Pandaren are a nice touch, but not made for Warcraft

[Elementalkin]

Is he role-playing? I don't get it.

[kage]

back in '05 there was a page with leaked dev notes and already at that point it was known that this expansion will have pandaren.
I do not find that page anymore, but to this day, blizz stuck to these dev notes pretty accurately.

If your talking about the one I think you are it's a fake. Author confessed and everything. It was fairly convincing. I could be thinking of a totally different thing of course.

[Zenny]

Just ignore the OP, judging by his post history he hasn't enjoyed anything Blizzard has done since Warcraft 3. His points are asinine and he doesn't even play the game anymore.

[JayJay09]

Get used to it. Every game and gaming company does something, or implements a new feature into a game that people don't like. Guess what though? You'll keep on playing, and that's all that matters to Blizzard. This isn't a new theme, though. I remember when TBC was announced, and people were flipping out over the fact that Draenei and Blood Elves were being added. So this is nothing new. Just deal with it, or go play something else.

I am still lvl 86. I only care about BGs.. Rumour tells me that PvP balance is pure bullshit. So, my motivation to play this game is very low and this pandaland lvling is just not my thing. I don't like the ambiente. It disturbs me.

Yes, I will still play this game. But with huge gaps. It will take a while for me to get to lvl 90. There is just very little that gives me the WoW feeling I know. It decreased in WotLK and Cata, but was still there.. Pandas? I do not give a damn about them.

[quras]

totally agree with this. That's the main reason of why I like this expansionso much.
I was kinda tired of continuos dark, gritty places and the sensation of this ongoing and continuos "have to save the world" thing.

Not that I want to be "continuosly" peaceful, but there must need a moment of peace and calm at some point.
Pandaren fit nicely in a world full of animalistic races (Tauren, Furbolg, Draenei, Naga, and so on.)

And I never understood the "was a joke" reasoning, it kinda bugs me
It's like I make a joke wanting to be a medic and then in the future decide to actually follow the profession and having people coming at me "OH COME ON MAN, YOU JOKED ON IT 5 YEARS AGO, YOU CAN'T BE MEDIC NOW"

Sorry but you can't take the Ronald McDonald of the Warcraft universe and the joke he has become ( years after he was introduced ) and then try to turn him into some heroic warrior.

They were an Easter egg with rid bits of wow lore throw together that ultimately ended up as the best April fools Joke ever.

Pandas, the Ronald McDonald's of Warcraft.

[Didactic]

Personally, I think the Pandaren were executed perfectly. They are humorous without being silly, and retain that edge of badassery that makes them cool.

[Nindoriel]

Personally, I think the Pandaren were executed perfectly. They are humorous without being silly, and retain that edge of badassery that makes them cool.

Agree totally.

[Kuthe]

Eh they look okay in the world.
I just hate how they are neutral, and I see horde and alliance pandas.
So annoying.

I see them before their names, have to make sure they aren't coming after me.

[Immitis]

Sorry but you can't take the Ronald McDonald of the Warcraft universe and the joke he has become ( years after he was introduced ) and then try to turn him into some heroic warrior.

They were an Easter egg with rid bits of wow lore throw together that ultimately ended up as the best April fools Joke ever.

Pandas, the Ronald McDonald's of Warcraft.

pandaren are the mascots of wow?

[XepNes]

That character was a side-joke, never intended to be a serious race.

You could unlock Chen through completing the secret level and you could buy Brewmaster in normal games from the Tavern. Pandaren was a serious race, but haven't been a main focus. Since they have been shrouded in mist since forever (the sundering).

As for why they choose sides, it's because the pandas native to the turtle is different from the ones native from Pandaria after all these years. There is a storytime with lorewalker Cho when he talks about how the wandering turtle came to be. None of the factions of Pandaria have chosen sides in this war, only the ones from the wandering turtle have.

[quras]

pandaren are the mascots of wow?

They are this expansion and what a sad joke they turned out to be but then again blizzard did turn the entire race into an April fools joke well after there introduction.

