Wouldn't this have been a 10x more interesting pandaria?

[Ballantines]

http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/04/th...hat-never-was/

Sounds like they really wanted to create a new type of questing experience for the players instead of force feeding them everything in A-B fashion, and the characters and ground-mount-only actually made sense in this content, since you actually had to explore to find your content.

Moreover, sounds a lot more mysterious and interesting to discover a land than taran'zhu busting in your face going "No no you're stupid and I'm smart, I'll keep reminding you of this every other quest hub, and this is the sha btw", right from the start of the expansion.

I wish they would have left the zone as it is described in this article, I think it would have made a lot more people accept pandaria more, since as they say, first impression matters. Lorewalker Cho appearing more as a testing, wise old pandaren instead of benevolent Santa Clause figure also sounds like something that should have been in pandaria early on.

Oh, and I also happened to stumble upon something called the "Pandyr":

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...pical-Pandaran

Jesus christ, why was THAT concept scrapped?

[Hardkorr]

Was the beta phased? Because if it was phased to where you were truly alone, then it would be cool. If that whole quest chain/zone/whathaveyou isn't phased, then you'd just be seeing a bunch of other players running around poking dead bodies.

Unfortunately, when it comes to MMO's, there is a fine line between being your character and being a cooperative player. The former requires solo content that brings about character development on your part (class quests or any solo content really), personal attachment to quests & characters (varies from player to player), slower than current pacing of storytelling (like when quest text was slowly doled out instead of instantly appearing), personal discovery & achievements (quests prior to map markers & Timeless Isle), and of course attachment to your character (customization). The latter requires playing with other people (everything else in WoW from raiding to auction house & more). However, Blizz usually waters down the experience of letting players be their character by making everyone the generic big damn hero. That's why the quest zone was change to lone survivor having to grow and prove him/herself whilst learning lore to being the child of prophecy who gathers and army and screws it all up.

[SL1200]

I don't think so. The problems with mop didn't become apparent until you reached level 90. The leveling experience was pretty fun. I had a lot of fun leveling my main in mop.

[hrugner]

I've read that article before and I agree completely. They had something cool and dropped it.

Having that fat panda with a wok on his head tell you to go home didn't really make me want to stick around.

"you're right dude, sorry about all the bad feelings killing your buzz. Call me if these other guys don't leave and I'll help you... for a price."

[Enosh]

he instead tried to subtly feel you out and see if you knew the finer arts of meditation in a mini-game that didn't make the cut for release.

wait what?
isn't there still one in? where you have keep mashing left or right to keep the circle balanced while he annoys you

maybe some different minigame but the concept is the same

edit: duh next part explains it, it's the same minigame that's still in the game
edit2: maybe horde doesn't have it? I honestly can't remember, been a while since I leveled the warrior

[DarkTZeratul]

Oh, and I also happened to stumble upon something called the "Pandyr":

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...pical-Pandaran

Jesus christ, why was THAT concept scrapped?

Because it wasn't pandaren concept art, it's Samwise's personal stuff.

[Ringthane]

wait what?
isn't there still one in? where you have keep mashing left or right to keep the circle balanced while he annoys you

maybe some different minigame but the concept is the same

edit: duh next part explains it, it's the same minigame that's still in the game
edit2: maybe horde doesn't have it? I honestly can't remember, been a while since I leveled the warrior

I think there were two times you had to do that. I was in the beta before and after the Jade Forest revamp, and I remember doing it afterwards (or maybe even when it went live), getting to that part, and then being surprised when it wasn't there. I could be wrong, though.

I did prefer the first version of Jade Forest, though (I played through it on the Alliance side).

[Futhark]

Oh, and I also happened to stumble upon something called the "Pandyr":

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...pical-Pandaran

Jesus christ, why was THAT concept scrapped?

That was a great thread! I miss the days when I was anticipating that stuff. Now, the storytelling and plot that actually did come out of MoP was still really good; much better than Cat. I just hope they find their way in WoD with the recent storytelling skill combined with more savage lore.

[Jokubas]

Considering how much the Pandaria leveling burned me out, I can't see how this could have been worse. And that story arc does sound more interesting.

What I find most interesting about this is it sounds a lot like what they want to do with Warlords of Draenor questing. Did they take it out because they didn't like it, or because they didn't feel they had refined it enough? That makes me really excited to see what leveling will be like in Warlords of Draenor.