Next Expansion " Mists of Pandoria"

[Lyonheart]

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2399-Mists-of-Pandaria

i predict new race=pandorian and new class monk!!!

Monk is a healer/melee

[Zzc2]

they wont just release 1 new race, so who would horde get? monk possible new hero class or normal class?

and how would monk heal?

[Lyonheart]

hehe.. Maybe it will be the first neutral race..both side can play it? Monks healing tree would probably be a mix of direct heals..ae heals via doing melee dps. Not sure.. Monks in a lot of games are healer/fighter hybrids. But I'm just saying "monk" due to the pandorian monk pet you can buy hehe. Who knows! Fun to guess. I'm sure Blizzcon will spill the beans 8)

[Oatboat]

kinda getting tired of wow expansions... but you know they have to try to keep it fresh. I'm just ready for some new game to take over for a bit.

[Sam DeathWalker]

http://filmint.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kung_fu_panda_2_zynga.jpg

[Ellay]

I want me some kunf fu panda's.

[Zzc2]

where's the dreadlords or naga playable races

[Starbuck_Jones]

God I hope not.

I have my fingers crossed for an Outlands expansion and we get demon hunter as a hero class. There won't be new races because we just got them with Cata.

[Bollwerk]

WTB more Hero classes!!

[tundra622]

i personally think they will bring out another "hero" class next expansion and then the expansion after 2 new races, repeating that pattern. I hear a lot of people asking for a demon hunter class, it sounds cool but 1st new class was melee/tank so next will be caster/healer?

[EaTCarbS]

There is not enough information available to make a reasonable conjecture. It could be an expansion, a book, or any other number of things.

[jstanthr]

they need to make the expansions inclusive. the cost for new accounts is unreal, a totally new player is gonna be out around 100$

[Knytestorme]

There is not enough information available to make a reasonable conjecture. It could be an expansion, a book, or any other number of things.

There is based on the codes used in the TM filing, as MMO-Champ pointed out.

I agree, monk as a dps/healer would be a good choice and my first thought too was they'd heal through a melee version of smite-atonement healing since that seemed to work well as a healing mechanism once people got used to it.

The only thing they will HAVE to do if they introduce a new class is give us more character slots per server, it seems more than just multiboxers are now starting to max out character slots on a server with 85's and no-one every really wants to be forced to delete a character or start a new one on a totally new server without a desire to do so.

[Tonuss]

They could always make the Pandaren like those walrus people in WotLK. A new race that players can interact with and quest for, but that is not a playable race.

Or perhaps make the walrus people a playable race, lol.

I don't think that a new class is a good idea. With the class homogenization that has gone on due to the "bring the player, not the class" approach, there's no way to really make a new class stand out aside from the name. If they did find a way to make a new class unique, they would almost immediately make sure that at least two or three other classes could do the same so as not to force raids to bring a monk. If the monk was some kind of weird DPS/healing hybrid, you'd see a revamp of paladins and shaman to make them just like a monk.

I understand Blizzard's desire to keep raids from being forced to use certain comps or classes, but the homogenization of the classes has been a very bad idea, IMO.

[Lyonheart]

They could always make the Pandaren like those walrus people in WotLK. A new race that players can interact with and quest for, but that is not a playable race.

Or perhaps make the walrus people a playable race, lol.

I don't think that a new class is a good idea. With the class homogenization that has gone on due to the "bring the player, not the class" approach, there's no way to really make a new class stand out aside from the name. If they did find a way to make a new class unique, they would almost immediately make sure that at least two or three other classes could do the same so as not to force raids to bring a monk. If the monk was some kind of weird DPS/healing hybrid, you'd see a revamp of paladins and shaman to make them just like a monk.

I understand Blizzard's desire to keep raids from being forced to use certain comps or classes, but the homogenization of the classes has been a very bad idea, IMO.

Even though it might not seem like a good idea, its necessary to keep fans playing. A new race only provides so much re-playability. But new classes every few expansions is almost essential to maintaining as much of the fan base as possible, as well as bringing in new players. And Monk is one of the classes that has the popularity to make the masses reroll.

[Multibocks]

There is based on the codes used in the TM filing, as MMO-Champ pointed out.

I agree, monk as a dps/healer would be a good choice and my first thought too was they'd heal through a melee version of smite-atonement healing since that seemed to work well as a healing mechanism once people got used to it.

The only thing they will HAVE to do if they introduce a new class is give us more character slots per server, it seems more than just multiboxers are now starting to max out character slots on a server with 85's and no-one every really wants to be forced to delete a character or start a new one on a totally new server without a desire to do so.

I actually had to delete characters recently as faction change would only show 7 characters and of course the one I wanted to change was the 8th and didn't show until I deleted a 70 priest. I didn't plan on using that priest ever, so no big deal.

[David]

I think they are trowing people off just before blizzcon where they will announce the emerald dream as the next expo. If gaypanda`s make it into wow I will quit.

[ebony]

I think they are trowing people off just before blizzcon where they will announce the emerald dream as the next expo. If gaypanda`s make it into wow I will quit.

emerald dream is 90+ :P we got to have something to fill the new gap 85-90 (thats was not planned) rember a lot of work for exp is done years before.

[Shodokan]

emerald dream is 90+ :P we got to have something to fill the new gap 85-90 (thats was not planned) rember a lot of work for exp is done years before.

The entire "plan" hasn't gone as planned. They have 2 more expansions coming out. The burning legion is last.

Also story line wise the emerald dream already happened, and there is almost no lore that can be done with it for raids/dungeons etc.

[Malgor]

Lyonheart - are you still playing any RIFT? I still have my two accounts, but haven't logged in in over a month. Am paid through September, but considering cancelling since I've been working on my all mage team, which I should get to 76 later today.

[MiRai]

emerald dream is 90+ :P we got to have something to fill the new gap 85-90 (thats was not planned) rember a lot of work for exp is done years before.


The entire "plan" hasn't gone as planned. They have 2 more expansions coming out. The burning legion is last.

Also story line wise the emerald dream already happened, and there is almost no lore that can be done with it for raids/dungeons etc.
This (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/949761-Mists-of-Pandaria-%21?p=12529348&viewfull=1#post12529348) was from the MMO-C thread. It was an older rough draft of the expansions of WoW and of course was not
posted directly nor confirmed by Blizzard.

[ebony]

This (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/949761-Mists-of-Pandaria-%21?p=12529348&viewfull=1#post12529348) was from the MMO-C thread. It was an older rough draft of the expansions of WoW and of course was not
posted directly nor confirmed by Blizzard.

thats what i was looking for!

looks like some new races then....... so cata was the one added on its then agean all cata was for was to change the hole "old" world its not really a Exp its more like WOW2


all we got to rember is this blizzard said !THEY WILL NERVER LET US FLY IN OLD WORLDS!! yet we doing it :P so anything can be done


But am 99.9999999% sure what i been told and now seeing all this new Stuff poping up that the exp will be said @ blizzcon 2011 and to be fair i can not wait there noway there going to wait to say it next year then wait a year to bring it out. even if they say it be be looking @ the end of 2012 start of 2013.

[Lyonheart]

The entire "plan" hasn't gone as planned. They have 2 more expansions coming out. The burning legion is last.

Also story line wise the emerald dream already happened, and there is almost no lore that can be done with it for raids/dungeons etc.


There will be far more than two more expansions. WoW still has over 10 millions subs. MMOs that only have a few hundred thousand subs are still making expansions. As long as player are playing, they HAVE to make expansions. At some point they will have to have "alternative advancement", like many other games have done. Or some day you will have level 1000 players.

To further the story, the could easily bring out Warcraft4 and so on. Or just start making shit up. But there will be many many more expansions to come!

[Meathead]

There will be far more than two more expansions. WoW still has over 10 millions subs. MMOs that only have a few hundred thousand subs are still making expansions. As long as player are playing, they HAVE to make expansions. At some point they will have to have "alternative advancement", like many other games have done. Or some day you will have level 1000 players.

To further the story, the could easily bring out Warcraft4 and so on. Or just start making shit up. But there will be many many more expansions to come!

