FAQ for new pandaren

Are you tired of hearing the same questions repeated while starting a new pandaren? Or are you one of those asking the questions? WoW Insider is here to help.

You begin your pandaren on the Wandering Isle. Its location -- and even its existence -- is unknown to the rest of Azeroth when you begin. This added to the fact that pandaren start out as neutral means you will encounter differences from your previous new character experiences. Here is a list of some of those differences as well as answers to other pandaren questions you may have:

• The Wandering Isle has no mailboxes. You cannot receive or send mail until you choose your faction and leave. So no, you can't send heirlooms to your baby pandaren.

• You cannot speak to anyone who is not on the Wandering Isle. No whispers. No global chat channels. There is one exception: Battletag and Real ID friends are still accessible for whispers.

• Global chat channels are isolated to the island. If you join the WeLoveWoWInsider channel, the only people you can see or hear are the ones in the channel who are on the Wandering Isle with you.

• You cannot join a guild. Because you can't speak to anyone and because you have yet to choose a faction, you cannot be invited to a guild.

• All primary professions are trainable on the island. Elder Oakpaw is the guy you want to see to take advantage of the many nodes and skinnable animals on the Wandering Isle.

• Choosing a faction occurs after the end of the beginning quest chain. Getting there is not level related at all, though it happens around level 12. You must finish the story to make your choice.

• You can never return. Just like the goblin and worgen starting zones, you can't go back to the Wandering Isle once you leave. /sniff

• Your mount vendor is with your pandaren brethren in your new faction home. In Stormwind, Old Whitenose and friends are located in a grassy area north of the Dwarven District. Turtlemaster Odai and the rest of the pandaren faction in Orgrimmar are located in the middle of the Valley of Honor.

If the tone of Wandering Isle General Chat seems familiar, it's because Barrens Chat has returned. I even saw a Chuck Norris joke there the other day. But if you want to help players rather than tell "ur mom" jokes, direct the new pandaren to this FAQ. Or just answer their questions (frequently), because now you know.