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Celebrate the launch of Mists of Pandaria with SpiritHoods
With Mists of Pandaria right around the corner, we're giving away a panda hood courtesy of SpiritHoods. To enter for a chance to win, all that you need to do is leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Sept. 27. To be eligible to win, you must be 18 years old or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). See the complete official rules for details. In just a few short days, we'll all be in-game questing hard for the pandaren of Azeroth. If you're looking to help the pandas in the real world (and get a swanky hood at the same time), check out SpiritHoods' ProBlue label -- when you purchase a hood with the ProBlue label, 10% of net profits from your purchase goes towards a charity aimed at the conservation of that particular animal. Buy a hood, save a panda! Or a tiger, polar bear, snow leopard, or wolf, all depending on your tastes. Be sure to follow SpiritHoods on Facebook and Twitter, and check out a video of their Fall/Winter lineup behind the cut below.
World of Warcraft continues Mists of Pandaria TV coverage
"The question isn't why we fight," a wizened voice says, "but what's worth fighting for." Thus goes the third TV commercial for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard continues to storm the airwaves in preparation for Pandaria's September 25th release. The commercial is just cobbled together from the opening cinematic, but it's still cool to see an MMO get airtime on television these days. Give it your full and undivided attention after the jump.
Blizzard unveils launch events for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
If you're a fan of World of Warcraft, you're buying Mists of Pandaria. We all know that. But are you just going to buy the game, or do you want to be part of an entire event surrounding the launch? If it's the latter, you'll be happy to know that the official launch event for the game's fourth expansion release has been confirmed for the 24th near the Blizzard Entertainment offices in Irvine, California. The event starts at 9:00 p.m. PDT and will include stage presentations, special guests, and giveaways for fans in attendance. As with previous launches, even if you can't get out to California for the launch event, several retailers are opening at midnight for retail release of the game as soon as it's possible. It's all heady stuff for the new expansion, and fans will definitely want to take a look at what's going on and attend if possible.
World of Warcraft releases pre-expansion patch
If palling around with lettuce people and giant Vikings isn't your thing today, may we interest you in the panda express lane? World of Warcraft is paving the way for next month's Mists of Pandaria with today's 5.0.4 patch, an update that includes several new features that are part of the expansion rollout. While playable Pandaren and Monks aren't available until September 25th, there's plenty to chew on with patch 5.0.4. Players will experience the massive talent revamp that eliminates the old talent trees entirely, a spellbook overhaul, AoE looting, cross-realm zones, UI changes, significant currency conversions, and account-wide achievements, mounts, and pets. The patch will be up following extended maintenance, and our sister site WoW Insider has been hard at work preparing a massive Mists of Pandaria guide for current and returning Azerothians.
Gamescom 2012: World of Warcraft reveals Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic
Ever since Blizzard announced that the opening cinematic for World of Warcraft's next expansion Mists of Pandaria would be revealed at Gamescom 2012, fans have been patiently waiting to watch the introduction of the Pandaren in the popular fantasy MMORPG. Now the wait is over: Watch as the black and white kung-fu master takes on two warring combatants in the video after the break.
World of Warcraft schedules big patch for Guild Wars 2's launch day
It's on. Oh, it's so on. Not one to take a competitor's launch sitting down, Blizzard has scheduled its World of Warcraft 5.0.4 patch release for Tuesday, August 28th. Fans of Guild Wars 2 might have an inkling that the 28th has some significance within their own community as well. WoW 5.0.4 is the pre-expansion patch for Mists of Pandaria. It weighs a hefty six gigabytes and includes shared mounts, new pets, and the massive talent revamp. North American players will get the patch on August 28th, while European servers will see it on the 29th. Mists of Pandaria is slated for a September 25th release. Deciding whether this happens to be an innocent coincidence or a shrewd counter-stroke to GW2's launch is up to you. All we know is that August 28th is going to be one very, very busy day.
Leaderboard: Battle of the fall expansions
Thought expansions were a thing of the past for MMOs? Don't tell 2012, which has three major releases lined up this fall! First up is Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan, which sends players into the titular Rohan region for the first time. Not only will there be epic confrontations with Saruman and Sauron's forces on the plains, but characters will be able to fight from horseback for the first time with the new mounted combat system. Next is World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard's fourth expansion for its hit MMO. There's a grab bag of goodies in this release, including a new race, additional continent, pet battle system, talent revamp, and more. Finally, RIFT: Storm Legion is coming out at an unknown point this fall. Trion's first expansion promises four new souls, two huge continents, player housing, and expanded game systems. So as you look at the big board (just pretend you have a big board -- it makes your life more exciting), which of these three looks the most promising? Which wins in potential and promise, at least, compared to the other two? Vote after the jump!
