For all the MoP haters...

From a Blue...

when recording feedback over the years from events like BlizzCon and many other avenues, the number one request (by a large margin) has been for us to add Pandaren to the game. A lot of people want it
 
draenei suck, blood elves are all women (seriously, who let them out of the kitchen?), goblins are from jersey shore, and worgens only came in b/c of twilight. Pandas are an awesome race of peaceful drunken bears that has been here long before any certain movies. all of your arguments are invalid.
kthxbai.
 
From a Blue...
when recording feedback over the years from events like BlizzCon and many other avenues, the number one request (by a large margin) has been for us to add Pandaren to the game. A lot of people want it

I understand that a lot of people want them, but there are also a lot of people that don't. Let me put it this way - you only get one chance to make a good first impression, and the first few impressions that most people got of the Pandaren race were jokes. The Blizzard staff guy on that video said it himself - the Pandaren were introduced as a joke in WC3 (or at least it felt like a joke) and have been involved in April Fool's stuff since then. That stuff is what the Pandaren have been known for in the past, and as such it will take effort for many people to view them as anything other than a joke. The other Blizzard staff member in that video was saying "come on the ride with us" and "be patient". I'm sorry, but my interest in WoW has already been wavering - Blizzard cannot expect me to give them the benefit of the doubt when they are moving so much of the focus away from the stuff in WoW that kept bringing me back.

Bottom line for me - the only way that I'll be playing WoW after MoP comes out will be if TOR fails AND if I hear a lot of good stuff about MoP. I'm sure plenty of people will enjoy it and I hope it turns out as good as some of you think it will be. My hope has always been for both TOR and WoW to turn out good because I think the best thing that can happen to the MMO genre would be if there was real competition instead of one game having a near monopoly. I simply don't have much faith in the Pandas to pull that off.
 
The best part of all this is that if you don't like it... You don't have play it.

This times infinity. Also this post from Bashiok:

Bashiok
Blue Poster
#23 - 2011/10/26 07:55:00 AM
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

I did want to make one comment on:

10/26/2011 12:16 AMPosted by Laider
Blizzard has given the Panderan a rich culture and a specific way of thinking. A history that goes back beyond the sundering with their own struggles and accomplishments. They have an identity beyond "Look, its Pandas."


This is something I want to touch on a bit more. People seem to think that Pandaren were a joke, a throw away easter egg that we never fully intended as a playable race.

I will direct you to recall the Warcraft RPG (pen and paper) manuals released in 2003. While much of it hasn't been canon for quite some time, the Pandaren occupy a greater amount of pages and space within the manuals to establish their lore and story than pretty much every other creature on Azeroth. To give it some context, they occupy the same number of pages as Trolls in the Monster Manual, and share the same amount space in the Alliance and Horde Compendium with Orcs or Humans, and just like them ... you guessed it... Pandaren were a playable race.

(there's also an awesome sketch Metzen did of a Pandaren, Dwarf, Furbolg, and Gnome hanging out all friendly-like)

As I said a lot of this was pre-World of Warcraft, and by whatever stroke of fate, Trolls and Forsaken became playable races and Pandaren, Naga, and Furbolgs did not. Some other mix could have just as easily been true, and no one would have questioned it. Worgen didn't even exist back then, of course, they were a new creation for World of Warcraft.

It would simply be inaccurate to state that Pandaren were a throw away. Our intent, going back to Warcraft III, when the vast majority of the world lore and story was established for the franchise, was always to have a deep and rich history for a race known as the Pandaren.
 
The fact that a blue has to create a post like this one to justify making the Pandaren a playable race speaks volumes about their decision.

Not all WoW players know every little detail about the lore behind the game, I'm one of those people. I had no idea that the Pandaren take up just as many pages as the Trolls do. I have to admit its rather shocking to learn this information. They simply don't fit into what is considered a mostly 'standard' MMO (by standard I mean containing trolls, elves, humans, and undead beings).
 
The fact that a blue has to create a post like this one to justify making the Pandaren a playable race speaks volumes about their decision.

Not all WoW players know every little detail about the lore behind the game, I'm one of those people. I had no idea that the Pandaren take up just as many pages as the Trolls do. I have to admit its rather shocking to learn this information. They simply don't fit into what is considered a mostly 'standard' MMO (by standard I mean containing trolls, elves, humans, and undead beings).

I think this is why there are so many "Wait..what?" reactions to MoP, at least with the last two playable races they were already in WoW. While Gilneas didn't exist as a zone there were at least Worgen around.

The Pandas are coming out of nowhere for most of the World of Warcraft players and not only as a playable race but as the focus of the expansion. I know now that they are an old race in concept but in all my questing and exploration of the World of Warcraft I haven't seen them mentioned once.
 
The fact that a blue has to create a post like this one to justify making the Pandaren a playable race speaks volumes about their decision.

Not all WoW players know every little detail about the lore behind the game, I'm one of those people. I had no idea that the Pandaren take up just as many pages as the Trolls do. I have to admit its rather shocking to learn this information. They simply don't fit into what is considered a mostly 'standard' MMO (by standard I mean containing trolls, elves, humans, and undead beings).

And I think that's why they are adding them. WoW is the 'standard' for MMOs, and has been for quite some time now, and obviously they think its time to shake some preconceptions up a bit.
 
As far as I can tell, this will be the first playable race that was originated fully in Warcraft. All other playable races can trace their roots elsewhere in the fantasy genre. Not saying this fact makes them good or bad in any way, just an observation.

The best part of all this is that if you don't like it... You don't have play it.

Unfortunately, might be taking you up on that. :/
 
I think it's a little ironic that no one second guesses Gnomes, Tauren, or Draenie, or Worgen, but the moment someone mentions Pandaren people freak out and say that that doesn't fit in the WarCraft Universe. I find that interesting, and a little amusing.

Moonkin, are you serious?

And what about the criticisms that Blizzard gets all the time about 'stealing' lore from existing stories and fiction and rehashing the 'same old stories'? Blizzard tries something new, and many of those same players criticize them for doing just what their 'fans' (I don't know what you'd actually call them) had asked for.



The fact that people even have to ask if it's a joke should be enough evidence that this expansion doesn't quite fit.

When the Lich King came out, no one said "seriously? Arthas and undead? LOL are they for real? How silly!" When Cataclysm came out, did anyone say "The sundering of the old world by Deathwing is ridiculous. I can't believe they're going this route!" No. In fact, what was felt across the WoW community (okay, more likely 95%) was nothing but excitement and everyone looking forward to it. Now you have a good bit of the population doubting the expansion, although many will "give it a try". I've just never seen this much dislike before with any WoW expansion.

I know I'll get blasted for this, and I have literally no evidence, but to me it just feels like the Blizzard first string is on their new project, and their second string is entrusted with finishing out WoW, much like a basketball team whose game is already won. Blizzard has already won with this game, time to focus on the next one?
 
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It's funny in the fact that a game where there is some obvious destruction or despair from a threat in its universe feels normal yet the time where it is at its most peaceful is perturbing people.
 
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