Pandarian Druids, This would be awesome!

[Emberpaw]

ooh ok this is a bit of a joke but yak form for panda tanks (joking aside id love to be a bull instead of a bear say ol'e when i charge).... lol ok but seriously Crane form for flight oh goodness how pretty(or even the Chinese style dragons). jaguar instead of cheetah for travel form, i know very similar except a bit bulkier and meaner looking. Those tigers they showed on art panel oooooh awesome cat form. The beautiful carp for aquatic form and as far as boomkin goes im imagining something like the guardians of shangri'la the yeti (not so much like in game yeti). So please blizz give me my druidic panda and i will sigh up for a 5 year contract i claw or feather
swear on it.

[huth]

At least they have a story behind it. I don't see anything of the like for Pandarens and frankly I don't see why they should be druids.

On the other hand, this also kind of kills the explanation in the Lore Q&A, as it clearly shows that a connection to Cenarius is unnecessary.
If they do decide to include Pandaren Druids, it wouldn't be all that hard to justify.

[Punchbag]

On the other hand, this also kind of kills the explanation in the Lore Q&A, as it clearly shows that a connection to Cenarius is unnecessary.
If they do decide to include Pandaren Druids, it wouldn't be all that hard to justify.

Not only that, but the Pandaren we play are on the Turtle. Theyve travelled the world. Theres no reason they cant learn druidism.

[MasterNewbie]

On the other hand, this also kind of kills the explanation in the Lore Q&A, as it clearly shows that a connection to Cenarius is unnecessary.
If they do decide to include Pandaren Druids, it wouldn't be all that hard to justify.

It does show a connection to the Emerald Dream is required, however.

Not only that, but the Pandaren we play are on the Turtle. Theyve travelled the world. Theres no reason they cant learn druidism.

Since no race which has druids was self-taught, I propose two reasons.

They did not encounter a race or being that could teach them.
They did encounter a race or being but it was not willing to teach them.

[Punchbag]

It does show a connection to the Emerald Dream is required, however.



Since no race which has druids was self-taught, I propose two reasons.

They did not encounter a race or being that could teach them.
They did encounter a race or being but it was not willing to teach them.

Counter-reason. The Tauren, being peaceful bestial beings (like the Pandaren) would at least teach them if they showed interest. I see no reason why the Tauren wouldn't. Same with Night Elves, as they had connections with Furbolgs. I see it as a cop out if they dont make them Druids.

Completely Off-topic. Pandas can be Priests, but not Paladins?

[MasterNewbie]

Counter-reason. The Tauren, being peaceful bestial beings (like the Pandaren) would at least teach them if they showed interest. I see no reason why the Tauren wouldn't. Same with Night Elves, as they had connections with Furbolgs. I see it as a cop out if they dont make them Druids.

Completely Off-topic. Pandas can be Priests, but not Paladins?

My reasons were to show that there could be at least one reason why the Pandaren's would not have learned druidism during their travels (you claimed there were none). Of course there are possible reasons they should, but that was not the point. Perhaps they simply aren't interested in druidism?

What I see as a cop out was letting trolls be druids (and maybe worgen). "omg I wanna be a druid but I don't wanna be an elf or a bipedal cow". They made a back story but I feel it shouldn't have been done.

As for your OT: gnomes, undead, night elves, worgen, goblins and trolls all can be priests, but cannot be paladins.

[Necrotan]

Cenarius is an Ancient(as is Elune), and all of the Ancients seem to have a connection to the Emerald Dream. Loa have also been Blue confirmed to be Ancients, just named differently for their interactions with other cultures, and would logically also be connected to the dream (Like Gonk).

Every race that even remotely has druids has had some intimate connection with an Ancient and therefore the Dream.

Pandarens so far have not been shown to have any relationships with Ancients. Their focus seems to be within.

[Suphix]

If pandaren can be druids then they should be death knights too! Makes about the same amount of sense

[Necrotan]

If pandaren can be druids then they should be death knights too! Makes about the same amount of sense

Actually this is not true in any sense at all. Well ok maybe a tiny bit of sense.

You could make a reasonable connection to an Ancient, Ursol or Ursoc as basic examples since they happen to be bear ancients, and show that the Pandarens who traveled and shared their knowledge in inner balance then learned to extend that to natures balance from within the Dream. As most druids the line between Self and Nature is blurred.

It would be much harder to suggest why Pandarens would be Death Knights. Not impossible, but it would be a larger leap of faith. They did the quick and dirty version with Goblins and Worgen after all.

