Do you think the pandaren were a success?

[mistahwilshire]

I think it was a sucess in whatever way you look at it, indeed. Especially the bi-faction race.

Couldn't have said it better.

Fantastic job with the Pandaren imo.

[melodramocracy]

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.

Same sub fee, less content

[Mshadowz]

I like the pandaren a lot, and I actually really like the dual faction system.

[Kaleredar]

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.

A dwarf has no reason to join the horde because Dwarves are members of the Alliance.

The alliance and horde aren't "philosophical schools of thought" for people to pick and choose. They're military allegiances stricken as bonds of convenience that basically exist solely to combat one another. The Pandaren KINDA skirt by with the whole "pick your side" because they're fresh and new into the scene. But what reason does a dwarf have to choose the horde? "Oh, I like their starter beverage names better than the Alliance's?" Deep down, there's no real philosophical difference between them as a whole. Is a dwarf going to up and decide "Oh gee, I prefer how the forsaken attack us to how we attack the forsaken, so I'd better go join the Horde?" At that point, they might as well be strictly neutral mercenaries or some such.

[rhorle]

A dwarf has no reason to join the horde because Dwarves are members of the Alliance.

Dark Iron dwarf says "Hi!". There is nothing any of the alliance members from becoming part of the Horde. Though certain Horde races would have a harder time of being accepted into the Alliance.

At that point, they might as well be strictly neutral mercenaries or some such.

If they can become mercenaries and beholden to no faction then they can easily side with one faction. Goblins are still a neutral race and will do business with the alliance or anyone. It is only one faction of goblins that sided with the Horde and not all of them. The same could be true of any of the Alliance races. The worgen could have easily been written to also have a faction that thought the other human races were responsible and ones that sided with the Horde through their hatred of Stormwind. Resulting in a race that is open to both factions.

That type of story can be created for every race in the game except for undead. Though with Death Knights being accepted it is does leave open the possibility even if it is a small one. Another example could be the Defias joining the Horde given Humans the chance to role as a Horde. As you said the alliance and horde are military allegiances which means that it doesn't matter what race you actually are, just who you are willing to serve under.

[Deleted]

I like how players can easily pick what faction they want to be with the race they want to be.
I don't like how they don't differ at all.

[Hypro]

I liked the bi-faction storyline... found that great.. as for the model... hate it...

[Kaleredar]

As you said the alliance and horde are military allegiances which means that it doesn't matter what race you actually are, just who you are willing to serve under.

But that's the only thing that holds the Alliance and Horde together: the "us versus them" mentality of the races.

If those boundaries don't exist, there's no real reason for the Horde or Alliance to exist at all.

[Volitar]

I would say it was a success even tho I hate Panda as a race.

[Haven]

As a race, God no, WoW didn't need pandas flooding Orgrimmar. If each player was allowed to have only one pandaren, and only after some high level achievement... On another hand, neutral races should've been in game for a while.

[Deleted]

Yeah much better than the first impression I got when MoP was announced. It's a nice looking model and the story is pretty cool while I also think the cross faction thing as worked out well.

I know the lore wouldn't allow it but id love a Panda death knight <

[Terahertz]

Race-wise I don't find them as appealing nor interesting as lets say goblin or worgen. So for me I don't find them a real success, but like most people said, the bi-faction feature is pretty neat. It'd be even more interesting if blizz would at some point allow more races to be neutral.

[Deleted]

An interesting question. Currently I'm not entirely sure.

In terms of character model and starting zone, I rather like them. Their animations are excellent.

However one thing I really dislike is the choice of classes is quite limited. The only one I enjoy is Warrior, and I got very bored of that in MoP. I love the animations so much but because they can't be a Paladin, Death Knight or Warlock, I will never play one again really. Lore be damned, I want a Pandaren Paladin called Pandadin. ;<

Additionally, even as someone who routinely plays both factions, I really struggle to see the Pandaren ever subscribing to the banner of the Horde, especially under Garrosh's rule. I think the neutrality/faction choosing thing really could have worked if it wasn't for Garrosh. It's a total juxtaposition - peace loving Pandarens fighting for the bloodthirsty Garrosh Hellscream... Meh, doesn't add up to me. From the Alliance perspective, I think it's worked out very well, and there's an excellent story arc involving Andiun and Varian is actually learning a lot from a) his son, and b) the Pandaren. I think it works very well.

[Arbs]

I like the Pandaren, But I only want one as Monk honestly, but keep my other toons there current race.

I would say it was a success aswell.

[KCguy]

Certainly better than a worgen. The outcry was fairly heavy when they were released, especially because they seemed more Horde than Alliance, but were, of course Alliance. Then we saw how ridiculous the animations were and how they walked and that made people even more upset. lol. Personally I thought they looked pretty cool, but I hated their animations a lot as well. I didn't whine about it, because I honestly didn't care, but they did walk silly.

Now, in terms of Pandaren, I think they are much better. The animations are, of course amazing, and I love how you can choose a side. It's basically what the worgen (and goblin) should have been. Blizzard learned a lot from Cata.

[Azutael]

I for one do not think they pulled it off, but I have always been against the pandaren. So I am most likely biased.
The mogu are interesting, so are the mantid and I enjoyed their stories a lot.

[Purple]

It was a success from the standpoint of neither side losing out on a new race that anyone, minority, majority or otherwise, might have missed out on. Personally I don't care for them, but oh well, that's neither here nor there.

[Klingers]

I think the race as an entity were a huge success.

The start zone was great, I can't think of any better race that both sides wanted, both had some logical claim to and also fit best into the lore as a neutral race. Now was the best time to introduce them alongside the new Monk class too. They've also got fantastic animations and model details.

Huge success.

[Jawless Jones]

the bi-faction things worked for them pretty well, i dont think any other race could pull it off tho

personally dont like playing as one but i think ppl like them

[Arrashi]

I kinda dislike them. Playable pandaren lacks any lore after they join they faction, and aside for "we are with you" dont really seem to fit. The models are meh at best, with females being super kawaii, and males looking like slighty mentally handcapped. Im also really tired with this entire "new age" setting with pandas spewing bullshit like:
"Family friends food these are what matters most", "the worlds is your teacher", and so on. Oh also shado-pan are band of arogant assholes who think they are better then us, but then need our help to deal with pretty much everything.