Are you sure they have over 10million I remember my friends played Cata at the start and now have quit due to the ease of the game...my friends list is dead no one comes on no more...40 friends gone and guilds vanishing..and bringing out cross realm instant queuing with friends is trying to bring people back if im not mistaken and 1 - 80 RAF also * Only reason I came back is to finish off what I started with it with the new RAF....I say they are losing more then what they are getting back. Just to add something when Cata did come out http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/?p=5663#79d19 Lost over 600,000 Subscribers Im not saying the game is crap now but as u can tell it is losing its respect every patch they bring out to make the game easier and easier, for instance my Pally hit 85 and after 2 days played full epic's 359+ gear I was shocked..Also in patch 4.3 they lost another 300,000 subscribers Linked here http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2400-WoW-Lost-300k-Subscribers-Patch-4.3-this-year-Blizzcon-2011-Tickets-Blue-Posts

[Sam DeathWalker]

Well its a hard line to follow, either you make the game simple to level up and people race through content like WoW and they quit cuase they finish to fast or you make it very hard to level up like EQ1 and people quit because it takes to much of a time commitment. Who can put in 40 hours a week playing a game now days?

I would think the best is to make it simple to level but have some very very hard raids (or in world mobs) that can only be beaten by the top 1 percent of the player base.

Or like suggested make it easy to level but hard and long to add in special AA's or whatever.

[MiRai]

Are you sure they have over 10million
The MMO-C link you posted leads directly to this (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/901731-WoW-Loses-600k-Subscribers-Diablo-3-Beta-Q3-2011-Arena-Passe-Blue-Posts):


WoW Lost 600k Subscribers, down to 11.4MMinus another 300K from 11.4 puts them at 11.1M.


Also in patch 4.3 they lost another 300,000 subscribers Linked here http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2400-WoW-Lost-300k-Subscribers-Patch-4.3-this-year-Blizzcon-2011-Tickets-Blue-Posts
4.3 hasn't even been released, you're misreading the news.

[Lyonheart]

Are you sure they have over 10million I remember my friends played Cata at the start and now have quit due to the ease of the game...my friends list is dead no one comes on no more...40 friends gone and guilds vanishing..and bringing out cross realm instant queuing with friends is trying to bring people back if im not mistaken and 1 - 80 RAF also * Only reason I came back is to finish off what I started with it with the new RAF....I say they are losing more then what they are getting back. Just to add something when Cata did come out http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/?p=5663#79d19 Lost over 600,000 Subscribers Im not saying the game is crap now but as u can tell it is losing its respect every patch they bring out to make the game easier and easier, for instance my Pally hit 85 and after 2 days played full epic's 359+ gear I was shocked..Also in patch 4.3 they lost another 300,000 subscribers Linked here http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2400-WoW-Lost-300k-Subscribers-Patch-4.3-this-year-Blizzcon-2011-Tickets-Blue-Posts

It does not matter if they have 10 million, my point is they will keep making expansions for many many years. If it didps below a few million, they might make expansions less. But until then they will keep making them...count on it!

[Multibocks]

I don't think they would slow down the expansions, maybe have less content... But expansion sales are easy money.

[Meathead]

I say in a month I will have like 10 lvl 85 teams in 3 days I have 5 teams at 70 already. when u are bored and have 2 weeks out in the bush there's nothing better then to MB.lol....But its like this all I see is complaining about how easy to game is getting. I remember in BC took me a month to get my pvp gear now U can go in and lose all your games in arena and still get a dam far few points..I havent MB pve instances yet but will soon..and see if it any harder but doing them with my main toon its easy.. * Only reason why I multiboxed in WoW was to make the game harder for myself * ;) If your mind is not stressing then you aint multitasking enuf!

[daviddoran]

I think the reason they only raised the cap by 5 levels was to increase the number of expansions they can have, and to make their content last a bit longer.

I hope we get another hero class, as that was their design choice from Wrath, alternating new races with new classes. I think it would be kinda cool if pandaren were a neutral race, with their own starting area at level 75 or something, and you make choices during your leveling process and at the end you pick a faction to join.

[Tonuss]

Also story line wise the emerald dream already happened, and there is almost no lore that can be done with it for raids/dungeons etc.
It would not surprise me if they made the necessary "edits" to the lore to make this happen. There would be a lot of criticism from the hard core fans of the lore, but for the most part players would shrug their shoulders and play.

[Alemi]

I think the reason they only raised the cap by 5 levels was to increase the number of expansions they can have, and to make their content last a bit longer.


^^^

100 is the level limit - and with wow still so popular, they can still put out content without worrying about how to fix their back end level limit cap.

[thefunk]

Why is 100 the limit ? Did Chuck Norris say so?

I'd like to see a third playable faction (alliance, horde, gnome) and scaled zones so the game isn't such a graveyard.

Realistically, LESS LINEAR QUESTS AND HARDER QUESTS. not that I have time to play anymore mind. In fact, for anyone with more than 1 kid, how do you manage to play at all?

[Alemi]

Why is 100 the limit ? Did Chuck Norris say so?


It's been mentioned many a time since vanilla. Here's a statement by the lead producer for WoW, but if you want to call him Chuck Norris - that's cool too.
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73567

IIRC, it has to do with how the background databases are set up. Adding fields and tables to existing tables is much more a feat when you're talking about thousands of tables talking to each other and containing information for so many characters.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

It's been mentioned many a time since vanilla. Here's a statement by the lead producer for WoW, but if you want to call him Chuck Norris - that's cool too.
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73567

IIRC, it has to do with how the background databases are set up. Adding fields and tables to existing tables is much more a feat when you're talking about thousands of tables talking to each other and containing information for so many characters.

Apologies if this seems like picking nits and I might be stupid today but I don't see anything in your linked article about 100 being confirmed as a cap. Maybe there's some other context but nothing from that Blizzard guy confirmed it and it seemed like he specifically avoided confirming an end-game level cap of 100.

Did I miss something?

[Tonuss]

Yeah, I'm not seeing where he says that there is some sort of hard-coded level limit of 100.

I'm not sure that you could actually create a hard limit of 100. You're either limited by the spaces in a field (in which case the limit would be 99 or 999, not 100) or some form of binary or other calculation (in which case I could understand a level limit of 128, but not 100).

Actually, now that I think of it, a database could put 100 values into a two-space field, since computers can start counting from zero (0-to-99 is 100 values, the game could display the value +1). It just seems incredibly short-sighted to have limited a field to two spaces instead of three in a level-based game where you planned to get to 100.

[Zub]

seeing how hardware constantly progresses, i doubt that a difference between level 99 and say level 105 (how ever it might be represented in the database) would count for much and would have been been a limitation 6-7 years ago.
Every month they add tons of properties linked to each of the wow characters (achievements, pets, items, rafs, styles, reps etc) and i really doubt the toon level is hitting a hardware limitation.

If anything, I would say that 100 is just a symbolic limit.

[Gomotron]

Given that computers work with binary, level limits would not be based on 100's (or 99's) but 2^2, 2^3, 2^4 etc. meaning level 31, 63, 127, 255, etc. etc. etc. Assuming that level limit was hard-coded.

[ebony]

they said back then flying in old world is not going to happen!.......

[Zub]

no flying in the old world was just a setback

[Zub]

Given that computers work with binary, level limits would not be based on 100's (or 99's) but 2^2, 2^3, 2^4 etc. meaning level 31, 63, 127, 255, etc. etc. etc. Assuming that level limit was hard-coded.
That's also assuming that they are using a full variable / field / object to hold the level information, when it's probably part of a bigger infoobject / metadata with many other details of the toon.

[Lyonheart]

I told ya!!!!!!!! Panda monk it is!!!

[Multibocks]

So I guess both sides get the Pandas? Blizz is getting real lazy

[Lyonheart]

So I guess both sides get the Pandas? Blizz is getting real lazy


yes.. i predicted that as well 8) They will be a shared race 8)

[Fat Tire]

http://ragetoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/kungfu.jpeg


...and the best way to stop the flow of subscribers leaving? Brilliant~

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/annualPass.jpg

[Multibocks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nyeZ8khSEC0 (http://youtu.be/nyeZ8khSEC0)

is this video not showing up? I used youtube tags.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nyeZ8khSEC0

is the link. Pandas look sweet :)

[Fat Tire]

I got it blocks

What is Mists of Pandaria?

