Poll: Mists of Pandaria - Why all the hate?

[dagens24]

They seriously can't have expected a race which started as an April Fools joke (which clearly shows they don't even take them that seriously) to be taken seriously by the WoW community.

But what really kills it for me is the fact that Pandaren are able to be BOTH Alliance and Horde. I'm all for homogenization within reason but this is too far. Hell, why not let Orcs become Alliance members, or Night Elves become Horde members? Lore? If they can come up with lore justification for Blood Elves joining the Horde then they can just as easily come up with justification for Tauren Alliance members. Hell, why not get rid of factions all together?

Yea they have been used as "in jokes" for April Fools in WoW but that's not where they were introduced.
The Pandaren Brewmaster was a playable mercenary hero in the Frozen Throne expansion for Warcraft 3.

The d20 Dungeons and Dragons Warcraft RPG Monster Manual has a handful of pages detailing the Pandaren culture and their use as player characters.

From my experience, the only reason the Pandaren are being given to both factions is because since the game first started there have been folk on both Horde and Alliance side asking for the Pandaren to be introduced as playable characters...giving it to both sides was the only way to introduce them into the game and not "screw" one faction.

The april fools joke came before the Brewmaster and the RPG materials; it was the first time pandas were ever linked to WarCraft. Samwise Didier had been doing Panda themed artwork for a while before hand, but there first ever reference in relation to WarCraft was that april fools joke; the Brewmaster was later added to the WarCraft III expansion along with the RPG materials.

 

[starslasher]

I got over WoW a couple of years ago. Initially, i was hooked on it, there was sooo much for me to explore and discover in this world of the very first RTS i've ever played (Warcraft 2). But while WotLK was good and all, i lost interest. I wasn't playing it every day, more like every other day. then once every 3 days. until I decided to not play anymore. I don't know exactly why. I haven't done everything there is to do in the game. But that magic touch just wore off, i guess. I wasn't enticed enough to buy cataclysm. So it should be obvious that Mists of Pandaria won't bring me back to their fold.

What I feel WoW needs now is just to complete it. I'm tired of having so many expansions. I hope that the developers weren't under the illusion that this could last indefinitely. I actually would consider returning to play it if they made if they made their last expansion.

 

[skywolfblue]

Why does everyone assume that the vast majority of people are quitting because of the pandas?

90% of the population who is quitting WoW are quitting because: They're board of it. The game no longer offers any incentive or excitement for them anymore. I personally quit before Cata came out for that very reason.

The only good thing is that WoW finally has dropped it's pants and reveals that they don't even try anymore.

Look, you can base an expansion of insane powerful drugaddicts, or a batman villain and Cthulhu, or Cthulhu making a Dragon Emo so that he blows up the world (well, not really), but you can't base an expansion on Pandas.

Ok, look, Russian spacegoats from hell (Draenei) is just as a ridiculous concept, but it's handled straight-faced. It's pretty damn obvious they don't try to make the pandas serously, because, well, they're based on a cartoon kids movie.

Don't give me those looks! You know I'm right. Yeah, Pandarens was in WC3 ( were they played an incredible small roll), but ok, what do we know about Pandaren based on WC3? They are Pandas, they love beer, fight with sticks, they're pretty slim and has nothing against a good brawl. And yeah, they're slim, look:

Then fast forward four years, Dreamworks makes a movie about Jack Black starring as a fat overweight Panda who bounces of things and cooks good food, and is also a monk who is about "inner peace and wisdom" and that jabber.

Let's look at the racials, shall we?
[Epicurean] Increases the stat benefits from food by 100%.
[Gourmand] Cooking skill increased by 15.
[Inner Peace] Your rested experience bonus lasts twice as long.
[Bouncy] You take 50% less falling damage.
[Quaking Palm] You touch a secret pressure point on an enemy target, putting it to sleep for 3 seconds.

Notice any patterns? Oh, and they're fat.

As a side note, I'm glad someone else noticed that. I was a little confused as to why they didn't go for the thinner Pandas like their concept art was. I don't have too much of a problem with the fat pandas, but they were less awesome then I would expect them to be. I can understand why people aren't so enthused about them.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Pandas, terrible talent revamp, and POKEMON.

Honestly though, the real reason is that MoP looks very 'Meh' and for the first time in WoW's history, there's another viable MMO on the market (SWTOR). Yea yea, Rift, Aion, whatever. Those games were not legit contenders the way SWTOR will be.

 

[Baralak]

You know, I don't even play WoW, but I have one major complaint against the expansion: The WoW game directors a few years ago flatout said there would be no monk or martial artist type character class in the game, because it doesn't fit with the idea of WoW. this is them directly going against their word, and on principal, I don't like that.

 

[Baldr]

First off as part of Lore, anyone who says they are not part of the Lore should read this:
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/03/know-your-lore-the-pandaren/
It was written over a year before the Mist of Pandria announcement.

As for the Pokemon stuff? I think it is a brilliant idea. They have these, 200 pets in the game that do absolutely nothing but stand there. Do something fun with, I know copy one of the most success RPGs of all time, that a lot of people enjoy. THEY ARE NOT FORCING PEOPLE TO PLAY THIS, If you don't like it fine, there are no special perks people get for doing this that effects things outside that system. It just add a ton of content for people who enjoy that sorta thing.

 

[Furioso]

The game has very rapidly devolved into being about references (An entire quest zone revolving around a lame Indiana Jones parody? Really?) so Pandas isn't too far off base, but I think the problem lies with how the other expansions were. The first one has you saving the world from an invasion by the demon armies, the second one has you taking down the lich king and his armies of undead, the third one has you stopping one of the dragon aspects from literally shattering the world, and the fourth one... pandas.... way to stop the epic train

 

[Jdb]

I don't like it because I expect it to continue the habit of slashing planned content. I wasn't too concerned when it first happened to the Eye of Eternity and Utgarde Pinnacle raids before Wrath of the Lich King's release. But it happened again with Cataclysm - And not just before Cataclysm's release, but after its release too! Remember when Cataclysm was supposed to have the largest raiding scene yet? Ha ha ha!

I expect pet battles to be cut before Mists of Pandaria's release. After its release I think the Monk's combo-based gameplay will be removed and replaced with a system similar to Death Knight's, Paladins, or a hybrid of the two because too many people think it's hard.