Posts with tag pandaren-monk

Pet Battles are now available after the most recent patch update to the Mists of Pandaria beta. We've seen a few pet additions lately. Let's dive in, shall we?

The pet pane has been updated. Selecting the different pets shows you aspects like types and different abilities. Many of your pets won't have a full list of abilities yet. Naturally, your pets will start off at level 1, and as you enter engagements, they'll gain levels and gain access to stronger abilities. It's important to use the creature type that will give you an advantage over your opponent.

Read on for more!

If you thought $50 for the entirety of World of Warcraft during GameStop's Black Friday sale was good, Blizzard is about to do you one better. From now until Dec. 19, the entirety of World of Warcraft is on sale for a grand total of $35 on the Blizzard store. In addition, the Celestial Steed (aka Sparkle Pony aka Glitter Stallion) and the Pandaren Monk pet are on sale, too. This is how the prices break down:

• WoW: Battle Chest for $5 (reg. $19.99)
• Wrath of the Lich King for $10 (reg. $39.99)
• Cataclysm for $20 (reg. $39.99)
• Celestial Steed for $10 (reg. $25)
• Pandaren Monk for $5 (reg. $10)

If you planned on pulling any friends into Azeroth this holiday season, there really is no better time to do it. If you don't want to go all-in, you can introduce friends and family to the base game for just $5 -- and if you want to dangle a carrot on the end of that stick, buy them a Celestial Steed to work toward. A $15 dollar investment, all told. Also? You should totally tell them about WoW Insider. A little birdie told me that due to popular demand, we're currently revamping our leveling guides. Talk about timing.

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Mists of Pandaria is bringing us the new monk class as well as the new Pandaren race, finally making its way to World of Warcraft after years of speculation and wondering. Blizzard Insider, Blizzard's own internal look at the wheelings, dealings, and development processes of the company, pulled Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street aside and asked him a bunch of questions about the Pandaren, monks, and the newest expansion.

Ghostcrawler discusses the motivations behind the Pandaren and how they differ from the other races of Azeroth, how the monk class came about and was decided upon, and what monk players outside the Pandaren race will have in store for them when they travel the world. One of the more interesting pieces of information is how player character monks who choose to start as a race other than Pandaren will still have a heavy Pandaria-inspired kit and experience, since it is the Pandaren that bring the monk class to both the Horde and the Alliance. Of course, we have extra confirmation that DPS and tank monks will be sporting agility leather gear, and the healer archetype will don intellect-based leather gear.

I don't believe that I am alone in this observation, but Blizzard has been out and about like crazy talking about the Pandaren and the monk class nonstop. Personally, I'm loving it. The more, the better. Over the years, Blizzard has gone from a very secretive company to pulling back many of the curtains for players and fans alike, with peeks into the development process and getting out ahead of the speculation machine. It's learned a lot from The Burning Crusade and Wrath days. Hit the jump for the full interview with Greg Street.

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

I never thought in a million years that I'd be revisiting the topic of the pandaren, but it looks like it's now something worth discussing. Earlier this week, it was discovered that Blizzard filed a new trademark for something called "Mists of Pandaria." Blizzard's done this before, filing the Cataclysm trademark back in 2009 before the expansion was announced. This has led to the assumption that the mysteriously named "Mists of Pandaria" is lined up to be the next expansion. Needless to say, this information was so far out of left field that it appeared to be coming in from the right.

But let's think about this from a lore standpoint. All expansions need a storyline behind them -- now moreso than ever, given the extremely story-driven vehicle that is Cataclysm. For a race that was originally an April Fool's joke, the popularity of the pandaren, as well as what little written word we have on the race, makes this a pretty interesting prospect. Believe it or not, there are actually potential reasons behind all of this, given what's happened so far in Azeroth to date. So let's take a tinfoil hat look at what this expansion could theoretically look like, from a story standpoint.

Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a speculative look into what has gone before and what's to come. The events presented are just theories at this point and should not be taken as fact.

Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Running parallel to the games we love and enjoy is a world full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play?

On Monday, Blizzard announced that it would begin selling a new companion pet in the pet store and that for a limited time (until July 31), 100% of the cost of the pet would go to the American Red Cross to aid victims of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Blizzard used its art and time assets for a great cause, using a previously successful tactic to raise money for people in dire need. While Blizzard is not donating the money directly, it is facilitating donation collection and incentive by putting the pet up for sale.

What interests me is the level of fervor and the community outcry for this type of relief effort by Blizzard. Why are people so eager to push a corporation like Blizzard, which has a costly back end to monitor and maintain, into what amounts to a large-scale companion pet release for charity that people would have donated to anyway based on the generally accepted understanding that people are charitable? First, we need to learn a tiny bit about corporate donations and charity and explore why people like Blizzard in the first place. Second, we can ask why we want Blizzard to do the right thing.

Another contest to celebrate WoW's sixth anniversary? That's right! This time, the prize is an endangered species. A fat, adorable endangered species.

