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BlizzCon 2011: Pandaren will be playable by both the Horde and Alliance
The moment we've all dreaded (or eagerly anticipated, that's up to you) is here: The Pandaren will be playable in the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion. Here's the kicker: They'll be playable by both factions, which means Blizzard really has thrown out the silhouette theory it's stood by for years. We saw that coming with transmogrification, though. It isn't much of a surprise. The choice as to whether you're Alliance or Horde doesn't happen at character creation, though. The choice will come after you've played through the introductory quest chain for your character. Once the stage has been set and you see where the lines of war have been drawn, you will choose which faction represents your interests best. Exciting? Oh, yes. Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will be the fourth expansion to the game. It was announced today at the opening ceremonies at BlizzCon 2011 in front 26,000 cheering fans. The expansion promises to deliver the next phase in WoW's development, ushering in a new era of quests, raids, PVP, professions, and instances. The major details: New talent system Pandaren race The region of Pandaria New monk class Level cap raised to 90 Dungeon challenge mode PVE Scenarios Pet Battle System Follow us all day for the next few days as we cover BlizzCon from top to bottom! Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
BlizzCon 2011: Opening Ceremony Liveblog
We'll be live blogging the opening ceremony at BlizzCon 2011. The start times for this liveblog is as follows: Pacific Time zone: 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time zone: 12:00 p.m. Central Time zone: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time zone: 2:00 p.m. We're expecting a lot from this BlizzCon opening ceremony, including the Mists of Pandaria expansion, some StarCraft expansion announcement, and potentially an announcement concerning the Diablo 3 release date. Stay tuned! We'll start liveblogging soon. 10:42 a.m. - Patch 5.0 will introduce a new talent system. 10:42 a.m. - Initial reports are that the expansion will be playable at BlizzCon today. The rest of the liveblog after the break!
PAX 2011: Wakfu reveals the Pandawa class
No, it's not that MMO and its panda-people, but Square-Enix will probably forgive you if you get Wakfu's newest class confused with another game. As Square-Enix shows off its tactical anime MMO at PAX this weekend, the company is proud to announce the latest addition to Wakfu: the Pandawa class. One of the game's 14 classes, the Pandawa are tough fighters that fight best when completely and utterly sloshed. You read that right -- Pandawa change their fighting style depending on how much they've had to drink. Sober and they're great as a support class, but get them drunk and they'll open up a can of bamboo on your butt. Pandawa wield axes and use the art of the right-hook to deliver the pain. Square-Enix recommends putting these warriors on the front lines of any battle to smack groups of enemies around at the same time. Wakfu is currently in closed beta, and we'll be keeping an eye out for it at PAX.
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 Queue: Riding this joke 'til the tires go bald
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. The Queue is now in order! We all know that Samwise Pandas Club threw a party the other day and not one of us was invited. Now what do you say if we form a new club and call it the ... He-Man Panda Haters Club? Now I think we oughta have a president. Now, the man we elect must be the worst panda hater of us all. I nominate ... myself. Because I hate pandas. Gutrot asked: Alex I think you write the Queue on Monday right? The other writers have speculated about Mists of Panderia but you haven't except for your panda hate. What do you expect to see?
WRUP: Pandaren vs. Ethereals
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! On Thursday, Blizzard uploaded a curious new picture to its Facebook page. It's called "Glimpses," and it shows three ethereals in a building that looks identical to Cordell's Enchanting in Stormwind. But a glimpse of what? Patch 4.3? The next expansion? The picture set off a flurry of speculation. One intrepid soul decided to treat the names as anagrams, converting Vaultkeeper Razhid to "hide a true leak," with "remaining letters ZPRV." I tried playing around with the letters myself, and all I can seem to make out of it is "Bill is The Mole." What do you think that means? Of course, a lot of people out there are wondering whether or not ethereals will play a major part in the next expansion. So, in addition to the "What aRe yoU Playing" question, this week, we asked our columnists a very simple followup question: %Poll-67612%
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:
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The Mists 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. I never thought in a million years that I'd be revisiting the topic of the pandaren, but it looks like it's now something worth discussing. Earlier this week, it was discovered that Blizzard filed a new trademark for something called "Mists of Pandaria." Blizzard's done this before, filing the Cataclysm trademark back in 2009 before the expansion was announced. This has led to the assumption that the mysteriously named "Mists of Pandaria" is lined up to be the next expansion. Needless to say, this information was so far out of left field that it appeared to be coming in from the right. But let's think about this from a lore standpoint. All expansions need a storyline behind them -- now moreso than ever, given the extremely story-driven vehicle that is Cataclysm. For a race that was originally an April Fool's joke, the popularity of the pandaren, as well as what little written word we have on the race, makes this a pretty interesting prospect. Believe it or not, there are actually potential reasons behind all of this, given what's happened so far in Azeroth to date. So let's take a tinfoil hat look at what this expansion could theoretically look like, from a story standpoint. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a speculative look into what has gone before and what's to come. The events presented are just theories at this point and should not be taken as fact.
