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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Leaving on a Jet Plane
by Alex Ziebart 
Oct 19th 2011 at 11:00AM
As you read this, I'm most likely on a plane to Anaheim. Well, no, probably not, because I know you guys. Most of you are reading this the very second the post goes live, and if that's the case, then I'm still sitting at my desk in Milwaukee staring angrily at the high wind warning that has been issued in my area. The beginning of my flight is going to be fun.
@rjwii asked:
Will the alliance become the dominant faction this expansion?
I've been trying to think of a kind way to say hell no, and the best I could come up with was a regular no. I don't expect that will happen. As an Alliance player, I have come to terms with the fact that we're likely to be the whipping boys forever. At no point in World of Warcraft has the Alliance been dominant, and the Alliance's victories are not victories so much as they are isolated events in which the Horde does not completely slaughter the Alliance. Blizzard does not really grasp how to write the Alliance at war. Blizzard is very good at writing the Horde at war, however. Notice how in Twilight Highlands, the #1 zone featuring the war between the Horde and the Alliance in Cataclysm, is a completely one-sided slaughter. The Horde is lok'tar-ogaring all over the place and rocking the Alliance's face in. The Alliance is busy holding a wedding.
I think Varian Wrynn embodies this somewhat. Blizzard is very much about the Horde and how they wage wars. It's into that so much that it gave the Alliance their king back, but they turned him into an Orc first. I don't dislike Varian Wrynn, but he's certainly not a bastion of humanity. He's Lo'gosh. He's the Ghost Wolf. The Alliance doesn't need a Ghost Wolf; the Alliance doesn't need an Orc in charge. The Alliance needs another Lion of Stormwind, but we're not going to get that.
Do I hope I'm wrong? Yes, absolutely. Swamp of Sorrows does have Joanna Blueheart, so at least one of the quest designers at Blizzard grasps how the Alliance rolls. If they can use her as their basis for Alliance warfare, we could have a great thing. Joanna is alone in her example, though. Things look ... bleak.
Andre asked:
Does the sword drop from the Horseman or the bag?
The bag!
Bellajtok asked:
So what do you guys unrealistically want from the next expansion? In other words, what's on your magical wishlist?
I want player/guild housing with a tremendous spread of decorative options that you can acquire and achieve in sub-raid content. Five-mans and solo are fair game. It would serve as a way to advance your character (or your guild) when you're at the level cap, and I think World of Warcraft desperately needs to get back into giving players something to work toward at the level cap that isn't just inflating your ilevel. Archaeology attempted to do this, but just grinding out fragments is not particularly compelling.
I think it would be incredibly fun to hunt down trophies, statues, armor racks, rugs, and so on to pimp your pad. I was on the fence about player housing for years, but after Cataclysm, I desperately long for something I can really strive toward on level-capped characters that isn't simply Blizzard pushing me back toward raiding. The Burning Crusade had a large amount of content like that, I feel. Wrath didn't have much and Cataclysm had even less.
Terrant asked:
What kind of parents name their kid Kel'Thuzad?
His name is actually Kelly Julius Thuzad, but since Kelly is a girl's name, he shortened it to Kel'Thuzad.
@peterchristy asked:
What are you most looking forward to at BlizzCon? Least?
I'm most looking forward to the WoW Insider meetup. Really, I am! BlizzCon is great and I'm excited about any WoW news that happens to come out of it, but the meetup is just unrivaled in the excitement department. We plan this thing off and on all year long, and September and October is when the planning comes together and coalesces into something real. We're all excited to hit the ground in Anaheim, prep our venue, and rock out with our fans and friends. I imagine it's how Blizzard feels about BlizzCon itself, except BlizzCon is a heckuva lot bigger.
What am I looking forward to the least? The lines. You always do a lot of standing in line at conventions, but BlizzCon is extra bad about it. All of the vendors are crammed into such a cramped space, and lines grow to be so long that all of the lines start wrapping around unrelated booths and intersecting with each other, and it gets to the point where you're not even sure you're in the right line anymore.
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 2 of 14)
Jamie Oct 19th 2011 11:20AM
Yup, that would make the most sense.
Revynn Oct 19th 2011 11:26AM
While Blizzard usually answers things in a "We have no plans for this" type of fashion, the neutral race concept is one they've been pretty clear on. It's not going to happen.
I doubt we're getting a new player race in the next expansion since Goblins and Worgen are still fresh and new. If Pandas are involved I think they're going to be an NPC race like the Tol'vir or the Kaluak, but probably with a more central point in the story rather than a side quest or a single zone.
Shinae Oct 19th 2011 11:29AM
"Neutrality is everywhere" because it saves development time anf game space to have quests and
Shinae Oct 19th 2011 11:31AM
(Whoops, premature postulation.)
Neutrality is everywhere" because it saves development time and game space to have quests and reps available to both factions.
ElrithCC Oct 19th 2011 11:36AM
Blizzard said goblins came close to being a neutral race. If pandaren were playable, they'd be the perfect choice. I'd think Alliance Pandaren would have very noticeable blue auras and power effects, and Horde Pandaren red auras and power effects.
Blizzard has always maintained that the way expansions work with new races, then a new world with a hero class, then new races, is merely a matter of happenstance. They don't design with this pattern in mind.
I've been playing wow since 2004, and besides Deathknights being playable, I wanted Demon Hunters, Blademasters (which warriors pretty much cover but some cosmetic blade master gear would rock, and Pandaren.
