All races playable despite expansion....

[Raiyen]

All Races Available in Patch 5.0.4

I honestly don't know how I feel. I haven't played since Vanilla like many have. I played a short time pre-Cata, but 80% of my entire WoW experience has been since Cata came out. I mean, I see the benefit of it, but at the same time, for some reason it kinda annoys me. What's your opinion?

[Royi]

it allows new players who are trying out wow for the first time to experience their favorite looking class right off the bat.

I don't see a negative on this besides the "i didnt get fancy things so you shouldn't too" argument that's everpresent in the general wow-culture

[Raiyen]

True. lol I guess I am annoyed that I had to upgrade to get races but now that is not necessary. xD I am not like pissy or anything. Just more annoyed I guess. :P

[Sigrah]

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Yeah, I paid for the expansions that included those races, but that was tertiary compared to experiencing the raid and questing content when it was in its prime. Basically, I didn't buy the expansions for the race, but for the ability to go through their respective story lines during the times it was fun and challenging. If they wanna hand part or all of it out now that MoP is becoming the new thing, I could care less.

I'm also not going to be bugged by anyone getting to play Pandas. Sure, they'll be able to race change their toons to them or build one from the ground up, but without the MoP expansion, they won't get to see the new MoP zones, do the MoP raids, and will be stuck at 85 while everyone else is 90 and doing all the content geared towards them. I just don't see it as a big deal I guess.

[Chimera]

Erm.... to be honest, im not liking that the Pandaren are available to ALL players and not just those who got the expansion. Like, you didnt get the choice to be a Blood Elf or Draenei in TBC. So i bought TBC to be able to play them. We werent allowed to get Death Knights unless we got Wrath of the Lich King. So i bought Wrath to play one. We arent allowed to get Goblins or Worgens without Cataclysm, so, i bought Cata to roll them.

I didnt NEED to get Cata since Blizz changed Azeroth which is a change both non-cata players and cata players can see, but i wanted to fly in Azeroth, get the option to be worgen, and see the new 80-85 content. I feel rather hurt that blizz forced us to buy their expansions to be able to play certain races for all these years, and then suddenly decide they're giving non-Mists players a chunk of MoP content so they can roll pandas.

If they did that in the beginning, like, allow the player to roll a race and lvl it to lvl 10 in their original start zone, and have all other content blocked off so they'd be forced to quest in other zones, i would be happy. They could of given Blood Elves eversong and Draenei azuremyst to lvl 1-10 in, and blocked ghostlands and bloodmyst off. They could of just let us have DK's since we wouldnt be able to get past lvl 70 anyways without Wrath expansion, they already only gave goblins and worgen lvl 1-10 start zones before kicking them into the world to lvl up via pre-existing zones. But they didnt, and only now, NOW, are they giving us the option to do just that.

Just my 2 cents as a veteran WoW enthusiast >_>

[Maizou]

I'm... iffy on this.

I can understand Worgen and Goblin - they'll be an expansion old.

But Pandaren... that's one of the main draw points to purchasing Mists.

Granted, at the same time, if my copy arrives late, then I can at least roll a Pandaren Rogue/Priest/etc. until then, I guess.

[Raiyen]

Erm.... to be honest, im not liking that the Pandaren are available to ALL players and not just those who got the expansion. Like, you didnt get the choice to be a Blood Elf or Draenei in TBC. So i bought TBC to be able to play them. We werent allowed to get Death Knights unless we got Wrath of the Lich King. So i bought Wrath to play one. We arent allowed to get Goblins or Worgens without Cataclysm, so, i bought Cata to roll them.

Yeah I think that was my biggest tiff with it. I bought the games for the content of course, but I also love having the option to roll __ race. I think I would have been like, "Eh, whatever" if it was just pre-MoP races; but to roll a Panda despite if you got MoP or not, that I think is just what has me fluffed a bit. Honestly, what is the point? You can't visit MoP areas anyway Panda or not. So why allow anyone to roll one? I guess that applies for Monks too? Unless Monk is just a class that doesn't require the actual MoP expansion...

[Zangor]

OH MY GOD YES!!!! i love this idea i always felt it was unfair that you had to fork over extra money to play as the race you want. now youll need the expansions to acess the higher levels and areas but otherwise the game is like all other MMOs with everything playable but some stuff unassecable without the proper expansion.

[Maizou]

Erm.... to be honest, im not liking that the Pandaren are available to ALL players and not just those who got the expansion. Like, you didnt get the choice to be a Blood Elf or Draenei in TBC. So i bought TBC to be able to play them. We werent allowed to get Death Knights unless we got Wrath of the Lich King. So i bought Wrath to play one. We arent allowed to get Goblins or Worgens without Cataclysm, so, i bought Cata to roll them.

Yeah I think that was my biggest tiff with it. I bought the games for the content of course, but I also love having the option to roll __ race. I think I would have been like, "Eh, whatever" if it was just pre-MoP races; but to roll a Panda despite if you got MoP or not, that I think is just what has me fluffed a bit. Honestly, what is the point? You can't visit MoP areas anyway Panda or not. So why allow anyone to roll one? I guess that applies for Monks too? Unless Monk is just a class that doesn't require the actual MoP expansion...

Monk will require Mists, that was said in a Blue Post a few minutes ago.

They don't want people to have to wait to play the race they want to, apparently.

[MaximumOverdrive]

Been playing since TBC, doesn't bother me the slightest, and if anything I'm kinda glad they did it. Let people play a race without an expansion, especially new people who maybe started cause they saw a race they liked, so got the game to try, but get put off when they can't play that one race. I'm really all for it, I think it's a great idea really, even if it involves the Panderan too.

