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Know Your Lore: The point of Pandaria
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. "It's just possible that the curious race we're going to meet in this mystic land, may just teach us a thing or two about who we are, and why we fight." -- Chris Metzen, BlizzCon 2011 When Mists of Pandaria was introduced, there were plenty of people that were skeptical about the expansion -- many questioned the introduction of the pandaren as a playable race, questioning whether or not an expansion featuring fuzzy talking pandas could ever be taken seriously. Yet although the pandaren can be quite friendly and agreeable, the overall theme of Mists has been remarkably dark. I'd almost consider it darker than any prior, if only for one reason: the message in this expansion hits far closer to home than any other. While Burning Crusade, Wrath, and Cataclysm all highlighted major enemies that sought to end the world, each through their own means, Mists took a step back from the grand bellowing villains and their evil schemes. And instead, it chose to shift the focus to us -- Alliance and Horde, players and NPCs alike. Yet on the brink of patch 5.4, presumably the last raid of this expansion, what lessons can we take away from Pandaria? What has it taught us, that couldn't be taught by fighting another world-threatening NPC? What was the point of Pandaria? Please note that today's Know Your Lore contains some spoilers for patch 5.4 content. If you're avoiding spoilers, turning away now would be advised!
The Queue: The cartoonening
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Monday. Yep. JeffLaBowski asked: Is it me or has this expansion flew by? It feels like we are in the pre-expac lull even before 5.4 is out. Anyone else get that?
Faction change? Travel back in time to experience the Pandaria starting quests
My main characters have been Horde for quite some time, but this week I decided to change things up on my priest. It's a bit disorienting to faction change after playing one faction for so long. So far I haven't flown into the wrong Shrine, but I know my day is coming. While my faction change processed, I passed the time thinking about how much of a butthead Garrosh is. And what about the Alliance's arrival in Pandaria? I wanted to experience it. Well, Blizzard had me covered. As soon as I made my way to Stormwind, I received the quest to head out to Pandaria on the Skyfire. After zoning into Pandaria, I immediately fell to my death because the Skyfire disappeared from under me. I assumed my quest had ended there because I'd already been introduced to Pandaria through the opposite faction. My slight OCD for quest completion pushed me to visit Wowhead, where I discovered that I could complete the Alliance-side starter quests after all. Woo!
Second Wind: World of Warcraft
When I originally started playing World of Warcraft, things were different. Priests were still waiting on their first big class patch. Regular mounts required level 40; most players couldn't afford the 100ish gold fee without a loan from their guild. Epic mounts were so prohibitively expensive as to be considered rare. Raids required the dedication and skill of 40 players, and only a couple of guilds per realm actually even bothered to run high-end content. WoW was, as they say, srs bsns. But that was eight years ago. Since then, World of Warcraft has seen four enormous expansions (Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria) and countless minor content updates. Edges have been softened, skills refined, classes reinvented. Subs have ballooned to a peak of over 12 million, waffled up and down for a few years, then fallen most recently to 9.6 million. Some would argue that the World of Warcraft of 2013 bears only a passing resemblance to the one we played in 2005. Others would claim it's still the same excellent/terrible game, just gussied up with fresh paint. As a longtime WoW lover but recently lapsed subscriber, I ventured into Mists of Pandaria to sort it out for myself.
Watch World of Warcraft's Thunder King trailer
Thunder... thunder... Thunder King, HO! That's the sound of millions of slavering World of Warcraft players who are itching to check out the imminent patch 5.2. To calm them down not one whit, Blizzard released the official trailer to The Thunder King. It's all poetical, too. So whether you're already sold on this next stage of WoW's development or are teasing yourself with the possibility of returning, it can't hurt to check out the following video. Or can it?
