Mists of Pandaria

[Rottingham]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WGdj9L ... re=feedlik

This is a video about two people speculating about what the title means and what the next expansion entails. Now I know it's just specuation, but they make some very good points. I know the video is an hour long but I just listened to it while doing other stuff...

However, here is what I myself am thinking they may do:

two new races:
Panderin for Horde
High elves for Alliace (as much as I'm not a fan of that... they are pretty much blood elves)
Hero class of Brewmaster, where you start off at level 55 as a deathknight.
New zones for level 85-90
New zones for 60-70, for if theres a new hero cass then going through TBC again is kinda annoying.

Those are just hopes, and I know there's a lot of them but hey, A guy can dream right? lol

Eddited due to typing errors

[Worba]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WGdj9L ... re=feedlik

This is a video about two people speculating about what the title means and what the next expansion entails. Now I know it's just specuation, but they make some very good points. I know the video is an hour long but I just listened to it while doing other stuff...

However, here is what I myself am thinking they may do:

two new races:
Panderin for Horde
High elves for Alliace (as much as I'm not a fan of that... they are pretty much blood elves)
Hero class of Brewmaster, where you start off at level 55 as a deathknight.
New zones for level 85-90
New zones for 60-70, for if theres a new hero cass then going through TBC again is kinda annoying.

Those are just hopes, and I know there's a lot of them but hey, A guy can dream right? lol

Eddited due to typing errors

That's close to what I was thinking... where brewmasters essentially are drunken style monks / weapon masters... although I had centaurs for the Alliance race (if you consider Pandaren "Chinese", then the centaurs would fit as Mongols / Huns).

Also I think starting level of 65 with 3 lvls' worth of brewmaster "class intro quests" is more likely than them adding 10 new levels of content for everyone (on top of the 85-90 end content, I mean)... especially with all the exp acceleration already in the game.

After that I'd imagine them going back to 10 lvls per xpac.

[Rikaku]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WGdj9L ... re=feedlik

This is a video about two people speculating about what the title means and what the next expansion entails. Now I know it's just specuation, but they make some very good points. I know the video is an hour long but I just listened to it while doing other stuff...

However, here is what I myself am thinking they may do:

two new races:
Panderin for Horde
High elves for Alliace (as much as I'm not a fan of that... they are pretty much blood elves)
Hero class of Brewmaster, where you start off at level 55 as a deathknight.
New zones for level 85-90
New zones for 60-70, for if theres a new hero cass then going through TBC again is kinda annoying.

Those are just hopes, and I know there's a lot of them but hey, A guy can dream right? lol

Eddited due to typing errors

Some of that video is really neat, but I sincerely doubt High Elves for Alliance and HUGE no on the Pandaren for Horde.

I recall hearing somewhere that High Elves are not an option for alliance because basically they look identical to the Blood Elves, and Blizzard doesn't want it to where you can't tell what faction someone at a first glance (the only difference High Elves and Blood Elves have are eye colors).

Also I don't see Pandaren joining Horde (or Alliance) for a couple of reasons mostly due to their neutral status.
1) Pandaren are too much of a fan-enjoyed race to give to any side, Horde OR Alliance (which is why I doubt they will be a playable race this expansion.

2) Pandaren were allies to the Night Elves (up until the Pandaren saw their magic lust getting out of control). This means they would also not approve of the obviously magic-addicted Blood Elves.

3) They have a very special bond to the Ironforge Dwarves (for their shared drinking habits) AND some have lended their hands in battle to the Horde when they fought the Burning Legion (Chen Stormstout).

For these reasons, I honestly do not see Horde OR Alliance getting Pandaren. If Pandaren are added, I assume there will be different "factional" versions of them for both Horde or Alliance (think of the DK starting area, where lore-wise you will aren't affiliated with Horde or Alliance, but you *are* in reality, one of the two main factions based from your selection on the character screen). But I just don't see one faction getting Pandaren.

As much as I love High Elves, if Alliance were gonna get em, it would've made more sense to get them in one of the previous expansions more then this upcoming one (theoretically).

But of course, this is all speculation so Im really just talking for the sake of my own opinions lol

[Morven]

Especially since (a) there aren't that many remaining high elves, and (b) a bunch of the ones left became the night elf mages in Cataclysm. It would be really underwhelming to separate them off into another playable race, and frankly we have enough elves anyway.