Far as I can tell, this doesn't include classes, simply races. I really don't see how this is any problem.

[Raiyen]

Erm.... to be honest, im not liking that the Pandaren are available to ALL players and not just those who got the expansion. Like, you didnt get the choice to be a Blood Elf or Draenei in TBC. So i bought TBC to be able to play them. We werent allowed to get Death Knights unless we got Wrath of the Lich King. So i bought Wrath to play one. We arent allowed to get Goblins or Worgens without Cataclysm, so, i bought Cata to roll them.

Yeah I think that was my biggest tiff with it. I bought the games for the content of course, but I also love having the option to roll __ race. I think I would have been like, "Eh, whatever" if it was just pre-MoP races; but to roll a Panda despite if you got MoP or not, that I think is just what has me fluffed a bit. Honestly, what is the point? You can't visit MoP areas anyway Panda or not. So why allow anyone to roll one? I guess that applies for Monks too? Unless Monk is just a class that doesn't require the actual MoP expansion...

Monk will require Mists, that was said in a Blue Post a few minutes ago.

They don't want people to have to wait to play the race they want to, apparently.

Yeah just saw that when I refreshed the link. Well...that is good at least.

[Neilaren]

The only glitch I see in this is that the new races' starting zones were often considered zones only available in their respective expansion -- Quel'thalas and the two extra islands of Kalimdor are probably a moot point now since BC is bundled with WoW nowadays, but then you have Kezan and Gilneas considered Cata zones, and The Wandering Isle as a Mists of Pandaria zone...

I'm sure the answer here is that they just now add in the starting zones in the "everyone gets to play this regardless of expansion" patches...

[Chimera]

I hope that they at least make Blood Elves, Draenei, Goblins, and Worgens available to everyone who has anything less then Cataclysm. Its only fair if they've decided they dont want to make people pay to play a race. Even if its just how i suggested which is to make the main start zones available to them (1-10 content). Worgen and Goblins follow an intricate storyline that kicks them out of their zones at approx lvl 13/14/15 (cant remember what lvl exactly) so they'd get a bit more content then Blood Elves and Draenei would, but i think people would plain off just be happy when they finally leave the Goblin/Worgen start zones instead of complaining about how they get like 3-5 lvls more then Blood Elves/Draenei. Those two races can up and leave the main start area whenever they want to. Worgen and Goblin are locked in their zones for the entire duration.

[Aquillian]

I like the change. I hate paying tons of money for a game, then for a month's sub, and still not knowing if I'll even like it. What if the race that appeals to me most would require another $60? I know it would turn me off for sure. I've been playing since BC myself, and I did wait a few months to buy BC, even though blood elves/draenei appealed to me.

[Maizou]

I hope that they at least make Blood Elves, Draenei, Goblins, and Worgens available to everyone who has anything less then Cataclysm. Its only fair if they've decided they dont want to make people pay to play a race. Even if its just how i suggested which is to make the main start zones available to them (1-10 content). Worgen and Goblins follow an intricate storyline that kicks them out of their zones at approx lvl 13/14/15 (cant remember what lvl exactly) so they'd get a bit more content then Blood Elves and Draenei would, but i think people would plain off just be happy when they finally leave the Goblin/Worgen start zones instead of complaining about how they get like 3-5 lvls more then Blood Elves/Draenei. Those two races can up and leave the main start area whenever they want to. Worgen and Goblin are locked in their zones for the entire duration.

Blood Elves and Draenei have been available for everyone for almost (or more than?) a year now.

[Undra]

Not an issue. Anything that makes it easier to convince friends to join.

[lilaughingwolf]

Hmm.....I can see both sides of this. Where it is not fair for those who payed in the past just to get the race (not talking about the content..JUST the new race) it is not really fair, BUT on the other hand for those who do not care about the new content (land, levels, dungs, raids, and class) then sure why not?
I've been playing since befor BC...started shortly after beta ended and though it would give me a slight eye twitch for a few seconds I am actualy ok with it so long as it is JUST the race being aloud NOT the monk, dung, levels, raids, new area...starting zone doesnt really count, mini pet battles, new mounts, profesions, any of it..just the panadas themselves then sure why not?

[Royi]

Not an issue. Anything that makes it easier to convince friends to join.

Exactly

I was a bit suprised about the Panda's being playable, but in all honesty I don't care. It doesn't affect MY gameplay at all. Give them the monk even, it'll breed new subscribers.

Anyways the key to being into video games is knowing this:

With all video games people who wait a while to get into them will get them for cheaper. It is how it works.

[Chimera]

Blood Elves and Draenei have been available for everyone for almost (or more than?) a year now.

Aaaaaaaaa i never read that anywhere! Mkay, im a bit happier now >_>

[Ziarre]

I agree with Sigrah and MaximumOverdrive. Sure, we can access all races if we've just started and only have Vanilla. So what? We still have to buy Mists to access Pandaria, or to level to 90, or to be a monk. 90% of the actual content (since the starting zone for a new race counts as some, and then there's what they usually give us in a pre-expansion patch) will still require the new expansion.

I feel this is not only a good step, but a neccessary one to remove the sting of having to buy four expansions on top of the original game. That IS a very real concern for those thinking of joining an MMO...I remember looking at them back before I joined WoW and going 'but...these all have half a dozen expansions or more that I'd have to buy...WoW doesn't have one yet, I'll get the full game for less!'