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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 5 of 7)
Wrath Aug 31st 2011 4:59PM
Yea... my thought is that this was Chilton finally putting out a bit of squash on the Pandaria expansion rumor mill.
They have to love speculation but i was hoping that this copyright hooplah was a bit overblown... I'll keep my fingers crossed for Blizzcon and an expansion that is utterly panda-less
stephenromang Aug 31st 2011 5:02PM
i don't know why chilton would lie about this? blizzard is a fairly reputable so i don't know. perhaps it isn't the next expansion
lordtrollingsworth Aug 31st 2011 5:16PM
I dunno, the same reason they would "lie" about reforging the old world, etc? Do you really think Blizzard is gonna say "Aw man, I wish you hadn't asked that, we were gonna wait until Blizzcon to reveal it but I guess the secret is out! Gosh I hope you don't ask us if there's gonna be a FIFTH expansion and if we know what it is already cuz then I'd have to tell you!"
Noyou Aug 31st 2011 5:50PM
It's not lying. Where did he confirm or deny anything? He could of. But he didn't.
h3lladvocate Aug 31st 2011 5:04PM
Red herring post by Tom. When was the last time your figurine/comic book came with:
-Software
-Mouse Pad
-Game Manuel
-Etc.
Maybe it's not WoW related, but it's not a figurine/comic book with those items listed as part of the patent...
Brad Aug 31st 2011 5:09PM
Run the IGN article sure I get that, but focusing on a small statement that means nothing in your header? Its borderline yellow journalism. Call me the troll if you want, but run an article header with the fact of it being a link to another article, not a throw away statement just to get more views. I don't think it's asking too much.
Noyou Aug 31st 2011 5:47PM
Man, I didn't take journalism 101 and I don't come here to critique peoples writing chops. I come here to be entertained and informed on the goings on in a game I play for entirely entertainment purposes. If an article or a headline doesn't do one of those 2 things, I move on to the next one. Yes, you sir are a troll. Have fun with that.
Mr. Crow Aug 31st 2011 6:08PM
You're upset that Anne summarized the most important line in the article in the title?
Also, back up a tic. This is a BLOG. This ain't CNN. These people do this for the love of the game. There's a certain degree of professionalism that they stick to, and it reflects well on them, but rolling up and saying "your journalism stinks!" is like rolling up on some community theatre and booing them for not winning Golden Globes.
MusedMoose Aug 31st 2011 7:25PM
According to Wikipedia, yellow journalism is "a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. By extension "Yellow Journalism" is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
Ms. Stickney did nothing of the sort. In the article she linked, Mr. Chilton did in fact say that Mists of Pandaria was "wildly overhyped". The fact that the article covers other concerns does not invalidate her choice of that as the headline, and nothing in this article was exaggerated, sensationalized, or scandalous. Ms. Stickney's article even mentions the other topics. It's entirely possible that Ms. Stickney simply chose the article's title based on what would interest the readers most, and I see nothing wrong with that.
If you're going to accuse someone of something, even by saying it's "borderline", please make sure you know what the term means. Thank you. Also, I suggest you try to relax, since you seem to be taking this whole thing way too seriously.
Anne Stickney Sep 1st 2011 12:31AM
I don't think it's a statement that means nothing, I think it's the part of the article people would be most interested in. The rest of the article has some awesome points too, and I covered that. But really, honestly, I was just looking forward to getting to use my panda picture again. :D
Edge00 Aug 31st 2011 5:15PM
Most of these comments remind me of Lloyd Christmas at the end of Dumb and Dumber, "So you're saying there's a chance".
Kyle Sep 2nd 2011 8:31AM
Your married? What was all that one in a million talk.
Pwnzoar Aug 31st 2011 5:23PM
If the expansion wasn't going to be Mists of Pandaria, he would have just flat out said "No."
lordtrollingsworth Aug 31st 2011 6:29PM
even if it were the next expansion he'd still have simply replied "no".
Fweet Aug 31st 2011 5:38PM
Has a company ever trademarked something simply to prevent anyone else from doing so? I have no knowledge on the subject, so I don't know if that sort of thing is even legal - just a thought.
Snuzzle Sep 1st 2011 12:14AM
You can, but applying for a trademark is timely, complicated, and costly. Emphasis on costly. Frivolous trademarks are frowned upon. Most trademarks that never come to fruition are ones that had every intent to be made, but the company later abandoned the idea.
Silversol Aug 31st 2011 6:10PM
I have a Tin Foil Hat edition of how this article was created. Anne had done this piece of artwork shortly after the trademark filing and all that, but then realized she didn't have an applicable article in which to unveil it. As a person who knows people in the blogging world, she called in favors to have someone else interview Tom Chilton so she could write an article about the interview and display her art. I know how she pulled this all off. She simply...
...*distracted by kittens wearing tin foil hats*
snarkygoldfish Aug 31st 2011 6:31PM
Honestly? Free-to-play would make me abandon ship and quickly from this game. Microtransactions, rampant unchecked goldsellers / hackers, and an overall decline in community quality tend to hover around most of the f2p games I've dabbled in.
No thanks.
Strawder Aug 31st 2011 6:57PM
Yeah, actually when I got to the party about Free 2 Play and his excitement over it, the first thing I thought to myself is "Well, that'll be the day I stop playing WoW, when it turns into a Free 2 Play mess."
Possum Aug 31st 2011 10:39PM
True, but I'm thinking they won't go free to play until Wow is way past it's prime already and subscriptions have dropped very low.