Tuesday Morning Post: Panda skeptics edition
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Aug 9th 2011 at 7:00AM
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. By now, I'm sure most of you know the big news of the week: Blizzard's registered Mists of Pandaria as a trademark related to computer games. Could this be the title of our next expansion? Can we all expect to be rolling monks or deciding whether to make our new panda on the Alliance or Horde side within the next year or two?
It's tough to say for sure. Faked leaks aside, I'm on a wait and see approach. As it is, I don't think this guarantees anything. It could be for something completely different, or it could be a "just in case" thing. I've seen enough trademarked Harry Potter titles that never saw the light of day not to be wary. Then again, it could just be my own bias creeping in. I'm still hoping for an expansion that's pure Alliance vs. Horde. But hey, if nothing else, at least we got that sweet panda sketch from Anne.
So we definitely have more Mists of Pandaria speculation than you can shake a stick at, but there's plenty of other news to peruse as well, such as the debut of patch 4.2.0a. Maintenance today will be the usual 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT, so you should have time to browse. Check it all out after the break.
Hot news and features
- Check out the latest patch 4.2 hotfixes for Aug. 4.
- The BlizzCon Virtual Ticket is now on sale. There have been a few bugs with it, though; some purchasers have received last year's BlizzCon pet.
- Our Cataclysm post-mortem series continues with a discussion of Deepholm.
- Know Your Lore has a special look at the possibilities of a Mists of Pandaria expansion.
- WoW Archivist looks at the nightmare dragons and patch 1.8.
- The numbers are in, and they pretty good. The Cenarion Hatchling pet has raised more than $1.9 million for Japanese earthquake relief.
- Scattered Shots assures you that yes, beastmastery hunters can raid.
- Encrypted Text has more rogue tips for Firelands.
- Spiritual Guidance has shadow priest tips for Lord Rhyolith. We also answer your Twitter balance questions and offer some more feral cat strategies for Firelands.
- The Light And How To Swing It has a guide to tanking Beth'tilac and Rhyolith. We also offer a paladin's guide to healing Alysrazor.
- Lichborne has a guide to patch 4.2 death knight tank raid gear.
- Shifting Perspectives has more advice for gearing a bear druid in patch 4.2.
- The Care and Feeding of Warriors offers a guide to protection leveling.
- Totem Talk answers more of your restoration questions and offers a guide to elemental leveling.
- Raid Rx discusses using audio cues in raid healing.
- Arcane Brilliance discusses the state of the frost mage.
- Blood Pact offers some advice to new level 85 warlocks.
- Ready Check has a guide to Baleroc.
- Addon Spotlight looks for ways to spruce up the Blizzard Raid Frames.
- WoW Rookie shows you how to record game footage on a Mac.
- Gold Capped looks at balancing your inventory in the TradeSkillMaster addon. We also discuss the possibilities of getting rich off of an official RMT AH.
- The OverAchiever looks at grabbing mounts from the Argent Tournament.
- Know Your Lore tackles the continuing saga of the humans.
- Check out the latest installment of Safe Passage.
- Look out, Minecraft -- Ragnaros is coming to your world.
- 15 Minutes of Fame talks to a WoW-playing grandma. Yes, she knits, too!
- Looking to get into the lore? We have a chronological guide to all the WoW-related books, short stories, comics and manga.
- The Lawbringer answers your questions about the Diablo real-money auction house.
- The Guild has yet another new episode for your approval.
- All The World's A Stage offers tips for tauren roleplay story hooks.
Filed under: Realm Status, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sove Aug 9th 2011 7:04AM
I hope it is not the expansion.
Anaughtybear Aug 9th 2011 12:34PM
As much as I hate everything that is panda, there would be one good thing about these rumors being true: If they are a playable race, they would probably be Alliance. Then, most of those annoying belfs that swarmed over to Horde in BC would finally go home and play another irritating race.
Xabidar Aug 9th 2011 7:40AM
I hope it *is* the expansion.
Z4focus Aug 9th 2011 8:30AM
I really don't want to see pandas in the next xpac. WoW would feel to cartoon-y. If that's possible hehe.
finalmasterm Aug 9th 2011 9:47AM
WoW already has a cartoony feeling to it and it is one of the many reasons I enjoy playing it. It doesn't take itself seriously all the time and it's not some generic pretty-looking Korean carbon-copy MMO.
