Blizzard's announced the fourth expansion for World of Warcraft, the long-rumoured Mists of Pandaria.
The new expansion introduces the panda-like Pandaren as a playable race and adds a new player class: the martial-arts-focused Monk.
The official blurb reads: "While exploring the mysteries of an exotic new land and advancing to the new level cap of 90, players will experience a range of new content and game features, including new quests and dungeons, group scenarios and challenge modes, pet battles, and more."
"In the aftermath of the Cataclysm played out in World of Warcraft's third expansion, Pandaria's heroes are emerging from their land's lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains to choose sides in the escalating war between the Alliance and the Horde and to share the extraordinary secrets of their ancient martial arts.
"As tensions between the factions near a breaking point following the discovery of this new world, players will be called upon to explore Pandaria's exotic expanses, make contact with its strange indigenous creatures, and unlock the world-changing secrets that have been hiding in the mists for millennia."
New features in the expansion include:
- New Playable Race -- Pandaren: Adventure through Azeroth as World of Warcraft's first neutral race and decide whether to side with the Alliance or the Horde.
- New Playable Class -- Monk: Unlock the secrets of pandaren martial arts and do battle as a damage dealer, healer, or tank.
- Level Cap Increased to 90: Learn potent new spells and abilities while exploring uncharted zones and taking on challenging new content.
- New Zones: Explore the lush Jade Forest, treacherous Kun-Lai Summit, and other exotic areas of Pandaria designed for high-level characters, and uncover the mystery of the Wandering Isle.
- Scenarios: Join up with some friends to achieve a common goal, such as mounting a defense against invading monsters, in a flexible new type of PvE challenge.
- Dungeon "Challenge" Modes: Master the ultimate five-player time trial to earn prestige rewards in a new dungeon mode that will put your resolve and coordination to the test.
- Pet Battles: Challenge other players' companion pets with your own collection in a new tactical mini-game, and find out who's king or queen of the pint-sized battlefield.
- New Talent System: Customize your character to suit your play style with the newly overhauled and improved talent system.
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard said of the add-on: "Players have been asking to see the pandaren in World of Warcraft since the game's launch, and we're excited to finally be able to give them a proper re-introduction to Azeroth.
What say you, WoW players? Is this enough new content to draw you back?
Comments
31 comments so far...
Metagen on 22 Oct '11 said:
Kung Fu Panda much?
allygray69 on 22 Oct '11 said:
Seen this news at blizzcon yesterday. Made me LOL. Havent played wow since start of the year, and this certainly wont bring me back. Pandas for crying out loud.
03b2wgm on 22 Oct '11 said:
Sound familiar anyone?
almanac2015 on 22 Oct '11 said:
Tauren are walking cows. Draenei are often called space-goats. I don't really see the difference with pandaren really. Looking forward to it myself. I'll be there rolling a Pandaren on launch, eager to check out the new Monk class. I hope the Chi resource system is a little bit different, wouldn't like it to be similar to energy.
The new talent tree system seems a little odd though, not sure if I like the idea of that yet. It theory it is very good though there's just too few tiers. I understand that making too many tiers would make a revamp quite pointless, but once every 15 levels? Paladin tree looks a little boring. Warrior tree looks very fun.
Syyrah on 22 Oct '11 said:
First thing that went through my mind. I assume this would be more serious though.
only_777 on 22 Oct '11 said:
I stopped playing WoW some time back, I don't think this'll pull me back.
But I f**king love those pandaren!
I remember them from Warcraft III;
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3586/696034-screen_pandar1en.jpg
I gotta admit, they have had a little bit of a Kung-Fu Panda make over, but they look great.
Imaduck on 22 Oct '11 said:
Regardless of how purdy a job they've done, Warcraft is kind of dead. All the dark story telling, depth and mystery died long ago. WoW milked the universe to death.