Get a load of World of Warcraft's Isle of the Thunder King
Those of you holding fast to your martial arts ursines in World of Warcraft are probably quite geeked about the upcoming patch 5.2. The second major post-Mists of Pandaria update for the game includes a new quest hub, raid, world bosses, and a farm that you can buy and make your very own. Our sister site WoW Insider took a closer look at 5.2, which is currently on the public test realm. The focus of the article was the Isle of the Thunder King questing zone, which involves a struggle between the Sunreaver Onslaught and Kirin Tor Offensive factions. The area has plenty of cool quest elements; it allows players to transform into the lizardy Sauroks, to be a counselor to golems, and use a ritual stone that summons group bosses. The article notes that players will see the return of a couple of familiar faces, such as the Image of Archmage Vargoth.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The seventh Sha
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. The Jade Serpent circled the Vale, and spoke to the beleaguered Emperor. "Pandaria is more than just the Pandaren Empire," she told Shaohao. "Your enemies to the west are as much a part of this land as your empire behind the wall." Seeing that all things were connected in an eternal whole, and that his beloved land was more than just the Pandaren Empire, Shaohao at least understood. We know from the writings in The Emperor's Burdern that all of Pandaria is connected. But is it just Pandaria, or all of Azeroth? This week's Tinfoil Hat Edition leaps off of the theories presented by Matthew Rossi in Wednesday's Know Your Lore. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do so, because conspiracy theories abound in today's edition of Know Your Lore. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Where does he get those wonderful toys? Pandaren rares and loot
If there is one thing I have perfected in eight years of playing this game, it is filling my bags with useless stuff. I'm not talking about armor bits and pieces for transmog, or weapons with pretty glows, or bags full of crafting material like cloth or leather. No, I'm talking random baubles that will make you look like your neighbor. Or fling you in the air, without worry of what happens when you eventually hit the ground. You know, stuff. Everybody likes stuff. And who has the best stuff in Pandaria? Rare mobs, of course! But which rares have the good stuff? Which ones will let you summon a fleet of angered puppies in party hats to fight at your side? Or inexplicably get you ready for a day at the beach in the middle of a raid? Or turn you into a statue with no apparent purpose other than sitting there pretending to be a statue? You want useless stuff? Oh we've got all kinds of useless stuff for you, sorted by category.
Parting the mists: World of Warcraft turns eight
World of Warcraft's eighth anniversary arrives after a rough year for the franchise. Cataclysm, the expansion that redesigned much of the old world and trumpeted the return of archvillain Deathwing, also saw subscriber numbers drop from their highest point, reached during the Wrath of the Lich King years. Players expressed discontent over the empty zones and the lack of anything to do save run endless heroic dungeons or chain battlegrounds. It's said that humans often prepare to fight the next war by devising tactics to deal with the last war, and World of Warcraft's newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is definitely a reaction to player complaints about the previous one. The past year saw the game transition from one with two separate, segregated endgames to a game with a great deal more variety for players who've reached max level. Whether you loved or hated Cataclysm, you can't deny that the past year has seen more change than the entire expansion dedicated to changing the game ever provided.
Investor call reports World of Warcraft subscriptions back above 10 million
The results are in for the third quarter of 2012, and despite sluggish numbers the last time around, World of Warcraft appears to be on a rebound. During the most recent Activision Blizzard investor call, subscribers for the game were pegged at around 10 million, back up from the lower figure of 9.1 million reported during the previous investor call. While the number is a bit more vague than usual, it does break a trend of several declining months. Is it all because of Mists of Pandaria? Not quite; because of the way that the quarters are spaced out, the expansion is still a fresh release, and we won't know until the beginning of 2013 how much of a bump it gave to the game's overall numbers. The company as a whole also saw positive revenue from Diablo III and the Skylanders franchise, while Call of Duty titles have experienced a slight downturn.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: When is a well not a well?