Sleutel Aug 9th 2011 8:48AM
The Harry Potter example would make more sense if Blizzard had a history of registering multiple potential expansion titles to throw us off. They don't. Actually, I kind of wish they would--it would make things more interesting. We all knew the Cataclysm was coming way before it happened, just because of the name registration.
Revrant Aug 9th 2011 8:56AM
My thoughts exactly, the Harry Potter example felt so out of place, Blizzard isn't EA, after all.
Revrant Aug 9th 2011 8:59AM
I'm on the fence about it being an expansion, if it is, which is very likely, this would be a class expansion if they follow their own trend. I really don't care about a Brewmaster class if I can't play the Brewmaster race, Pandaren! I wouldn't return to the game if it was only a class, I have long wanted to play a Pandaren, even though the chances were slim. I think they should do both, the Pandaren Empire can remain apolitical and their people can join either side(something tinfoil hats have always wanted), and everyone can be Brewmasters, just as everyone can be Death Knights!
That is my dream, anyway. :)
RaQin Aug 9th 2011 9:06AM
In name only, Mists of Pandaria sounds only mildly interesting, and mildly isn't going to cut it with Skyrim, SWTOR, and Diablo 3 releasing so soon. I am guessing Cata is the end of the road for many true WoW lovers. I have played since pre-launch, watched the ups and downs of the game, and I have watched more hardcore players drop their subs this summer than any other...I don't think anyone is coming back either...We salute you Blizzard, you made a great game and gave us a fun ride. But Pandas...seriously? They may be cute and cuddly, but even martial artist Pandas who chug beers cannot save WoW from the free-roaming dragons, lightsabers, and exploding loot boxes that are going to pummel it in the coming months.
Leodehn Aug 9th 2011 9:22AM
Certainly, it could probably be the final times of World of Warcraft... as they say, no king can rule for ever. However, it probably drags in more players than those that quit, because pandaren were always a beloved joke that became lore, since the days of the Frozen Throne. So, this could be the decline, or a new rise. No one knows for sure, at least, i know i don't.
Tiqu Aug 9th 2011 9:07AM
Oh PANDAS! I thought someone said Pantaloons. I feel better now.
Other than that, I don't worry about the titles, just make sure they give us *GOOD* content.
samhain Aug 9th 2011 10:36AM
I'm hearing the "Blizzard has no history of / has a history of" doing things a certain way for previous expansions in regard to MoP. For the sake of speculative argumentation, try to think that they might just have decided to break the pattern and it might be just a decoy for an expansion, for the first time around.
I might be going out on a limb by proclaiming that "yes, WoW will benefit from nerfs/casual influx". Even on a relative scale, "casual" in WoW / MMO is still pretty hardcore in the greater context of gaming/rpg's, I think. As a casual myself I would love it if raiding became more accessible, f.ex. Yes, there could still be the hard -as-nails content in 25-man heroics, but right now the gap between "casual / solo" player and "raider" seems too big to me. I'm digressing.
Whatever Pandaria might really be; I have faith that Blizzard will come out with something that caters to the largest common denominator and not the vocal minority of hardcore raiders or ueber-casuals/forum QQ-ers. They owe it to their stockholders and they owe it to their customers. I don't believe it will be a pandafest. Something like WOTLK -difficulty as people have described it to me when it was current, would sound great. Throw in some progressive raid "tutorial" -esque mechanics and it would be perfect.
babywhiz Aug 9th 2011 9:34AM
I could see a patch that is named that, but not sure how they could pull off an entire expansion with that theme.
Have they ever said what the Blizzcon pet was going to be? I haven't ordered it yet since they haven't said what it will be. I work during the day, so for me, I'm basically paying $40 for a pet.
kalontas Aug 9th 2011 10:04AM
This is not Harry Potter. Blizzard has trademarked this way only WoW expansions.
Z4focus Aug 9th 2011 10:41AM
I can agree with that. But I feel that a panda race in game is just a little more than I personally can handle when it comes to an MMO. Just me tho. To each their own :-)
Ronin Aug 9th 2011 11:35AM
I still want to know if there's a larger version of Anne's sumi-e painting. I really want a better look at it! I promise I'm not going to reproduce it or anything!