J. Allen Brack talks to Wired about Pandaren and Pet Battles
by Mathew McCurley 
Nov 8th 2011 at 7:00PM
Brack says that the idea for the first neutral race actually was rooted in the Goblins for Cataclysm, since the Goblins would have made an excellent neutral race, but the team was adamant about giving the Alliance a more sinister race to play. The Goblins for the Horde filled the whimsical role nicely.
The Pet Battle system coming with Mists of Pandaria is going to require a lot of tuning, according to Brack. The feel of the system is going to be much more "rock, papers, scissors" than "all-powerful rare pet wins the fight," giving a lot of hope to collectors out there who want to use some of the more esoteric companions in battle without having to always pull out the best pet.
Finally, Brack made an important point about the "expansions every year" comment and goal of the development team. Brack explains that the concept is nice but not something feasible in the present time and that Blizzard has not been successful with rapidly turning out content. Cataclysm, it turns out, took longer to develop than any other expansion.
You can read the full interview on Wired.com.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost Pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mario Tarandek Nov 8th 2011 7:04PM
I think pet battles sound like a great way to pass the time instead of sitting there doing nothing waiting for a raid to start. WoW needs more things like this that keep it fresh and fun.
Elethiem Nov 8th 2011 7:19PM
"Cataclysm, it turns out, took longer to develop than any other expansion."
So that's why I spent a year in ICC. That was an awful experience.
MysticalOS Nov 8th 2011 7:32PM
that and they botched up the release of other raids. they released TOC way too early, ulduar was relevent content for all but a minute. in fact, to date i find many who wer there entire wrath expansion who never even saw second half of ulduar, because they did T7, then jumped into T9 so quickly. Ulduar was a great zone and should have held TOC a little longer. then released it ungated at a later time instead of how they did it. it was kind of hard to convince people to actually finish ulduar, even when you weren't downing yogg 0, when the gear was all obsolete.
granted at most that would have changed ICC to be 9-10 months instead of 12 so it still woulda been bad but hey, that still would have been better :)
Narshe Nov 9th 2011 12:18AM
'Cataclysm, it turns out, took longer to develop than any other expansion."
Because of the huge revamp to Azeroth, not having anything to do with new feature in the expansion itself.
Klausse Nov 8th 2011 7:30PM
This, combined with Morhaime's statement about at least two major releases next year (Diablo 3 and SC2 xpac are pretty much a given) make me wonder if we won't see Pandaria until late 2012-early 2013.
MikeLive Nov 8th 2011 8:42PM
I don't think Mists' release date has been even set internally. It might make 2012, might not. All they can confirm is that Diablo 3 and Heart of the Swarm will.
Klausse Nov 8th 2011 9:55PM
If Pandaria doesn't come out until 2013, it'll be really interesting to see how WoW's subscriber numbers fare over the next year. 12+ months with no significant new content after 4.3 would be a mistake by Blizzard IMO - especially since Dragon Soul has 8 bosses with no apparent gating, and no indication that there will be any post-DS raid content released.
Remember, in the 12 months between ICC and Cataclysm, there were 13 bosses to tackle in a *gated* progression AND the filler Ruby Sanctum raid. Plus, the post-Cataclysm Azeroth was released to everyone in mid-November to tide people over to the full xpac release on December 6. Even with all that, ICC was stale by August-September, RS was essentially ignored, and people were clamoring for new content.
mackejn Nov 8th 2011 10:09PM
I doubt that honestly. Given the reports from Blizzcon with how finished some of that content was and how badly WoW is bleeding subscribers, I'd expect it sooner rather than later. I really expect to see a beta sometime in the next few months.
Pata Nov 8th 2011 11:05PM
MikeLive, I don't believe they ever confirmed Heart of the Swarm for a 2012 release.
ElrithCC Nov 9th 2011 4:15AM
Even without a yearly expansion that doesn't mean MOP is going to be late. MOP was said to be more polished at it's debut than any so far, and they've been working on MOP for over a year already. There was concept art leaked that led to a number of debates over it being Pandaria or something from Diablo 3. Not to mention 4.3 lasting for more than 6-8 months would be a huge detriment to the game.
Leethax Nov 8th 2011 7:39PM
My only question about pet battles is whether I can capture a goblin (After I've damaged him enough, of course) and use him to battle a hordie who caught a gnome.
razion Nov 8th 2011 7:57PM
Warning, capturing a goblin has side effects including but not limited to nausea, heart burn, lightness of feet, disintegrated feet, feet being fed into a molten slag furnace, feet being the host to a parasitic explosive setup, increased mortgage and missing wallets. Capturing goblins is not for everyone. Please consult your doctor before capturing goblins to see if capturing goblins is right for you.
Leethax Nov 8th 2011 8:02PM
And now that I think of it, they'll probably just use selfdestruct anyway.
Just can't win, I suppose.
Matthew Nov 8th 2011 9:37PM
Peddlefeet awaits you.
LouCypher Nov 8th 2011 8:20PM
"When we put the very first pet in, people were super excited."
I'd be curious to know which one it was.
ElrithCC Nov 9th 2011 4:16AM
Not sure, at release you could get a hawk owl, a snake, a roach, a ground hog, little diablo, pandaren cub, zergling,....
Terrant Nov 8th 2011 8:22PM
From the interview: They were considering making Goblins a neutral race!? Damn, missed opportunity! I would've loved to be an Alliance goblin!
Goblins really belong and thrive in an urban setting. I love the idea of playing a big-in-his-own-mind Goblin, walking around Stormwind with a big cane, throwing coppers at kids to shine his shoes, making fun of gnomes, being generally obnoxious... I don't think they fit in with the "tribal" theme of Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff, and they certainly don't fit in with the magical superkingdom of Silvermoon or the crypt of Undercity.
lolikitty Nov 8th 2011 8:59PM
The way i see Goblins, they can be anywhere in the world, call it home and thrive regardless (they even had a town-in-a-box ready after the escape from Kezan)
lolikitty Nov 8th 2011 8:39PM
The feel of the system is going to be much more "rock, papers, scissors".
You can tell it's still in development, they're working on how to integrate lizard and Spock.
Skarn Nov 8th 2011 10:39PM
"without having to always pull out the best pet."
Best pet?
http://www.wowhead.com/item=34478
If confused, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhvvNGeHHME