Mists of Pandaria Asian Chinese style expansion

[ragnarokvr1]

Nothing about crapdaria promotes Warcraft naturally, everything feels forced and out of sync with the rest of the game.

I wouldn't mind crapdaria being its own game, crapdarens are cute and cuddly, but mixed with Warcraft is like listening to a song that stops at the 4th minute then resumes 3 minutes later (next expansion).

I wish Samwise would've kept his trap shut, not everything he does is golden.

[killidan]

I don't know how many ways I can say this...

Ther were no elves, dwarves, gnomes, trolls, or ogres before Warcraft II. In the original Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the only two races on Azeroth were orcs and humans.

There were no night elves, tauren, naga, murlocs, satyr, tuskarr, Kalimdor, Northrend, Burning Legion, etc. before Warcraft III. They simply did not exist in the Warcraft universe until Warcraft III was released.

My post clearly says they share a universe BEFORE WC. I will leave you alone to go explore and google the meaning of the word "BEFORE".

You may want to also check out Tolkien, D&D, and other stuff that has elves, dwarves and such BEFORE Blizzard created WC.

---------- Post added 2013-02-24 at 03:07 PM ----------

I'm not asian. I like the theme.

Why is the asian theme any worse than the european theme of stormwind or the native american theme of thunderbluff?

Asian theme is not worse.

It is too much of a copy paste than inspired and it is too dominating the continent and expansion unlike any other world culture did in earlier expansions.

[Nagassh]

I have to second the OP and agree it's over-done.

The rest of the darn expansion will be in this style too ... /sigh

Wah? The next patch's Dino-land stands on it's own two legs without drawing too heavily in the Asian themes just fine, sure the Mogu bits still have it - but the trolls and dinosaurs are pretty far removed.

I doubt when we go and raid org to beat up Garrosh he'll be standing around in a rice paddy hat and a chinese dress either.

I can understand people not liking the Asian thematics, but I find it hard to believe people are complaining about "oh woe is me the whole content has that theme!". Yeah, and? You'd prefer the TBC / Cata system where each zone is a complete mess with no ties?

As it stands Pandaria is a nice, cohesive continent that actually feels like a proper place - if it was made of a collage of different thematic tones it would be a complete mess.

[killidan]

...
Blizzard can't win everybody over, but they sure did a decent job of winning me over. I was literally ready to not even buy the expansion until I played in the beta.

They did a good job of losing subs as well. This could have been a turnaround opportunity for this old old game that is now wasted.

[AbalDarkwind]

First, on the mantid and Dread Wastes.

-SNIP-
That said, Dread wastes is, visually, the best zone in Pandaria simply because it's slightly different then the rest... just not different enough.

That's a well though-out and researched attempt. I applaud your efforts! However, I have to say that much of the evidence you present is flimsy at best. Although the Sha do seem to be based off of the idea of sha from feng shui, the only real symbolism between the Mantid and China is that the mantis has some Chinese significance in mysticism and astrology. However, I do not see much connection between the Dread Wastes and the links you have to the Chinese version of Hell.

Well you're right about cohesion, it has to have some cohesion, they could have simply done something similar to Scholazar, so to say a zone where pandaren never wandered because... it was underground. Maybe they found an ancient cave or something. I don't know, as I said, I just wanted a bit more options then what there are in MoP. Maybe I'm seeing it from a superficial way, but this is how I see the issue. If people like it, I'm glad they do, I just don't feel any connection to it, unlike with previous expansions.

Technically, the Isle of Giants in the next patch is, basically, the Un'Goro/Sholazar Basin of Pandaria. Not to mention that the Isle of Thunder is made up of entirely Mogu, Saurok, and the Zandalari.

No it's not, it's the only sensible observation to make. Not seeing it would be burying your head in the sand.

Only if you are culturally bankrupt and can't tell the difference between China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and fantasy places such as the Dread Wastes and even the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, other than the Pandaren immigrating there. Yes, the Pandaren and their architecture are based off of China. The Pandaren aren't the only race in Pandaria, and you don't even address Mogu architecture, Mantid architecture, Yaungol architecture, Hozen and Jinyu architecture, etc.

You're stuck on the Pandaren because that's all you want to see because they are the only race that actually supports your argument.

They did a good job of losing subs as well. This could have been a turnaround opportunity for this old old game that is now wasted.

They did gain subs. They gained 1 million from Cataclysm. They lost 400K since then. That's still a net gain of 600K subs which is more than the subs of entire other games in the genre. Math's hard, I know.