The goal is to combine new gameplay with most fun parts of the past.
The plan is to get people back into the world, instead of having players roam around Stormwind and Orgrimmar all the time once they reach max level.
Developers want you to do what you want to do to progress your character. They really want you to feel like you have a menu of content where you can pick whatever you want to do, and you shouldn't feel forced to do something to progress your character. For example, daily quests will reward you with valor points but it will still be faster if you raid of course.
Character builds are going to be entirely revamped. Talents were still too cookie cutter, so the developers want to give players more choices in their talents.



nyeZ8khSEC0

[Fat Tire]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists-of-pandaria/feature/

Blizz on the ball- they have a whole section for it already up.

[Lyonheart]

my last prediction was that they would be healer/melee.. that was right..with the addiction of them being able to be a tank 8)

[Multibocks]

When is this supposed to launch?

edit: just realized something. Monks don't have autoattack damage, so I would think that would help us boxers. Since we are constantly spamming IWT we dont have as much time on the target and miss auto attacks. With monks we can IWT and spam our abilities. 5xmonks here I come!

[Lyonheart]

Before Blizcon started, I did not think they could announce anything that would get me excited. I was wrong. Almost everything about this new expansion excites me. When i predicted Monk as a class.. that was wishful thinking..well wishes come true 8). The pet mini game sounds fun..the senarios..the new talent system etc.. SWtOR will keep me busy for awhile.. but I am looking forward to MoP 8)

On that note.. i will be starting some new Bnet accounts so i can get 5 betas. I have 3 now. so need 2 more. When you commit to a year, you get Diablo free ( only need one of those ) but you get guarantee beta invite to MoP beta. I have not yet been able to box an expansion beta..this time I will 8)

[Ughmahedhurtz]

What is Mists of Pandaria?

Character builds are going to be entirely revamped. Talents were still too cookie cutter, so the developers want to give players more choices in their talents.



LULZ

"Still" too cookie cutter? Newsflash: YOU MADE THEM MORE COOKIE CUTTER IN CATA YOU MORONS!

I'm laughing so freakin hard right now. :D

[edit2] http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/ has more up-to-date info than I did on the talent/spec/etc. revamp. Should be interesting to see how all that pans out.

[Mosg2]

The spec info looks really awesome. However, I must say... Pandarens? Freal? *This* is what you're going to put up against The Old Republic? Like, freal? Frealz?

My mind is officially blown. I'm waiting for the entire thing to be a troll. Like, for Mike Metzen to come out on the stage with a Troll mask on lol'ing all over the place.

I also find it hilarious that they're trying to sell subscriptions to WoW as another way to get D3. Way to pad your subscription numbers for your investors, Blizz!

Totally lost all respect I had for Blizz with these announcements. Upside is that TOR will be out in 1.5 months and is amazing. Let's just say, if TOR was around when Jesus was getting in trouble and had him on his side things might've turned out differently.

EDIT: Also, Pokemon? Really? Is there plan to just attract all the 10 year old kids who didn't grow up with Star Wars?

[Lyonheart]

The spec info looks really awesome. However, I must say... Pandarens? Freal? *This* is what you're going to put up against The Old Republic? Like, freal? Frealz?

My mind is officially blown. I'm waiting for the entire thing to be a troll. Like, for Mike Metzen to come out on the stage with a Troll mask on lol'ing all over the place.

I also find it hilarious that they're trying to sell subscriptions to WoW as another way to get D3. Way to pad your subscription numbers for your investors, Blizz!

Totally lost all respect I had for Blizz with these announcements. Upside is that TOR will be out in 1.5 months and is amazing. Let's just say, if TOR was around when Jesus was getting in trouble and had him on his side things might've turned out differently.

EDIT: Also, Pokemon? Really? Is there plan to just attract all the 10 year old kids who didn't grow up with Star Wars?


I hear ya, I have the opposite reaction I guess.. I think the changes are awesome.. including the pandorions and the pet mini game. I like the idea of getting Diablo for free and a spot in the next beta for committing to a year sub. .

SWtOR is a great game.. but for me.. until a new MMO comes out thats as fun..easy..smooth...supportive..etc. to box as WoW is, Ill always come back to it. SWtOR might be the first game in a long time that i wont mind not playing a full group..

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Well, if they make the game play/progress more or less like it did in WotLK, I might just resub. I have no interest in more Cata dynamics.

[Multibocks]

Before Blizcon started, I did not think they could announce anything that would get me excited. I was wrong. Almost everything about this new expansion excites me. When i predicted Monk as a class.. that was wishful thinking..well wishes come true 8). The pet mini game sounds fun..the senarios..the new talent system etc.. SWtOR will keep me busy for awhile.. but I am looking forward to MoP 8)

On that note.. i will be starting some new Bnet accounts so i can get 5 betas. I have 3 now. so need 2 more. When you commit to a year, you get Diablo free ( only need one of those ) but you get guarantee beta invite to MoP beta. I have not yet been able to box an expansion beta..this time I will 8)

Is this available now? The free Diablo 3 thing with one year sub and beta access?

edit: nm I see it splashed all over the website

[Kruschpakx4]

Aura mastery totem fuck yeah

looks quite good so far with the new talent system, shamans can make a mix of elemental and resto, oh and some old friends are losing quite some cc, mages have to choose between ring of frost, cone of cold and deep freeze (renamed to frostjaw afaik)

[Multibocks]

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/ct13.jpg

[Fat Tire]

Will be interesting on how the the talents work out. I like the massive changes because cata sucks horribly and they need massive changes.

As for swtor, I liked bit and pieces of it. However, instead of fighting dragons youre fighting robots and pvp will be way out of whack going by what I played in the beta. So I will wait until the kinks are worked out first before I give it a try.

bf3 is where I will be playing until then

[Multibocks]

So looking at the druid changes I'm not too excited for my druid team. Looks like lots of the boomkin bullshit made it into the ferals too. Fuck.

edit: Rogue stuff looks like fun. Too bad they are hard to box.

edit2: Warriors have an AoE silence of 4 secs on 40sec cooldown. Yeah GL shaman in arena. Also: they get to charge a lot. =/

edit3: Warlocks look to be super annoying in PvP. Almost every talent has some way of healing them or making them immune to all damage. WTF.

[Fat Tire]

So looking at the druid changes I'm not too excited for my druid team. Looks like lots of the boomkin bullshit made it into the ferals too. Fuck.

edit: Rogue stuff looks like fun. Too bad they are hard to box.

edit2: Warriors have an AoE silence of 4 secs on 40sec cooldown. Yeah GL shaman in arena. Also: they get to charge a lot. =/


Prot warriors being able to bladestorm- priceless

[Multibocks]

Prot warriors being able to bladestorm- priceless


I wonder if they still get vengeance..... would make bladestorm a whirling death machine

1. shockwave
2. bladestorm
3 ???
4. Profit

[Kruschpakx4]

Warriors have an AoE silence of 4 secs on 40sec cooldown.

its an interrupt, so actually not that annoying since you can prevent it by dropping a traquil mind totem but I'm no sure if stoneclaw/ stonebulwak still places a shield on totems

otherwise spec frozen power on one shaman and thunderstorm + frost shock 3x flame shock the warrior and healers are going to think twice if its a good idea to dispel him

oh and repulsion totem, not sure what that means but sounds like a totem spamming a knockback, if so it would be fcking amazing


I wonder if they still get vengeance..... would make bladestorm a whirling death machine

1. shockwave
2. bladestorm
3 ???
4. Profit

afaik they cant have shockwave and bladestorm at the same time

[Multibocks]

Wow remorseless winter is going to make DKs the arena box comp of choice. AoE deathgrip and pop this sucka x4

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/ct15.jpg

[EaTCarbS]

Those DK spells look awesome. I think i'll be sticking with them, unless monks impress me more.