I am guessing mists of pandaria is their upcoming graphic novel or book series, but they've never bought a patent for a book title before.
There's no real reason to rule them out at all, or being neutral out.
MattKrotzer Oct 19th 2011 11:47AM
Elrith, the trademark specified it was for a video game, and extended to cover DVD-ROM media, so it's a safe bet that's the expansion.
mamaryno Oct 19th 2011 12:23PM
Here's a thought---a new trasforming item. If the Pandarans are in the next xpac as a neutral faction, mybe upon attainig exalted with them we get acces to an exclusive Pandarin Brew, that will transform us into a Pandaran, ala the dark iron brew or Dartols rod? As a collecter of thaings that turn me into other things I would be one very happy bamboo muncher.
loop_not_defined Oct 19th 2011 12:22PM
Using the same race as an addition for both factions feels rather short-changing, tbh. I'd much rather have two brand new races than just the same one for both sides.
Noyou Oct 19th 2011 1:44PM
I guess you could say that if they were giving the same race for both sides, it would feel like less, in some aspect. I think there would be too big a shit storm if one side got pandas. It would make sense somewhat, to roll out pandas with the mists of panderia. Since it's too good to be true, and I want it to happen, it probably won't. But I could see how it could fit in.
Lokanaya Oct 19th 2011 4:50PM
@Revynn
You know what Blizzard has also said they'll never do? Old World Flying and Faction Changes come immediately to mind. Transmog, also, I believe. I think having both factions on a PvP server was also once a "never gonna do."
I'm not saying that neutral Pandas are going happen, I'm just saying that Blizzard's track record on this sort of thing isn't encouraging.
Killik Oct 19th 2011 6:22PM
They didn't say they'd never do those things. They said "we have no plans at this time". There's an important distinction.
Calaana Oct 19th 2011 9:08PM
I dare say the story will be the horde come in and destroy the panderps, so nobody gets to be them, or they'll just be teachers and players can't roll them. I'm seeing this being more a class than a race expansion tbh.
Rezai Oct 19th 2011 11:11AM
So if Varian Wrynn is an "orc", does that mean that Thrall is a "human"?
Bellajtok Oct 19th 2011 11:19AM
It's not unreasonable. They certainly each embody the best qualities of the other race.
Moobs Oct 19th 2011 11:41AM
Let's not get silly here! :)
Blayze Oct 19th 2011 11:50AM
And the worst.
MattKrotzer Oct 19th 2011 12:02PM
Actually, that's exactly what it means. And it's a point that's been made over and over again.
Thrall's influence on the orcs was decidedly UN-orcish, due in large part to the kindness he received from Taretha. Thrall isn't the "typical" orc, wanting to fight, wage war, bathe in the blood of kittens, etc.
That's what made him unique and interesting as a leader for the Horde.
Unfortunately, when they decided to return Varian to the throne, they went no further than to say "Hey, it worked for Thrall, let's flip it around the other way for Varian!" The problem is, having a more orc-like leader in charge of the Alliance just leads to a more peaceful group of people going "WTF is up with this guy?"
It's far more interesting to have a leader who brings calm to the riotous masses than one who would serve more as a rabble-rouser among the peaceable people. When they finally calmed Varian down a bit, the Alliance says "Oh, good... he's almost someone we respect now..." but there's still no drive to support him or rally to his cause, because the Alliance EXPECTS a calm, rational leader. Years of Bolvar Fordragon will do that. It's debatable that Bolvar made a better king than Varian has, honestly.
Some people think that Anduin should take the throne... which would honestly be even worse, based on what we've seen of him. He's always been portrayed as rather naive and wanting to mend fences and find peaceful resolutions. He's NOT the leader the Alliance needs against the Horde.
What he IS, however, is the perfect assassination target to unite the Alliance behind Varian and bring the fight to the Horde.
Ylspeth Oct 19th 2011 12:08PM
You know, I never thought of Go'el (Thrall) and Varian in that light before. However, it makes a lot of sense. I suppose that is what is called irony.
As far as the author's comments regarding how Blizzard portrays and handles the Alliance, I am in absolute agreement. The writers and developers plainly find the Horde to be more interesting and focus their energies accordingly.
Mortenebra Oct 19th 2011 12:47PM
I feel like I'm reading "Frankenstein" and/or watching "Blade Runner" again: The idea that we have no idea about ourselves until we're presented with something that, while we think of it as alien and the proverbial "other," is in fact the perfect reflection and representation of our very essences.
My inner, peace-loving, "Let's destroy the thing trying to kill all of us before we go back to killing each other, guys," self wants to say that once they realize this idea, we'll be one big happy Azerothian family. We're not all that dissimilar. Celebrating our differences and reveling in our similarities can bring the two factions together. Tirion kinda had the right idea during the Argent Tournament: only united can we defeat the evils that plague our world. If and when we run out of overarching bad guys to kill, maybe we can go back at each others' throats. Till then... Can't we all just get along?
Suzaku Oct 19th 2011 1:38PM
Yes, absolutely. Varian was even described as an "anti-Thrall" when Metzen first started talking about him.
Thrall was raised by humans, so he has a uniquely 'human' perspective and understanding of the world, and is more disconnected from orcish traditions.
Varian Wrynn, well, his only real excuse for acting like an orc is that Onyxia divided him into "Varian Wrynn, politician" and "Lo'Gosh, gladiator", with Lo'Gosh generally becoming his dominant personality. He spent a small amount of time in an orc's arena team, but honestly nothing happened that really changed who Lo'Gosh was.