World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced

Blizzard has just announced the next expansion pack for its World of Warcraft MMO. Titled "Mists of Pandaria," the expansion pack introduces a new continent, and a new monk class. Also, there's pandas.

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Blizzard has just announced the next expansion pack for its World of Warcraft MMO. Titled "Mists of Pandaria," this is quite possibly the most colorful addition to the WOW world so far. The expansion pack introduces a new continent, and a new monk class. Also, there's pandas. (Seriously!)

You can expect new challenge mode dungeons, PVE scenarios, and a pet battle system in the expansion. The level cap will also be raised to 90.

The Pandaren race be played as either Alliance or Horde. However, it doesn't happen at character creation. Instead, you'll be able to make your selection after the introductory quest chain. According to WOW Insider, "once the stage has been set and you see where the lines of war have been drawn, you will choose which faction represents your interests best."

Our own Xav DeMatos is at BlizzCon right now. Stay tuned to Shacknews for further breaking news and updates.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 21, 2011 12:15 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced.

    Blizzard has just announced the next expansion pack for its World of Warcraft MMO. Titled "Mists of Pandaria," the expansion pack introduces a new continent, and a new monk class. Also, there's pandas.

    • reply
      October 21, 2011 12:19 PM

      Will this be the last WoW expansion?

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        October 21, 2011 12:21 PM

        [deleted]

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          October 21, 2011 12:38 PM

          Uhh, pretty sure they wouldn't be storing cash in a warehouse as opposed to a bank lol. : Utopia

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          October 21, 2011 12:41 PM

          everquest is over 10 years old and still gets expansions. its crazy to assume this will be the last wow expansion. especially given the fact that it has way more players than eq ever had...and its blizzard and they always support their shit.

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          October 21, 2011 12:41 PM

          The Joker can take care of that for them.

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        October 21, 2011 12:21 PM

        There's no way for us to know that at this point

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        October 21, 2011 12:23 PM

        [deleted]

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      October 21, 2011 12:28 PM

      Whoa, new class is pretty huge. That would be able the only thing to make me want to play again.

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        October 21, 2011 12:58 PM

        After watching the video, it looks like the weakest expansion hands down. It seems like they rushed the video together to make sure and hit the Blizzcon deadline.

        Like others said, no large villain to fight against? That seems strange to me since that's been the theme with all their other expansions. So basically just a level cap increase, new class we know nothing about, and an asian-inspired continent. The other stuff such as pet battles does absolutely nothing for me.

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          October 21, 2011 2:25 PM

          Lil' KT, I choose YOOOU!

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            October 21, 2011 5:48 PM

            those novelty pets dont seem just cosmetic now do they?!

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        October 21, 2011 1:22 PM

        So far it reads a lot like a druid, but without shapeshifting.

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      October 21, 2011 12:37 PM

      The magic and sense of discovery that I loved about WOW is gone. I'm dont feel another expansion will be able to reinstill that awesomness again.

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        October 21, 2011 1:22 PM

        ^^^^^^ This ...since BC really.

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          October 21, 2011 1:27 PM

          correct. the game has lost it's "that something special" feeling for us who played it since it came oout.

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          October 21, 2011 8:39 PM

          same, it was all a slow downhill after BC

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        October 21, 2011 1:33 PM

        Same thing happened to me with EQ. I remember playing before all the portals and instant-transport stuff came out, and I loved having epic, hours-long journeys across the world with other players, unsure of what we'd find along the way. Once an MMO starts losing that sense of wonder and surprise, it's all downhill from there.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        October 21, 2011 3:06 PM

        Not sure quite what you expect to happen with any MMO that stays around for this long.

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        October 21, 2011 6:36 PM

        As someone who is still working through the awesome cataclysm 1-60 content, i totally disagree

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      October 21, 2011 12:43 PM

      I wonder if this will stem the flow of people unsubscribing.

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        October 21, 2011 1:09 PM

        It's the first time in years that a blizzard trailer has turned me *off* their product. I'm hoping against all odds that their planned re-revamp of the talent system and the monk class itself are super awesome, because I simply have no interest in playing as stupid pandas with no proper endgame goal.

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          October 21, 2011 1:11 PM

          the end game goal has always been to get loot. im sure there will still be loot.

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            October 21, 2011 1:12 PM

            I mean clear-cut villains. Illidan, Lich King, Deathwing. This looks like a 'Greatest Hits' collection focusing on their already abysmal PVP system.

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          October 21, 2011 4:51 PM

          Ya agree, the whole trailer just did nothing for me. Cataclysn, by comparison, was fucking loaded to the gills with awesome. Revamped old world, Goblins, Deathwing, fuck yeah.

