Was it a bad idea WoW to create Asian themed expansion?

[MisterMxyzptlk]

Please tell me that isn't a real mod edit?...

I'm 99.999999% sure that is is not a real mod edit, those look way different, also it said that the OP edited it last.... yea...
I smell something... oh crud my bologna detector overheated!

[Dhrizzle]

The inhabitants of Azeroth are closely based on a lot of historical Earth cultures. Being Tolkienesque it does borrow heavily from Europe ranging from pre-Roman to Renaissance (not just mediaeval as you say), but there are other influences you may have missed.

Kalimdor is home to a race known as Tauren, they have been in the game since WC3 (slightly longer than Pandaren) and borrow heavily from Native American tropes, if you think pandas are bad you'll be horrified to discover these guys are cows. Orcs are based on the Mongols who also united in to a "Horde" under one mighty chief, as a fan of mediaeval fantasy you may be shocked to hear they came from outer-space.

Trolls are all over Azeroth, they are a mish-mash of central American architecture with Afro-Caribbean mannerisms. Gnomes build helicopters, planes and submarines; goblins do the same but explodier with New York accents. Wrath of the Lich King pitted crusading templars against giant undead vikings (after we defeated the robotic minions of a Greco-Roman pantheon, many of which were Norse gods). Did I mention the expansion where we went in to space to help holy goat-men against evil fish and cyber-demons? It had mushroom people.

[Elysia]

As others have pointed out, the "mod edit" in OP's post was fake and made by himself. It's been dealt with. Cheers to those who reported it.

Feel free to keep discussing the topic if you actually want to, though.

[MoanaLisa]

Personally I don't like the extreme Asian drift that the Pandaren have. I like playing Aion and Tera, but this has no place in Wow lore. If they want to make new places seem different from the original Azeroth going with something like Outland is a much better idea. There are limits to how much real cultures should influence a fantasy game and MOP pushes that limit too far. How would people react if the next expansion had a tropical island with races of black skinned humanoids living in tribal soceity? Wouldn't be pretty.

Real life racial issues have no place in the game. That said, there's no place for them here either. Do not go there.

[Deletedaccount1]

As others have pointed out, the "mod edit" in OP's post was fake and made by himself. It's been dealt with. Cheers to those who reported it.

Feel free to keep discussing the topic if you actually want to, though.

I was going to say, it looked like the mods had gone insane.

[MoanaLisa]

Mop is the worst thing that have ever happened to wow, but i don't expect MMO-champion posters to understand it.

Apparently we shouldn't expect you to explain that either.

[Deleted]

The inhabitants of Azeroth are closely based on a lot of historical Earth cultures. Being Tolkienesque it does borrow heavily from Europe ranging from pre-Roman to Renaissance (not just mediaeval as you say), but there are other influences you may have missed.

Kalimdor is home to a race known as Tauren, they have been in the game since WC3 (slightly longer than Pandaren) and borrow heavily from Native American tropes, if you think pandas are bad you'll be horrified to discover these guys are cows. Orcs are based on the Mongols who also united in to a "Horde" under one mighty chief, as a fan of mediaeval fantasy you may be shocked to hear they came from outer-space.

Trolls are all over Azeroth, they are a mish-mash of central American architecture with Afro-Caribbean mannerisms. Gnomes build helicopters, planes and submarines; goblins do the same but explodier with New York accents. Wrath of the Lich King pitted crusading templars against giant undead vikings (after we defeated the robotic minions of a Greco-Roman pantheon, many of which were Norse gods). Did I mention the expansion where we went in to space to help holy goat-men against evil fish and cyber-demons? It had mushroom people.

The word you are looking for is "clusterfuck". That is the official term for this kind of universe.

[Stormcall]

Okay, I'll get this out of the way first-I dislike MoP. I don't really like any zone but Dread Wastes, I hate the Pandaren and basically everything about them. The blah MoP zones, blah quests, annoying Pandaren, and crappy storyline are the reason I had 5 85's at the end of Cata, but have only just recently got my second 90. I don't like the new talent system, I don't like the endless rep grinds, and I don't especially care about challenge modes and scenarios. BUT...I don't dislike the xpac because of the Asian theme itself. Nothing wrong with expanding. You've got your classic fantasy of knights and dragons and elves and dwarves, you have your demons and gods, you have aliens and spaceships, you have vikings...why is having all that okay but having an Asian theme an issue?