[jishdefish]

I wish we'd get a steampunk-themed expansion. >_> Goblins and Gnomes and Engineering on every one of my alts isn't enough!

But yeah, on topic, I think Pandaria's okay. I'm not irritated, per se, but I am getting a little tired of "Mogu this" and "Mogu that". At least Northrend had an abundance of stories to tell (Ulduar was a refreshing break from the war against the Undead), but this land only has two or three conflicts. (Sha/Horde/Alliance, Bugs/Sha/Pandaren, and Mogu/Trolls/Pandaren).

[killidan]

I did a list similar to this recently this was my idea.

Night elves = Asian with welsh druid theme
Tauren = Native American
Worgens = English
Orcs = American (Lets face it everything they touch gets destroyed)
Gnomes = Irish
Dwarfs = Scottish
Undead = Nazi Germany
Blood Elves = Swedish (Blonde thing)
Human = America/GB i suppose
Goblin = Pakistani/Indian (they seem to own everything and are always rich)
Draenie = Spanish
Pandaren = Chinese
Troll = Jamaican

Just the way i see things.

You are seeing things that are just not there. "Blood elves = Swedish, Blond thing" made me laugh.

Night elves = Asian with welsh druid theme
No, Night Elves are tall with ancient western architecture with columns and such, hence they bear no resemblance to Asians. Besides, which Asians would you suggest Night Elves are?

Tauren = Native American
OK, may be obvious to Americans. I realized it after reading it on forums.

Worgens = English
Never played, I was told this is based on accent. I do not see any similarity in their looks or their architecture to English.

Orcs = American (Lets face it everything they touch gets destroyed)
What?!?! lol

Gnomes = Irish
No. Irish are tall, I met quite a few. Mostly blond/red. Irish are NOT industrial and fond of machines. That could have been Germans perhaps.

Dwarfs = Scottish
Their music could remind me of that, but also of any other medieval English music. You give no details whatsoever as to why you think they resemble a real world culture.

Undead = Nazi Germany
??? In a very general concept of destructiveness, maybe. In any other respect, there is no resemblance.

Blood Elves = Swedish (Blonde thing)
lol no

Human = America/GB i suppose
Could be any European, but it's an american company, so I'll take this one.

Goblin = Pakistani/Indian (they seem to own everything and are always rich)
Pakistan and India are very poor countries.

Draenie = Spanish
They have more of a Russian accent.

Pandaren = Chinese
No doubt about THAT!

Troll = Jamaican
Haitian? Aztec? Mayan? Could be any MesoAmerican. Again, not obvious to me until I read about it on forums, but I guess obvious to Americans as they live nearby.

[VelmuVeera]

I don't like the asian theme either tbh. I like asian culture to some extent but whole pandaria being a wannabe china is pretty annoying. It is indeed beautifully made but I've liked every other expansions themes better, though the pandaria areas are better than the cata ones. I liked tbcs scifi / high-fantasy theme the most even though I'm no fan of that kind of a stuff usually. I liked wotlks undead / nordic theme as well, though it wasn't as good as tbc. In cata I liked Vashj'ir and Deepholm to some extent but overall it was pretty meh.

[killidan]

As has been noted in several posts, if you played Horde in Vanilla you discovered Chen's lost kegs in the Barrens. Your failure to notice does not mean they weren't. You seem a bit thick, so let me repeat that in terms that might make a dent on you ... IN VANILLA!
.

I did not play Horde.

I also discovered Paris Hilton selling bags in Shattrath. Should we make a whole expansion on Paris Hilton and Hilton hotels?

You may not understand and think I am thick. I'd feel offended if I didn't have a PhD from a top 3 university.

Still reported though ))

[voidspark]

They did a good job of losing subs as well. This could have been a turnaround opportunity for this old old game that is now wasted.

The subs were mainly lost by dailies, not by the expansion. That is obvious if you realize that subs went up dramatically on launch despite the widespread knowledge of the Asian theme from beta/advertisements.

The subs then went back down once Dailycraft set in; Blizzard's stubborn stance on dailies was what led to them pissing away their chance for a full-on revival.

No it's not, it's the only sensible observation to make. Not seeing it would be burying your head in the sand.

Reading your posts, you have quite a bitter attitude. Perhaps you need to take a lesson from these "zen"/"meditation"/etc. monks in game and just chill the hell out.

It is too much of a copy paste than inspired and it is too dominating the continent and expansion unlike any other world culture did in earlier expansions.

Can you actually elaborate instead of just copy-pasting the words "copy paste" because honestly, I didn't feel over-dominated whatsoever nor was I aware the Asian culture was that immersed until I started reading these threads bitching about it.

