Today in Pandaria: Monday, Oct. 24, 2011
by Adam Holisky 
Oct 24th 2011 at 11:00PM
Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know.
Blue posts
Pandaren not talking to each other cross faction; a Moonglade for monks
We do understand that, by not allowing pandaren of the opposite faction to communicate with one another, there's a breakdown in the story there. But we feel strongly at this point that changing the precedent on cross-faction communication for one race only will ultimately not lead to a good gameplay experience. We're very excited to introduce a race that can be chosen by either faction, though we don't see our philosophy on cross-faction communication changing as a result of this.
This isn't very related, nor is it a way of properly compensating for that communication limitation, but one thing we'd like to do (we think is cool and warranted) is make a unique place in the world exclusive to monks -- think Moonglade for druids.
This isn't very related, nor is it a way of properly compensating for that communication limitation, but one thing we'd like to do (we think is cool and warranted) is make a unique place in the world exclusive to monks -- think Moonglade for druids.
Jaina's home and conflict
What I'm hearing from people is, that Garrosh's Horde is attacking even more Alliance territory and it's not fair. As a player of both factions at level 85 and employee at Blizzard, I just don't fully agree with that assessment. From our perspective, one faction will assault a cherished town of the other faction -- which is also home to a very powerful and honorable figure in Jaina. There's now a conflict presented in the story there to further unfold in the next expansion.
WoW news from other sites
- MMO-Champion Pandaren Gameplay Video, Theramore Destroyed, Free Diablo 3 12-Months Offer
- Wowhead News BlizzCon 2011: Exclusive Interview with Dave Kosak, WoW Lead Quest Designer
- Weekly Podcast Roundup: Oct. 17-23, 2011
- Drama Mamas: A guide to when and how to leave your guild
- Blood Pact: A warlock history
- The Daily Quest: I bring Pa -- OK, I just bring posts
- The Lawbringer: Mailbag 7.0
- Zarhym weighs in on Theramore rumors in Mists of Pandaria
- Officers' Quarters: Formal invitations
- 5 reasons you should love Mists of Pandaria
- Faces of BlizzCon: We asked Ask Mr. Robot
- WoW Moviewatch: Warcraft II Unofficial Trailer
- The Queue: PVP, player models, and applying to WoW Insider
- Around Azeroth: Pet your dog, not your date
- BlizzCon 2011: Early monk abilities and the dark side of the force
- Breakfast Topic: Do you plan on playing a monk?
- Riot releases new art and screenshots for League of Legend's Graves
- The Daily Grind: Will Pandaren lure you back to WoW?
- Now Playing: October 24-30, 2011
- Joystiq's Battlefield 3 review
Today in WoW brings you the preceding days's WoW and gaming news. Also of community interest: our podcast listing, staff blog and Twitter listings and WoW websites and blogs (all part of our Guide to WoW Resources). Find out what's going on in the WoW player community every week in The Classifieds.
Filed under: Today in WoW
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fletcher Oct 24th 2011 11:35PM
I think the issue with the attack on Theramore is not that Theramore is being attacked. Nobody is particularly attached to Theramore, or to Jaina. It's that for all of Cataclysm the Alliance seems to have been continually on the back foot, continually getting punched by the Horde; questing through Kalimdor is one long string of defeats narrowly averted, not actual victories.
It would be nice to actually come out swinging for once, to be able to punch *back*.
Radioted Oct 24th 2011 11:42PM
This is pretty much right. Zaryhm was trying to claim somewhere that this is only the "first move," but really the Horde has made a lot of moves, and the Alliance has made very few.
Blizz could defuse a lot of the grumbling by leaking some pro-Alliance news for a change.
radda Oct 24th 2011 11:50PM
@Radioted
Word. We need something like "There's a cutscene with Jaina standing over Garrosh's charred corpse and laughing maniacally".
Ves Oct 25th 2011 12:01AM
I think most of the Horde would welcome the death of Garrosh at the hands of Jaina just as much as the Alliance, if not moreso.
rhorle Oct 25th 2011 12:05AM
This references the problem that MoP and more specifically the attack on theramore is supposed to solve. That there is no real single source behind the alliance. While the reasons for the alliance seeming to always lose is because blizzard wrote them like that, they are indicating that they want a strong central figure that is to lead the alliance, not just have the alliance be "an alliance".
The alliance needs to have more taken from them, and not just minor "contested" zone stuff or semi-horde semi-deathwing related stuff. Theramore is a perfect spot that while a large part of the alliance has always been an out of the way place. It is also the perfect spark to awaken the alliance war machine, as it is the central home to the most powerful peace faction. Something needs to happen to Jania and her theramore in order to make her over ruled. Theramore is to the alliance what pearl harbor was to the United States.
The Lion is coming.
Marco Polaris Oct 25th 2011 1:01AM
Nobody is attached to Jaina? The WoW internet flipped and landed on its head when we found out that she wasn't dating Thrall, and that was never more than implications and rumors to begin with. Jainas become one of those "sweethearts of Warcraft"--I'm not opposed to something terrible befalling her myself, but you can bet your boots there would be a huge community outcry if she were to die or suffer a surprise change of character.
brain314 Oct 25th 2011 12:44AM
Will it be $9.99 on the Blizzard pet store?
