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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: What do you expect from this year's BlizzCon?
by Allison Robert 
Oct 21st 2011 at 8:00AM
With a look at the schedule of events on day one, we can reasonably expect to see a preview of the Deathwing encounter (well, more of it), and the most common guess that I've seen so far is that the talent system is going to be overhauled in the run-up to the next expansion. Interestingly, that seems to have been a popular guess even before the BlizzCon schedule was released and all but confirmed that something is afoot. Speaking of expansions, there's the specter of that "World of Warcraft preview" panel this afternoon, and I think we all know what that's going to be about. Sort of.
Pandas? Emerald Dream? Xoroth? Tijuana? Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.
Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
cursedmonk87 Oct 21st 2011 2:01PM
YES Demon Hunters! Whoops, 40k geek leak. But really if they ever add another class I'd love DHs. I know that's crossing over to Diablo a little bit (and yes, the archetype is EVERYWHERE, but which class isn't already an overused archetype?). It would also be a great addition to WoW (following the Victorian themes of the worgen, a "Van Helsing" class wouldn't seem so out of place). You might say, "But Monk, we already have demon hunters! They're called Paladins!" And I would agree, but Paladins (like my main) use THE LIGHT to purge evil. They think they're better than everyone else. Demon Hunters were too rebellious/suspicious of the Church's methods to officially represent the Light, but they still desire to clear the streets of evil. They use a brace of (unofficially) blessed pistols/crossbow and rudimentary magic spells coupled with deep knowledge of lore and dark arts. It would be a blast to play one in WoW. 3 specs: Sharpshooter, Scholar, Practitioner, or something like that. And they could also fill the Bounty-Hunter archetype, "taking care" of rogue wizards. What a great class to have for the big Sargeras fight. Sorry I just get excited with stuff like this. If blizzard won't make my dreams come true, I'll just go back to table-top 40k.
And my only concern with updating the vanilla models, will everyone get a free recustom? I've been wanting to make my Ret Pally a little meaner. She looks too friendly right now.
Literaltruth Oct 21st 2011 8:37AM
My predictions:
The new XPac *will* be mists of Pandaria, however the Panadaren themselves will not be all that important to the plot. The continent will have a lot more to it than just being the home to the Pandaren and the mists will relate to something sinister and/or evil that has either been building its power or has been released there. I would not be entirely suprised if the Pandaren themselves have all been wiped out by the time we get there and we have to discover the mystery of their society through archeology if we're interested. This seems less likely now that it looks like the SC2 portrait is a living Pandaren, though.
I think Blizz might suprise everyone by not making the new level cap 90 as many are assuming, but rather 95 in response to the complaints that the Cata leveling experience was too short and curtailed.
A lot of the features will be designed to take the game back to "casual friendly" nature of Wrath.
Each expansion brings one or more major update or addition that has nothing to do with raiding, instances or story - the addition of flight, vehicle-based combat, the new 1-60 experience etc. I think this expansion's big new feature will be redesigned character models and we will get our first glimpses of at least Human and Orc redesigns in the trailer.
Matt Mcurley's prediction that Blizzard are going to completely remove talents altogether will prove completely wrong.
Zenotho Oct 21st 2011 8:40AM
Here are my predictions, let's see if I can get at least 1 right.
1. Mists of Pandaria is the new xpac, Pandaria referring to a group of islands including Kul Tiras.
2. Level cap goes to 90, two additional character slots per realm (12 total).
3. No new playable races, but new hero class starts at lvl 80, some sort of Monk type of class - melee dps / melee-range healer / tank, where's cloth or leather, uses fists, daggers, staves, polearms.
4. Queen Azshara is the baddie.
5. The emerald dream is an end-game questing zone, have to be lvl 90 to unlock, to provide more end-game solo pve content for the folks.
Just excited, woke up early, cant wait, hope at least a few of those are correct. We'll see soon!
