We've known the pandas were a real thing since early summer. They've been in the Warcraft universe since Samwise Didier and Metzen added them to Warcraft 3 back in 2003.
I totally understand canceling your account, but Pandarens are awesome. :)
We've known they were real. We couldn't be certain that they would be a WoW expansion. And we couldn't be certain about when this game would be released.
I was convinced that Blizzard wouldn't go so far. Why can't they just make a new game when they want to make a new game ?
I mean... The poor community, the bad journey/reward scale, the horrible leveling experience etc. and you quit over pandas? Doesn't make much sense, to be honest.
Novead, I wrote a lot about how important the simulation is for me. Now, to neglect the simulation in favour of gameplay is one thing.
But to make WoW simulate something I don't want to experience is another. I wouldn't play a game about puppies tickling each other even if it had the best abstract gameplay in the world and I won't play a game with Pandas.
I endured Mr. T and Haris Pilton. I even endured these stupid pumpkins people throw at me in the game and which transform my head into a pumpkin during halloween !
But I won't endure an entire expansion about Pandas. Besides, 90% of the rest of the announcements are crap, too. I'll probably have a post about that by tomorrow.
Most of the stuff sounds pretty horrible. I was actually going to complain a lot about silly things like pet battles. (WTF is that about?!)
One thing, however, caught my attention. The mistweaver. A melee healer. Now that would be completely awesome. I have absolutely no idea how they want to make that work in their framework though.
From all the things I've seen so far, that is the only saving grace. And will probably the main reason I won't just straight out cancel my RSS subscriptions to sites such as MMO Champion, just to see what they'll be up to with that.
Nils, the Pandaren have a solid place in Warcraft myth. They have a robust history, and the player base is fairly conscious of them. They've been constantly floating around as the potential subject of a new expansion.
To me, then, it's not particularly jarring to see them take such a prominent role. You may or may not be interested in reading more about them:
I understand your aversion to pandas. (At first I was like is this a joke?) But I would bet good money you will play MOP. Your curiosity and the sheer amount of habit energy accumulated by thousands of hours of play will bring you back ;) And it just may rock. Sounds like The Devs have learned from their mistakes with Cata,
Personal tastes are personal so i am sure it was the right decision for you.
There are many reasons to play WoW and certainly many reasons not to. But because of the dozens, hundreds?, of pop cultural references in WoW, I do not see pandas as a huge deal. ( I was originally a bit surprised/disappointed when I read that SWTOR would be pop-free, then I decided that was a very good decision to not start down that road. But WoW is already in deep. )
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"Show me the money" - regardless of pandas, I was expecting an Asian-based theme after the Norse and Egyptian themes of the last two expansions. Blizzard just releases world-wide subscription numbers; there are rumors that Asian (e.g. mainland China) numbers are proping up US/E . Asian themes would not seem to hurt revenue amongst a large potential market that may be growing faster.
Showing some attention to pets would not be a huge surprise considering how much I read about the famed BioWare companions. But those pet battles??? I guess Bliz segmented the WoW population. The people who don't raid in Cata (and perhaps did in LK) probably are more likely to have pets. Many, many players who are not me keep wanting "minigames" I even read suggestions about adding a mini game to EVE mining (ugh.) Still, the mounts and pets have been good RMT profit so I see the logic.
I can't blame you. I have no idea of what those pandas have to do with the world of Azeroth. It's just out of place and as many have said - targeting a different audience. Small children.
I quit the game for good before summer. It turned out to be way easier than I had imagined. While I still miss some people in the blogosphere I don't miss the game at all. Been there, done that.
I haven't felt any urge to start playing another MMO yet. We'll see if it changes with time, but for the time being I'm doing other things, such as levelling myself learning iaodo (japanese swordfighting). It's actually way more fulfilling and rewarding than raising your weapon skill hitting the same thing over and over again on a screen. (I know that's been taken away, but well... you get the sense of it.)
I hope you'll be happy too with your panda-free life.
PS I'm surprised they didn't launch a dolphine race at the same time. I figure they'll save it for the next expansion. Followed by fluffy squirrels. Just imagine the merchendise they can do!
What's so childish about pandas? It's an animal. A bear. It lives in China. I really don't get it. What, watching a show about pandas on Animal Planet is childish too?