[Lyonheart]

Wow remorseless winter is going to make DKs the arena box comp of choice. AoE deathgrip and pop this sucka x4

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/ct15.jpg

You can only choose one of those talents. Each talent tree has 3 talents per level.. All talents are simular in each level..ie..CC ..defensive..etc. The idea is you can choose what type of CC fits your play style. SO all three would accomplish similar results...and or fit a specific encounter better ( you can switch talent specs around easier they said )

[moog]

FFS! Kung Fu Panda and Pokemen!

With the announcement of their pre-teen expansion, I'll be bowing out of WoW :(

[Vipeax]

This (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/949761-Mists-of-Pandaria-%21?p=12529348&viewfull=1#post12529348) was from the MMO-C thread. It was an older rough draft of the expansions of WoW and of course was not
posted directly nor confirmed by Blizzard.
Please never quote anyone who posts that crap again! The original poster has already made it very clear that the list is 100% bullshit and the only reason why it looks so accurate is cause he made the post right as Northrend was leaked, which made some people believe he predicted both TBC & WOTLK. :o
http://wow.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=21&mid=119012268058738816&page=3#145

[Fat Tire]

afaik they cant have shockwave and bladestorm at the same time

Correct- can only choose one per tree and shockwave and bladestorm are on the same 90th talent tree.

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/talents_warrior.jpg

[F9thRet]

You know , on that pet combat team thing, I wonder how easy it will be for us MBers, to level up pets to turn around and sell on the AH, or if it will even be profitable. I know, way to early to say.

Stephen

[Nikita]

its an interrupt, so actually not that annoying since you can prevent it by dropping a traquil mind totem but I'm no sure if stoneclaw/ stonebulwak still places a shield on totems

otherwise spec frozen power on one shaman and thunderstorm + frost shock 3x flame shock the warrior and healers are going to think twice if its a good idea to dispel him

oh and repulsion totem, not sure what that means but sounds like a totem spamming a knockback, if so it would be fcking amazing



afaik they cant have shockwave and bladestorm at the same time

This has truly boosted my interest to continue playing WoW :) damn I cant wait to see this!!

[Multibocks]

Q: Will you be making any changes to how stats work?

Yes. As World of Warcraft has matured and more expansions, content updates, and tiers of equipment have been released, players’ stats have begun to inflate exponentially. At this point, the numbers for health, mana, and so on are threatening to get out of control. In order to combat this and bring statistics back to earth -- or Azeroth, as it were -- in Mists of Pandaria, we will be “flattening” the statistic curve in places where it no longer needs to behave exponentially (primarily at the point of the end game for old expansions). In practice, this means that upon the expansion’s release, the numbers for Strength, Health, Intellect, damage, and so on will be significantly lower than you’re used to seeing across the board, from level 1 to level 85. It’s all relative, of course -- enemies’ and bosses’ stats will be reduced as well, and it should take a level-85 warrior roughly the same number of many sword-whacks and ability uses to kill a level-85 monster as it did before. However, this also means the difference between each level between 1 and 85 will be less significant, so you may find that an enemy 5 or 10 levels below your own will be a little tougher to deal with than it was bef

Ugh, I assume that last sentence means old raids will be harder. Get your achieves and loot now before this expansion hits.

[Noids]

Gogo 5 x feral druids IMO.

5 x Bear Hug. 1 min cooldown
Melee attack that stuns the target and deals 10% of the Druid's health in damage every second for 3 seconds. Effect cancelled if the druid moves away, attacks or takes any other action. Using this ability activates Bear form.

Is there anything short of a pally bubble that would survive 5 of these?

[Multibocks]

what are you gonna do for the other 50 seconds?

[valkry]

Prot warriors being able to bladestorm- priceless
Good, they cant pop any cool downs or spell reflect, or charge, or shock wave while bladestorming :P

[valkry]

Q: Will you be making any changes to how stats work?

Yes. As World of Warcraft has matured and more expansions, content updates, and tiers of equipment have been released, players’ stats have begun to inflate exponentially. At this point, the numbers for health, mana, and so on are threatening to get out of control. In order to combat this and bring statistics back to earth -- or Azeroth, as it were -- in Mists of Pandaria, we will be “flattening” the statistic curve in places where it no longer needs to behave exponentially (primarily at the point of the end game for old expansions). In practice, this means that upon the expansion’s release, the numbers for Strength, Health, Intellect, damage, and so on will be significantly lower than you’re used to seeing across the board, from level 1 to level 85. It’s all relative, of course -- enemies’ and bosses’ stats will be reduced as well, and it should take a level-85 warrior roughly the same number of many sword-whacks and ability uses to kill a level-85 monster as it did before. However, this also means the difference between each level between 1 and 85 will be less significant, so you may find that an enemy 5 or 10 levels below your own will be a little tougher to deal with than it was bef

Ugh, I assume that last sentence means old raids will be harder. Get your achieves and loot now before this expansion hits.
So they will go from being piss easy to just easy? And then back to piss easy when you gain another 5 levels.

[Multibocks]

Basically stat inflation will be much smaller in scale. You won't see your group with 250k health next expansion. The way they are wording it sounds like player health will come down quite a bit. Raids that are easy now may not be so easy in the future relative health inflation is what helped boxers and now with tiers being closer stat wise you don't have as much margin for error.

Edit: fucking phone auto correct messed up what I was trying to say and I'm too lazy to fix it. So no fucking raids won't be as "piss easy" in the future. I'm against this change because its what made you feel powerful.

[Crum1515]

Basically stat inflation will be much smaller in scale. You won't see your group with 250k health next expansion. The way they are wording it sounds like player health will come down quite a bit. Raids that are easy now may not be so easy in the future relative health inflation is what helped boxers and now with tiers being closer stat wise you don't have as much margin for error.

Edit: fucking phone auto correct messed up what I was trying to say and I'm too lazy to fix it. So no fucking raids won't be as "piss easy" in the future. I'm against this change because its what made you feel powerful.

Maybe I am missing something, and it has happened before, but for old raids and such they said they will scale them down as well, so that I high level will still take the same time to clear through it, its just the gaps between levels are getting closed.

But I can see this would affect you at 90 trying to do 85 dungeons or 80's to a lesser extent

[pinotnoir]

The thought of playing pandas in this next expansion has me thinking my wow addiction may finally come to an end. What's next? Strawberry short cake?

[Multibocks]

Maybe I am missing something, and it has happened before, but for old raids and such they said they will scale them down as well, so that I high level will still take the same time to clear through it, its just the gaps between levels are getting closed.

But I can see this would affect you at 90 trying to do 85 dungeons or 80's to a lesser extent



Source? I didn't read anything about scaling down raids. Also I don't like reduced stats, who wants to go back to smaller crits?

[Zub]

Strawberry short cake?
No, that's the next villain.
Lich King -> Deathwing -> Strawberry Short cake

[Mosg2]

@Pinot:

Agree. I love Kung Fu Panda. I have three children. They love it. As a family, we love it. That being said, it doesn't belong in World of Warcraft.

I think this is just a marketing ploy. They've seen the dropping subscriptions after the initial Cata launch and see the writing on the wall; There's serious competition out there and on the way so they're zeroing in on a demographic: 10 year old kids.

Evidence? I point you to A) Pandas, B) simplifying the game, C) Pokemon in game and D) Pandas.

[thefunk]

cake or death?

I like the expansion, something different, as long as its fun to play who cares?

In any case there are probably quite a few players that don't read quest text. So lore isn't important to them.

[moog]

The thought of playing pandas in this next expansion has me thinking my wow addiction may finally come to an end. What's next? Strawberry short cake?

Snap - this pre-teen expansion of Kung Fu Panda and Pokemon pets is a shark-jump too far for me :(

[Tonuss]

Well, if they make the game play/progress more or less like it did in WotLK, I might just resub. I have no interest in more Cata dynamics.
My guess is that this is the way a lot of people felt. Blizzard has been moving away from the classic MMORPG crowd and more towards casual players since (IMO) mid-BC. They've gone back and forth on it, but I think they finally decided that they'll ride WOW down to the end of its life by catering to the less hardcore crowd. Next expansion, they will allow you to earn JP and VP via solo content, and they said they want people to be able to progress (gear-wise) regardless of what they are doing.