KMakawa on 22 Oct '11 said:
I dont play WoW anymore, havent for a few years.. but if you did, or atleast got into the story.. you'd know that Pandaria / Pandarens have existed long before Kung Fu Panda. The Lore existed long before WoW's MMO was even made for example, around 2002/2003.
And it all got a mass following due to the lore.. and this one photo: http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/wor ... xpress.jpg
Pandarens are possibly the most asked for feature, in WoW.. nice to see they've finally added them.. after all those years.. but. Why now?
^ Thats why.
KMakawa on 22 Oct '11 said:
Does sound familiar of a game thats put atleast one nail in WoW's coffin. xD
almanac2015 on 22 Oct '11 said:
There's still a stories to be told in Azeroth. People have wanted Pandaren for ages - and now they're going to get it. The fact that it is a little more lighthearted isn't necessarily a bad thing - Illidan, The Lich King and Deathwing may have been great bosses but how many times in a row do people expect the same story of Azeroth in danger? Relax for an expansion, add a much asked-for class and focus on the Alliance vs Horde story for a while. Chances are a little into the expansion we'll get some old god or another pop up anyway.
Games copy from each other. Not exactly breaking news.
PMIKE5 on 22 Oct '11 said:
It's about time they added an impartial race. I love these pandas! The scenery in the game looks gorgeous, but I won't go back to WoW. It's a bit too much like work. I do enough work AT work!
03b2wgm on 22 Oct '11 said:
True, but I still felt like pointing that out.
damoxuk on 22 Oct '11 said:
After being massively underwhelmed by Cataclysm thereby erasing my addiction to WoW this new expo sounds interesting.
I'll most likely buy it when it's released though (to go with my 4 collector's editions mainly
) and give it a re-visit but not before then.
Pandaren sounds crap though but Monk class however sounds fun.
Polarwiseman II on 22 Oct '11 said:
The 'Sha' bad guys do sound like your classic old god minions. I was really hoping for more burning legion story though, us taking the fight to them possibly, though maybe that would be more final expansion material. So far I doubt I'll play MoP, their just isn't anything grabbing me about it, but I guess I'll wait and see.
almanac2015 on 22 Oct '11 said:
I wouldn't mind the Burning Legion making an appearance either, though who knows where the story will go in patch 5.1 or 5.2. Before the announcement (when I was still hoping the Mists of Pandaria leak from a few months ago was true
) I was hoping for Azshara and the Naga to play a prominent role, like a fair few WoW players. We have a year to go though, no doubt Blizzard will have a couple of surprises (both good and bad).
On a slightly related note the WoW community is extremely amusing. Go back a few years and WotLK was heavily criticised - it's too casual, there's too much snow etc. Cataclysm would make WoW hardcore again they all said. A couple of months into Cataclysm and the amount of praise I see at the 'good old days' of Wrath is quite funny.
My point being, WoW players like to complain, like to predict the death of WoW. But a lot of them come around.
gamingassassin on 22 Oct '11 said:
This is why i dont play w.o.w! Pandas?!?!?! what next a race of budgies? Im sure my little brother will like it tho! lol
PMIKE5 on 23 Oct '11 said:
Also, it's nice to have a race that's not overly sexualised like all the other races.
pRM8 on 23 Oct '11 said:
Hmm, angry Panda's... that just doesn't sit right with me.
Sammy_bham on 23 Oct '11 said:
Whether these existed before kung fu panda or not...
look at the pictures! LMAO
they look terrible, almost an advert for kung fu panda 3!
i am suprised people are still playing WOW though.
almanac2015 on 23 Oct '11 said:
Damn those sexy tauren!
kimoak on 23 Oct '11 said:
Have these screens been touched up or are they that pretty to look at?
only_777 on 23 Oct '11 said:
The Pandaria are older than WoW itself. Try reading the thread before making yourself look foolish.
gamingassassin on 23 Oct '11 said:
How do i look foolish for laughing at wow having pandas? what does it matter which is older? i personally couldn't give a s**t about which is older and is still a ridiculous idea no matter how old it is! so my comment still stands!
how you think someone looks foolish for not knowing about wow or 'pandaria' i dont know. like i said i dont play wow because i think its stupid, my little brother plays it which tells me all i need to know about the game!
almanac2015 on 23 Oct '11 said:
There's enough c**ts that play WoW already. We wouldn't want you playing the game anyway.
