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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Panda ... nope, not going to do it
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 6th 2011 at 11:00AM
Every time the pandaren get mentioned in The Queue, we end up with a week straight of pandaren headers, themes and puns. I'm going to break that trend and completely avoid the topic of the pandaman in this edition of The Queue and hopefully end the horrible cycle of pain.
riley asked:
Do you think Warcraft ever seen an ending to its story or will Blizzard keep adding content and lore until they subscriber numbers drop below profitability? Will we ever get to fight Sargeras or will the servers just shut down in the middle of the 6th expansion?
Blizzard won't end World of Warcraft until it becomes financially irresponsible to keep the game running. It certainly isn't going to write a definite ending in. Blizzard will keep churning content out as long as the game sustains itself. If we end up fighting Sargeras in WoW's lifetime, it will most likely just be revealed that something even worse is around the corner.
Scooba asked:
What's up with poison gas storage sitting in the back of the ruins above undercity? Is it supposed to imply sylvannas is up to something?
Imply? We are way beyond implications, brother. Sylvanas is riding the crazy train as fast as it'll go. Just look around the Eastern Kingdoms in Cataclysm. Sylvanas is actively wielding plagues in battle, obliterating Gilneas, Hillsbrad, et cetera, and raising the dead as her servants. She's dag nasty evil. Remember the plague that Putress used at the Wrathgate? It only existed because Sylvanas told him to create it. Now that Putress and Varimathras are out of the way, she's happily using it wherever and whenever she wants, all according to plan.
I would not be surprised for one single moment if we learn that Sylvanas is current holder of the shards of Frostmourne.
Goblinsgoboom asked:
On the topic of new playable races: what do you think would be the next races for Horde and Alliance? I know we just got new races, I'm just wondering. Arroka would be nice for Horde. I love those little bird men. :)
Frankly, I think there are plenty of races -- Blizzard isn't even utilizing the potential of the ones it has. There needs to be some focus on the less-loved races of the Horde and the Alliance before Blizzard thinks about adding more. Because of that, I haven't put a lot of thought into which races it could add.
That being said, I suspect the arrakoa would more likely be an Alliance race! If you pay attention in The Burning Crusade, many of the arrakoa who are friendly to players are arrakoa that turned to the Light and thus abandoned the factions of their race who worship less pleasant deities. The overall arc of the draenei is to build an army of the Light, so if there were a friendly faction of arrakoa, they would probably be Light-worshipping birdies who sign on with the Alliance. The Horde can have ... I don't know, ogres, I guess. Definitely not ethereals; those guys are way too cool as a neutral faction.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!
Filed under: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 14)
Rylka Jun 6th 2011 11:28AM
@ MattKrotzer - Maybe they are not evil so much as very strongly tainted by past choices and have their own focused perspective on things. :)
The Horde has a habit of taking in those with "questionable" histories and giving them an opportunity to be more civil minded. The Horde does have Sylvanas after all....
Until worgen were implemented as a race they were bad guys too. Who is to say that Bliz doesn't just say the playable naga represent a faction that has decided to break with their past.
techvoodooguy Jun 6th 2011 11:39AM
@MattKrotzer: Naga aren't 'truly evil'. Not by a long shot! They aided Kael'thas in TFT to bring him into Illidan's fold after Illidan called for their aid (which they gave, being former elves, iirc). They are thinking, sentient beings. Realistically, any sentient race could have a breakoff faction that joined the alliance or horde, in a similar way that we have Horde orcs and Twilight Hammer orcs and Shattered Hand orcs and so on.
The question is whether the Naga would be allowed to join either faction. I'd say that putting them in the Alliance would push the Night Elves out, while putting them in the Horde is a stretch after Sylvanas' as-of-present-only-forshadowed betrayal. (Trusting another race that we've been fighting for years after being betrayed by a 'race' that we've been fighting against a portion of for years? Not likely)
What I'd like to see is a third faction. Not a neutral faction, in that it would be hostile to both Alliance and Horde. In my mind, it goes something like this:
> Sylvanas betrays Horde, but the 'true forsaken' remain loyal and fight her off almost single-handedly. A new leader is chosen (perhaps Koltira?).
>Sylvanas was controlling an army of multiple races. She had deals with parts of the Forsaken, Naga, Ethereal, and . (Note that the neutral Ethereal factions would remain, in the same way that the neutral Goblin factions remained following the Bilgewater Cartel's action of joining the Horde)
>Sylvanas dies. The forsaken under her control are either killed or returned to the Horde's fold, having been pardoned.
I have 3 races there because 2 for one faction would be incredibly bland. Even having just 3 is pushing it. In Vanilla, both factions had 4. The Ethereal and Naga already have pretty kickass models and most of the animations needed by players.