Comment on this post by 12 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 24, for a chance to win a Pandaren Monk pet. We'll randomly pick two winners from the comments.

Some rules apply. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Make sure your email address is up to date, because that's how we'll get hold of you! Official rules here.

Yes, that's right. During the ATVI earnings report conference call today, Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment, announced that the Moonkin Hatchling will be available for purchase later this month, as he had already stated at BlizzCon. In addition, 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale will go to charity. The last time Blizzard did something similar, it raised $1.1 million for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Can the hatchling possibly dethrone the Pandaren Monk as the most adorable charity money generator?

Gregg's speculation on whether or not we'd see more charity pets seems confirmed. Were you already planning on picking one up, and if not, does this news make it any more likely?

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Brewfest is still ongoing in game until Wednesday, Oct. 6, and while the Alliance has their dwarven brewers and beer lovers behind the festival, there is a race of creatures that are not included in the festivities at all -- well, not directly. I'm speaking, of course, about the mysterious pandaren -- a race of humanoid pandas that is about as elusive as they come. Pandaren have shown up in references here and there in World of Warcraft, but for the most part, they seem to be nothing more than vague Easter eggs. However, the World of Warcraft RPG covered the pandaren extensively and provided some background into the nature-loving race.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the pandaren is the origins of the race. Of all the races in Azeroth, the pandaren are the least well known but one of the most beloved of many players of the original Warcraft games. The pandaren first showed up in Warcraft III, and from there, the loveable race of humanoid pandas grew exponentially in popularity. Though the original Warcraft and all subsequent games were carefully planned out, the enigmatic panderan began with an April Fools joke that spread like wildfire.

Blizzard made a donation of over $1.1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation yesterday in a special presentation held in Irvine, California. This was 50% of the total sales of the Pandaren Monk Pet in November and December of last year. Blizzard invited 15 Wish children and their families to the ceremony and also to hang out with the WoW developers and learn how the game is made.

Blizzard has a long standing relationship with Make-A-Wish. The story of Ezra is heartwarming, though tragic. Mike Morhaime also thanked the players:

This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players -- their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible.

Purchasing the Pandaren Monk pet no longer donates money to the cause, but is still available at the Blizzard Store.

What better way to celebrate the new year than winning a World of Warcraft in-game pet? WoW.com is giving them away to two lucky winners. Yes, you can have your own Lil K.T. or Panderan Monk to follow you on your travels in Azeroth.

The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 18 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 12pm ET (noon) Saturday, January 2, 2010. Please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be one of the winners. You may enter only once and two winners will be selected randomly. Each winner will receive 1 World of Warcraft Pet (their choice of Lil K.T. or Pandaren Monk) with a retail value of US$10. Click here to read the official contest rules.

Be on the look out for the final giveaways tomorrow and don't forget to wish your loved ones a happy New Year!

EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks everyone!

Today being Christmas, WoW.com will be celebrating with three (count them three!) Twelve Days of Winter Veil contests. For the first one, we are giving away a World of Warcraft in-game pet to two lucky winners. Yes, you can have your own Lil K.T. or Panderan Monk to follow you on your travels in Azeroth.

The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 18 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 12pm ET (noon) Saturday, December 26, 2009. Please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be one of the winners. You may enter only once and two winners will be selected randomly. Each winner will receive 1 World of Warcraft Pet (their choice of Lil K.T. or Pandaren Monk) with a retail value of US$10. Click here to read the official contest rules.

Be on the look out for two more giveaway contests today and don't forget to wish your loved ones a happy holiday!

EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks everyone!

WoW.com is celebrating Winter Veil in the best way we can think of -- by giving away great holiday gifts! For the next twelve days we will be giving away a wide assortment of phat loot to you, the loyal readers of our site. And to kick off our countdown of the Twelve Days of Winter Veil contests, we are giving away a World of Warcraft in-game pet to two lucky winners. Yes, you can have your own Lil K.T. or Panderan Monk to follow you on your travels in Azeroth.

The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 18 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 12pm ET (noon) Wednesday, December 23, 2009. Please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be one of the winners. You may enter only once and two winners will be selected randomly. Each winner will receive 1 World of Warcraft Pet (their choice of Lil K.T. or Pandaren Monk) with a retail value of US$10. Click here to read the official contest rules.

And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back later today for loot card giveaways and tomorrow for more contests -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!

EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks everyone!

The @warcraft twitter account has been posting a few carefully taken pictures of something the past couple days, and today it's been reveled what the object is -- a Pandaren Brewmaster Figure that you can buy from the Blizzard store. The little guy is "on sale" for $50, and there are limited quantities available. Everything is first come, first serve, so if you want one I suggest getting getting it quickly.

The figure is of Chen Stormstout, who left his Pandaren home world to find better ingredients to make his brew with. These figures are usually of pretty high quality, and by the looks of it this one is exceptionally detailed. It's also not a small figure. It's over 8 inches tall and 4 pounds in weight, which makes it quite a nice desk statue.

Should be a good collectable for this who want it!