Mists of Pandaria

As many of my readers know, I am a huge fan (some might say fanatic) of the Warcraft fantasy universe. I've played World of Warcraft for a total of about 4.5 years, and it actually moved me to create my own fantasy universe that I use for writing a novel (but don't hold your breath on reading it) and basic DnD campaigns. Warcraft has inspired me and given me a lot of creative energy.

Anyway, I haven't played WoW for a few months because I've wised up and begun to focus more on my studies. However, at this year's BlizzCon, Blizzard unveiled an amazing preview of their latest expansion, titled "World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria".

The first time I saw this preview, I had to leave the room because I was geeking out so hard, I was making some squawking noise like a strangled turkey. I am deeply interested in Chinese culture and folklore, so I'm ecstatic that Blizzard is integrating that into a new expansion. As I told a few of my friends, "It's as though Blizzard made an entire expansion just for me." The expansion adds a lot of new content, and based on the preview and the live tests they had available at BlizzCon, I can tell they have already put a lot of work into it.

The first major change is the addition of a new playable race: The Pandaren. The Pandaren actually started out in Warcraft III as an April Fool's joke for Reign of Chaos, and had actually made it into the game as an Easter egg that was a common joke for players. However, the surprising result was that a lot of players had expressed great interest in the Pandaren. So, as a result, subtle references to the race found their ways into Warcraft, World of Warcraft, and its subsequent expansions. Blizzard even made available a small non-combat pet called the Pandaren Monk! A lot of players had been pushing for Pandaren as a playable race (including yours truly) and now we finally have the chance!

Because, really, he's too cute NOT to let him kick your ass.

Pandaren are unique in many ways. Perhaps the most prominent way is that they are the game's first race that starts off neutral between the Alliance and the Horde, and the player will choose which faction to devote themselves to at level 10. This, politically speaking, will have huge repercussions on the World of Warcraft. The Pandaren nation themselves will be torn into pieces, with half being pitted against the others. The Alliance and Horde will compete over the allegiance of as many Pandaren as possible, because they are powerful-- Oh, boy, are they powerful.

"Take THAT, asshole!"

Another new feature is a new playable class, the Monk, pictured above. This makes Mists of Pandaria the only expansion thus far to include both a new class and a new race. The Monk will be able to perform all three of the necessary roles to raid successfully: the Tank, the Healer and the Damage. The roles even have spazzy names-- The Brewmaster, Mistweaver and Windwalker. The Monk will utilize a new resource system called "chi" (I'm a stickler and still say it should be spelled qi), along with dark force and light force (presumably meant to represent yin and yang energy, respectively).

"Your cup's too full."

A whole new continent will open up, called (you guess it) Pandaria and it, as you could probably tell from the preview, has a very heavy Eastern influence, specifically taking lots and lots of inspiration from ancient China. It will place more emphasis on exploring the environment, which was prevalent when WoW first began but has dwindled in past years. It seems like if Cataclysm brought people back to WoW's roots in terms of what areas they play in, Mists of Pandaria is going to do that in terms of how they interact with the world around them.

I haven't played WoW for a long time, but as Michael Corleone said, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" Once the play is over with and my classes become my number one priority again (as opposed to everything having to be my top priority), I'll be able to get back into WoW to get my bearings just in time to sit back and enjoy the ride into Pandaria.




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Thanks for reading. Stay human, my friends.