Do you think the pandaren were a success?

[Mawnix]

Yes. 110%.

[Wildberry]

I personally don't think so, and here's why (Note: I'm not about to go on a "April Fools RAGE" kind of rant here)

It worked well for Pandaren, it allows players to play as pandaren, while still allowing neutral pandaren NPC's etc. However, I can't possibly imagine the "bi-faction" idea working out very well for any other race. Another concern is the Pandaren are represented now (Though not the Huojin and Tushui) but after Pandaria's over, I can't possibly imagine them getting very much attention (We have that problem already, Draenei, Worgen, and to a lesser extent, Gnomes and Forsaken) and I think that the bi-faction, while a cool idea, might hinder that even more.

What I mean by that is the main development for Pandaren comes from two places:
A Small portion of it comes from the Wandering Isle where you're playing through the storyline and following what events make the Pandaren go Horde or Alliance, unfortunately Ji and Aysa have been left rotting since.

The Main development comes from the pandaren we don't play, The Tillers, the Golden Lotus, The Shado-Pan etc. Who are very Pandaria centric and much like Netherwing and the Sha'tari Skyguard, or the Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade, they're more than likely going to be forgotten next expansion.

The problem is, after Pandaria, the playable pandaren have such little development as it is, and I feel like Blizzard might have some reservations about giving them serious development that puts them strictly into either the Horde or Alliance, out of a worry of going against the general theme of the pandaren themselves, and while I don't play a pandaren myself It would definitely be a bummer to see them as relics of Pandaria that continue to stagnate.

but this is all just going off from what little evidence is available, plus speculation based on the treatment other races have gotten, if they manage to further incorporate Pandaren and flesh out both Huojin and Tushui in a post-pandaria world, I would be open for another "neutral" race so long as it's fitting lore-wise.

[Deleted]

I don't like them... The armors look weird on them, and their animations are too complex for WoW.
The only playable one is female panda too, unless you want to run around with a morbid obese character.

[mvaliz]

I'm MORE than certain we're pretty much going to be seeing only bi-faction races from this point on.

If you think about it, it's very economical from a development standpoint.

Take Cataclysm for example. They had to design Gilneas, the Worgen, animation, and whole separate music tracks and quests from the Goblins, their animation, music, and Undermine/Azshara.

Mathematically speaking it's MUCH easier to just combine those into ONE new race with one more-developed faction-starting zone.

Honestly I'm suspecting that MMORPGs in the future are going to veer VERY much away from the multiple-faction/faction race idea. All it causes is doubling the development load and server load while creating unbalanced PVP queue times and such.

[Frogged]

I think they worked out very well! Most of my characters that can be panda are panda and I've had no issues dealing with the fact that the race can be found on both factions (as in, it doesn't impact my PvP which was a concern for some.)

[Pancaspe]

I really like them, so for me, yes, they were a big success.

[Anjerith]

I don't like them... The armors look weird on them, and their animations are too complex for WoW.
The only playable one is female panda too, unless you want to run around with a morbid obese character.

I feel like pointing out that the idea of obesity is very much a racial thing, neither the male or female Pandaren are obese by their standards.


However, both the male and female pandaren ARE obese by our standards. So don't try to disguise you love of chubbies, please.

[docterfreeze]

Nope, going to be completely forgotten and irrelevant in the very next expac. So far, they have had very little impact anywhere outside pandaland.

[delus]

And I mean more than in just terms of the race itself. They introduced the "bi-faction" system and are Warcraft's first neutral race, something a lot of us never thought Blizzard would go for.
---
What do you think? Did it work out? Do you want to see more neutral races in the future, or go back to unique races for each side?

Yes, they worked out wonderfully. The idea of the factions turning brother against brother is very interesting.They should add more neutral races simply because I'm tired of you are x race, x race has a a hive mind and because they all think the exact same way and are incapable of individual thought they all belong to the same faction.

[Zylos]

I can't stand them. They are just a bunch of tired movie cliches packed into one character that, let's face it, is far too fluffy to be feared on a battle field, especially the females. They were cool as a novelty, but blizz made them very lame. I hate the whole "slow down" approach they take to everything and the cliched (yes using that word again) martial arts themes are very dull.

Personally my favorite are undead, and I just don't picture the forsaken ever having the patience to tolerate this race without obliterating them and forcing them as test subjects.

[Thelxi]

From a business pov I'm sure they were a success. Two faction races is very promising for the future. Personally though I can't care less about panda's, but I didn't care for worgen or goblins either so hey. I don't care for monks at all either. Just aesthetically they don't feel cool at all to me. Hopefully blizzard will manage to introduce an actually interesting race or just class next expansion.

[Deleted]

I feel like pointing out that the idea of obesity is very much a racial thing, neither the male or female Pandaren are obese by their standards.


However, both the male and female pandaren ARE obese by our standards. So don't try to disguise you love of chubbies, please.

The female Panda wouldn't be considered obese by our standards, chubby, but not obese.

While the male Panda is definitely morbidly obese, it's a huge difference...

[Kaleredar]

I can't stand them. They are just a bunch of tired movie cliches packed into one character that, let's face it, is far too fluffy to be feared on a battle field, especially the females.

And the pink haired gnomes with pig tails were a force of reckoning.

They were cool as a novelty, but blizz made them very lame. I hate the whole "slow down" approach they take to everything and the cliched (yes using that word again) martial arts themes are very dull.

And High fantasy castles and elves aren't cliche at all.

Personally my favorite are undead, and I just don't picture the forsaken ever having the patience to tolerate this race without obliterating them and forcing them as test subjects.

