Breakfast Topic: Pandocalypse Now
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 20th 2012 at 8:00AM
Personally, I can't wait until the beta rolls around. What was playable at the press event seemed pretty darn far along in development, so that beta can't be very far away. I would be surprised if it there were more than a month between now and the beta testing, and I would even expect it sooner than that. Mists of Pandaria already seems much further along in development than Wrath of the Lich King or Cataclysm were when they entered beta.
The sooner the beta rolls along, the better. I'd love to take another crack at the Temple of the Jade Serpent and show the Sha of Doubt what's what.
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: Breakfast Topics, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
nataswar Mar 21st 2012 8:45AM
11th slot...new questing areas...rolling a panda monk...experiencing all of the upgrades in models, talents, design...
Can't wait.
Jamie Mar 20th 2012 8:06AM
I'm really excited about the silly minor glyphs. The over the top nature of them will put a lot of customisation back into the game.
I really think MoP is saying hey, play the game your way. Not the way your raid leader/random pug #4534 has been telling you to the past 7 years.
It's exciting to think there are potential options out there and the ball started rolling with Transmog. I'm a player not a configuration.
Knob Mar 20th 2012 9:08AM
Glyph of Righteous Retreat was awesome as explained in Tankspot's GC interview. "Decrease the cast time of Hearthstone when Divine Shield is active." Made me smile. Need more of such fun, whimsical minors!
wybenga42 Mar 20th 2012 9:24AM
As a ret pally, I'm really looking forward to some sweet minor glyphs!
Glyph of Bladed Judgement: Your Judgement spell depicts an axe or sword instead of a hammer, if you have an axe or sword equipped.
Glyph of Winged Vengeance: You grow larger during Avenging Wrath.
Glyph of Fire From the Heavens: Your Judgment and Hammer of Wrath critical strikes call down fire from the sky.
So much badassary!
Luotian Mar 20th 2012 9:28AM
My sister was ridiculously excited for the one that made her judgement a sword. It fits her belf so well.
I want to know what my Shaman/Hunter/Mage ones are going to be like.
eel5pe Mar 20th 2012 9:31AM
@wybenga: are those real minor glyphs or just wishful thinking? please don't get my hopes up for nothing. I did find it pretty hilarious that they particularly cited paladins as having terrible minor glyphs ("saves you some mana!").
ravyncat Mar 20th 2012 9:39AM
I love the thought of finally being able to get rid of the hideous seal-thing as a druid!
And I want to be a random kitteh~
My druid is a kitty 99% of the time anyway but she is always purple. I can't wait to see what the random glyph does. Will she always be a Nelf kitty...or will she sometime look like a Troll, Worgen, or Tauiren kitty? It will be awesome either way.
I also love the pally bubble hearth one. XD
durandal Mar 20th 2012 10:15AM
The druid glyphs, absolutely. I'm just hoping that troll druid orcas and troll druid stags come in a variety of rainbow colours, including a flashy mohawk! That would be super awesome!
Nina Katarina Mar 20th 2012 10:18AM
@eel5pe - yes, those are real minor glyphs, confirmed in a Tankspot interview with Ghostcrawler. The list from wowhead
Glyph of Stars: Moonkin Form ability is replaced with Astral Form, conferring all the same benefits, but now appearing as an astrally enchanted version of your normal humanoid form.
Glyph of the Chameleon: Each time you shapeshift into Cat Form or Bear Form, your shapeshifted form will have a random hair color.
Glyph of the Orca: Your Aquatic Form now appears as an Orca.
Glyph of the Stag: Your Travel Form now appears as a Stag and can be used as a mount by party members.
Glyph of the Treant: Allows you to shapeshift into Treant Form. The act of shapeshifting frees the caster of movement slowing effects.
The Moonbeast: You can now cast Healing Touch, Rejuvenation, and Tranquility without canceling Moonkin Form.
Glyph of Righteous Retreat: During Divine Shield, you can invoke your Hearthstone 50% faster.
Glyph of the Falling Avenger: You slow fall during Avenging Wrath.
Glyph of Bladed Judgement: Your Judgement spell depicts an axe or sword instead of a hammer, if you have an axe or sword equipped.
Glyph of Winged Vengence: You grow larger during Avenging Wrath.
Glyph of Mounted Kings: Mounting a paladin mount automatically casts Blessing of Kings on you.
Glyph of the Luminous Charger: Your paladin class mounts glow with Holy Light.
Glyph of Fire From the Heavens: Your Judgment and Hammer of Wrath critical strikes call down fire from the sky.
Glyph of Ice Lance: Your Ice Lance now hits 1 additional target for 50% damage.