Al Oct 25th 2011 1:13AM
"This references the problem that MoP and more specifically the attack on theramore is supposed to solve. That there is no real single source behind the alliance. While the reasons for the alliance seeming to always lose is because blizzard wrote them like that, they are indicating that they want a strong central figure that is to lead the alliance, not just have the alliance be "an alliance"."
We;ve already seen these, though. The Broken Front in Wrath, and all the "trust us, this is going something" losses in Cata that went nowhere. Hell, we've had Varian for 2 expansions now, and all he's done is rage at Thrall after an event that's not even in-game anymore. It's getting harder to buy into their "this is going somewhere, wait and see" comments.
Bapo Oct 25th 2011 1:33AM
I've been meaning to ask... was there any retalliation from the alliance for southshore?
Al Oct 25th 2011 1:45AM
Nope.
Murdertime Oct 25th 2011 4:00AM
As I mentioned on another thread, you're unlikely to see the sort of response you're looking for to this because it was done for in game reasons. The Alliance had something like half again as many focused questing zones than the Horde, which made the Horde vanilla levelling experience a bit linear and patchwork to say the least. Even after the cataclysm the Alliance still pulls slightly ahead. So some reshuffling was done and some especially problematic areas, like Southshore, which was the equivalent of sizable chunk of say, Duskwood being devoted to level 30 to 35 horde questing, were removed.
So yeah, I can see how it can be seen as unfair from a lore perspective but it was done to make things fairer from a game perspective and the latter should always win out over the former.
Arrohon Oct 25th 2011 6:18AM
Do you know where the last places that the Alliance kicked ass and took names? Outland and Northrend. They actually had victories in those fronts. Why have they suddenly losing once they've returned home? In Warcraft 3 the Night Elves were getting their asses whooped by Grom. If they hadn't been helped, they wouldn't be here today. Quest through Ashenvale and the only Alliance there are Night Elves and maybe three Draenei. Everywhere the Alliance is fighting, the battle is one race against the Horde. The Alliance aren't fighting as one. They are fighting alone while sharing goals. THAT'S why the Alliance are losing. When the Alliance truly came together under Lothar, the Horde didn't stand a chance. Varian is being groomed for that role, but he's not there yet and the Alliance's unity suffers because of it.
Xantenise Oct 25th 2011 6:41AM
@Arrohon So it's sort of like battlegrounds back in the vanilla days. I PVPed as an Alliance mage and battleground chat was constantly, "They're always winning because THEY ARE ORGANISED."
Angus Oct 25th 2011 10:59AM
I kinda want to kite Jaina to Org to see if she or Warchief Moron would win.
In another note, the Alliance doesbhave the problem of being an "Alliance" and not being a single cohesive force. Come on, the Blood Elves are in more fights than half the Alliance in battles.
Zehir Oct 24th 2011 11:46PM
To be quite honest, I enjoy the conflict. I play both sides and the idea that the Horde gets to destroy a town doesn't come off to me as unfair... I mean, it's a story decision not a PvP one. It's not like a giant version of Garrosh is dancing on top of Jaina's corpse, periodically teabagging her. It's story! It's cool! It gives me a reason to feel proud Horde-side, and a reason to seek Justice Alliance-side. Something to fight for, yeah? I love it.
lividmonkey Oct 25th 2011 12:23AM
I agree. It's called World of WARcraft. Not, World of Peace-Love-and-Harmonycraft.
lilywillylover Oct 25th 2011 1:16AM
What is up with you people always saying "Oh, it's a PvP decision" and "It's World of WARcraft and not LOVEcraft"????
That's not the point! The point is, the Alliance is always written by Blizzard as always losing to the Horde.
Hih Oct 25th 2011 1:47AM
"Always" is a bit unfair. Alliance held more territory prior to Cataclysm. That was 6 years of Alliance favoritism. Now that Cata went and made territorial holdings even, that's suddenly "zomg, blatant horde favoritism by the devs! How dare they even out the lands held by the two factions!"
If the Horde held more territory, then you bet your ass Horde would have been the one on the losing side in Cata.
lilywillylover Oct 25th 2011 1:58AM
Alliance held more lands because for the most part, it's their world! The Orcs are and will always be invaders from another planet.
And the Horde was always Blizzard's favorite, it had nothing to do with land holdings. It has to do with people who works for Blizzard.
rhorle Oct 25th 2011 2:26AM
The problem is that plenty of people have their jump to conclusions mat at their front door when they shouldn't.
Who is to say that there won't be a new theramore? All that was basically said is that theramore is attacked. Not that it is wiped from the earth forever. Not that everyone is slaughtered. For all you know the "unfair" attack is the full might of the horde being wiped out by just one frostbolt from Jania.
Saying that something we know little about is unfair is just plain stupid. You might as well claim all of MoP is unfair because they haven't announced thrall becoming a God.