WoW adjusts Scroll of Resurrection for Mists of Pandaria
Call it the Scroll of Resurrection 2.0. Blizzard's popular networking recruitment tool is undergoing an upgrade to reflect the changes coming with World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. The scroll is an attempt to encourage players to bring their friends in the game by tempting both parties with faster leveling and free mounts. The updated scroll adjusts to the new specialization and talent system in Mists of Pandaria by allowing resurrected (returning) players to pick their new specialization. Talents won't be preselected for those players, however. The scroll won't affect the new Monk class, so those hoping for a quick trip to level 80 on a Monk will need to do it the old fashioned way instead. Pandaren characters also need to pick a faction before the scroll's benefits can kick in.
World of Warcraft has 9.1 million subscribers, down by a million since May
World of Warcraft remains the reigning titan in terms of subscription-based games... but the titan is looking just a little bit leaner at the moment. The most recent subscriptions numbers for the game were released today in the Activision Blizzard earnings report for Q2 2012, and the game has dropped to a total of 9.1 million subscribers as of the end of June. For those keeping track at home, that's a loss of 1.1 million players since the last update on subscriber numbers in May. Despite the subscriber loss, the overall earning report is positive, citing the announced launch date of Mists of Pandaria and the success of Diablo III (it sold over 10 million copies) as major milestones for the company. According to the report, most of the lost subscriptions are coming from Eastern players rather than US and European players. This is the first time in several years that WoW has been beneath 10 million players, and it's certainly interesting in light of recent discussions about the future of games with a subscription fee.
Newest World of Warcraft novel gets a release date and cover preview
Jaina Proudmoore is one of the biggest lore figures in World of Warcraft despite the fact that her character history largely consists of trying to make reasonable compromises and being completely ignored. It's no surprise that she's the star of the newest novel based on World of Warcraft considering her prominence in the lore and her relationship to the war between the game's factions. Tides of War is written by Christie Golden and will be released in late August, setting the stage for Mists of Pandaria later this year. While Jaina has always tried to broker a peace between the Alliance and the Horde, the novel's plot revolves around Warchief Garrosh Hellscream launching an attack against Jaina's home in Theramore, demonstrating the same legendary thinking that's alienated several of the Horde's allies. Whether or not the erstwhile diplomat will be able to retain any hopes of a peaceful resolution remains to be seen, but with Mists of Pandaria promising to focus on the conflict between the two factions, it seems likely that players will be looking at silencing the last and loudest voice for peace.
The Daily Grind: Are black market auction houses a good idea?
With World of Warcraft's upcoming Mists of Pandaria comes an interesting addition to the game: a black market auction house. This new type of auction house will allow Blizzard to post rare items from the game for bidding only (no buyouts), and is obviously intended to be a massive gold sink for those who have more money than sense on their hands. While the intent of the black market auction house is understandable, what it's selling has players hotly debating over whether this is a good idea or the spawn of Evil and Mrs. Evil. Raid gear, ultra-rare pets, and other hard-to-attain goods could become easily available for those with large pocketbooks. So let's put it to the bright minds at Massively Labs (that's you): Are black market auction houses a good idea? Is Blizzard setting a trend here or cutting its own feet out from under it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Ghostcrawler introduces you to the Pandaren monk
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 Queue: BlizzCon was really fun
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host today. Here is an except from my third grade BlizzCon book report: I had a really great time at BlizzCon this year. I saw Mike Sacco and Alex Ziebart and Daniel Whitcomb and Fox Van Allen and Adam Holisky and Dawn Moore and Chase Christian and Matt Low and Joe Perez and Dan O'Halloran and Kelly Aarons and Lisa Poisso and other people too. I would recommend BlizzCon to all of the other kids in my class. The end. Didax asked: Can a Horde Pandaren talk to an Alliance Pandaren by using the Pandaren language? Or at level 10 are they going to suddenly suffer a case of explosive amnesia, forgetting their native tongue? No. Pandaren of each faction cannot talk to each other. Blizzard has said numerous times that it does not want the factions conversing in game with each other. It is purely a gameplay decision.
Blizzard hosting live Mists of Pandaria dev chat on October 27th
Oh, those crazy Blizzard devs! They just can't seem to stay out of the news lately. The latest bit of panda-related madness comes courtesy of tomorrow's dev chat announcement. If you've got questions about the newly revealed Mists of Pandaria expansion pack, you'll want to sign up for a CoverItLive account and prepare to fire away at Blizz's best and brightest. If you've got complaints, well, it's a moderated dev chat so you're probably out of luck. In any event, the fireworks start at 8:00 p.m. EDT, and you can read all of the details at the official Battle.net website.