WRUP: Pandaren Madness Minute
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! In case you haven't heard already, just this past week, Blizzard registered a trademark for Mists of Pandaria. And what, you may ask, is Mists of Pandaria? ... what? Don't look at me. I don't know. Could Mists of Pandaria be the next expansion for World of Warcraft? There's plenty of evidence that this is the case -- Blizzard filed the same kind of trademark for Cataclysm shortly before its official announcement. Thing is, though, Mists of Pandaria could be so many things other than an expansion, too: A digital expansion for the WoW Trading Card Game Blizzard's WoW-related foray into mobile gaming An exciting new Plug-In scent from Glade Ultimately, though, your guess is as good as ours. What exactly are we guessing? Well, funny you should mention it -- just this week, I asked our columnists a very simple question to interpret as they saw fit: "... pandaren?"
The Queue: Panda-monium 2: Electric Bamboogaloo
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. This is all your fault, Blizzard. I hope you can live with yourself after that title. Garghle asked: Um... Mists of Pandaria? Is that really the next expansion? Pandaland?
Rumor: World of Warcraft's next expansion has been named
First there was The Burning Crusade, then Wrath of the Lich King, and, most recently, Cataclysm. World of Warcraft's expansions have been the lifeblood of literally millions of gamers' playtime, which is why many fans are anxiously awaiting word of the fourth expansion pack to the hit MMO. Today we may know the name of the expansion: Mists of Pandaria. According to MMO Champion, Blizzard filed a trademark with this title on July 28th, which is exactly in line with how the company has procured titles for the previous expansions. The trademark specifies that this is for "computer game software." The Pandarens are one of the more light-hearted races in the Warcraft franchise, with kung fu panda bears from a secret empire somewhere in Azeroth. Despite being fan favorites, the Pandarens have been rarely seen in WoW, while Blizzard has used them in a couple different April Fool's jokes in the past. We'll be keeping our eyes on Blizzard for any official confirmation.
The Queue: Panda ... nope, not going to do it
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. Every time the pandaren get mentioned in The Queue, we end up with a week straight of pandaren headers, themes and puns. I'm going to break that trend and completely avoid the topic of the pandaman in this edition of The Queue and hopefully end the horrible cycle of pain. riley asked: Do you think Warcraft ever seen an ending to its story or will Blizzard keep adding content and lore until they subscriber numbers drop below profitability? Will we ever get to fight Sargeras or will the servers just shut down in the middle of the 6th expansion?
Know Your Lore: The Pandaren
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. Brewfest is still ongoing in game until Wednesday, Oct. 6, and while the Alliance has their dwarven brewers and beer lovers behind the festival, there is a race of creatures that are not included in the festivities at all -- well, not directly. I'm speaking, of course, about the mysterious pandaren -- a race of humanoid pandas that is about as elusive as they come. Pandaren have shown up in references here and there in World of Warcraft, but for the most part, they seem to be nothing more than vague Easter eggs. However, the World of Warcraft RPG covered the pandaren extensively and provided some background into the nature-loving race. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the pandaren is the origins of the race. Of all the races in Azeroth, the pandaren are the least well known but one of the most beloved of many players of the original Warcraft games. The pandaren first showed up in Warcraft III, and from there, the loveable race of humanoid pandas grew exponentially in popularity. Though the original Warcraft and all subsequent games were carefully planned out, the enigmatic panderan began with an April Fools joke that spread like wildfire.
Blizzard donates $1.1 million to Make-A-Wish from Pandaren pet sales
Blizzard made a donation of over $1.1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation yesterday in a special presentation held in Irvine, California. This was 50% of the total sales of the Pandaren Monk Pet in November and December of last year. Blizzard invited 15 Wish children and their families to the ceremony and also to hang out with the WoW developers and learn how the game is made. Blizzard has a long standing relationship with Make-A-Wish. The story of Ezra is heartwarming, though tragic. Mike Morhaime also thanked the players: This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players -- their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible. Purchasing the Pandaren Monk pet no longer donates money to the cause, but is still available at the Blizzard Store.