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. When is a well not a well? The Well of Eternity is one of the most important objects in Azeroth's history. A font of magical water with incredible properties, it has been the subject of at least two wars. First, there was the War of the Ancients, in which kaldorei fought Highborne while the Burning Legion threatened to invade. Next, the Third War, in which Archimonde sought to dominate Hyjal and the powers of the Well beneath it's roots. But the Well has also changed Azeroth in a significant way. The kaldorei wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the waters of the Well. Neither would the sin'dorei or their curious state of magical addiction. And if rumors are to be believed, there are several races on Pandaria whose roots tie into the mysterious waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms -- also speculated to be a remnant of that original Well of Eternity. The origins of the Well are shrouded in mystery. It's simply something the Titans created countless centuries ago. Or ... is it? When is a well not a well at all? Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Quest for Pandaria concludes with part 4
The fourth and final installment of Sarah Pine's novella Quest for Pandaria was released yesterday on the official site. Part four of Chen and Li Li's journey takes them to the open seas, where they encounter a massive storm, and a tense face off between two ships, one Alliance and one Horde. While this is Chen and Li Li's adventure, the fourth part of this tale does a lot to highlight the feelings and tensions between the two factions in a meaningful way. And it also does a lot to clear up timelines. At the end of the tale, Chen and Li Li have witnessed the clearing of the mists surrounding the continent of Pandaria. This places the mist-clearing event somewhere just before the attack on Theramore Isle depicted in both scenario and the novel Tides of War. Unfortunately, the tale did little to clarify what exactly made the mists part in the first place ... which means this may be one of those important plot points we'll explore later in the expansion. Quest for Pandaria served as a an excellent introduction to Mists of Pandaria, and a wonderful bridge between the graphic novel Pearl of Pandaria and the new expansion. Part four is full of emotional moments and characters that you really don't want to miss. You can read part four, or the story in its entirety, in the Expanded Universe section of the official website.
How to keep world bosses away from the pesky Horde (or Alliance)
My server is a PvP server. It's one of the more balanced populations with a relatively healthy amount of players on both the Alliance and the Horde. Even before this expansion, you had to watch your back because you could be jumped at anytime by 3 Horde players (at least, that's how many it took to kill me). With the release of Mists of Pandaria, world bosses have made a return. Back in the old days, there was generally an unspoken etiquette among competing raids looking to take down a world boss. But this generation? Not a chance! Now we have these filthy backstabbing Horde (or Alliance) players looking for every advantage they can get to wipe Alliance players and take over their efforts. Back in my day, they had the courtesy to simply let Ysondre, Emeriss or one of those other Emerald dragons wipe the raid for them! My friends, if the Horde(or Alliance) want to fight dirty, then we can only respond in kind! Today I'm going to let you in on a few battle tactics to both defend yourselves and crush the Orcs and their allies!
Where to reel in Pandaria's delicious fish
There are a few purposes for fish in Mists of Pandaria. You can cook them to eat for a Well Fed buff or to give to a Tillers NPC for personal reputation. There's a fish for alchemy oils and even the "vendor fish" this expansion is pretty useful. You can bag extra stacks of fish together for a currency. The catch is (pun intended) that many raiders aren't used to fishing their own Well Fed buffs. This leads to many questions on where to find which fish. Jump behind the cut and I'll summarize for you the pools and catch rates of open water fishing in Pandaria.
Blizzard: Patch 5.1 is 'going to change what it means to be a World of Warcraft patch'
In an effort to deliver more frequent updates, Blizzard has stated that it's willing to redefine the traditional mega-World of Warcraft patch to include smaller updates. "We're going to change what it means to be a WoW patch," said Production Director J. Allen Brack. "We just had to make a decision about how we're going to do these updates that are quicker." Brack spoke with Rock, Paper, Shotgun about the upcoming smaller Mists of Pandaria 5.1 patch as well as World of Warcraft's future. He said that the WoW team is "larger than it's ever been," with 165 people working on the project. Other topics raised by the interview included free-to-play and revamps to older content. Brack said that the team has thought about both, and he made the interesting admission that The Burning Crusade has aged poorly in comparison to the rest of the game. "There was a while where Burning Crusade was the best thing we'd ever done," he said. "Now it's the worst thing we've ever done, because everything else has raised the level with Cataclysm."