And I agree that giving the Pandaren to either Alliance or Horde and not the other wouldn't fit right. You could certainly, yes, give one faction to each, but then that breaks the "visually distinct" rule. Perhaps if they got really smart with their storyline to justify them allying with one faction? It'd have to be written well and justified well, though.

While there's a whole bunch of other intelligent humanoid races in WoW, I'm not sure any of them are compelling enough to be playable races, are they? I mean, I think it'd be cool to be able to play a firbolg or something else like that, does it really have mass appeal? Perhaps centaurs, since their upper bodies are human and thus could be made visually appealing, but even then I'm not sure.

[Rikaku]

And I agree that giving the Pandaren to either Alliance or Horde and not the other wouldn't fit right. You could certainly, yes, give one faction to each, but then that breaks the "visually distinct" rule. Perhaps if they got really smart with their storyline to justify them allying with one faction? It'd have to be written well and justified well, though.

I doubt Blizzard could justify the Pandaren enough for any faction really. I mean even though there was a lot of lore support for Worgen being Alliance (mind you I mean the lore support from the lore pre-Cataclysm) and there was still a lot of player backlash and anger over it.

Imagine that... 500 fold over Pandaren since they're sooooo neutral.

You know, maybe they'll be separate of the same races. Like the Tol'vir had the furry ones you quested with and the stone ones you fought. Maybe there's a separate warring groups of Pandaren..?

I mean after all we know NOTHING about Panderia. XD

[Tahlian]

Hrm...maybe...just maybe...if this is the new expac title...


...what if the Pandaren were the antagonists?

Just a thought.

[Worba]

The last time Blizzard was adding a "neutral" race was with the goblins; there was plenty of pre-cata speculation about whether Blizzard would break with the dual faction system and add them as a third faction, but in the end they went with general feel > else and invented an excuse to just add them to the Horde and make it official.

Pandaren, while it is true their lore suggests they are neutral, are also generally associated with the Horde at the gut level on the simple basis of Chen's allegiance in WC3. Does this mean they "have to" make them Horde? Of course not, any more than they would "have to" make them Alliance on other grounds like Pandaren / dwarven alcoholism or etc.

Ultimately there are enough Easter eggs on both sides for anyone to make a convincing argument, so we'll just have to see what they decide. I do not however believe we are going to see a third faction or that Blizzard would be too paralyzed with fear to assign Pandaren to just one - making them non-playable NPCs would piss off far, far more players than adding them to an existing faction.

After all, let's say they add them to the "other" faction - Mr Joe Average player is going to bitch about it for a little while, and then roll a new toon on the other side and get on with things.

[Kurenio]

What is guys.... and hear me out on this one... what would you do is blizz throws us for a loop and we get 4 new races? like 2 different version of the pandaren(one for each faction), and 2 new ones :O

[Rottingham]

That's close to what I was thinking... where brewmasters essentially are drunken style monks / weapon masters... although I had centaurs for the Alliance race (if you consider Pandaren "Chinese", then the centaurs would fit as Mongols / Huns).

Also I think starting level of 65 with 3 lvls' worth of brewmaster "class intro quests" is more likely than them adding 10 new levels of content for everyone (on top of the 85-90 end content, I mean)... especially with all the exp acceleration already in the game.

After that I'd imagine them going back to 10 lvls per xpac.

Yes I suppose Centaurs are more Mongol like, however the question then comes for the armor with the legs and boots. and i'd love to have a brewmaster class!

Some of that video is really neat, but I sincerely doubt High Elves for Alliance and HUGE no on the Pandaren for Horde.

I recall hearing somewhere that High Elves are not an option for alliance because basically they look identical to the Blood Elves, and Blizzard doesn't want it to where you can't tell what faction someone at a first glance (the only difference High Elves and Blood Elves have are eye colors).

Also I don't see Pandaren joining Horde (or Alliance) for a couple of reasons mostly due to their neutral status.
1) Pandaren are too much of a fan-enjoyed race to give to any side, Horde OR Alliance (which is why I doubt they will be a playable race this expansion.

2) Pandaren were allies to the Night Elves (up until the Pandaren saw their magic lust getting out of control). This means they would also not approve of the obviously magic-addicted Blood Elves.

3) They have a very special bond to the Ironforge Dwarves (for their shared drinking habits) AND some have lended their hands in battle to the Horde when they fought the Burning Legion (Chen Stormstout).

For these reasons, I honestly do not see Horde OR Alliance getting Pandaren. If Pandaren are added, I assume there will be different "factional" versions of them for both Horde or Alliance (think of the DK starting area, where lore-wise you will aren't affiliated with Horde or Alliance, but you *are* in reality, one of the two main factions based from your selection on the character screen). But I just don't see one faction getting Pandaren.

