parts, really ackward uses of colors. I'm still not a huge fan, but the way they've adapted those styles to fit improving graphics has really impressed me, and the scenes from Pandaria are no different. 

Did you see this shot of the bad guys..

What about that is furry and peaceful?

Did you see the Sha?

Did you read through the changes to Warlock? Pretty awesome stuff happening there with the different specs.

Cross-Character Achievements

Level-Based innate resilience so pvp is easier to get into from the beginning.

Dungeon Challenges that will net you unique appearance pieces for transmog.

The typical talent system is changing, but I can tell you after seeing it through it's for the better. Basically you're given the spec as it's intended to be played (and would have been played anyway), then you're given 5 additional choices that have broad and meaningful repercussions. What's that compared to some of the choices (or non-choices) you make now looking at the trees?

Pet combat system? How dare you add more content Blizzard, my vanity pets are not permitted to do more than follow me around senselessly.

Also want to mention that although they did start out talking about the ramping up of the war between the horde and the alliance they mentioned that it was the beginning of a ramp up that would span the next couple of years, which would suggest the following expansions as well, not just what's going on in Pandaria.

The game will continue to be epic and engaging just as it has always been.

On a side not the one thing I've wanted from the first day I started playing wow is coming true, I'm locked in just for finally getting it.

Well Im pretty excited for the new expansion. 

To be honest, the only thing I don't like is that I won't be able to see my SUPER AWESOME SCYTHE on my back anymore. :'(

 One thing people seem to forget is no matter the choices they give us for the talents.. it will ALWAYS end up cookiecutter due to the fact that people will theory craft, practice and come up with the best builds for  all the specs and within a couple months everyone who wants to raid or get content done will all have the same build.  It's unavoidable  just like in games like FFXI back in the day yes you could be any main and any sub but if you were not certain subs with certain mains you were laughed out of parties nd you would NEVER seen end game content. It's human nature to find the best way to do something and expect everyone to follow suit. I have never seen talents in wow not be cookiecutter. " Why did you take that paladin that's not going to keep threat." " Mage your DPS will double by taking this talent over those." It's always been this way there has not been a time when serious end game content did not lead to cookiecutter specing either by request or by seeing someone else's character outshine your own and you take their build to improve yourself.

This is Zee's wife, Darwina. I think this new expansion looks HILARIOUS. Gummi berry brewmaster bouncing panda ninjas FTW! I am totally signing back up when this comes out, purely for the comedic value.

I don't have anything to add in regards to game mechanics or aesthetics or any serious discussions. I just think it's going to be quite funny, and I am looking forward to bouncing around and giggling like a schoolgirl with you guys when this drops!

This is Zee.  I don't like panda's or the change in game design.  Every step of the way WoW has gotten further and further from the ideal that I enjoy.  I'll resevere final judgement for the end product, but I don't have high hopes.  It looks a lot like a F2P game, and I hate those.  As it stands right now, I will not be getting this expansion.  Most of the new features hold no interest for me, and a few of them are downright bad imo.  A new continent, talent system, pandas are the three things that I dislike the most.  The other features mentioned spark no interest in me.  I have tried to find something that sparks my interest but I haven't. 

I just find myself being disappointed, not angry or rage, but dissapointed.

So much QQ... :P

Not that those of you complaining, etc. aren't entitled to it. You are. But at the same time - give it a chance before you get all "OMGWTF BLIZZ I AM DISAPPOINT YOU JUMPED THE SHARK /RAGEQUIT." Overdramatic perhaps but at the same time, give it a chance?

Pandaren - Yes they began as a joke. But they've also been one of the MAIN requests they get from players every time they're asked for new things. "Are pandaren going to be playable?" "When do we get pandaren?" "Why can't we be pandaren?" Well now, we get to be pandaren. Obviously enough people are excited about it that Blizzard felt they were worth introducing in an expansion. And if you don't like the idea of pandaren? YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY ONE! Because...