I think they realize that they have gotten more out of WOW than they ever thought possible, and now they can pretty much ride the wave the rest of the way. Even if the subscriber numbers continue to dip, I am thinking that 2012 will be a huge year for them, mostly driven by D3 but also by MoP. Lots of dedicated players and old-schoolers will hate what WOW is becoming, but they're no longer the target audience, is my belief.

[Mosg2]

I agree with Tonuss completely.

[Kruschpakx4]

You did not mention a world PvP zone for MoP, maybe that could be the World PvP area for MoP? The war between the Horde and Alliance will really heat up in Pandaria every patch, so we are looking forward to integrating that.I hope that means more than another tol barad

[Vecter]

I must have been watching something else with all the people QQing about this next expansion. Toning it down? Making things easier? I'm sorry where exactly did they say this? Revamping the talent system that actually GIVES us choice instead of the cookie cutter builds we basically were forced to use to be competitive? No flying from 85-90 in the new zone, requiring us to actually go through mobs and players instead of just lolflyingmountdropkillflyingmount?

Adding a new race like the Pandarens creates a great deal of wonderful art and change of scenery from all the dark and drab content we've had to do for the last 2 expansions? Adding a new class that will add greater play styles and new fresh options?

And hardcore raiders will still be hardcore raiders. I don't see where this is changing.

Everything else they are adding is completely optional. You don't have to do battle pets or scenarios, but it gives something else for people to do that need a break from raiding, or questing, or crafting. I don't see a problem with that.

[wakasm]

I kind of agree. More is better. As long as they don't take away from anything, I'm excited for the next expac.

The next MMO that steals me away will most likely do so with either really really innovative gameplay or super duper environmental graphics.

I'm mostly hoping Guild Wars 2 will do this for me one day, but I think I'll always come back to Blizz IP stuff eitehr way.

[Noids]

what are you gonna do for the other 50 seconds?

Survive? We're talking 5 x bears here with enough burst to pop someone every minute. Just seems to be a fairly powerful move for a class that otherwise has very good survivability and self healing.

The other class combo that looks interesting is 5 x shadowpriests again. The redesign of vamp embrace x 5 (15% of damage done smart healing 3 targets) looks to be nice healing for a high damage group.

[valkry]

Basically stat inflation will be much smaller in scale. You won't see your group with 250k health next expansion. The way they are wording it sounds like player health will come down quite a bit. Raids that are easy now may not be so easy in the future relative health inflation is what helped boxers and now with tiers being closer stat wise you don't have as much margin for error.

Edit: fucking phone auto correct messed up what I was trying to say and I'm too lazy to fix it. So no fucking raids won't be as "piss easy" in the future. I'm against this change because its what made you feel powerful.
Oh, I didn't realise it was the massive hp which made you feel powerful, I thought it was being able to drop old school raid bosses in about 20 seconds which did that. Yea, our stats will go down, but so will theirs, it will be just less of a scale. As it is the only old school raid so far which is even a little hard is ICC 25 heroic.

I'm all for this change, the stat boosts were just silly. I will enjoy seeing a few lower lvls not just get curb stomped by a higher lvl ganker.

[valkry]

Source? I didn't read anything about scaling down raids. Also I don't like reduced stats, who wants to go back to smaller crits?
Source? try reading what you quoted before... from that blue post... "It’s all relative, of course -- enemies’ and bosses’ stats will be reduced as well"



Q: Will you be making any changes to how stats work?

Yes. As World of Warcraft has matured and more expansions, content updates, and tiers of equipment have been released, players’ stats have begun to inflate exponentially. At this point, the numbers for health, mana, and so on are threatening to get out of control. In order to combat this and bring statistics back to earth -- or Azeroth, as it were -- in Mists of Pandaria, we will be “flattening” the statistic curve in places where it no longer needs to behave exponentially (primarily at the point of the end game for old expansions). In practice, this means that upon the expansion’s release, the numbers for Strength, Health, Intellect, damage, and so on will be significantly lower than you’re used to seeing across the board, from level 1 to level 85. It’s all relative, of course -- enemies’ and bosses’ stats will be reduced as well, and it should take a level-85 warrior roughly the same number of many sword-whacks and ability uses to kill a level-85 monster as it did before. However, this also means the difference between each level between 1 and 85 will be less significant, so you may find that an enemy 5 or 10 levels below your own will be a little tougher to deal with than it was bef

Ugh, I assume that last sentence means old raids will be harder. Get your achieves and loot now before this expansion hits.

[Tonuss]

There is also the part where they write " However, this also means the difference between each level between 1 and 85 will be less significant, so you may find that an enemy 5 or 10 levels below your own will be a little tougher to deal with than it was before." Some old school raids may require more effort to clear, but right now many of the level 60 and 70 raids are trivial even for two or three characters. It might mean that you'll need to get to level 90 to clear the level 80 stuff next time around.

[Multibocks]

^^^ that

[MiRai]

Proposed Pandaren Mount



http://finickypenguin.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/funny-pictures-panda-racer.jpg

[jinkobi]

Gotta admit - this sounds like a sell out move. I mean seriously, lol. Kung Fu Panda...

Quit WOW at the beginning of Cata and just been jacking around in Rift until SWTOR. Had been thinking about going back to WOW and things but this just killed it. WOW has lost its hard core edge for sure.

Nothing against WOW, I'm no WOW basher. Loved the game for years - just don't like where it is now for me personally. I'll be in outer space getting Wookie nookie anyway!

[Lyonheart]

Lets forget about Pandas for a minute. MONKS!! Gnome MONKS!!! MONKS!!! I think MoP will be the best expansion yet! I can understand the perception that Kung FU pandas bring to some of you as being " Care Bear" or less "hard core" But everything about this expansion is going to be good for the game.. the pet leveling thing is OPTIONAL! And I think it will be a fun side distraction. The new talent system looks amazing! At least on paper. I cant wait to try it out..and did I say MONKS!?!!

[valkry]

We can have walking and talking cows, but Pandas are too much? Nice

[Khatovar]

It's a game with not one, but of 2 flavors of elves, exploding sheep and quests where we dig through poop. Not to mention so many pop culture references that it could make your head explode and Tauren have been a playable race since the beginning.

I'm just not seeing how Pandas are that far off the mark for the game.

[Knytestorme]

It's a game with not one, but of 2 flavors of elves, exploding sheep and quests where we dig through poop. Not to mention so many pop culture references that it could make your head explode and Tauren have been a playable race since the beginning.

I'm just not seeing how Pandas are that far off the mark for the game.

Especially given WoW created "Kung Fu" Panda's in 2002, way before the movies came out, and previous to this nearly every time an xpac was rumoured people on the forums were clamouring for Panderian's to be the alliance race.

[Negativ1337]

I'll be definately multiboxing monks! I really loved my DKs after playing shamans day in day out. I tried other melee classes like druids and paladins but they weren't as much fun as i had with my DKs. I really hope monks will be the new class to play in the next expension.

[Mosg2]

Tauren are Blizzard's version of Minotaurs which are a high fantasy trope and have been since it's inception. The Minotaur predates most other fantasy figures.

Humanoid Pandas that are affable and like to get drunk and do Street Fighter 2 Ryu Whirlwind Kicks for their AE dps? Sorry, it's obvious panda-ering to Blizzard's new target demographic. For me, it *is* too much. It's childish. It's something a 10 year old appreciates. Most of the other in-jokes and such in the game wouldn't be and aren't as appreciated by kids that young because they don't grasp many of those references.

[Knytestorme]

Tauren are Blizzard's version of Minotaurs which are a high fantasy trope and have been since it's inception. The Minotaur predates most other fantasy figures.

Humanoid Pandas that are affable and like to get drunk and do Street Fighter 2 Ryu Whirlwind Kicks for their AE dps? Sorry, it's obvious panda-ering to Blizzard's new target demographic. For me, it *is* too much. It's childish. It's something a 10 year old appreciates. Most of the other in-jokes and such in the game wouldn't be and aren't as appreciated by kids that young because they don't grasp many of those references.