Imaduck on 23 Oct '11 said:
For me personally, the damage was done long ago. I don't think they could ever "salvage" Warcraft. The Legion stuff left off too long ago, WoW boloxed up the world and killed off the series' Darth Vader - Arthas (in a poor way
) Also, they turned Thrall into a f**king hippy! 
gamingassassin on 23 Oct '11 said:
and you base your opinion on me on what? the fact that i find a game that you like childish and stupid? or the fact that i laughed at them adding kung fu pandas to the game? as you can see from the rest of the forum im not the only person with these views, just because you dont agree with me doesnt make me a c**t. you might not like my games collection but i wouldnt call you a c**t for it.
almanac2015 on 24 Oct '11 said:
I have no problem with people not liking Warcraft. I just dislike people with terrible grammar and an obsession in criticising a game they have no interest in. I'm not a big JRPG fan, so when news of a JRPG game comes out, I don't comment on it. You are criticising a game you don't play, and for ridiculous reasons. If I were to criticise a game I have no interest in, you can guarantee my reasoning will be more articulate than:
There's a fair few reasons to criticise the Mists of Pandaria announcement (or WoW in general) - the pet battle system is pointless, the new talent system will have some pretty mixed views (I like the idea, I just feel it could be extended) and the lack of main villain from the start (due to a focus on the Alliance v Horde war) could be frustrating to players who have loved stories involving Illidan and Arthas for example. A neutral-starting race is also new in the WoW world and some could consider it a step in the wrong direction for PvP. The changes with Resilience will only shift the barrier to entry from PvP to PvE gear if done incorrectly, there are better dungeons to re-visit than Scarlet Monastery in my opinion, and there's still no fixed date for updated models of the vanilla classes.
I can even see why the Pandaren race might not be liked to be honest. However they are a fan favourite - people have been wanting them for a long time - and as I said earlier in this thread, we already have talking cows and werewolves in the game so it is no big issue. If Pandaren were in vanilla WoW and Tauren were just being added people would be crying out just the same. A couple of months into the new expansion and everyone will be used to them and they'll be just as part of the WoW lore as Draenei and Worgen - both of those races were bitched about a fair amount on announcement but aside from the occasional joke they're now accepted as part of the lore. I think this could be applied further as well - had gnomes been announced as part of the expansion (rather than being a launch race) the community would have given a negative response.
But most of that will be incomprehensible to you because you don't play WoW, I doubt you ever have played WoW, and you are just here to criticise a game you have absolutely no knowledge of. I apologise for calling you a c**t though. I'm not a fan of people criticising a game they don't play though I could have been more moderate with the insult.
only_777 on 24 Oct '11 said:
Well I don't need to reply! You've pretty much said it all here!
gamingassassin on 24 Oct '11 said:
Actually i did try it, Blizzard sent me a copy for free and i didnt like it. The reason i didnt like it was because i found it to be too childish for me, It feels as if its the next step up from playing pokemon (which is ironic with the new pet battle system). If the developers just came out and said the game was for kids I wouldnt laugh at them having childish characters in the game!
Even more pathetic about the game is the extent that the fans become addicted to it, When I was in the army I used to know a guy that when there was a sqn party no more then ten meters from his door preferred to stay in playing wow, even though thats all he did every other night.
But I accept your apology and in turn apologize for calling your game stupid.
Oh and one last thing, criticizing grammar on a forum? really? arent we past that by now? do I really need to spell check and grammar check just to leave a quick comment? grow up!
cartel on 25 Oct '11 said:
What a nerd! That's why I don't play WoW. I hope my grammars ok with the grammar police here
xabi on 25 Oct '11 said:
isnt that panda supposed to look cute..??