Demise? It's still got 10 million subs. Just because *you* don't play it doesn't mean it's going to die. The game has better end game (and has for years) than any other mmo.
And as for pandas, wow has gnomes and blood elves too. People seem fine with Gnomes and have been from the start, but Pandas, no... that's just too much. The whole panda comment is silly. If you've played wow you'd know there are way sillier creatures in it.