I mean sure, the NPC names are Chinese (some of them), and sure the expansion is obviously based on Asia, but I didn't feel I was breathing in Asian air while playing the game whatsoever.

[Wayne25uk]

Night elves are a mixture of Asian and Norse, with some European paganism and druidism thrown in. There's also some Greek in their architecture. They also draw on the typical "wood elf" fantasy trope, usually juxtaposed with high elves.

Worgen are based on Victorian England, period.

Orcs have Mongolian and Japanese inspiration, and also have a little bit of non-specific inspiration from various tribal, shamanic societies in the Americas and Africa.

Gnomes are not based on any specific culture. Rather, they're inspired by the general interpretation of gnomes as tinkers, inventors, and creators of clockwork contraptions (particularily in Everquest). Some heavy steam punk was thrown in.

Dwarves are strongly inspired by Gaelic and Celtic culture, as has become the Fantasy standard.

Undead are simply undead humans, with bit of pop culture monster stuff thrown in. Some of their new architecture does have a Gothic flair, with flying butresses and equilateral arch‎es.

Blood elves mainly draw on the standard "high elf" trope (as opposed to "wood elf"). Their architecture is actually Arabic (minarets, throw pillows and hookahs, curtains instead of doors) with a bit of high fantasy thrown in (floating buildings, magic crystals).

Humans are general medieval fantasy with European buildings.

Goblins are non-specific, but inspired mostly by organized crime in pop culture. Kezan was inspired by Grand Theft Auto, their accents were inspired by the Sopranos and Jersey Shore, etc. Also some steam punk and deisel punk in there.

Draenei are very loosely inspired by the Romani people (gypsies) though it doesn't extend far beyond being nomads with Eastern European accents. In general, they're an exercise in high fantasy (dimensional fortress, giant crystals, sci-fi elements).

Pandaren are Han Dynsaty Chinese.

Trolls are based on assorted Carribean cultures, including Jaimaican.


Bonus round: Naga are Greek and Indian/Hindu. Ethereals are Arabic. Qiraji and nerubians are Egyptian. Tuskarr are Inuit. Vrykul are Norse. Centaur and yaungol are Mongolian. Mogu are Qin Dynasty Chinese. Titans are virtually the entire Pantheon of human mythology, including (at least) Norse, Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese deities.

Nothing to do with WoW but to your comment mainly,but my brother is working on Grand Theft Auto 5 not important i know but i like to brag.

He also made past GTAs from Liberty City Stories and Onwards.

[Mirishka]

Topic comes off as a bit racist, IMO.

---------- Post added 2013-02-24 at 03:31 PM ----------

Nothing to do with WoW but to your comment mainly,but my brother is working on Grand Theft Auto 5 not important i know but i like to brag.

He also made past GTAs from Liberty City Stories and Onwards.

It really isn't 'bragging' when it isn't your accomplishment. Also, kinda irrelevant to the discussion.

[AbalDarkwind]

Night elves = Asian with welsh druid theme
No, Night Elves are tall with ancient western architecture with columns and such, hence they bear no resemblance to Asians. Besides, which Asians would you suggest Night Elves are?

No, you're thinking of the ancient Night Elves. Modern Night Elves are very much based off of Korean arcitecture other than the Temple of the Moon: http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Craftsm...errace.jpg?c=1

Worgens = English
Never played, I was told this is based on accent. I do not see any similarity in their looks or their architecture to English.

Victorian-era England: http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Gilneas_TCG.jpg?c=1

Hell, even the Wolf-Man myth has connections to Victorian-era England.

Dwarfs = Scottish
Their music could remind me of that, but also of any other medieval English music. You give no details whatsoever as to why you think they resemble a real world culture.

Their accents, perhaps? Their love of beer? Their short temper? Those are all stereotypical traits of the Scottish.

Undead = Nazi Germany
??? In a very general concept of destructiveness, maybe. In any other respect, there is no resemblance.

Sylvanas conducts the Forsaken government in a very Facist manner. All of the Forsaken follow her unquestionably, similar to the Nazis and Adolf Hitler. She also wants to eliminate an entire race of people, namely Humans.

Troll = Jamaican
Haitian? Aztec? Mayan? Could be any MesoAmerican. Again, not obvious to me until I read about it on forums, but I guess obvious to Americans as they live nearby.

The Darkspear Trolls, in particular, are based on various cultures from the Caribbean. Their accent, voodoo, even their chief spirit, Bwonsamedi, is based off of Baron Samedi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Samedi. Other Troll tribes are based off of Meso-American cultures such as the Mayans and Aztecs.