Angsty emo zombies? The epitome of creative originality!



Anyway... Pandaren were successful enough, but they should have pushed the concept of divisiveness further, with the Houjin/Tushui pandaren spilling onto the continent of Pandaria itself as the patch cycle went on, causing a sort of... civil war... on Pandaria. I think it would have been stronger for Blizzard to REALLY push the Alliance/Horde conflict in the main leveling cycle, instead of focusing almost exclusively upon issues the Pandaren Natives had and leaving the War as localized little storylines, like in Krasarang.

[Immitis]

Not on the popularity meter... sure there are some but most are monks. Compare that to the huge number of race changes with worgen or belves. I think that has a lot more to do with the implementation of pandaren as comical, tubby drunk and cutesy than anything though. The dual faction implementation worked sell.

pandaren seem to be a very popular race when it comes to shamans

---------- Post added 2013-04-24 at 11:48 PM ----------

The female Panda wouldn't be considered obese by our standards, chubby, but not obese.

While the male Panda is definitely morbidly obese, it's a huge difference...

the male pandaren wouldnt be obese, pandaren arent that fat, theyve got alot of muscle under their beer guts

[ManjiSanji]

I like them as a race. They look great, they have a great feel, and they've made their own place in the world. I didn't think I'd like Pandaren, but there it is.
The face models could use more variety. Having one face is just...lame.

They work alright as a neutral race, but personally, I don't want to see any more.

[muto]

I prefer unique races for each side. I don't want too much baselining. Once or twice is fine, but no more than that.

[Immitis]

I personally don't think so, and here's why (Note: I'm not about to go on a "April Fools RAGE" kind of rant here)

It worked well for Pandaren, it allows players to play as pandaren, while still allowing neutral pandaren NPC's etc. However, I can't possibly imagine the "bi-faction" idea working out very well for any other race. Another concern is the Pandaren are represented now (Though not the Huojin and Tushui) but after Pandaria's over, I can't possibly imagine them getting very much attention (We have that problem already, Draenei, Worgen, and to a lesser extent, Gnomes and Forsaken) and I think that the bi-faction, while a cool idea, might hinder that even more.

What I mean by that is the main development for Pandaren comes from two places:
A Small portion of it comes from the Wandering Isle where you're playing through the storyline and following what events make the Pandaren go Horde or Alliance, unfortunately Ji and Aysa have been left rotting since.

The Main development comes from the pandaren we don't play, The Tillers, the Golden Lotus, The Shado-Pan etc. Who are very Pandaria centric and much like Netherwing and the Sha'tari Skyguard, or the Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade, they're more than likely going to be forgotten next expansion.

The problem is, after Pandaria, the playable pandaren have such little development as it is, and I feel like Blizzard might have some reservations about giving them serious development that puts them strictly into either the Horde or Alliance, out of a worry of going against the general theme of the pandaren themselves, and while I don't play a pandaren myself It would definitely be a bummer to see them as relics of Pandaria that continue to stagnate.

but this is all just going off from what little evidence is available, plus speculation based on the treatment other races have gotten, if they manage to further incorporate Pandaren and flesh out both Huojin and Tushui in a post-pandaria world, I would be open for another "neutral" race so long as it's fitting lore-wise.

dont be confused, chen stormstout is the true face of the neutral pandaren, and i imagine he and li li will be important characters for quite some time going on adventure each expansion and showing up in random places

[rhorle]

What do you think? Did it work out? Do you want to see more neutral races in the future, or go back to unique races for each side?

I think it worked, but there wasn't really a reason why it would not work. I'd prefer faction specific races because it creates a little more duality for an expansion and has that under lying tension built into whatever content the expansion covers if Blizzard wants to invoke it (Goblins and Worgens didn't touch each other but Draenei and Blood elves were connected loosely).

I still don't consider Pandaren a Neutral race in the sense of lore. Since we usually see the major races for an expansion expressed as friendly to both the horde and alliance (Burning Crusade even had the Aldor and the Scryers mixing it up a second time). There really isn't a lore reason why a dwarf can't join the horde or vice versa. While they might not be openly accepted by all of that faction any race can fight for any faction.

I also dislike how I can't just pick alliance from the start and get access to mailbox, guilds, and what not. It would be nice if I could pick from the start if I wanted to rather then have to play through the zone and pick then. I'm not a new player and I know exactly what faction I want an alt to be when I create it.

I'd rather have races that can be any class then have some arbitrary restriction to what they can or can't learn. There are always outliers and society shunning certain classes can be explained through the racial introduction story. There isn't a physical reason why a Pandaren can't be a warlock for example.

[Cosmic Janitor]

- I disliked the models from the first time they showed them, because they lack all the grace that is usually present in artworks and such, not to mention that dumbstruck face of the females.
- I doubt they will be relevant in the future, they had their exposure with this expansion and will now go the way of all other races.
- I disliked how nothing happened to continue the story any further that started in the pandaren starting zone, even though the story was not particulary reasonable to begin with, as it felt forced from the very beginning (especially the split).
- Pandaren (as a playable race) don't really deserve the neutral stigma, because just because they share 1 starting zone (which could be viewed as lazy) they still just fall under the boring 2 faction system like everyone else. You could choose during character creation and no one would notice anything diffrent, its not like people actually start conversations in the starting zone.
- once again their racial was pretty strong to grab more money with micro transactions eg. racechanges.

+ they worked well within the context of the expansion.

= so no, for me they did not much at all, the same could be said about goblins though..

[bohapjut]

Mathematically speaking it's MUCH easier to just combine those into ONE new race with one more-developed faction-starting zone.

Sort of what they did with the DK class too