[Matutin]

Wanna know something even more absurd? Do you know the history of the worgens? The worgen curse was created by some night elf druid dudes, who shapeshifted to wolfs but weren't able to control the instincts of the wolf. So they kicked their ass of and created the cenarion circle to fight them (and some others druidic stuff). So, the worgen "curse" is not a curse at all, its a contagious shapeshift (?

If you guys think i'm crazy, check http://www.wowpedia.org/Worgen

OT: A pandarian druid could be something amazing. But not going into 4 legs, changing to a more "dire" bear, but black & white.

[traen]

Pandaren druids... nah, not even interesting - it will be ordinary panda in bear form.
I want to see undead druid bear. Just for lulz.

[Suphix]

Pandaren druids... nah, not even interesting - it will be ordinary panda in bear form.
I want to see undead druid bear. Just for lulz.

I like your style

[Deleted]

Pandarens can't be druids because their body is small, so they can't shapeshift to that big ass actual models. Easy as that. Sometimes you have to sacrifice "what makes sense" for "what makes sense for gameplay".

[Batix]

not because they're too stupid to read a book

but because it's kind of difficult to hold a book open with hooves.

---------- Post added 2011-10-26 at 07:47 AM ----------

I'd just like to say that even though I've played a druid as a main character since launch, love druids, I'm all about 'em.
But I'm not exactly a fan of making pandaren druids. I'd like it to stop at troll/worgen. 4 races is enough, imo. Druid is the one class that has been sort-of... locked-down, in terms of race options, and I like that. We don't need to go making every race be every class, and I certainly don't want to see human, gnome, dorf, etc druids.

[huth]

It does show a connection to the Emerald Dream is required, however.

On the other hand, the existence of a Panda ancient wouldn't be all that surprising. Besides, we know next to nothing about their lore, so adding it wouldn't be particularly hard.

And they do worship "ancients", though those are probably supposed to be a different type of ancients.
(What was it... Tiger of the North, Ox of the South, Jade Dragon of the East and some Bird of the West?)
Still, not much of a leap.

[MasterNewbie]

On the other hand, the existence of a Panda ancient wouldn't be all that surprising. Besides, we know next to nothing about their lore, so adding it wouldn't be particularly hard.

And they do worship "ancients", though those are probably supposed to be a different type of ancients.
(What was it... Tiger of the North, Ox of the South, Jade Dragon of the East and some Bird of the West?)
Still, not much of a leap.

Just to summarize so we don't have an endless discussion on this:

Many people think that they should be druids. Many people think they shouldn't. Many possible explanations for either case exist. Is that about it?

[vaccine]

It would require dev time on new forms, they probably didn't want to bother. Though to be honest, I don't see why Orcs and Humans can't be druids by now (other than new forms), to me it seems like something that is taught, not something you're born with. Orcs are already pretty in touch with nature, and humans could be from some druidic/wilderness cult or something that were taken in by the CC.

[huth]

It would require dev time on new forms, they probably didn't want to bother. Though to be honest, I don't see why Orcs and Humans can't be druids by now (other than new forms), to me it seems like something that is taught, not something you're born with. Orcs are already pretty in touch with nature, and humans could be from some druidic/wilderness cult or something that were taken in by the CC.

At the most basic, it probably wouldn't require that much dev time. All race dependant forms use the same base model and skeleton, with only fairly minor modifications, so the largest part would probably be making the textures.
Still, it's extra work and we don't know the schedule of the art team.

Just to summarize so we don't have an endless discussion on this:

Many people think that they should be druids. Many people think they shouldn't. Many possible explanations for either case exist. Is that about it?

That sounds about right. Lorewise, you could go either way, so it really comes down to opinions.

[Deleted]

No thanks XD XD

Can't see it happening or making sense really.

Not many people could see Pandas being put into WoW well and making sense... go figure

[Hoticehunter]

Don't mean to flame, but i gotta say it. Pandas aren't bears. They're more a raccoon. So a Pandaren turning into a bear is about as absurd as a Tauren turning into a bear.

No offense, but I'm just gonna quote some wikipedia sentences here.

"The giant panda, or panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot")[2] is a bear[3] native to central-western and south western China.[4]"
"The giant panda has a body shape typical of bears."
"Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage in its shade-dappled snowy and rocky surroundings.[22]"
"The giant panda's tail, measuring 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 in), is the second longest in the bear family. The longest belongs to the Sloth Bear.[19]"

And most telling of all...

"For many decades the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics of both bears and raccoons.[43] However, molecular studies suggest that the giant panda is a true bear and part of the Ursidae family,[44][45] though it differentiated early in history from the main ursine stock. The giant panda's closest extant relative is the spectacled bear of South America.[46] The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.[47]"

I think it's an old misconception that pandas being bears is a misconception. A double misconception!