Zenotho Oct 21st 2011 8:44AM
Wears* cloth or leather... Where's my coffee
Badmedecine Oct 21st 2011 8:50AM
WTH u guys shit-chatting here?!
im in europe and im waiting for NEW Stuff! Go Hear it and tell us!! Or i fire you all :O
Therinor Oct 21st 2011 8:53AM
I dont know if you are just trolling, but in case you aren't... you ARE aware that there is a time difference and that it's very early morning in CA, right? So it will be a few more hours before any news will come rolling in, and I am sure the WOW insider-staff will provide info as soon as it is available
Kunikenwad! Oct 21st 2011 8:51AM
I expect (cutaia) to get a foot in his nards. That's what I expect.
cursedmonk87 Oct 21st 2011 2:09PM
If (cutaia) gets kicked in the nuts, he wins. I know him irl, I know it will only make him stronger.
cursedmonk87 Oct 21st 2011 2:15PM
...albeit a little less mobile.
eresin Oct 21st 2011 8:56AM
my b/f thinks they won't be annoucing the next expansion pack at all :-( this dissapoints me. Surely since it's been a year since Cata's release they are due to announce for next years release?
I'd be gutted if there was no expansion announcement
Therinor Oct 21st 2011 9:01AM
We will know in a few hours, as it was said in yesterday's queue that, IF it will be announced, it will be during the opening ceremony.
I dont think you should be disappointed, as, unless your bf is an employee of Blizz or very close to one of them, close enough to get some insider information, he is just guessing, just like most of us.
However, a lot of people, like the WOW insider staff and other sites, have predicted that a new expansion will be announced, some of them possibly having actual insider information.
Even if not, I doubt they will NOT announce the next expansion... if you look at the last few years, this year is right "in the rhythm" regarding the release-cycle. I highly doubt that it'd be a good idea for Blizz to wait another year with an announcement, and ofc Blizzcon is the perfect opportunity to announce it, so they'd have to wait another year unless they wanna announce it at some trade-show =)
BUT anyway, let's just wait another few hours and we will hear it here, I am sure =)
MattKrotzer Oct 21st 2011 9:01AM
Maybe everyone's too focused on the Pandaria part, thinking Pandas... when they should be focusing on the Mist part, and... Ethereals?
JoshuaD Oct 21st 2011 9:03AM
Somewhat unrelated to the post but, is there anyone specific you guys would recommend I follow on Twitter for Blizzcon updates? Aside from @WoWInsider and @Warcraft?
eresin Oct 21st 2011 9:10AM
I'm sure there is an @Blizzcon
fudge Oct 21st 2011 9:05AM
This is more of a whishlist than what I expect:
1. Interesting retribution paladin gameplay (scrap Holy Power, please)
2. Viable subtlety spec, less complex rotation would be great
3. New and well-written Alliance lore
4. More endgame content other than raids (solo instances, maybe?)
evoxpisces Oct 21st 2011 9:30AM
Yeah I also hope for solo instances, but don't expect them anytime soon.
ravyncat Oct 21st 2011 9:59AM
I like your wish list.
I will add to it Gnome druids. Heck, I'd even be willing to add Blood Elf druids to the list so the Horde can get a new toy too. But mainly I want a cute bright pink kitty with a sunflower form for when she goes resto.
slim1256 Oct 21st 2011 10:53AM
Just spit-balling here, but - I've seen folks mention that solo instances are problematic, because how do you balance an instance for tanks and healers, in addition to DPS? But – I’ve also seen people mention wanting epic class based quest lines. How about combining those two things? Maybe a couple of quest lines for roles, for example – so, tanks have a couple of “jobs” to do, and those involve solo instances that are tuned for tanks? Same for healers, and DPS?
That would seem fun to me. The quest line could involve running around the world, basically attuning yourself to the instance, and then once you’ve gotten to a certain point, you go in and wreck shop, or protect someone, or heal someone. Maybe they could even have the instance step of the quest line be repeatable…. Say on a weekly basis?
Noyou Oct 21st 2011 1:26PM
Unfortunately, I think the devs and a good chunk of the pally community still thinks holy power is good. I love combo points on my rogue and feral druid (okay maybe not love) but i dislike them very much on my paladin. I think we might see more combo point type things in the future :(
Zenotho Oct 21st 2011 9:07AM
Don't worry, I can confirm that there will be an xpac announcement in a mere 6 hours, my information comes from the top.
Disclaimer: "top" refers to pure speculation on my part, without a shred of evidence.