They're not out of place, either. Pandaren has been in the Warcraft universe since 2002 or so.
I'm not affected either way by the introduction of Pandaren. Why would I? It's just another Warcraft race making it's (quite delayed) way into the game. Draenei was much worse, in my opinion. They had to change a lot of the old lore to make them fit into the story.
Some people think that pink cats with glasses should not be part of horror movies. Other people think that they are perfect for horror movies. We are different.
I think that pandas don't fit into the style of WoW. Period. There's nothing you can say to convince me, because this is not a matter of logic. This is how I feel.
I don't care that some kind of panda apparently appeared half a lifetime ago in some WoW game. I'm not a lore buff. The warcraft lore never interested me much. I care about the style of that lore. The style of the world my char 'lives' in. And this style has to appeal to me.
And it's not like there are going to be a few pandas suddenly. No: the entire expansion will take place in Pandaland, just like WotLK took place in Northrend. Pandas will be everywhere. Their style will be everywhere. Did you take a look at the instances ?
I wouldn't play this game even if it had the best gameplay in the world, because I don't like the style.
Most interesting is that they have double rested XP as a racial which makes them the perfect twink alt. (Perfect if you like to have a twink to not play it...)
Seams to go in line with your "hardcores ruined WoW" post series as they will be able to twink even faster.
What a coincidence - my subscription to your blog just expired, and I'm not going to renew it, either. :P
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean you are going to stop your monthly transaction ? :)
ReplyDeleteWe've known the pandas were a real thing since early summer. They've been in the Warcraft universe since Samwise Didier and Metzen added them to Warcraft 3 back in 2003.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand canceling your account, but Pandarens are awesome. :)
We've known they were real. We couldn't be certain that they would be a WoW expansion. And we couldn't be certain about when this game would be released.
ReplyDeleteI was convinced that Blizzard wouldn't go so far. Why can't they just make a new game when they want to make a new game ?
I can understand any complaints about the expansion and it's content. But pandas?
ReplyDeleteThis is a game with walking, talking cows and spacegoats riding mecha-chickens. How can pandas be any worse?
I mean... The poor community, the bad journey/reward scale, the horrible leveling experience etc. and you quit over pandas? Doesn't make much sense, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteNovead, I wrote a lot about how important the simulation is for me. Now, to neglect the simulation in favour of gameplay is one thing.
ReplyDeleteBut to make WoW simulate something I don't want to experience is another. I wouldn't play a game about puppies tickling each other even if it had the best abstract gameplay in the world and I won't play a game with Pandas.
I endured Mr. T and Haris Pilton. I even endured these stupid pumpkins people throw at me in the game and which transform my head into a pumpkin during halloween !
But I won't endure an entire expansion about Pandas. Besides, 90% of the rest of the announcements are crap, too. I'll probably have a post about that by tomorrow.
The race they're adding originated as an April Fool's joke. It would be equivalent to SW:TOR storyline being based on the Star Wars Holiday Special.
ReplyDeleteThen again, it's Warcraft. The setting has been incoherent mess for such a long time, there's really nothing left to destroy. Anything goes I guess.
Most of the stuff sounds pretty horrible. I was actually going to complain a lot about silly things like pet battles. (WTF is that about?!)
ReplyDeleteOne thing, however, caught my attention. The mistweaver. A melee healer. Now that would be completely awesome. I have absolutely no idea how they want to make that work in their framework though.
From all the things I've seen so far, that is the only saving grace. And will probably the main reason I won't just straight out cancel my RSS subscriptions to sites such as MMO Champion, just to see what they'll be up to with that.
Welcome to the club. It took you long enough. Although I do think pandas are cool.
ReplyDelete@Nils: "simulation" and "WoW" should never appear in the same phrase :)
ReplyDeleteIf you want a world, go play LotRO (or Ryzom).
I look forward to the game changes. PvE scenarios sounds a lot like skirmishes, and new talent system can only be good.
Nils, the Pandaren have a solid place in Warcraft myth. They have a robust history, and the player base is fairly conscious of them. They've been constantly floating around as the potential subject of a new expansion.