Monks - Did I say you don't have to play a Pandaren? I did. All of the races except Goblins and Worgen can be Monks. Rejoice! Also, how cool is the monk class? Tank/dps/healer/DRUNK.  I am really interested in learning more about the healing style since they said they wanted Monk healers to be the kind of healer that can get up in the melee and hold their own (not damage-wise but survivability-wise.) And it's NOT a hero class! they have a 1-90 experience like the rest of the classes.

World Raid bosses - I've barely seen this talked about. They wanted to bring back world raid bosses to help get people back out into the world. They also want these bosses to help provide incentive for open-world PvP (lots of cheers from the pvP'ers in the crowd when that was mentioned.) They also talked about the raid boss loot being cool stuff that makes them worth going after.

Scenarios - these are not like Warhammer public quests or Rift's "rifts". They're a slightly different animal. They'll be instanced, be for as many as 3-25 players, and will be something you can queue for. They'll be staged and have certain objectives, and from the sound of things they'll have them available regardless of your level (so you can hit up a scenario at lvl10 and then the same scenario later at lvl90.)

Dungeon Challenges - more ways for PvE'ers to be competitive! Timed dungeon challenges. Normalized gear, so you can't go in and simply overpower the content. Rewards, gold/silver/bronze medals. Leaderboards so you can check your progress against other players. They want players to have more ways than just raiding and PvP to feel competitive with each other.

Pet battle system - speaking of competition...yes I know it's basically Pokemon. And judging from the devs reactions as they introduced it, they know it too. But the reactions to this news in the hall were definitely delighted. I'm excited about it. It's an entire game within a game, and mini-games within the larger meta game are a cool thing, IMHO. Plus, more ways to compete against each other. And now pets will be account wide? And tradeable? How cool is that? I think it's pretty cool.

Foundations of War - everyone's talking about how silly this expansion seems, and on the surface yes I suppose there is a lot of lighthearted silliness to it. But it's also been pointed out that this is the tip of the iceberg. There's been a definite insinuation that this is only the groundwork for much larger plans. Chris Metzen was particularly beating the "war" drum, and I expect in some of the Q&A panels later, more information about that will come out. There is a definite sense of this being part of a larger plan, which is why all of the complaints about WoW "jumping the shark" and grasping at idea straws leave me shaking my head. I haven't had that impression at all. They've talked about the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, and the fact that Pandaren start as neutral and have to choose their side is pretty big - it makes the separation between the factions very "real". In BC and especially in Wrath, there was a lot of working together to overcome the Big Bad. They've moved away from that somewhat in Cata - each side is licking their wounds, trying to recover from Cata, but in some cases we're still working together to overcome some Big Bad. In MoP, there is no Big Bad. WE are the Big Bad. So the focus is getting turned back around on us, our conflict with the Alliance. Personally, it leaves me feeling really curious about the direction they will go with this, and how it lays the groundwork for future conflicts between Horde and Alliance. Could we also see some factional imbalance? Could the Horde or Alliance see fragmentation occur? Could this be the groundwork for a third faction, like say if the Forsaken and Blood Elves leave the Horde? What about the Alliance? Could some fragmentation happen there? It's all very exciting what the possibilities could be, at least in my view.

Talents - I love the direction they're moving talents in, and I think it lays a good foundation for them to build off of. I don't know how many of you have actually looked at the talents, but if you haven't yet, you really should. The idea with the talents is for them to be situational, preferential, and easy to switch as needed. You'll be able to change in and out of them like you would glyphs, and while some might seem more suited for a certain role, they're intended to be situational talents that you can choose based on what you'll be doing, what your role might be, etc. I like that. Yes I am sure that the theorycrafters will be hard at work picking out the "best" talents to choose from, and to some extent you may not be able to avoid some cookie-cutter decisions. But overall, I like that they are trying to give players some more choices in the talent department.

Class changes - remember those "quality of life" survesy they asked us to take on the forums a while back? it looks like they listened, since some of the changes people asked for were made. Druids getting 4 specs? Hunters only need ranged weapons? No hunter minimum range? Shamans not having to just be buff bitches? I expect we'll learn more at the class Q&A later. 