Andostre Jun 6th 2011 12:42PM
Naga as a playable race wouldn't get to partake in the leg or foot armor slots, graphically. Robes might be problematic, too. And having those fins stick up out of the helmets might look funny, too.
Grovinofdarkhour Jun 6th 2011 12:43PM
@ Rylka
'The Horde has a habit of taking in those with "questionable" histories'
You mean... the Horde are actually... the Cincinnati Bengals??!!
MattKrotzer Jun 6th 2011 12:53PM
techvoodooguy: "Naga aren't 'truly evil'. Not by a long shot! They aided Kael'thas in TFT to bring him into Illidan's fold after Illidan called for their aid (which they gave, being former elves, iirc). They are thinking, sentient beings."
Oh.. they aided Kael'thas and Illidan... I stand corrected. How could I POSSIBLY have thought that they might be EVIL with pals like that?!
Also, the naga were created from their obsession with gaining power, which led not just to the War of the Ancients and then the Sundering, but then allied themselves with the Old Gods in order to survive.
I'm really having a hard time finding anything in their history that says "Hey, they were alright!"
@Grovin:
Leave my Bengals alone! We're rebuilding... we'll be back with strong character players... it's just going to take a few years. Everyone with a poor attitude is out, except for Pacman Jones, and even he's just "Adam Jones" these days.
Pyromelter Jun 6th 2011 1:37PM
I'm with MK on this one... the naga are more akin to the black dragonflight or the nathrezim. Power hungry with no motivation or morals beyond feeding their own greed.
Also, at some point, a mob has to be a mob, and not a potential player character. I'm looking at the people who want playable murlocs and raptors.
I think a more reasonable addition to the horde would be the Taunka, and for the Alliance give them the Highborne - basically slight recolored/skins of existing races.
icepyro Jun 6th 2011 2:20PM
So... would the Naga still have all of the equipment slots??? >_>
I mean.... pants. Really.
chuparex Jun 6th 2011 4:50PM
I would love to see Naga be playable, but I think it could only be possible if they had legs.
Hear me out: The Naga's "condition" is a result of Azshara's pact with the Old Gods (assumedly N'zoth), so it's likely that Nagafication is at least somewhat akin to the Curse of Flesh. Let's say a "new" Titan artifact were discovered, or some other method of reversing Old God corruption in beings.
I could see a rebel faction of Naga breaking free of their devotion to Azshara in favor of the chance at returning to their former elf forms. But somehow, the ritual or channeling or magic words for this source of power is interrupted, leaving these rogue Naga only partially reverted; specifically, the transformation was active only long enough to return them to a legged, humanoid form.
Then voila! We have a sect of Naga, retaining all of their reptilian qualities (scales, fins, tail, tentacle-dreads, etc.) but with clawed feet. Backwards-bending digitigrade legs, like the tauren, draenei and worgen, might look best. Now they can wear whatever armor they like, and join the Horde!
Rylka Jun 6th 2011 5:10PM
@ chuparex -
But it's those serpent body tails that I want most of all. : )
The swimming animation while going through Vashj'ir was one of the most awesome parts of the experience. It was exactly as I imagined it would be. Be it swimming in water or slithering on land, the movement of a serpent-"centaur"body is a strong part of the appeal.
Regarding equipment slots. Boots are a non issue as other races have converted those into cylindrical tubes that could easily ring the tip of a naga tail instead of a shin. Pants are a little trickier, but they could also be devolved to a band around the serpent body in the same way. Robes are the challenge. Perhaps the lower portions are simply foreshortened so that they do not extend past where the serpent body starts to curve horizontally.
After all, so long as naga can properly display shoulder items, Bliz should be happy right. :D
venslor Jun 6th 2011 6:15PM
Am I the only one that imagines Naga and equipment issues just picturing a Naga with boots and pants tied on or stapled to their tails? Every time I picture just a pair of boots stapled on a naga, I can't help but laugh. Problem solved Blizzard!
Noyou Jun 6th 2011 6:18PM
@ Grovin
LOL. I can't believe you went there (Bengals)
@Matt
I am sorry buddy the Bengals Owner is flat out insane. Having Marvin Lewis still employed is the definition of insanity. They need to get rid of him Ocho trade Palmer and rebuild that thing. He won't do it because he's too damn full of himself and stubborn. I feel for you man. I don't see that situation turning anytime soon.
MattKrotzer Jun 6th 2011 11:35PM
I agree. I was irate that Lewis was still there, but they DID get rid of Bob Bratkowski, who was a horrendous offensive coordinator. Ocho's already done, Palmer's retired (big baby took his ball and went home) and they had a really good bunch of picks in the draft. Assuming they can lock up a few players in free agency, they won't be so bad, really. Definitely a year or two out on Dalton hitting his stride as QB, but I'm a Bengals fan. I'm used to being patient.
