All the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria previews you can shake an empty fist at

In the wee hours of this morning, the press NDA for World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria expansion came tumbling down, and our sister site WoW Insider has a bounty of coverage to share. The much anticipated -- and much debated -- expansion is slated for release this year and will include a new continent, the Monk hero class, the Pandaren race, pet battles, a level cap increase, and a massive overhaul of the game's talent system.

World of Warcraft players are undoubtedly fixated on the expansion, as January's 4.3 patch was announced to be the last major update to the game before MoP arrives. You can check out all of the juicy info squeezed from the press beta groves after the jump, including hands-on impressions and insights you won't find anywhere else!

• Media Event FAQ: "As the clash of mortal armies spins the world into chaos, a continent -- once shielded by impenetrable mists -- suddenly manifests itself in the southern oceans. There's no question that this resource-rich new land will be at the center of a global conflict."

• Zones and questing: "In fact, there have been two entirely new zones in Pandaria added since the continent was first shown off."

• Dungeons and challenge mode: "Rather than starting you off in instances that are entirely secondary to the expansion's story arc and saving the dungeons that tie closest to the plot of the expansion for the level cap, the very first dungeon you run in Mists of Pandaria will set the story's tone."

• Battlegrounds preview: "We didn't see any of the new world PvP mechanics or anything related to the Arena, but we did see previews of two new Battlegrounds, the Temple of Power and the Silvershard Mine."

• UI update: "In Mists of Pandaria, even without mods, it will be easy to tell if you're missing a buff in a raid. If your icon displays 7/8, simply hover over the icon and yell at the slacker who didn't cast Attack Speed."

• Siege of Orgrimmar: "Metzen did reveal that the war waged in those patches will reach a massive conclusion: We will lay siege to Orgrimmar to remove the mantle of warchief from Garrosh Hellscream's shoulders."

• Yes, you get another character slot: "Players without the Mists of Pandaria expansion attached to their account will be restricted to only 10 characters. You must upgrade to Mists for #11."

• Female Pandaren: "We got a good look at the female pandaren model at the press event, and I have to say I'm really just super pleased with it."

• Cool class stuff we found: "Of note for monks is the removal of the dual Light/Dark Force resource system, replaced with the singular Chi system."

• Pet battles: "For one reason or another, there was some fear recently that the Pet Battle feature announced at BlizzCon wouldn't make it into the release of Mists of Pandaria. Good news: It's in."

• Achievements preview: "It's also interesting to find out that most of the titles earned via achievements will be account-wide."

• Chris Metzen interview: "We're spinning stories. We said, 'This'll be good for the franchise. It's gonna be bumpy for a while, but it'll be fun.'"

We'll be updating this list as more coverage from the press event rolls in!

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