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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe great Panda debate
by Amanda Dean 
Mar 10th 2008 at 9:00AM
In the comments Censorman said, "I've heard China
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
The article was dated November 23, 2007, and claims to have confirmed the proposed legislation with the Chengdu Municipal Committee of the National People's Congress, in west 's
So it looks like both posters are correct. There is no specific, Chinese law banning killing pandas in video games. In the future there be some official legislation that limits the use of panda imagery in video games in the
Baluki suggested that Panderens could be added to the game but disabled in Chinese copies of the game. Currently in Chinese copies of the game the Undead models do not have exposed bones. The difference between these two examples is that the graphic for bones or no bones is purely cosmetic and does not have a major impact on the game. Disabling or enabling Pandaren characters would probably have major implications for the game. Possibly if Pandaren were replaced with another race such as Naga in Chinese versions of the World of Warcraft, it may work.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Odds and ends, News items, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
bonse Mar 10th 2008 1:10PM
pandas have been long associated to warcraft after one of the designers added pandas at every opportunity in some small, unnoticeable way. One April 1st the same designer put forward the panderan as a fool's joke. The response from the warcraft fan community was so positive that they didnt dare not create the race as official lore. possibly the first democratically elected race
overly simplified version, but thats why pandas not grizzlies
Theadrick Mar 10th 2008 1:56PM
Blizzard changed the look of the pandaren race because of Chinese objections to the merging of the Japanese samurai archetype with a Chinese symbol. For comparison:
New:
http://baike.baidu.com/pic/8/11868020281823483.jpg
Old: http://screenshots.filesnetwork.com/14/potd/1046304278.jpg
ThorinII Mar 10th 2008 2:38PM
Offensive or not to anyone in the world, I think Pandarens would be STUPID.
I think Goblin or Ogre races would be cool. NOT MURLOCKS, PLZ NO!!!
Was a joke, but I think it would have been cool...
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/two-headed-ogre.shtml
ThorinII Mar 10th 2008 2:41PM
Not the bonded to a co-player and simultaneous use part, but the race in general would be cool.
arcady0 Mar 10th 2008 2:47PM
SaintStryfe:
It is Patronizing of native americans in that it is so overly positive and not realistic. It's the 'noble native american' stereotype.
While a patronizing stereotype is not as bad as the negative ones we once had to live with - being called uncivilized barbaric savages, 'indian givers', drunks, out to molest caucasian women on the frontier to produce half breeds, and brutal to our own people (aka - Orcs)...
... A patronizing stereotype is still frustrating as it shows the people portraying us still don't get that we're just everyday people - no different from anyone else. People have their virtues and their flaws, and stereotyped portrayals of any ethnicity are troubling.
The clans you find among the Tauren are something universal to most human cultures of a pre-industrial and/or pre-centralized government age. Europe as well was once ruled by this system, and it could be used to characterize the conflicts Rome had with many of the people on it borders.
Suzaku Mar 11th 2008 1:59AM
You could also argue that the Orcs are stereotypically Mongolian/Japanese, or the Dwarves are stereotypically Scotch-Irish, or the Trolls are stereotypically Caribbean.
The fact is, Blizzard drew inspiration from the real world to create their races and their cultures. You can see it in their designs, their clothing, their architechture, their mythology, even their voice-acting. The Tauren are inspired by native american cultures, while the night elves are a hybrid greek/norse/asian mixture. The humans and forsaken are generally medieval/gothic european, while the blood elves combine middle eastern and mediterannean cultures.
Nearly every ethnic group has been touched on in the Warcraft series, so don't act like you're alone there.
Felwrathe Mar 10th 2008 10:48PM
There are several reasons I wouldn't want Pandaren to be a playable character. Add them to the game, sure, but not as players.
Besides, any new race would have to be interesting. Hopefully with a better background than the Draenei/Blood Elves.
Zero_ripper Mar 11th 2008 11:27AM
Something I've noticed, which I don't think that anyone has pointed out yet, is that Pandaren is a combination of the word panda and ren, which can be translated to person. Which means that their name can be translated as "Panda person" or something along those lines.
On a side note, I'd love Pandaren Brewmasters be a Hero class in WotLK. Just don't make them faction specific.
Suzaku Mar 11th 2008 1:44AM
As mentioned in the article, the only reason the Chinese have had a problem about Pandaren's depictions in WoW was some of the initial artwork released for WC3.
It depicted Pandaren dressed in Japanese-style clothing, with Japanese weaponry. Now, first, there aren't any pandas in Japan. Second, and more importantly, the Japanese commited several attrocities and war crimes against the Chinese (read up on the Nanking Massacre or Unit 731 for examples).
Many Americans may not being aware of the many cultural differences and conflicts between the Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese, and tend to lump them together as "Asians", but, well, it's a pretty big deal to the Chinese when something like this happens. You could almost compare to to making a Jewish-inspired race, and then dressing them as Nazis.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, people were upset about a Chinese icon being depicted in Japanese clothing, and it was changed. All artwork of Pandaren I have seen since has been depicted in specifically Chinese attire.
Of course, if they did make a Pandaren race, it would be best to not just create a generic "Asian" hodge-podge culture for them anyway.
Also, it's worth noting that the Pandaren contineu to be featured prominently in the Warcraft tabletop RPG, and will be detailed extensively in the next sourcebook (Dark Factions), which will even include new Pandaren classes.
Brauner02 Mar 11th 2008 11:32AM
It'd be cool to be a pandaren. but on a lighter note. if they did make it a playable race, think of all the gold farmers that would boycott warcraft.
ScorchHellfire Mar 18th 2008 4:29PM
actually if you go to the pandaren page on wowwiki you will see that originally the pandarens had a true japanese look and then because china bitched about it, samwise made it chinese looking like it is now... yay for communists telling americans what to do...