[Immitis]

They are this expansion and what a sad joke they turned out to be but then again blizzard did turn the entire race into an April fools joke well after there introduction.

someone doesnt know what there talking about

[MistaKanista]

I love it how people put so much emphasis on "omg its the World of WARcraft" yes it IS the world of warcraft but, the whole franchise isnt about the conflict between alliance and horde.

Its about fighting the Burning Legion !

Warcraft I:
The humans of Stormwind fail to defend their city against the Old Horde which is a TOOL of the Burning Legion (Note there was no Alliance at that point)

Warcraft II:
The humans manage to push back the Old Horde through the portal they came from into Draenor, still they are fighting the Old Horde tools of the BURNING LEGION.

Warcraft III:
Thrall founds the new Horde under the warning of Medivh who is trying to redeem himself after being possessed by Sargeras, Lord of the Burning Legion.
The fight against the Scourge begins which, once again, is a TOOL of the Burning Legion.
Archimonde manages to enter Azeroth tries to destroy Nordrassil the races band together to prevent the destruction of our home.

See a pattern there ?

The whole game is about the conflict with the Burning Legion not about the faction war. And if we are ever going to free ourselves from the Harrassement of the Burning Legion we have to band together, for the good of all of Azeroth.

The point of this expansion is to teach us all that this mindless conflict needs to come to an end so we can stand strong and vanquish the real threat here.
The Pandaren and their nature fit in PERFECTLY into world of warcraft. They are here to remind us of just that thing, thats what the cinematic was about and thats what this whole expansion is about.....

The Calm before the STORM.

[Drfireburns]

They are this expansion and what a sad joke they turned out to be but then again blizzard did turn the entire race into an April fools joke well after there introduction.

No, an April fools joke would be cows.

[Kanath]

I find the whole asian/panda/harmony theme very enjoyable, and fitting for an expansion supposed to be a bit different from the previous ones.

[LordDios]

in the words of a pandaren female ' all these talking animals are stupid' :P

[quras]

someone doesnt know what there talking about

Clearly there are 2 of us it seems.

Some decisions are harder to come back from than others.

Blizzard turning this race into an April fools joke after its introduction ( and the timing of a more popular character with striking similarities ) tainted this race more than most are willing to agree with and yet it's seen as a joke by many.

Sometimes there are things even in games that cross the line of playability. Pandas seem to have crossed That line for some players.

He'll, as a long time wow player I don't think players in any great number were asking for pandas that I can recall ever seeing. At least in the past number of years anyway.

Maybe the phrase, " they were the most requested race." Is cause no other race was requested.

[unholytestament]

Blizzard turning this race into an April fools joke after its introduction ( and the timing of a more popular character with striking similarities ) tainted this race more than most are willing to agree with and yet it's seen as a joke by many.

Isn't it adorable that there are people who take jokes so seriously? "IT WAS A JOKE, NOW IT CAN NEVER BE SERIOUS!!!!!!1 YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!"

No. You're going to have to stop being willfully ignorant of all the jokes Blizzard have made over their franchises and realize that they can and will joke about anything and that jokes have no impact on the actual things they wish to put into the game.

Sometimes there are things even in games that cross the line of playability. Pandas seem to have crossed That line for some players.

Well then "some players" are going to have to face the fact that Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne happened and it had pandas.

[Immitis]

Maybe the phrase, " they were the most requested race." Is cause no other race was requested.

list of most asked for things in wow since vanilla, pandaren, demon hunters, death knights, goblins, ogres, naga, high elves/blood elves.

[ragnarokvr1]

The OP is not saying Pandaren are childish or something. What he is saying is that their attitude feels weird for World of Warcraft. I play this game to escape the real world, I don't want my half leveling process to 90 to be chasing vermin from farmlands, watering crops and making beer, yet most of it is exactly like this. I also feel that this expansion is just a pause to the real game and I don't really approve it, because it doesn't feel like WoW to me.

That pretty much sums it up.