As much as I love High Elves, if Alliance were gonna get em, it would've made more sense to get them in one of the previous expansions more then this upcoming one (theoretically).

But of course, this is all speculation so Im really just talking for the sake of my own opinions lol

I suppose that makes sense. Besides, I doubt blizz would make an expansion with only one of the two knew races in the title. That would be like "Rise of Gilneas" or "The Blood Elf Legacy" but I'd like to think that!

[Agravaine]

I remember seeing video of the following... can't find it now, though I searched long and hard.

http://www.warcry.com/news/view/86762-B ... -Expansion

Perhaps this is Blizzard's response to Chinese jailers forcing prisoners to farm gold -- turnabout is fair play.

That Pandaren hero class idea bears some consideration... on the one hand it would allow people to choose faction for themselves, but on the other, it would be limited to a single class (brewmaster, monk, etc.)

[Wain]

Hrm...maybe...just maybe...if this is the new expac title...
...what if the Pandaren were the antagonists?
Just a thought.

World of Warcraft: Pandas Gone Wild!

Being serious, though, I hope not. The trope of good guys going bad through some corrupting influence has been heavily overused. I think it's a really cheap plot device and one that has worn thin. Not to say it won't happen though

[Worba]

Hrm...maybe...just maybe...if this is the new expac title...
...what if the Pandaren were the antagonists?
Just a thought.

World of Warcraft: Pandas Gone Wild!

Being serious, though, I hope not. The trope of good guys going bad through some corrupting influence has been heavily overused. I think it's a really cheap plot device and one that has worn thin. Not to say it won't happen though

Well from the title it sounds more like we will be going to their homelands, and not the other way around, so I doubt they would make sense as "antagonists" per se, however it would be perfectly plausible that some portion of the native Pandaren do not care for outsiders and thus become "hostile" in their attempt to drive us (all) out.

[Worba]

Yes I suppose Centaurs are more Mongol like, however the question then comes for the armor with the legs and boots. and i'd love to have a brewmaster class!

Simple - for them, boots would appear in sets of 4 instead of 2, but would otherwise use the same model as for tauren / draenei. Leggings for them would appear as barding (leather / mail / plate) or a caparison (cloth).

[Wain]

Yes I suppose Centaurs are more Mongol like, however the question then comes for the armor with the legs and boots. and i'd love to have a brewmaster class!

Simple - for them, boots would appear in sets of 4 instead of 2, but would otherwise use the same model as for tauren / draenei. Leggings for them would appear as barding (leather / mail / plate) or a caparison (cloth).

From what I understand, a lot of the NPC races do already have provisions like this for armour on their bodies, with the pieces appropriately distorted for irregular body parts. I'm not sure how many, perhaps all.

[Wain]

Well from the title it sounds more like we will be going to their homelands, and not the other way around, so I doubt they would make sense as "antagonists" per se, however it would be perfectly plausible that some portion of the native Pandaren do not care for outsiders and thus become "hostile" in their attempt to drive us (all) out.

Quite possible! If this really is part of WoW and we do get to visit there, then I hope there are other new races present as well. Some of which could be antagonists. Tiger-people would probably fit well (and there's already a model for them). Hopefully also oriental dragons.

One thing that does stick in my head, though, was a certain someone who told me in person, very emphatically, that we'll never see Pandaren in the game. Of course Blizzard policy may have changed since then

[Aeladrine]

Nice to know then, Wain.(;

[Tsuki]

I just thought
What if this isn't the next expansion
What if it's like Rage of the Firelands, and is just a mini-expansion, like what 4.2 was?
Maybe it's 4.3?

Although, I do hope it is it's own expansion. :c

[Macha]

I just thought
What if this isn't the next expansion
What if it's like Rage of the Firelands, and is just a mini-expansion, like what 4.2 was?
Maybe it's 4.3?

Although, I do hope it is it's own expansion. :c

Blizzard has never had to license their patch names before, so this seems a bit unlikely.

[Moore]

I thought that the guy who created Pandaren said they would NEVER be Alliance. o.o

[Worba]

I thought that the guy who created Pandaren said they would NEVER be Alliance. o.o

In Samwise Didier's most recent interview on the subject he didn't say yes or no, just avoided the question.

It was something like

Interviewer: "So do you have big future plans for the pandaren?"

Samwise: "What you mean like... car seat covers?"