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      October 21, 2011 12:43 PM

      wait what?

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      October 21, 2011 12:46 PM

      wtf, is this for real?

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      October 21, 2011 1:02 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 21, 2011 1:07 PM

      Sadly it is for real and it makes me very sad. The monk class looks neat; the rest of it looks like WoW for Wii including fucking pokemon.

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      October 21, 2011 1:08 PM

      Pet battle system... Blizzard must be running out of good ideas.

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        October 21, 2011 1:10 PM

        This is the stupid shit they're working on while players bitch about an endless array of balance issues with the existing game. Pet battles.

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          October 21, 2011 1:11 PM

          I just started watching the trailer and stopped as soon as I felt like I was watching a trailer for Kung Fu Panda.

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            October 21, 2011 3:11 PM

            Hahaha yeah I couldn't help but wonder if they're gonna get sued for this one.

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          October 21, 2011 5:21 PM

          About the balance issues - there will be a completely reworked talent system. Also resilience is a base stat based on your level.

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      October 21, 2011 1:08 PM

      This is by far the worst idea Blizzard has come up with since adding a Hero Class..... What a waste of a franchise... Well.... Glad I switched to Rift and quit wow before Cataclysm....

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        October 21, 2011 1:28 PM

        But Rift isn't any better. Its pretty boring and is basically the exact same tropes.

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          October 21, 2011 4:53 PM

          This was my feeling from my time with it and everything else I saw/heard. Zero actual originality.

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      October 21, 2011 1:09 PM

      Also Jack Black called... he wants his royalties...

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      October 21, 2011 1:09 PM

      Kids these days...

      Pandarians came from Warcraft III...or maybe the expansion for it? But anyway, they aren't a new race for the Warcraft universe.

      I think they're pretty cool. But too bad the gameplay is still going to be the same old WoW gameplay.

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      October 21, 2011 1:10 PM

      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
      The class is very martial-arts based
      Lots of monk-only animations, the healer and tanks will have different stances they can stand in, etc ...
      Monk Races - All of them except Goblin and Worgens

      So basically another overpowered hybrid.

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        October 21, 2011 1:26 PM

        sounds cool actually

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          October 21, 2011 1:31 PM

          Its a Paladin that wears leather.

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      October 21, 2011 1:20 PM

      *Checks Calendar*... nope not April 1st

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      October 21, 2011 1:20 PM

      TL:DW recap of the video:

      You've defeated the earth aspect! The destroyer is no more! And now.... the biggest threat yet! PANDAS! Have some tea.

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      October 21, 2011 1:22 PM

      NEW MONK CLASS? rofl

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        October 21, 2011 3:27 PM

        It's going to use the launch paladin trees.

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        October 21, 2011 4:49 PM

        Ya, pretty uninspired. I guessed ages ago it'd be a leather wearing hybrid. Too many plate and clothies already. Have fun balancing the new resource system with other healers, too!

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      October 21, 2011 1:23 PM

      Odd incentive to play a panda:

      INNER PEACE
      Your rested experience bonus lasts twice as long

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      October 21, 2011 1:25 PM

      and apparently if you sub a year of WoW you get Diablo III plus a mount for 'free'.

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        October 21, 2011 4:53 PM

        I was almost tempted, but still not enough to tempt me. There's no way I've got another year of play time left in this, even if I get the expansion and level my main and alt.

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      October 21, 2011 1:27 PM

      [deleted]

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      October 21, 2011 1:29 PM

      This is a joke right?

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        October 21, 2011 1:30 PM

        It's gotta be a joke. There is just no way they are serious about this.

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        October 21, 2011 4:58 PM

        trolled

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          October 21, 2011 8:41 PM

          I think it's true and just one giant troll to hard core raiders, lol.

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      October 21, 2011 3:02 PM

      I guess China won't ever get this expansion. Either that or pandas are going to become Koalas or something.

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        October 21, 2011 3:04 PM

        [deleted]

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        October 21, 2011 3:07 PM

        There are maybe half a dozen MMOs in China with playable pandas- why would this be different?

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          October 21, 2011 3:33 PM

          because they have strict rules about the depiction of violence towards pandas.

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            October 21, 2011 3:40 PM

            Why do they allow all the other mmos with pandas to exist then?

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            October 21, 2011 3:58 PM

            The only reference to this I could find was this article from 2007 about a proposed law that would prevent people from using images of pandas in ONE province in China. I'm not even sure the law even passed because there is no mention of it past 2007 and pandas have obviously been used in tons of chinese generated media, including MMO's since that time.

            http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/23/content_7133797.htm

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            October 21, 2011 4:45 PM

            I'm starting to feel like this is one of those things that people keep perpetuating because they heard it elsewhere. I've never once seen anything substantiating this claim.