Again, Blizzard came out with the Pandaren brewmaster in WC3 in 2002 and people have been wanting them to be playable since TBC (when they actually were going to be introduced rather than the Drainpipes) so I don't see how it's them just now pandering to some target demographic that weren't even around when they first created and introduced the race and class.

To each their own, and if people don't like it then fine but don't try to pass it off as some new thinkg Blizz have only just created.

[Fat Tire]

Tauren are Blizzard's version of Minotaurs which are a high fantasy trope and have been since it's inception. The Minotaur predates most other fantasy figures.

Humanoid Pandas that are affable and like to get drunk and do Street Fighter 2 Ryu Whirlwind Kicks for their AE dps? Sorry, it's obvious panda-ering to Blizzard's new target demographic. For me, it *is* too much. It's childish. It's something a 10 year old appreciates. Most of the other in-jokes and such in the game wouldn't be and aren't as appreciated by kids that young because they don't grasp many of those references.


rofl

...and you're planning on playing star wars. A twelve year olds wet dream.

No one will make me believe that panadas are more childish than star wars.

Get a grip. Its a video game.

[jinkobi]

rofl

...and you're planning on playing star wars. A twelve year olds wet dream.

No one will make me believe that panadas are more childish than star wars.

Get a grip. Its a video game.

Maybe you never played KOTOR, I dunno. Sure there's some childish elements - Ewoks and all that Jar Jar BS. Really though that's main stream SW. KOTOR is definetly more adult oriented with betryayal, love, and murder.

I dunno man I just feel Kung Fu Panda is too much for me. Hated the movies. I know... I know... Pandarens have been mentioned since way before Kung Fu Panda, but still. Not like I am totally against kid stuff- I do enjoy a good cartoon every once in a while obviously.

WOW meant to me the ugly horde (the face of evil) vs the alliance (goody goody good guys). Sure Blood Elves broke the mold some but they weren't furry animals tied in with cuteness and an entire Asian culture. When I see a panda I think cuteness and fuzzy wuzzy. Just don't see how I cann break my mental image of what I think of pandas. Just WOW catering to the $$$ imho at the sacrifice of their main story.

WOW lore is so deep. Surely you can admit they could have thought of something better. New hero classes, naga races, and other things that have been mentioned. Going back in time to the Emerald Dream/Nightmare was something I'd hoped for.

Now I'm no Star Wars freakazoid but it does have a deep meaning to me. I remember being 7 years old and walking into a movie theater with no idea what was showing (Original SW 1976). Then my eyes transfixed on a 2 hour journey into space with great villains (Darth Vader) and great heroes. Sure the SW title has ben bastardized for years with the last 3 movies sucking shit.

Bioware aren't really furry lovers or into Ewoks. That's why the entire KOTOR story takes place thousands of years before Darth Vader etc... Not really anything childish I can think of in KOTOR. SW sure but not KOTOR.

Will SWTOR fail- who knows. But it hasn't failed yet and has millions of fans. Neither Blizz nor Bioware pay me- so why should I give a rats ass :)

Not to mention the Pokemon game Blizzard is throwing into MoP. Just seems to be catering to a younger and youger audience.

[Apps]

rofl

...and you're planning on playing star wars. A twelve year olds wet dream.

No one will make me believe that panadas are more childish than star wars.

Get a grip. Its a video game.


I go to agree with Mosg.

Im sure everyone has their own opinion as reality is a personal perception based upon expierences.
Heres my opinion...

The pandas are stupid. I knew Blizzard was loosing it when they introduced squid humanoids from space. Fanboi or not, its stupid. My 11 yr old thinks its cool, and started reciting Kunfu-Panda movie... nuff said.

Reading through all the posts in this thread, of recent.. seems to have a general theme. Nah. I was ok with the funny of the cows, the squid annoyed me to no end.. goblins were really dumb, pandas... lol. At some point I gotta draw a line. Whats next? the giant avatar version of Braun from WCIII DOTA? mermaids? got em. Zombies? got em. space aliens? got em. warewolf from Twilight movies? got em. ... uh.. uh... uh... dragons!? got em.... uhhhhhhhhhhh (grabing at straws......) cartoon talking animals? ...BAM! got em.... oh I know! The Peanut-butter Jelly time dancing banana!!! WIN!

Ive said this many times, so Im not going to soap box again. Frankly im tired of that too. Blizz rolls out a new exp or large patch every time a new MMO comes out to counter sales, and attempt to keep subscribers. They're slowly loosing subs. Check the trends. The game is done. Its just a pathetic ploy. Old lore, too many carrots on a stick.
Im done too.

And yes, Im going to go play another MMO. why? because I want to. WoW was done when the Arthas died.

Now its just one big fat tauren, and theyre milkin it.

That being said. Ive vowed to liquidate evey toon, and give my gold to the first random dude I see, and delete every toon. Never going back. Am I quitting because Im citing its childish? heh, heavens no, ALL video games are a bit childish. I just dont like it anymore. Its stupid.

[Khatovar]

This is supposed to be about the MoP expansion, not a debate about Star Wars vs. WoW.

And I'd rather not see this turn into 40 pages of Pro/con-Panda, there's a lot of other things to discuss about the expansion and it doesn't need to get lost in bickering.

[Kekkerer]

I'm not sure why everyone seems to be comparing Pandarens to Kung Fu Panda. It very much depends on how they pull off the character, Warcraft 3 pandas were bad ass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=028qkDLiyp4) while the former tend to be in the comedy relief category.

Most of us play without sound anyway so I guess which ever way the character is voiced you hear what you want to hear within your head and what you want to imagine.

[Tonuss]

I'll almost certainly try the expansion, it looks like it will cater to someone like me. These days I fit my WOW time into a pretty random and unpredictable schedule, so it's almost always solo play, whether one character or five. Being able to continue to gear them up with normal non-instanced content is a nice addition. Some of the other stuff looks interesting too, like the instanced PVE scenarios that can accomodate as few as three players.

I'll also try the new SW-related MMORPG because my friends (who have all pretty much stopped playing WOW) are going to play it and MMORPGs have always been much more fun for me when I'm playing with them. Whether we stay with it depends on how good or bad it is. I hope it's good because there are far too few good games out there. It won't be a WOW-killer, and it doesn't need to be. It just has to be fun.

I tend to go with the flow in terms of WOW. I guess I'm not turned off by the kung fu pandas because I wasn't turned off by gnomes or tauren or all of the crazy stuff you find in WOW. I mean, the pandas definitely evoke the movie for me, and it does seem like a way to market to kids and people who want something "cute." But errrr... GNOMES. Did anyone ever look at the gnomes and think "yeah, now there's an attempt at some serious adult-themed content"? They're fucking chibis (http://chibiland.windy-goddess.net/), for pete's sake.

Every now and then I get tired of WOW and stop playing for a while, anywhere from a few weeks to as long as six or seven months once. I know that at some point I'll stop playing and not come back, but I learned to stop trying to predict my "retirements" after my first one in EQ (was back in like two months). When it happens, it will happen.

[Apps]

I'm not sure why everyone seems to be comparing Pandarens to Kung Fu Panda. It very much depends on how they pull off the character, Warcraft 3 pandas were bad ass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=028qkDLiyp4) while the former tend to be in the comedy relief category.

Most of us play without sound anyway so I guess which ever way the character is voiced you hear what you want to hear within your head and what you want to imagine.

I think youre right, theyre nothing alike.

http://img.zamunda.net/bitbucket/kung_fu_panda%20front%202.jpg

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQFgbdb7_vcjwrqICJ1RW24AlmjP6WZU pIO48QW-JeGZJYQeEyx

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsaWzAuW2iuZCCIlu8vtT_jFpCli7kq vgnG23mlj7dpbeYKXvi

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-Vvn46X9D2KT_aBscreYitTh2-sz4v9RFTykBFDVqWe458-NZOg

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-RQegTzaSo_tD3FjmrCGExtkp4dJv3dCVANF70TmvzK5fb5wK

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTSInWiBGaxmdlnMYMZeGHH0sWG4fKe4 zq-rBpJdxXs4p8d4b83Mw

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTdznyo5n30nNtY8byYIQVJoeHd7MLs wWpc0_223y6dHnBRsi_wQ http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRmG_3Q9srdYSe0n5XtLDCqIxPs-fTTb1Fllf02y7pssCSo_pJW

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuZ1Q0KLA89_lYD2FVBlXfaHlfZ_XGI ekMgnh_wIYNzbnAyzsf http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXHmqeOcQoQsBJOHpdM5VE0X61zJ5iL G8IwVwbuskGoWQHOWyNgQ

[Mosg2]

rofl

...and you're planning on playing star wars. A twelve year olds wet dream.