People live in Pandaria; or, our house in the middle of the sea
"And that night, her mom said that the two of them and the now-dead guy were the only 3 people who ever lived in Las Vegas. Everybody else just arrived, ate their complimentary shrimp cocktails, and left." Blizzard's focus is, as they've repeatedly professed, "to create the most epic gaming experiences ever." But for all the world-ending threats we've encountered in the last few WoW expansions, Azeroth just isn't that big. The entire Eastern Kingdoms are about the size of the island of Manhattan. We're made to believe that hundreds of thousands to millions of people of various races inhabit the planet, but examining the amount of residential space in each zone shows us room for far, far fewer. Now, yes, the Azeroth we see could simply be an abstraction of some other, larger, "real" Azeroth that doesn't tangibly exist. But this one is the one we get, and it seems sillier and sillier each time when you ponder things like where exactly King Wrynn managed to find a hundred thousand troops to send to Northrend, or where night elves have lived for the past ten thousand years. The same goes for Azeroth's endless supply of doomsday villains and the cultists they inevitably find to do their bidding. They had to come from somewhere. And they definitely don't live in Stormwind. But the problem isn't even really where they live. It's how they live. It's where they come from. Outland presented a unique opportunity to show us the how and why of the many strange alien races on an entirely new planet, but we learned more about how they died than how they lived -- the fate of most non-player races in World of Warcraft. Their homelands were a theme park, a casino, and we run through pulling levers, grabbing drinks, buying t-shirts. Nobody lived there. Pandaria, though? People live there. The continent feels more like a brand new planet than even Outland ever did.
Know Your Lore: The Sha
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. Have you had the dream again? A black goat with seven eyes that watches from the outside. - The Puzzle Box of Yogg Saron We did not bring them to this land, they were there all along. But we unleashed them from their prison, allowing them to run rampant over the verdant hills and fields of Pandaria. Our arrival on Pandaria's coast was nothing more than a catalyst that sparked a chain of disastrous events the likes of which Pandaria has never before seen ... at least, not in written history. The Sha are a unique villain, the first in Azeroth's history that we alone are responsible for. We've dealt with the horrors of the Burning Legion, we've fought the armies of the Lich King, we've even brought down and vanquished the fallen Aspect Deathwing. But we've never before had to fight something that was spawned not from the evil of the universe, but the evil within ourselves. Which makes the Sha utterly fascinating ... and their origins even more so. Please note: The following post is chock-full of spoilers for Mists of Pandaria.
One Shots: Beautiful balloon
Massively logically selects for readers who aren't necessarily playing World of Warcraft -- if you were, you'd probably be reading our sister site WoW Insider, not this column. But I am still a WoW fan, as is this week's One Shots submitter, William. He sent in a freshly snapped pic from Mists of Pandaria with this note: This screenshot is a little bit of a spoiler, so I won't actually say much about what's in it, but needless to say, this is one of my favourite scenes from the Pandaren starting area. The art design is fantastic in Blizzard's new expansion! Also, panda in a balloon! William's color image is tucked after the break along with a few more of your One Shots-worthy images.
Mists of Pandaria cruises toward first big patch
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is chugging along quite nicely, and while there are players content in the current journey to the new endgame, there are always those asking, "What's next?" For the latter crowd, Blizzard has announced that the first major post-expansion content update is heading to the test server soon. Patch 5.1 is slated to advance the storyline, add quest hubs and factions, introduce underground fighting rings in capital cities, improve the pet battle system, and allow players to upgrade gear with valor points. Blizzard says that the progress toward the patch's deployment is a sign that it is taking its commitment to faster content delivery seriously.
10 most common names for monks
It's another expansion with a new class, making it a perfect time to kick back and reflect on our auspicious naming conventions. After all, certainly the most popular monk names are steeped in lore and dignity, right? Our good pals over at GuildOx have sorted through huge, mountainous stacks of data to find the most popular monk names. These are the same folks who told us about popular warrior names like Cleaveland and Sunderwear, as well as common paladin names like Layonhooves and Unstopbubble. So, what are the most popular names for monks? Are they roleplaying names or original creations? Well, let's take a look and unveil the top 10 most popular monk names.
