WoW Insider's Mists of Pandaria coverage
by Anne Stickney 
Mar 19th 2012 at 11:59PM
- Mists of Pandaria: Chris Metzen interview
- Mists of Pandaria: Achievements preview
- Mists of Pandaria: March 2012 FAQ
- Mists of Pandaria: Zones and Questing
- Mists of Pandaria: Dungeons and Challenge Mode
- Mists of Pandaria: Battlegrounds Preview
- Mists of Pandaria: UI Updates
- Mists of Pandaria: Siege of Orgrimmar
- Mists of Pandaria: Yes, you get another character slot
- Mists of Pandaria: Female pandaren
- Mists of Pandaria: Cool class stuff we found
- Mists of Pandaria: Pet Battles
- Hunters to get Stampede in Mists of Pandaria
- Mists of Pandaria: New Raid Finder loot rules clarified
- Mists of Pandaria: Dave "Fargo" Kosak interview
- Mists of Pandaria: Ray Cobo interview
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!Filed under: Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Hob Mar 19th 2012 4:30AM
The only downer that I've seen so far (and I'm putting it first just to get it out of the way) is the note that the extra resource for destruction warlocks (burning embers) causes damage over time to the warlock. Wow, that sucks.
Okay, with that out of the way, I'm feeling very excited for the expansion. Everything else that I've read so far sounds really exciting, and I can't wait to get to Pandaria. I especially like the addition of two smaller zones, the return to non-linear quests, and the promise of "lots to do at end game." The dungeons sound promising, as well.
Luke Mar 19th 2012 4:43AM
I'm looking forward to those interviews! In the mean time you'll pardon me but I was hoping for way more information. So does anyone know of a good place to find more info? I know there are tons of fan sites out there but I'll gladly take suggestions.
Luotian Mar 19th 2012 11:15AM
WoWHead has a bunch of cool stuff that WoWInsider doesn't, such as information on the Pandaren cut scenes, monk talents, and so on.
Philster043 Mar 19th 2012 4:49AM
I was initially worried that Pandaria would be a shorter gaming experience than Northrend (yes, I'm aware that we're on ground mounts, but just in overall scope as far as lore and quests) but now with the additional of these two zones - which actually don't look THAT small - I can tell it's going to be an epic adventure for sure now. =)
I'm also encouraged by the promise that we'll be getting new end-game content in additional patches way beyond launch, that look to be dealing with the overall conflict between Alliance and Horde. I felt adding more story was something they should have done after Cataclysm as well (besides the troll dungeons, dailies, and the raids). But as long as they've learned that lesson, I think they will get plenty of subscribers to come back to the game.
So far I'm excited by all the Mists information! Despite the lack of character models, I'm very happy that we will be getting a 11th character slot. I will probably roll a Pandaren monk for Horde, and a Pandaren shaman for Alliance. I will likely delete my lowbie Draenei shaman (wasn't too fond of him anyway) and roll a different race monk for Alliance. Maybe a gnome for fun.
Yoco Mar 19th 2012 6:06AM
There is some nice stuff in there, but ... for someone whose main wow-joy comes from leveling alts and doing stuff with professions it is a bit of a let-down.
Having more zones in pandaria is the good news. Very good news in fact.
However, no information about anything profession related at all?? Are they updating professions as an afterthought? Again?
And only 1 extra character slot instead of removing the per-realm cap, as they suggested before?
Luotian Mar 19th 2012 11:23AM
-Cooking will have four specializations allowing for customized food.-
They're working on it. But people who love professions are (more than likely) in the minority. I know I only do it because I have to have glyph/enchants and its easier to do it myself than to pay the insane amount of gold on the AH. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't.
Noyou Mar 19th 2012 6:38AM
"There is some nice stuff in there, but ... for someone whose main wow-joy comes from leveling alts and doing stuff with professions it is a bit of a let-down."
If you read through all the articles (in particular the quest one) you will see there is a lot of detailed info. I am mostly a leveler and profession guy myself. While nothing new profession wise, they did say you will be able to farm things (including your own farm) such as exotic ingredients for multiple purposes. And on that note- thank you and goodnight :)
timothy.stankus Mar 19th 2012 8:05AM
I was really underwhelmed at the whole press tour. I've poured through dual sets of the available info on here and mmo-c, and just came away shaking my head. Nothing I read about here makes me want to resub when my annual pass ends. Given all the info I see no major change in game play coming. The player model thing is a deal breaker too. It has gotten beyond the point of laziness. How many expansions have people been asking for player models? You are telling me its going to take you 6+ years to put them together and test them? Really. I used to love WoW... not any more :(
Luotian Mar 19th 2012 11:18AM
Seriously? Challenge modes and scenarios and farming and pet battles don't count as game-changing to you in the slightest? And how your character looks is the deal breaker?