ReplyDeleteTo me, then, it's not particularly jarring to see them take such a prominent role. You may or may not be interested in reading more about them:
http://www.wowpedia.org/Pandaren
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/21/world-of-warcrafts-samwise-didier-talks-about-finally-bringing/
I'm pumped, personally. :)
Pandas and pet battles aside, the rest of the announcements were actually good, IMO.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Path of the Titans actually sounded good at the time too and it never went Live.
I understand your aversion to pandas. (At first I was like is this a joke?) But I would bet good money you will play MOP. Your curiosity and the sheer amount of habit energy accumulated by thousands of hours of play will bring you back ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd it just may rock. Sounds like The Devs have learned from their mistakes with Cata,
Personal tastes are personal so i am sure it was the right decision for you.
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons to play WoW and certainly many reasons not to. But because of the dozens, hundreds?, of pop cultural references in WoW, I do not see pandas as a huge deal. ( I was originally a bit surprised/disappointed when I read that SWTOR would be pop-free, then I decided that was a very good decision to not start down that road. But WoW is already in deep. )
-----
"Show me the money" - regardless of pandas, I was expecting an Asian-based theme after the Norse and Egyptian themes of the last two expansions. Blizzard just releases world-wide subscription numbers; there are rumors that Asian (e.g. mainland China) numbers are proping up US/E . Asian themes would not seem to hurt revenue amongst a large potential market that may be growing faster.
Showing some attention to pets would not be a huge surprise considering how much I read about the famed BioWare companions. But those pet battles??? I guess Bliz segmented the WoW population. The people who don't raid in Cata (and perhaps did in LK) probably are more likely to have pets. Many, many players who are not me keep wanting "minigames" I even read suggestions about adding a mini game to EVE mining (ugh.) Still, the mounts and pets have been good RMT profit so I see the logic.
If we agree to subscribe to your blog for 12-months, will you throw in TOR coverage at no additional charge? Have you decided on your AC yet?
ReplyDeleteI can't blame you. I have no idea of what those pandas have to do with the world of Azeroth. It's just out of place and as many have said - targeting a different audience. Small children.
ReplyDeleteI quit the game for good before summer. It turned out to be way easier than I had imagined. While I still miss some people in the blogosphere I don't miss the game at all. Been there, done that.
I haven't felt any urge to start playing another MMO yet. We'll see if it changes with time, but for the time being I'm doing other things, such as levelling myself learning iaodo (japanese swordfighting). It's actually way more fulfilling and rewarding than raising your weapon skill hitting the same thing over and over again on a screen. (I know that's been taken away, but well... you get the sense of it.)
I hope you'll be happy too with your panda-free life.
PS I'm surprised they didn't launch a dolphine race at the same time. I figure they'll save it for the next expansion. Followed by fluffy squirrels. Just imagine the merchendise they can do!
ReplyDeleteWhat's so childish about pandas? It's an animal. A bear. It lives in China. I really don't get it. What, watching a show about pandas on Animal Planet is childish too?
ReplyDeleteThey're not out of place, either. Pandaren has been in the Warcraft universe since 2002 or so.
I'm not affected either way by the introduction of Pandaren. Why would I? It's just another Warcraft race making it's (quite delayed) way into the game. Draenei was much worse, in my opinion. They had to change a lot of the old lore to make them fit into the story.
Some people think that pink cats with glasses should not be part of horror movies. Other people think that they are perfect for horror movies. We are different.
ReplyDeleteI think that pandas don't fit into the style of WoW. Period. There's nothing you can say to convince me, because this is not a matter of logic. This is how I feel.
I don't care that some kind of panda apparently appeared half a lifetime ago in some WoW game. I'm not a lore buff. The warcraft lore never interested me much. I care about the style of that lore. The style of the world my char 'lives' in. And this style has to appeal to me.
And it's not like there are going to be a few pandas suddenly. No: the entire expansion will take place in Pandaland, just like WotLK took place in Northrend. Pandas will be everywhere. Their style will be everywhere. Did you take a look at the instances ?
I wouldn't play this game even if it had the best gameplay in the world, because I don't like the style.
Most interesting is that they have double rested XP as a racial which makes them the perfect twink alt. (Perfect if you like to have a twink to not play it...)
ReplyDeleteSeams to go in line with your "hardcores ruined WoW" post series as they will be able to twink even faster.