Future expansions - It really feels to me like they're trying to push expansions out faster (actually they might have said that.) This exnapsion already has a lot of the art assets complete (which is big since art is often the thing that takes the longest) and I think they were talking about this being released next spring? So again, tip of the iceberg, more to come, etc.

Anyway, if you're really bummed about the news then I guess you're really just bummed and there's not much that can be done about that. I'm choosing to be excited about it, because I think there's a lot to be excited about, and I am really interested in seeing how the rest of the exansion's development plays out. :)

I would also like to apologize for my previous comment and locking the thread.

I just saw this thread going the same way as SWTOR and the drama that happened with that debate and wanted to stop it before it exploded.

I didn't mean to offend anyone and I defend my action, but I apparently came across as an asshole.  That wasn't my intent and I apologize.

I WANTED PLAYABLE MURLOCS!!!

Ok, now that I've said that, I guess having 127 pets gets me a head start on one thing at least one thing. I didn't get to Blizzcon but got a Murkablo as a gift. He's bad. Also spits out a smoke ring and jumps through it and has a reverberating gurgle.

The culture looks cool but a panda? Don't know that I can play one. And, gee, who do I delete to even do that? Need a couple more character slots since I can't afford another account.

Bother. Now we get to kill Deathwing and I haven't even gotten toasted yet on Arahila. Two alts but not my main.

I will continue to play because I enjoy a lot of aspects of the game and I don't see a problem having a race or two to play just for fun. Would have been nice if there was two, with one being more serious. Of course, murlocs could be serious. And if we are going to pander to the masses and choose races like the Worgen due to outside influences like Twilight, then do things for the GAMERS as well. I know several adults who play with their kids (age 12 and under) and the pandas will be huge with that crowd. And if I know that many, I am in terror of the actual numbers! ROFL.

So, I think I will start a topic called Xpac Wishlist.

There was a couple of us that were concerned about how this thread is behaving so to speak. We ARE  a guild and as such we are a team. Please refrain from getting too personal, using words we would not use in gchat, and out right attacking other people's posts. Debate all you want, just keep it polite please :)

Just thought this song was perfect for the thread. Its off an english gameshow I used to watch when i was younger.
My thoughts on the expansion.....
Its Exciting man! why complain it hasnt happened yet, and look what happens every patch and every single expansion: people worry and complain that thier game is gunna be ruined! Well if it is, then we can find another game!
Talents: They look pretty wierd and nonsensical to me but hey, have you ever heard me raid lead? LOL!
Panda's: Pretty awesome design, i mean, draenei's=spacegoats and bloodelves are HATED by alot of people, but pandas? Theyre so cute and cuddley! Plus i guess they would be awesome at fighting, and if they arnt then fuck them panda's I still has a trollololol!
Pokewow: Well, 2 awesome games in 1 WTF could go wrong? you dont like it dont play with them, but for those of us who have played pokemon avidly and have been addicted to singing the theme tune around the house, will be happy and everyone should be happy for them.
Monks: AWESOME! Another class thats able to tank heal and dps! It might knock the pally off its pedestal! (those buggers). But seriously though, druids and pally's should have a third who can do what they do! And we all like playing or playing with pallies and druids so thats gunna be benificial to our raids to have more heals tanks and dps'ers
The new dungeons: Scholomance and Scarlet monobrow! OMG this is the most exciting! I love those instances, plus the new ones look awesome too!
Listen, all im trying to say is, if you dont like what your hearing, turn off your podcast and play the game you pay for every month and do the things you love doing in game.
If your literally weeing your pants with anticipation of 5.0 then join the club, but dont argue your points to try and change peoples views.
Everyone has issues with what the game they pay for changes into, but honestly there will always be a solution and its not a cause to be inflamatory.
*pours tea and gives out pot brownies to everyone*
Smile, ye daft twats!
xx

p.s I would like to add that getting talents every 15 levels is a bit poop, but i see why they did it, cus all the levelling crutches we use to go faster to max level, means that we level 3 times per dungeon with rested XP and heirlooms and guild bonus's + holiday bonus's. So see, theres an explanation im willing to accept. but still Boooo!
^_^