[Zephre]

Yes and No. If it was only partially themed then it wouldn't of bothered me to much but outside dread wastes every area screams Asia. Flying to every zone seeing the same looking buildings is boring I like variety not same thing everywhere, I think mists is a good expansion but they could of toned down the use of the theme a little.

[mvaliz]

I've always wondered, why did Blizzard choose to create an expansion based upon asian culture when the game got famous thanks to western culture? Why did they have to radically change something that was working great so far?

Not gonna happen. Banned.

If it hasn't been said already: It's highest subscription and most successful time was during an expansion based upon Nordic culture.

It's called "variety".

[Theendgamelv3]

Yes, I like the Asian theme. It was different and very nice. Love the how it came out and was excited when I saw the trailer. Imagery was nice and the music was very good. It is a fantasy world and in a fantasy world you can have almost anything. Hell, look at the burning crusade, that has lots of non traditional high fantasy elements in it and it was fine.

[K i s u]

I don't think it was a mistake/bad Idea, sometimes diversity is what sells. WoW needs to evolve and try new things to stay relevant.

[PenguinChan]

I don't think it was a bad idea for Blizzard to test the Asian heritage grounds for a possible continuation on environments and lore. It's quite the rich historic background for things to base off of and use, and I have no problem with it. I'm just not a fan of the expansion that much, at least what they did to classes and talents. The lore is alright, but I'm not very interested unless it includes older connections (Races, events, etc.).

[nekobaka]

The developers had to make a world that would fit the pandarians. Personally I am a big fan of the more burning legion theme along with things from WC3. My main miff with how Blizzard went with the Asian theme is at least what sticks out to me is many of the stereotypes that are portrayed. As a person of Chinese decent living in Hawaii, it just feels over the top and quite overwhelming to have a whole expansion focused around it. I am fine with such portals in small doses like movies or parts of zones. The way Blizzard did their own take on asian cultures just feels heavily western biased and offensive to me.

[mvaliz]

[snip]
Why are Night Elves based on dirty hippies when clearly no one likes dirty hippies?
[snip]

FYI: You just called most of Japan's heritage and Shinto culture "Dirty hippies". :P

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

MoP was aesthetically beautiful, and had a good story (albeit it needed more fleshing out of Garrosh, but he was better explored than Deathwing).

My issue is on the gameplay end, not the Pandaria end.

[winterfox72]

I wondered the same thing. I know they were catering to the Asian countries and it fit the Panda theme, but I dont care for it. There are already too many Asian themed MMOs around. I guess I just tolerate it and hope for something I like next expansion. Vanilla was midevil themed (I Loved) BC was space themed (My Favorite) WOTLK was viking themed (Bland and brown) Cataclysm was Egyptian/ Deathwing themed armor ( I liked the Deathwing stuff) and MOP was Asian (Well made, but not my taste). I'm still partial to BC and I think most other ppl are based on transmogs that I've seen. I hope Blizzard has noticed that and acts on it. I love crystaly, glowy, colorful armor and weapons.

[Deleted]

They had to do it, they needed to breathe some new life into the game, and it has paid off. I can only hope this means we get to travel to a new planet in the next expansion, or explore another unearthed island with lots of new stuff. Diversity is good and keeps the game fresh, without it WoW would be dead in the water.

[rowaasr13]

I wondered the same thing. I know they were catering to the Asian countries

Now, where exactly did you knew that from?

[bionics]

I've always wondered, why did Blizzard choose to create an expansion based upon asian culture when the game got famous thanks to western culture? Why did they have to radically change something that was working great so far?

Not gonna happen. Banned.

Yeah man, let's just keep everything the same ad infinitum and never exhibit any signs of progression, change, or diversity.

Great thinking! It's a wonder why you don't work for Blizzard; they could use a young go-getter like yourself.