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              October 21, 2011 4:49 PM

              Bottom line is that it's bullshit. Here's a joystiq article:

              [...] In the comments Censorman said, "I've heard China won't allow Pandas to be killed in games." Fanryn responded that "no one has ever found any reference of an actual Chinese law that forbids 'depictions of violence against pandas.'" I decided to investigate and see what I could come with for a reliable resolution to this debate.

              I must admit that I also found no law specifically prohibiting violence against pandas in the virtual world. However an entry in China View and several other online publications pointed to proposed legislation in Chendgdu China that would curb exploitative panda imagery. The legislation was prompted by Zhao Bandi's presentation of suggestive panda-inspired stylings made waves during China's fashion week.


              http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/03/10/the-great-panda-debate/

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              October 21, 2011 5:43 PM

              I don't man, Arcath sounded like an expert on this....

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                October 21, 2011 7:26 PM

                No but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

    • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      October 21, 2011 3:07 PM

      The new talent system actually looks really good.

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      October 21, 2011 3:09 PM

      It's very weird that there's no big bad guy. Seems like you need a big bad guy!

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        October 21, 2011 3:32 PM

        Blizzard did say we're going to get more frequent expansions. So I'm guessing we're going to get another expansion early 2013 for some eventual boss. Not quite sure if this expansion is worth $40 compared to the past content-wise.

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        October 21, 2011 4:47 PM

        Not really, I mean people are always saying how Blizzard's story writing has gotten shitty and was way better in Warcraft 2, which centered mostly around the Orc v Human conflict and less on major external baddies.

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          October 21, 2011 4:51 PM

          But from this trailer I didn't even get an impression of a conflict at all. No resources to exploit, no enemy to fight, no conflict at all! It basically said "We found China and there are panda people!"

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            October 21, 2011 4:59 PM

            Yeah, that's definitely true. Hopefully there will be more info coming out later explaining where the conflict is coming from.

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            October 22, 2011 5:54 AM

            They just announced it, why should they spill the beans that early?

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        October 21, 2011 7:03 PM

        There will be a big bad guy.

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          October 21, 2011 8:25 PM

          The big bad guy will be the end boss of whatever raid zone there is much like Vanilla wow.

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      October 21, 2011 3:10 PM

      amazing that every class capable of melee dps is already better than rogues, yet they add ANOTHER dps class.

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      October 21, 2011 3:15 PM

      Does anyone else feel like this is all a part of grand plan to move WoW into consoles? Esepcially the part about the talents moving to only 1 new one every 15 levels? I think it's all headed toward simplicity of being able to play it from a couch with a controller. It could open up whole new stream of revenue to Blizzard .

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        October 21, 2011 3:34 PM

        the biggest thing they need to figure out is how to map 50 spells onto the controller, not the talents

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          October 21, 2011 3:45 PM

          They seemed to imply that the talents will be active spells not passives. Everything in WoW is moving toward simplification. I wonder if they plan to stem the tide of PC unsubscribers with new subscriptions on consoles. Didn't Blizz hire a bunch of console people recently? I don't know, just a hunch.

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            October 21, 2011 3:55 PM

            adding new talent spells will increase the number of spells which is one of the biggest complexities of making this work on a console. but yea they did hire a bunch of console people for diablo 3

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        October 21, 2011 3:47 PM

        This makes no sense. How the hell would a new talent every 15 levels be in any way more conducive to console play than one every 5 levels?

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          October 21, 2011 3:50 PM

          because it's so STUPID and consoles are for STUPID IDIOT HEADS!

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        October 21, 2011 4:05 PM

        Let's entertain your idea for a moment.

        Why would Microsoft want people paying $15 to play WoW on the Xbox360 when it would -

        A) Generates little income for them

        B) People playing MMO's generally invest heavily in them and don't play a lot of other games. The whole Xbox model is getting people to buy discs, dlc and xbla titles on a regular basis.

        C) Bypasses their current model for games that are heavily reliant on patching. Say goodbye to hotfixes and semi-regular content updates. If MS did allow this exception then others would expect it and now everyone is updating their game constantly which the MS approval process can't bear the weight of (they have to approve every patch/title).

        D) Hardrive only titles

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        October 21, 2011 4:06 PM

        Yeah, I agree. Pandas don't belong on PCs, and therefore must be marketed towards consoles.

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        October 21, 2011 4:47 PM

        Where does it say that?