That said... Mike Brown's a terrible owner. He makes horrendous decisions and micromanages where he has no business. Heck, Chris Henry would probably still be alive if Brown hadn't stepped over Marvin Lewis to bring him back. Sure, he'd be an out-of-work football player, but it beats being dead.
Vaeku Jun 6th 2011 11:11AM
"Frankly, I think there are plenty of races -- Blizzard isn't even utilizing the potential of the ones it has."
This. So much this.
*looks at the draenei, worgen, gnomes, and tauren*
loop_not_defined Jun 6th 2011 11:37AM
Regarding Tauren, I've seen a lot get representation within the Cenarion Circle. Know that even if they do work with the Druids, they're still technically members of the Horde. High Chieftain Cliffwalker found this out the hard way in Stonetalon Mountains, albeit at the hands of a lunatic. Or rather, lunatics.
Awesome Jun 6th 2011 12:18PM
notice how three of those races are Alliance races
LynMars Jun 6th 2011 12:54PM
There's this habit so far of introducing a new race and then neglecting their lore outside the starting zones. My raid leader says of BC: "The story of the Blood Elves with special guest stars the Draenei." Yeah, there was a lot of story to wrap up from WC3 for the Elves, but they utterly dropped the ball on Draenei story and even basic lore.
The same thing's happened to the Worgen. Awesome starting area and story that just...stops when you get to Darnassus. To get another part of the story, one has to play low level Forsaken zones. And then....nothing, again. Some random Worgen sprinkled throughout the world, same as the Draenei. Genn doesn't really do anything in SW's throne room but play partner to Varian when there's a PVP attack.
At least Goblins have had some stories and characters around Azeroth before Cata. I don't know how much of their story was dropped post-Islands.
Tauren stuff would be nice. We've had Magatha as a baddie for awhile, but that seems to be all the plot they have. Random characters in the CC and ER aren't really advancing that race's own story. I was glad they got some attention in the Shattering plots, though it meant losing Cairne (but Anduin and Baine's potential friendship is an interesting line that could be followed further).
Player races aren't the only ones being neglected for lore and story, either; we've had a lot of new races introduced, especially in Outlands, and most were simply flavor with little to no substance given. I think it'd be a good idea to focus on the many, many sentient races we've got to flesh out the world, not make a new one every single time we have a new quest chain.
clundgren Jun 6th 2011 1:25PM
Dranei and Blood Elves need some love. Just playing an alt through Outland and thinking, "hey, I remember these guys."
loop_not_defined Jun 6th 2011 2:18PM
"The story of the Blood Elves with special guest stars the Draenei."
Auchindoun: four dungeons devoted to the Draenei mausoleum.
Oshu'gun: Draenei escape vessel.
Black Temple, aka Temple of Karabor: Former Draenei holy site.
Tempest Keep: Na'aru fortress, origination of the Draenei's Exodar.
Nevermind that you don't have to look hard to find their relatives, the Eredar. Y'know...like Kil'jaeden? Final BC boss?
Murdertime Jun 6th 2011 5:48PM
BC was pretty much the Story of the Blood Elves. In fact, I'd go as far as to say if you levelled up a Blood Elf paladin from the beginning of BC and finished Sunwell, you were pretty much the main character of the game. Which, considering it took place on the Orcish homeworld, was kinda weird.
The issue in BC is that the Draenei feel like 'Well, I guess we better have a race for the Alliance as well.' With the issue that the race isn't particuarly interesting or heavily tied into the lore since they were kludged a bit alliance-fy them.
Worgen again suffer from being displaced, storywise, this time by the Wildhammer dorfs alliance side in storyterms and not being as entertaining as the Goblins in overall game terms simply because of the fact that anywhere you can stick a Worgen you could probably stick any of the other races and no make much difference.
loop_not_defined Jun 6th 2011 6:30PM
Murdertime, BC was the story of the Burning Legion. Which was largely controlled by the Eredar. Which is what the Draenei are.
The dungeons and raids were pretty mixed and *not* focused on just Blood Elves. The Burning Legion, and especially the Eredar (Kil'jaeden, Prophet Velen's college buddy), took center stage at the end.
The zones, themselves, were almost devoid of friendly Blood Elves:
-Hellfire Penninsula, one small quest hub.
-Zangarmarsh, nothing.
-Terokkar Forest, nothing.
-Nagrand, nothing.
-Blade's Edge Mountain, nothing.
-Netherstorm (I honestly never quested this far).
-Shadowmoon Valley, one small Scrier hub.
-Isle of Quel'Danas, neutral Blood Elf galore.
The Draenei, on the other hand, had quite a few Alliance quest hubs.