No one will make me believe that panadas are more childish than star wars.

Get a grip. Its a video game.

I disagree. Someone who is twelve right now could not possibly have seen the original trilogy or the new trilogy in the theater. They may have been raised with Star Wars as a household name but by and large they certainly haven't grown up with it the way that people in their 20's-40's have. Do you know what these 12 year olds have grown up with and saw in movie theaters? Fat pandas bouncing people around with their stomachs.

I have a grip. I know it's a video game. The objection I have is that Pandaren run counter to the World of Warcraft schema that I have had in my head for 7 years. They cross the line from quirky/funny/interesting/social commentary and sit square in the silly court. Anyways...

I think Monks look cool. Focusing on the Horde/Alliance tension is good. The talent trees look *amazing* for multiboxing. Story wise though, I find a mystical island a hard fit following Illidan, Arthas and then Deathwing. /shrug

[Mosg2]

On Topic:
The proposed talent changes are almost enough to make me want to keep playing. They look seriously amazing for us boxers. I'm sure lots of them are gonna' go through a lot of iterations before the expansion goes live but so far they look really good.

I guess if they can just fix the train wreck that is rated BG's they might be able to turn things around a bit.

[Lyonheart]

It's a game with not one, but of 2 flavors of elves, exploding sheep and quests where we dig through poop. Not to mention so many pop culture references that it could make your head explode and Tauren have been a playable race since the beginning.

I'm just not seeing how Pandas are that far off the mark for the game.

Amen Sista!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

While I don't particularly care for the panda thing, I *am* interested in seeing how the talent and stat redesigns work out. I'm skeptical that they can pull it off with the B team without screwing things up royally but it might just end up being fun to play again.

[Vecter]

While I don't particularly care for the panda thing, I *am* interested in seeing how the talent and stat redesigns work out. I'm skeptical that they can pull it off with the B team without screwing things up royally but it might just end up being fun to play again.

I'm looking forward to trying out the updated systems as well. We all know that the current system provides little variance if you want to actually be competitive, copy that talent tree from EJ or AJ and go. Having actual choices that you can tailor your game play style will be nice.

Stats are stats. What can you say or do, just have to try them out and see.

[pinotnoir]

I am waiting for the Gnome to announce the plane when we fly into Panda Island. Maybe Blizzard can use this for inspiration.

_xG7Qwv23sg

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I am waiting for the Gnome to announce the plane when we fly into Panda Island. Maybe Blizzard can use this for inspiration.

Isn't he already in the game? Could have sworn...

[dancook]

I can't find talk about the new talent calculator!

http://www.wowhead.com/mists-of-pandaria-talent-calculator

[Silence]

Many people, just as many opinions.

Are Panda's the best thing to come to WOW? Who knows... from what I've seen the graphics look awesome, it almost felt like a new game watching the gameplay. The model of the Panda has a lot more polygon structures than any other race and it's definately more colourful and lighter then what we've had so far. This means they move very fluently and in general look cool while doing so. They also said they would buff the other races in the same manner.

So whatever you feel regarding the lore and story... the game is still being updated to appeal to those who don't like Panda's.

So yea, I'll wait it out... see how it goes.

A group of Monks will be on the list for sure.

[EaTCarbS]

I wish they would update the older races models. They look like minecraft characters compared to the newer races models.

[Khatovar]

I wish they would update the older races models. They look like minecraft characters compared to the newer races models.

They plan to, but who knows when that will be


http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3424794612?page=5#86

Art Director Chris Robinson spoke on this just moments ago at the BlizzCon Open Q&A panel. It was in reply to an attendee who brought up that, in the art panel, it was explained that the pandaren model has 10 times the bone structures of the classic races, allowing for many more facial animations.

To paraphrase his statement -- which isn't too different from what I've said here on the forums before -- we absolutely plan on updating the existing models. As Chris mentioned, we want to make sure we preserve the look and feel of the original models players have come to know and love, while vastly improving their model and animation quality to be more in-line with the newer races.

We're not going to hide behind the statement that too many players will get mad if we tamper with their models, but it's a concern -- not a concern that's going to stop us from doing it, however. I want to stress as well that it's a massive undertaking to go back and do this. And to a lot of people it's something that won't be considered shiny new content. But not only do we hear the masses of players calling for this update, we really feel it's time to bring them up to par with newer models as well.

The game continues to age, but as we have no plans of slowing down on development any time in the near future, we want to keep updating and polishing it to stand the test of time (again, without sacrificing the look and feel which has brought players in over the years).

[Tonuss]

Until now my point of view has been that the Pandaren are influenced, at least to some degree, by the Dreamworks movie. But now I am not so sure. MMO-Champion has links to a topic where a blue posted this:

This is something I want to touch on a bit more. People seem to think that Pandaren were a joke, a throw away easter egg that we never fully intended as a playable race.

I will direct you to recall the Warcraft RPG (pen and paper) manuals released in 2003. While much of it hasn't been canon for quite some time, the Pandaren occupy a greater amount of pages and space within the manuals to establish their lore and story than pretty much every other creature on Azeroth. To give it some context, they occupy the same number of pages as Trolls in the Monster Manual, and share the same amount space in the Alliance and Horde Compendium with Orcs or Humans, and just like them ... you guessed it... Pandaren were a playable race.

[...]

It would simply be inaccurate to state that Pandaren were a throw away. Our intent, going back to Warcraft III, when the vast majority of the world lore and story was established for the franchise, was always to have a deep and rich history for a race known as the Pandaren.
And then someone linked to this 2003 drawing by Chris Metzen. (http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Heroraces.jpg?c=1) The Pandaren in that drawing looks a heck of a lot like the main character in the movie... except that the drawing pre-dates the film by about five years.

[jstanthr]

The way i see it, i have too much invested to just quit. With 9 accounts I have kinda reached the point of no return.

[Lyonheart]

Until now my point of view has been that the Pandaren are influenced, at least to some degree, by the Dreamworks movie. But now I am not so sure. MMO-Champion has links to a topic where a blue posted this:

And then someone linked to this 2003 drawing by Chris Metzen. (http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Heroraces.jpg?c=1) The Pandaren in that drawing looks a heck of a lot like the main character in the movie... except that the drawing pre-dates the film by about five years.

I was just about to post this as well. Pandas were always meant to be!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I think the hubbub around pandas is really about people being so used to Blizzard ripping off pop culture and putting it in WoW that the perception was "Kung Fu Panda LOL," whether or not Blizzard had the idea in game before the movie was made.

[Mosg2]

/shrug

I think the hubbub was more about how ridiculous pandaren are as a race within the WoW universe.

[Lyonheart]

/shrug

I think the hubbub was more about how ridiculous pandaren are as a race within the WoW universe.

So certain species are "off limits" or "out of place" in a "Fantasy" setting.. that make a whole lot of sense lol

But i understand what you mean. They do not fit into YOUR idea of WoW!

[Zub]

So certain species are "off limits" or "out of place" in a "Fantasy" setting.. that make a whole lot of sense lol

But i understand what you mean. They do not fit into YOUR idea of WoW!

To be honest they don't fit too well in *my* idea of WoW either... yet. I'll probably get used to them i guess.
Just like I had a hard time with all the engineering vehicles for example. I hated the choppers and trikes, as they didn't fit well in my fantasy mind that is based on works from Tolkien, Jordan, Eddings etc.
I got used to seeing them around, but not some mount i'll ever want to have.

If we find out that the pandaren race mount happens to be enormous pink fluffy poneys with long rainbow braids, who am I to say that it does or does not fit in the wow universe? it is fantasy after all >.< Just not my kind


I guess for many the pandaren in themselves are not the problem. It's just an accumulation of things and the pandaren being the latest.


