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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsTom Chilton suggests Mists of Pandaria "wildly overhyped"
by Anne Stickney 
Aug 31st 2011 at 4:00PM
Maybe Mists of Pandaria isn't quite as likely as we all thought. IGN PC had a chat with Game Director Tom Chilton about the rumors of the upcoming expansion, as well as the upcoming patch 4.3 and the possibility of WoW moving to a free-to-play model.
Chiming in on the subject of transmogrification was Art Director Chris Robinson, who explained a little about the details behind the feature and its restrictions. Robinson clarified that protecting class integrity was an important factor in both armor design and the upcoming transmogrification feature: "When you see those demon wings you know 'Okay that's a warlock,' you know you can apply that to his tier twenty-one armor but it's still a warlock."
So what about free-to-play? Chilton confirms that it's "definitely a possibility," but for those of you looking for an immediate free-to-play version of WoW, you're going to have to wait. Chilton clarified that the change would be a dramatic departure from Blizzard's current business model, and it would take quite a bit of convincing to switch models.
As to the subject of Pandaren ...
Speculation swirled recently regarding Blizzard's decision to trademark "Mists of Pandaria," as many thought it may indicate the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion. Pandaria, in Warcraft lore, refers to the home of the Pandaren, basically humanoid war pandas you may remember making an appearance as neutral heroes in Warcraft III. Chilton said the speculation was, "wildly overhyped." He added, "if you look at traditionally how we've handled that race it's been in those secondary products because we haven't realized it in the world. Most of the time when we do anything panda-related it's going to be a comic book or a figurine or something like that."
Comic books, figurines, or a new expansion? Time and undoubtedly BlizzCon will tell. Check out the full article over at IGN PC.
Chiming in on the subject of transmogrification was Art Director Chris Robinson, who explained a little about the details behind the feature and its restrictions. Robinson clarified that protecting class integrity was an important factor in both armor design and the upcoming transmogrification feature: "When you see those demon wings you know 'Okay that's a warlock,' you know you can apply that to his tier twenty-one armor but it's still a warlock."
So what about free-to-play? Chilton confirms that it's "definitely a possibility," but for those of you looking for an immediate free-to-play version of WoW, you're going to have to wait. Chilton clarified that the change would be a dramatic departure from Blizzard's current business model, and it would take quite a bit of convincing to switch models.
As to the subject of Pandaren ...
Speculation swirled recently regarding Blizzard's decision to trademark "Mists of Pandaria," as many thought it may indicate the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion. Pandaria, in Warcraft lore, refers to the home of the Pandaren, basically humanoid war pandas you may remember making an appearance as neutral heroes in Warcraft III. Chilton said the speculation was, "wildly overhyped." He added, "if you look at traditionally how we've handled that race it's been in those secondary products because we haven't realized it in the world. Most of the time when we do anything panda-related it's going to be a comic book or a figurine or something like that."
Comic books, figurines, or a new expansion? Time and undoubtedly BlizzCon will tell. Check out the full article over at IGN PC.
Filed under: News items, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 7)
Elmo Aug 31st 2011 5:00PM
Exactly what I thought, they are just trying to dodge the speculation for the next month and a half.
Boub is almost never wrong, he isnt on this either.
Klausse Aug 31st 2011 5:00PM
For me, what seals the deal on "Mists of Pandaria" being the next expac is the inclusion of "mousepads" in the trademark goods & services description. Seems like an odd item when compared next to things like computer game software and discs, but not so odd when you consider that the CEs of each of the previous expansions have included unique mousepads.
The trademark registrations for both Wrath and Cata indicate "mousepads" as well (though for some reason, BC's doesn't).
In sum, nice try Chilton but Mists of Pandaria is almost certainly the next expac for WoW.
Hih Sep 1st 2011 12:21AM
"if you look at traditionally how we've handled that race it's been in those secondary products because we haven't realized it in the world."
Hey Tom, you know what's a good excuse to "realize something into the world"? A freaking expansion!
morncreek Sep 1st 2011 3:36AM
@Rhorle: Except the copyright filing specifically mentions discs and mousepad comprising part of the product in its entirety; to me, that precludes Facebook or smart-phones.
Nathanyel Aug 31st 2011 4:07PM
As far as I remember that copyright, it almost definitely referred to a digital product, and only indirectly to printed works such as instruction leaflets.
JaimeRavenholdt Aug 31st 2011 4:08PM
Give me Pandaren or else.
MusedMoose Aug 31st 2011 4:11PM
Or else what? ^_^
Vitos Aug 31st 2011 4:25PM
Give me Pandaren or give me Ethereals!
fourstringsamurai Aug 31st 2011 4:56PM
Can I have a third option?
...please?
Lokanaya Aug 31st 2011 5:03PM
@fourstringsamurai
...Murlocs?
Daco Aug 31st 2011 6:49PM
Mists of Murlockia?
Zenith Sep 1st 2011 1:54AM
Mrrrrgls of Murlockia
jealouspirate Aug 31st 2011 4:09PM
So, this doesn't really tell us much of anything. Of course if it is the next expansion he wouldn't just admit it there. He also didn't deny it's the next expansion.
loop_not_defined Aug 31st 2011 5:03PM
Yeah, Blizzard isn't going to officially confirm *anything* until Day 1 of Blizzcon 2011. Really not surprising.
MusedMoose Aug 31st 2011 4:09PM
Wildly overhyped? Yes. A denial from Mr. Chilton? No. ^_^ As we all know, Blizzard doing things one way in the past doesn't mean that's the way they will always do things. I'm still looking forward to seeing just what Mists of Pandaria is, whether it's the expansion or not, because the Pandaren sound like a very interesting people.
And if the trademarking of "Mists of Pandaria" was done to throw people off of possible tracks for what the expansion is, damn, it worked.
Noyou Aug 31st 2011 4:37PM
Yeah and he did NOTHING to quell the hype. In fact he tossed more logs on the fire.
Tfish92 Sep 1st 2011 12:42AM
It costs money to trademark something like that. Unless one of the higher ups paid for it out of their own pocket it would seem kind of irresponsible to make fake trademark registrations with company money. Also the last 3 expansions trademarks have all appeared in about the same time frame as this has. Why would it be any different this time?
Hob Aug 31st 2011 4:09PM
Wow. I just don't have words for how disappointed I am about this news.
I'd like to hold out hope that it's a diversionary tactic, but I expect it's probably correct.
Al Aug 31st 2011 4:19PM
Keep in mind, he didn't actually say anything.
"Chilton said the speculation was, "wildly overhyped."" Yes, it was mentioned a lot.
"traditionally how we've handled that race it's been in those secondary products because we haven't realized it in the world." All in Past Tense.
"Most of the time when we do anything panda-related it's going to be a comic book or a figurine or something like that." Yep.. most of the time.
Sqtsquish Aug 31st 2011 4:38PM
Blizz would have a seriously difficult time with a Pandaren expansion due to worries of localization in China. If I remember correctly- it is nearly illegal for anything in China to feature a panda as anything but utterly peaceful.
I mean seriously, this is the same country that won't let Blizz release any pictures of the Forsaken with any bones showing. And yes I believe that their playerbase in China is large enough that they would be a determining factor in the content in an expansion.