You were spot on on debunking the others, though.

[voidspark]

Topic comes off as a bit racist, IMO.

If you notice the argument every racist gives is that the culture they hate is "taking over," "dominating," "encroaching" and all that shit when in reality, they are just completely ignorant and closed-minded. Funny that those words are exactly the argument said "anti-Asian-culture" people are spewing / "copy pasting" in this thread over and over again.

I do understand not everybody likes the theme of the expansion (not everyone in my guild does, for that matter), but some of the vitriol from these posters suggest there's more wrong in their heads than in the game.

As for me personally I'm indifferent, really, I play the game for defeating boss mechanics, defeating players, and collecting achievement points. I really could care less what area of the world or media the game derives its culture from, so long actually playing the game feels like it did, I'd be fine.

I honestly wasn't even aware of half of the Asian influences outside the obvious (names/location) until reading the crap people are posting here.

[killidan]

The amount of hate Pandaria gets for no real reason is pretty depressing. I understand that some people are really into the demonic stuff, but we don't need that sort of thing in EVERY expansion. MoP was a nice change of pace after WotLK and Cataclysm, and I personally love the Asian theme.

Besides, its not like WoW is ending here. We're going to be getting the announcement for the next expansion in 8 months. So just relax.

8 months a long time, but looking forward to!

[Karlzone]

If you notice the argument every racist gives is that the culture they hate is "taking over," "dominating," "encroaching" and all that shit when in reality, they are just completely ignorant and closed-minded.

Funny that those words are exactly the argument said "anti-Asian-culture" people are spewing / "copy pasting" in this thread over and over again.

I do understand not everybody likes the theme of the expansion (not everyone in my guild does, for that matter), but some of the vitriol from these posters suggest there's more wrong in their heads than in the game.

This basically.
I, personally, love pandaria visually. I am not really bothered by which "style" it is. Azeroth just ends up as a mini-version of the world. There are different "styles" in the different contried/continets o.O
Pandaria looks amazing and it does not matter to me which "style" it is, because it would look great to me either way.

[killidan]

This thread reminds ne to the very same complains that appeared when BC was released and "a lot" of people complained about it because there were "other planets", Spaceships, aliens (refering to Naaru and Draenei) and "laserz!". Was funny to read those threads, and more funny when, years later, you saw those very same complainers saying that BC was cool :/

As always, people will complain for anything

BC added several million subs, MOP is losing them. I think the dislike for pandas and Chinese hegemony in MOP may have played a part.

[namelessone]

I love asian style and above all I love consistency in style. I hated the patchwork zones of TBC. And I call BS on "oh but they made all expansion same style" - Asia has many different cultures and biomes and most got representation in Pandaria.

[voidspark]

Also, first example of idiocy and ignorance from the complainers: Notice that they all seem to chalk Pandaria to "China" despite the fact that it has influence from multiple Asian nations many of which have cultures distinctly different from Chinese culture.

News flash: If MOP contains a blend of cultures from multiple Southeast/Northern/whatever Asian nations, it's not a "Chinese hegemony"

I don't know that much of modern Chinese culture, but I'll wager MOP has very little actual similarity to it at all.

[Wildtree]

I did a list similar to this recently this was my idea.

Night elves = Asian with welsh druid theme

That's incorrect. The Night Elf Architecture is heavily influenced by the ancient celts

Tauren = Native American

Spot on..

Worgens = English

Spot on..

Orcs = American (Lets face it everything they touch gets destroyed)

That made me laugh. It's funny. But no, architectural a stand alone, background tho, heavy influenced by the Huns..

Gnomes = Irish

No, not at all..... Swiss in a way.... Remember, Swiss Army Knife? lol

Dwarfs = Scottish

Scottish/Irish. that's obvious..

Undead = Nazi Germany

No, not in the least.. Architecture resembles a lot of early medieval eastern Europe - Transylvania...

Blood Elves = Swedish (Blonde thing)

Just no... The architecture is rather similar to turkish style architecture. Whereas both Elf nations borrow from LOTR design too.

Human = America/GB i suppose

No, typical medieval european imperial city looks.

Goblin = Pakistani/Indian (they seem to own everything and are always rich)

lol... But no. Rather a modern tech style design.

Draenie = Spanish

I see no spanish influence there... Rather Indian/Persian, architecture is alienish. no cross reference for me to see.

Pandaren = Chinese

Chinese, Japanese.. I dunno much of the difference..

Troll = Jamaican

Yeah, the accent is spot on... The architecture is south american, Inka/Aztecs etc..