The Night Before Winter Veil
'Twas the night before Winter Veil and all through the house Not a creature was stirring, sans a click of the mouse The presents were stored by the tree with great care, In hopes that Grand' Winter would soon be there; The orphans were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of Pandaren Brew danced in their heads; And my guildie in her 'kerchief, and I in my helm, Had just settled down for a long battle-ground, When out of the mine there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my mammoth to see what was the matter.
The Queue: A trip down memory lane
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky be your host today. Let's get meta here folks. Zetathran asked a question about the history of this site, and it got me into a conversation with our Editor-in-Chief Liz Harper about the activities of old. WoW.com has a changed a lot in the past few years, and while the long dialog we had about past policies and editorial standards is probably of no interest but ourselves, the basic story of the site probably is, so we'll start off with that. Zetathran asked... "How did WoW Insider start? Who were the original bloggers?"
Pandaren in the World of Warcraft
In among all of the "omg fake pets for real money" drama from this week's announcement, we may have missed something big: the Pandaren are now live in the World of Warcraft. The Pandaren are my favorite Azerothian race, even though they're essentially a joke -- Samwise Didier just loves pandas, and he made art for an April Fool's joke that Chris Metzen loved so much they decided to include the bears as real characters in Warcraft III. Since then, they've become fan favorites (not least of all, especially for me, because alcohol and ale are a big part of their culture), but we've only seen hints of them in World of Warcraft. There was a rumor going around a while back that they would never appear in the game because China didn't allow depictions of violence against the bears, but that was just a rumor. Still, the Pandaren have existed in WoW only as a Blizzard in-joke. We assume they're out there somewhere, but until now, no one has ever seen one. Of course we say "until now" because there are now little Pandaren monk noncombat pets running around, bowing, and doing magical kung-fu. Does this mean that the future Emerald Dream expansion will have us all playing as Brewmasters? While yes that would be awesome, not so fast again: Diablo and the Zergling from Starcraft are both in the game as noncombat pets, and they don't mean anything at all (although they were both included in the game before the announcements of Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 -- maybe Blizzard is working on a Pandaren-based puzzle game? Conspiracy theorists, assemble!). And just because we all have Grunty doesn't mean murlocs are suddenly going to take to spaceships with battle rifles in the official lore. But it's cool to see Pandaren actually in the game, even in pet form, and who knows, maybe we will one day find the legendary realm of Pandaria in our own version of Azeroth.
Breakfast Topic: Will you buy the new in-game pets?
In-case you missed it, which really is only possible if you were living under a rock or had something else going on, yesterday's news was some of the largest out of WoW this year. Blizzard is now allowing you to purchase in-game pets for real life money through the Blizzard store. There are two pets, pictured about, available for sale now. The Pandaren Monk and Lil K'T'. Both pets cost $10, and the Pandaren Monk will see 50% of its sale price go towards the Make-a-Wish foundation (for the remainder of the year). This firmly brings WoW into the arena of microtransactions -- purchasing in-game items for real life money. Some games, not WoW, allow you purchase items which make you stronger in the game. Other games, like WoW, allow the purchase of vanity items, such as these pets, which do nothing other than look cool or count towards vanity achievements. Some people really don't like this model of gaming, others are indifferent, and others are in love with it. I'm personally in love with it. I think the items are cheap enough to be affordable to a large portion of the player base, and are cool enough to warrant the purchase. Further, since the items don't provide in-game power ups for people, they are essentially meaningless toys. This makes it an ideal luxury item for the virtual-nerd to spend $10 on. So will I buy the new in-game pets? Absolutely, I already have. But what will you do? Are you going to go out and buy them? Vote in the poll and leave a comment, we want to know. %Poll-36542%
Pandaren Monk pet has moves
MMO Champion has datamined up some video of the new Pandaren Monk vanity pet that's been floating around, and as you can see above, it's pretty darned awesome. Just like the Grunty the Murloc pet, this one comes with some fun animations, and they look terrific. Blizzard has been pretty coy about getting the Pandaren into the game, and they're teasing big here, too -- this little bear's got moves that would make the Diablo III Monk hang his head in shame.However, the question remains: how do we get it? At this point, it's just speculation and rumor -- some say it might be a special anniversary pet for people who've been subscribed all five years of the game's life, some suggest it might be part of the Cataclysm collector's edition (past CEs have had a pet in each one, including a Diablo figure in the first box), and still others suggest that the Monk will be a new pet in the upcoming Brewfest holiday. How do we get it, really? We won't know for sure until we hear it from Blizz.