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        October 21, 2011 5:48 PM

        Think of all the WoW players who wouldn't want their game nerfed. That's how Asheron's Call 2 tanked.

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        October 21, 2011 6:10 PM

        I'm pretty sure it's all part of a grand plan to sell more merchandise.

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        October 22, 2011 12:40 AM

        No, but maybe to appeal more to asia.

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      October 21, 2011 5:07 PM

      Have they improved the graphics since I last played? (The Outland expansion) It looks fantastic in that video.

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        October 21, 2011 5:08 PM

        theyve polished stuff up a little since back then

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          October 21, 2011 5:22 PM

          until they really do up normal maps and better lighting, its still gonna look like 2004 with more polycount

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      October 21, 2011 5:09 PM

      I dont care they already have my money!

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      October 21, 2011 5:19 PM

      It seriously looks like April fools joke: the expansion edition.

      Bring on TOR

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      October 21, 2011 5:38 PM

      Will the new race be playable by both sides?

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      October 21, 2011 6:05 PM

      yea thats a shame, this panda stuff is really lame.. maybe if they want to cater to 12 and younger but what a poor choice...

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        October 21, 2011 7:34 PM

        A pretty large portion of the community wanted them added. If anything, Blizzard listened to their fan base and added what they desired.

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          October 21, 2011 7:38 PM

          What were the available choices in that poll?

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            October 21, 2011 8:30 PM

            a) Totally Awesome Panda Race.
            b) Lawnmower.
            c) Poop.
            d) Grass.

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      October 21, 2011 6:54 PM

      This is so dumb, WTF is this shit?

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      October 21, 2011 9:43 PM

      I don't play wow, but I must say wow...this is hilariously sad. Mists of Panderia? REALLY BLizzard? It's like an early April fools joke or something.

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        October 21, 2011 9:49 PM

        Actually, it's a really old April Fools' joke.

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      October 21, 2011 9:45 PM

      [deleted]

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        October 21, 2011 9:54 PM

        [deleted]

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          October 21, 2011 10:09 PM

          [deleted]

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            October 21, 2011 10:19 PM

            For me its the entire asian-themed look of the expansion. its just so overplayed and does literally nothing for me. all of the screenshots and videos of the world look so bland and uninspired. I guess its because its not new or unique and is just a rehash of existing historical architecture.


            You could say the same about the Ye Old England look of original WoW, but thats just a universally accepted trope of a fantasy setting.

            This just looks so blah to me as a setting to explore - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Oj_O6yZgorQ

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            October 21, 2011 10:35 PM

            [deleted]

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        October 21, 2011 10:15 PM

        you would rather re-grind thru content you've played with a new skin and talents than play new content?

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          October 21, 2011 10:18 PM

          [deleted]

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            October 21, 2011 10:25 PM

            I was just responding to your comment that you would rather have a new class+race than new 1-60 content

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          October 21, 2011 10:54 PM

          For this expansion yeah, because the game doesn't stop at level 60. Taking a new race/class combo into endgame content has a lot more lasting value than what I'd get from leveling through a few new zones.

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        October 21, 2011 10:18 PM

        Actually, redone BC questlines would be nice.

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          October 21, 2011 10:34 PM

          And if they redid the 2004 player character models.

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        October 22, 2011 2:09 AM

        They were supposed to be the BC race according to Metzen

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      October 22, 2011 12:30 AM

      Blizzard has jumped the shark.

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      October 22, 2011 12:38 AM

      Lol. Pokémon Finally Comes to World of Warcraft, and No One is Safe http://kotaku.com/5852284/pokemon-finally-comes-to-world-of-warcraft-and-no-one-is-safe

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      October 22, 2011 12:39 AM

      Don't really like asian themed games/stuff. Don't like Pandas. Not really sure about this. That said, it's Blizzard, and I trust them, but I'd personally have wanted something new and from their lore/classes/whatever.

      We got Goblins. Whey the fuck don't we have Pirates?! :) Pirates > Pandas.

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      October 22, 2011 7:27 AM

      I think I've figured out the reason for the Pandas: Metzen is on crack.

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      October 22, 2011 9:10 AM

      I think it would be less embarrassing to be caught fucking a stuffed my little pony then actually buy this

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      October 23, 2011 3:30 PM

      Now when Kung Fu Panda 3 comes out, there can be cool advertising tie ins! Cant wait to see Po helping to battle the horde! Yay!

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      October 24, 2011 4:58 PM

      Epic yawn.

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      October 24, 2011 9:47 PM

      Look how few posts there are for this thread, I'm thinking the WoW enthusiasm is burning out.

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