You and I have a serious disagreement on what is important in a game, I think.
majikjoker Mar 20th 2012 2:50PM
Another derpsteak.
Apparently the new talent tree, which is entirely different than any other talent tree, ever, isn't a change in gameplay.
I'm not even going to list the 90 other things they are including.
Caylynn Mar 19th 2012 9:49AM
Yay! :) Today is my 40th Birthday and look at all the great WoW news I have for a present. :) And my husband bought me the cute plush gryphon hatchling. :)
Can't wait for MoP! :)
Shinae Mar 19th 2012 11:17AM
Happy Birthday! Enjoy your chicken-kitty! :)
ToastyPosty Mar 19th 2012 2:56PM
Cool to see that someone enjoyed a birthday present that was equally awesome to mine. Finding out that I get to kill Garrosh without having to storm an Org full of eager PvPers was a great 25th birthday present.
Happy Birthday, Caylynn, enjoy!
Come on, Mists, hurry up and get here!
Noyou Mar 19th 2012 4:00PM
Happy Birthday!
Brian! Mar 19th 2012 9:54AM
I was almost thinking this press event would blow everyone away with an announcement of an open beta right away and launch within a couple months.
I don't know about anyone else, but Dragon Soul isn't going to last my raid team 4-5 more months. I am in a very casual raid group and we are knocking heroic bosses down one by one with only a few left.
I suppose the answer is "alt runs" but that's when I start checking out of a game. I think most other people do too or else MMOs with poor end games would manage to keep players far longer than they do. But all evidence shows that when the end game becomes "repeat what you just did" the players jump ship.
Bynde Mar 19th 2012 11:06AM
Meh.
Aranyszin Mar 19th 2012 11:06AM
Things I'm most excited (and pleased) to hear:
- Game will launch with a 3 raid, 14 boss raid tier (7-boss tier sucked).
- Nine level 90 heroics at launch. Lots of content = longer enjoyability of playtime
- AOE looting.
- 11th character slot (admit it, you are too)
- Siege of Orgrimmar as the final encounter (what an epic way to de-throne Garrosh - as well as hints that Alliance leadership may be due for a shake-up)
- More unique mounts instead of just recolors of existing ones (not that having more mounts itself is good, but I'm glad to hear that they are dedicated to adding more variety instead of just more recycles)
- Seven zones at launch, instead of five
- And yes, the female panderan is a hit. Blizzard obviously listened to the masses re: female worgen
All in all, the information released this week has given me some hope that, despite my concerns to the contrary, Blizzard actually has been listening to our concerns / complaints. Will MoP be perfect? I doubt it - but it looks like some of the failing of Cataclysm will be rectified, while the things that were done correctly will be improved upon.
The Talent revamp is intriguing - I like their mindset. Yes, it's a massive paradigm shift from what we are used to, but let's face it - they were right. Ultimately, the talent tree design meant that we all just sought out the "right" build and copied it. If the varying talents work out to be comparable (but perhaps situational) resulting in no clear "right" choice, it could be a game-changer for the better. I'm eager to try it out.
Noyou Mar 19th 2012 4:03PM
Not to mention, what most people are forgetting is- This is just the beginning of the flow of info. There is still much, much more info. And once Beta rolls out in a week or 2, even more info will be forthcoming.
TimR Mar 19th 2012 11:08AM
Props to WoW Insider for presenting the info in a nice way, but count me among the disappointed. A couple of cool tidbits, but not nearly what I was hoping for.
I do look forward to questing through the new zones, they sound great.
Luotian Mar 19th 2012 11:11AM
Oh for crying out loud, if I wanted this much negativity I would gone to the official forums.
I for one am *extremely* happy with the information we got. Everything to this point has been hints and tease. Now we know that negative emotions personify, we're going to see Chen for sure, a lot of information about the first few dungeons that, as far as I'm concerned, sound epic. We know that everything everyone was saying wouldn't make it into release is going to. We know that our cries for more slots/new models/more story are NOT being ignored (they just aren't on the time-frame you want, boohoo, suck it up you don't have the whole picture).
We know what female pandas look like, that they are cuddly and rolly-polly looking and their faces are amazing in the amount of facial 'muscles'. We know that we're getting a huge ramp up of story. We know we're getting a full story in the box so we don't have to wait months and months for the next chapter (or even filler chapter).
We know that Mists is far from their last planned expansion.
I for one feel my $15 a month is well spent and is only going to get me more awesome stuff down the road. There are so many positives and lore implications here that I feel like I must be reading different articles than everyone else to see all this negativity.