Transmogrification and the dismissal of the silhouette theory
Blizzard recently announced at the Gamescom gaming convention in Germany that patch 4.3 is coming, and it's coming on strong. With brand new features like a separate bank for your old gear, a transmogrification NPC who can change the look of your gear, and even Deathwing himself as a raid, patch 4.3 opens up a ton of possibilities for the future of World of Warcraft that we might not have seen coming. For me, the most stark change that patch 4.3 is bringing about is not a change to the systems or gameplay, but a philosophical change at the heart of World of Warcraft that spells out some of the potential big announcements that might be coming our way during BlizzCon. Transmogrification is bigger as a philosophical leap than we think, and here's how. The silhouette theory World of Warcraft's factions are rooted in an idea called silhouette recognition. What this means is that you can easily tell who your friends or enemies are based on their aesthetic look. The reason there are no "humans" on the Horde side is because Blizzard wants you, as a Horde player, to point out a human on the battlefield. The same goes for every race. No two sides have races that feature identical silhouettes. This is even the reason worgen are forced into their bestial forms in combat -- players need to know that you're a worgen. This goes for gear as well. Blizzard practically invented the gear tier system in raiding and made it so your two most prominent pieces, shoulders and headpieces, were the sought-after marks of power and prestige, and a physical reminder of player accomplishment. My shoulders currently tell you that I've been to the Firelands, killed many bosses, and taken their stuff. My silhouette is instantly recognizable as a raider who is geared and powerful.
The MMO Report: Higher credit rating edition
This week's MMO Report finds Casey Schreiner looking to exchange sexual favors for a higher credit rating. With that out of the way, he also finds time to talk up a few MMOs. Highlights include a mention of Blizzard's panda-flavored expansion rumors as well as a bit of commentary on BioWare's Jedi Consular class trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Next up is a blurb about Guild Wars 2's Sylvari week, and in addition to hearing Schreiner utter the phrase "sentient tree-sprout," we get a recap of the recent blog post focused on the character designs. Bounty Hounds Online also gets a mention, and The MMO Report even has a few beta codes to hand out for the upcoming sci-fi MMO. This week's Massively mention (always the highlight of every MMO Report broadcast) is up next, and focuses on DC Universe Online's superserver merge. Finally, no MMO Report would be complete without Uncle Casey's mailbag, and you can find that -- as well as the rest of the show -- after the cut.
Titles Tell Stories: How "Mists of Pandaria" breaks the mold
Mists of Pandaria was filed as a trademark by Blizzard last week, sending the WoW community into pandemonium. Love them or hate them, pandaren may be making their way to Warcraft sooner than you think. As a title, though, does Mists of Pandaria work in the same way Blizzard's past expansion titles have informed the public about their general storylines? While I was drafting The Queue a few days ago, one particular vein of questioning stood out among the rest. Blizzard has recently filed for a peculiar trademark, Mists of Pandaria, under the classification of computer software (among other things). Many people believe that Mists of Pandaria will be the name of the next expansion, heralding in an age of World of Warcraft in which the fan-favorite pandaren finally make their emergence out of the shadows and into our hearts. Others hope that the pandas stay as the joke they originated from and WoW keeps only its other 50 bipedal, anthropomorphized races and rejects the pandaren concept. Either way, it is cause for discussion. The title is an art form in the games industry. A title has to tell you everything you need to know right up front, on the box, to give players new and old alike an understanding of what the game is going to focus on, set the theme, set a tone, and even clue us in to the major plot points. The title Mists of Pandaria could or could not do those things. I've taken the liberty of writing up some words on the subject of this potential title. I could be right and could certainly be wrong, but here's some food for thought. The Queue question that got this all started for me:
The Queue: Spreading the space plague
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. A bad case of space cancer put me out of commission for the last few days, and for that I apologize. In addition to my apology, I blame the pandas. They caused me to come down with such a horrid plague. I'm back on my feet now though, so the Q&A will continue!jtrain asked...I'm admittedly new to tanking, and I hear people talk about a 'rage dump'. Why would I want to dump rage? I thought the whole idea was to build up a good amount so I don't have to sit there auto-attacking waiting for my abilities to become usable. In Wrath, I never seem to have a problem generating rage and at the end of a fight in which I've pulled several mobs, I usually have quite a bit of rage still available. Am I doing something wrong?
The Queue: I'm sick of pandas
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.I'm bored of hearing about Pandas and Pandaren, so I am declaring today 'pandas aren't real' day. If you think about pandas at any point throughout the day, you must throw yourself out of a window. No, I'm not going to defenestrate myself for writing this, because I made the holiday so I make the rules. However, I will not think about pandas starting.... now!Kevin Gass asked...Is there a way (be it a mod or not) to alert me whenever a cooldown is done. For example, as a Shaman whenever Maelstrom is ready, a bright and noticeable pop up says it's ready. I would love something to tell me whenever Ghost Wolf and Shamanistic Rage are ready. I would use them more often! Thanks in advance!
DS Fanboy endorses panda bears on see-saws
Look, we would pick this game up based on the fact that there are pandas on see-saws alone. If you want to market your game to the DS Fanboy staff, this is how you do it!But, our job is demanding. We have to, like, investigate games and find out stuff about them. It's a tough job sometimes, when you're forced to look past the see-sawing panda bears and see the world for what it truly is. It's a place with far too little see-sawing pandas, that's for sure!So what exactly are we all looking at here? Well, it's the latest issue of Famitsu and its preview for a game called Panda Diaries from Namco. As one might imagine, the title focuses around interacting with virtual panda bears and will allow players to enjoy a variety of activities. We should also note that it is already one of DS Fanboy's top titles to watch and is due for release during the summer of this year.