On a side note, if someone is looking for a good fantasy read, try the "Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson. I thought it was an awesome read.

[Lyonheart]

Yea..i didn't mean to sound like a smart ass.. its just the whole idea of Fantasy is... .whatever you can imagine.. it can come alive in a book..film or game. WOW has never been a Tolkenesk Fantasy.. the have added races and themes of their own creation ( Space Goats anyone? ) For me its all about how it "feels" when you play it.. and I have enjoyed most the stuff they come up with. I'm more excited about the Monk class than the new race.. but I'm fine with the race as well. I think they will be a lot of fun to play.

[Mosg2]

I see what you're saying Lyon but there's a lot of nuance in fantasy. Compare say, the world of Xanth as written by Piers Anthony to Middle Earth by Tolkien. There's a huge gap in the tone and feeling of the two worlds. I absolutely love both of these fictional universes, but that doesn't mean I want them to mix with each other. Xanth's goblins or dragons would feel totally out of sync in Middle Earth and vice versa. Neither setting is bad, they're just unique.

With that in mind, Pandaren don't fit with World of Warcraft in my mind. They don't jibe with what I've experienced playing games based on this universe since the original Warcraft when I was a kid. Sure, they were in WC3. Sure, they have backstory and lore and all the moving parts necessary to be introduced into the game--But that doesn't make them actually *work*. It doesn't make them less ridiculous.

I know a lot of people disagree with me and that's fine. I respect that others feel like they fit. To me, it feels like... Well, like someone took a really good cartoon I enjoyed as a child and remade it 20 years later--But gutted its soul. It feels like that South Park episode where Steven Spielberg and George Lucas go around violating all their old movies.

Anyways--Talents=Amazing. Monks=Pretty good. Story of a hidden island magically appearing=Terribad. Pandaren= ...Oh well.

[Ualaa]

I'm not sure if I like a Panda race or not.
Doesn't really matter so much, as Warcraft will essentially still be Warcraft almost irregardless of what they do.

There will still be PvE, whether you run quests, do dailies, run instances, do heroics or raid.
There is still the gold game, whether you play the auction house, run your dailies, farm or have a million transmutes.
PvP will have similar options to what has come before, arena or battlegrounds or world pvp which is essentially raid their capital city and kill key NPC's so they give a shit and respond.

Some of the talents look quite neat.

Last expansion I was really hoping my Ferals would receive five extra talent points, but retain essentially WotLK talents... ie., Nature's Swiftness and 51+ points in Feral.
While the talents are totally redone, it looks like Ferals will have instant cast healing, from within their Kitty form (and not even have to shift to caster to use it).
They're even giving back Power Shifting as a root break, as a level 90 ability that also heals for 20%.
Not sure they'll supplant my Paladin + DK's, but they're getting some interesting tools, assuming they go live anything near their current form.

It looks like the DK + Healer team will remain essentially intact.
Between the available talents, everything I remember using as the team seems to be available.
That means, this is still the team to beat, at least in my mind when choosing a "main team".

Other classes/teams are looking to be interesting as well.

[Zub]

i didn't do any research or even read much, but who's the big Baddy in MoP ?
it must be hard to beat Deathwing.

[Protigy]

i didn't do any research or even read much, but who's the big Baddy in MoP ?
it must be hard to beat Deathwing.
No end boss declared at this time. Blizz stated they want to focus more on the Horde vs. Alliance conflict so people can immerse themselves in the progression rather than think of everything leading up to a final "big baddy" as filler content.

[Multibocks]

They have one that they are developing story for, but they made it clear this expansion is mainly about the war between horde and alliance. You won't find out who the bad guy is for a while and he won't be on the box.

[MiRai]

Developer Q&A took place tonight. More MoP info:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2532-Tyrael-s-Charger-PTR-Build-14899-Mists-of-Pandaria-Live-Developer-Q-A

[Tonuss]

From the QA:

Q: What exactly is a PvE scenario?
A: It's a short, instanced 2-3 player experience without the need for a tank/healer. Think of them as a short series of group quests with a queuing option available.
That sounds tailor-made for multiboxers, unless they add some sort of mechanics that require the group to split up or split its focus.

[Multibocks]

yep I bet its one guy drives something another controls a beast and last has to run bases.

[wakasm]

One thing that I can't find any note of, but I could have sworn I heard during one of the Q/A sessions was something along these lines. I remember someone asking...

"Since you will now be able to do more things while in a raid, like world raid bosses and queuing for a raid, will you make it possible to do quests and what not while in a raid group? So while waiting for bosses to pop we have something to do?" and

I could have sworn their answer was that they were going to remove questing while in a raid restriction, which should also make leveling 10 toons much easier. I don't know if I made this up. I may have. But I remember when I overheard that while watching the stream I was like!!?

Also, as for the Panda Controversy - I found this relevant too lol
http://i.imgur.com/myLOL.jpg

[MiRai]

One thing that I can't find any note of, but I could have sworn I heard during one of the Q/A sessions was something along these lines. I remember someone asking...

"Since you will now be able to do more things while in a raid, like world raid bosses and queuing for a raid, will you make it possible to do quests and what not while in a raid group? So while waiting for bosses to pop we have something to do?" and

I could have sworn their answer was that they were going to remove questing while in a raid restriction, which should also make leveling 10 toons much easier. I don't know if I made this up. I may have. But I remember when I overheard that while watching the stream I was like!!?
You're right it was talked about at BlizzCon but, that was the last mention of it.

[valkry]

So certain species are "off limits" or "out of place" in a "Fantasy" setting.. that make a whole lot of sense lol

But i understand what you mean. They do not fit into YOUR idea of WoW!
Well, seeing as Pandas have been a part of WoW for a long time, then I guess you would have to say that WoW does not fit into HIS idea of fantasy. Too bad

[Chumbucket]

I sure hope they allow raid questing. Anyone else think Gnome monks would be cool?

[Khatovar]

"Since you will now be able to do more things while in a raid, like world raid bosses and queuing for a raid, will you make it possible to do quests and what not while in a raid group? So while waiting for bosses to pop we have something to do?" and

I could have sworn their answer was that they were going to remove questing while in a raid restriction, which should also make leveling 10 toons much easier. I don't know if I made this up. I may have. But I remember when I overheard that while watching the stream I was like!!?[/URL]

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2519-Mists-of-Pandaria-Raids-Dungeons-Panel

Can we do quests in a raid group?
Maybe, it has been talked about.

[valkry]

Will make 10 box leveling so much easier, will be doing that permanently if it goes ahead!!

[pinotnoir]

I can see it now... Guild 25 man group questing all trying to loot 10 stupid items off a mob with a 30% drop rate. Someone needs to convince blizzard to allow quest loot to be shared by all. They do it on some quest but the majority of them you have to loot it on every guy because only 1 drops. I hate that!

[Zub]

with 25 toons killing, the mob re-pop rate would be very high in a non-multinoxing situation. provided there are enough quest mobs in the area.
- as opposed to a 25 multiboxed group, doing 1 (quick) kill at the time.

[valkry]

with 25 toons killing, the mob re-pop rate would be very high in a non-multinoxing situation. provided there are enough quest mobs in the area.
- as opposed to a 25 multiboxed group, doing 1 (quick) kill at the time.
Yea, mob respawn rate is determined by amount of people in the zone.

[Zub]

Yea, mob respawn rate is determined by amount of people in the zone.
What i meant is that in a normal (non-boxing) raid group there are 25 people killing 25 mobs, as opposed to a mb group with 25 people 1 mob (albeit very quickly) unless there is room for aoe farming.

So if the repop is not an issue, then a normal raid group should get things done much faster than a mb group, and that's probably what Blizz is checking against.
Not sure i got my message across first time.

[valkry]

What i meant is that in a normal (non-boxing) raid group there are 25 people killing 25 mobs, as opposed to a mb group with 25 people 1 mob (albeit very quickly) unless there is room for aoe farming.

So if the repop is not an issue, then a normal raid group should get things done much faster than a mb group, and that's probably what Blizz is checking against.
Not sure i got my message across first time.
Ah yep, I see now