Glyph of Counterspell: Your Counterspell can now be cast while casting or channeling other spells, but its cooldown is increased by 4 sec.
Lloren Mar 20th 2012 8:06AM
I guess I'd fall into the ambivalent category. Nothing announced really got me excited or felt like a "big reveal". I like the direction they're moving with things, but nothing has me saying "OMG where's my preorder and when can I line up??". I know it's not really a game breaker but the fact that they still aren't updating models was a huge letdown. It was the one feature I was really hoping to hear and I almost feel like its going the way of the dance studio. I don't plan to cancel my or anything, but I've certainly cut waaay back on my play time and nothing coming has me thinking I'm going to be having my all day wow sessions like I used to. But maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing. :p
Noyou Mar 20th 2012 8:12AM
Wow. They had me when they said we would march to Orgrimmar's gates. Then all the quest info. Yeah. I was ready to fork over my cash right then.
Twoby Mar 20th 2012 8:13AM
... But..... But AoE looting /squeal
Luotian Mar 20th 2012 8:18AM
I think the biggest problem for everyone is that the models went from being hoped for to being assumed it is happening NOW at a sort of ridiculous speed. Nobody promised us anything, although there is a great deal of indication that they're working on it (slowly, to get it right, all of you who were whining yesterday that it wouldn't take that much time). Blizz learned from the dance studio, they have avoided doing it again (like announcing they'd scrapped Path of the Titans). The models will come, and when they do they'll probably blow you out of the water.
Or you'll be so jaded you won't care. Either way.
Jamie Mar 20th 2012 8:34AM
@Twoby
I hope my Loot-a-rang AoE loots too.
BadAndyMk3 Mar 20th 2012 9:28AM
I had been looking forward to the new models the most as well. I knew we'd be getting all the new zones and averythgin woudl be all colorful and pretty, so... ya know, cool. But my number-one most-excited-for revel was going to be the new models. And... nope.
I think what put a damper on my enthusiasm was the news we'd only get one new char slot. I'm using ten now. None of are bank alts. I'v ebeen playing the game for six years, and I want to keep them all. For the expansion, I was hoping to roll and orc monk, and a panda warrior. I guess I'll have to flip a coin. Of course, I could roll one on another server, but then I'd have to hope I just don't like the char very much.
eel5pe Mar 20th 2012 9:37AM
Yeah I was kinda disappointed there was no HUGE reveal (relatively big reveals: killing Garrosh, WoW farmville, updates to LFR loot), and in retrospect the whole hubbub about the NDA just over-inflated everyone's expectations (which was probably Blizzard's intention). But what I was really pleased to see was that they really are putting a lot of polish on their game, especially in terms of "there's always something to do!"
zackwbrandon Mar 20th 2012 1:12PM
I agree with Lloren in part: I expected the new models to be mentioned but not released with the game all along, yet there was nothing that made me say "I am SO glad I did that Annual Pass thing because WoW's best days are ahead."
Don't mind me though:
I am ecstatic about AoE-looting;
I was pleasantly surprised Scenarios were not cut (but not surprised they were reduced in scope) AND that everything from Blizzcon made it in PLUS MORE;
I was happy to hear that they are taking some risks to personalize the game (the garden, the Glyphs, the new Valor system, the new loot rules in LFR);
I was relieved that the words "Old Gods" were not mentioned (despite my love of their particular storyline it was a breath of fresh air);
I was not surprised that Monks get an auto-attack, or that Challenge Modes were being talked up as the new 'standard for awesome' now that raiding is accessible.
What worries me is that the EPIC reveal was the Siege of Ogrimmar. To do this they have to break their game so badly that it will be nigh unplayable come 2014: 1-10 X is warchief of the Horde; 10-60 Garrosh is; 60-80 Thrall is; 80-90 Garrosh is; 90+ X is once more. The story flow has been so badly abused by time that it is almost nonsensical. This breaks immersion and confuses new players.
The Scenarios provide a glimmer of hope though... Imagine major lore storylines were Scenarios and that each zone had a pre-Scenario phase and a post-Scenario phase. Then add in the daily quest versions and you have a possible future fix. But the next x-pac already has to include a 1-60 edit for the Horde to prevent world breaking. Not that it really bothers me... I play Alliance.
On the whole... nothing screams "BUY ME!"
Fabio Ciccone Mar 20th 2012 12:02PM
I for one am dying to try the Pandas and the monk!
Hawk Mar 20th 2012 8:09AM
Everything I saw looks great especially the new LFR loot rules.
Just hoping they get account wide mounts and achievements in at launch or at the very least server wide.
Zachariahs Mar 20th 2012 10:17AM
One of the video interviews I saw said that mounts were next and they hoped to release that in a patch if it wasn't ready for launch.