Mists of Pandaria – Will it bring honor to us all?

It seems that a few million people are aware of a certain popular MMORPG getting another expansion in the near future. Yes, the World of Warcraft is getting just a little bit bigger with the addition of Mists of Pandaria. I’ve had an opportunity to play first hand in the beta and I’m bringing my thoughts and impressions to you all.

First, a little history about my exposure to WoW. I began playing WoW in the original open beta back in 2004. After launch, I was in a few guilds and did a few 40-person raids in MC, BWL, AQ, and Naxx. I went on to play in BC, WotLK, and Cata over the years and have learned numerous other acronyms for things in the game. Admittedly, I am no longer an active player because I find that end game MMO and I just don’t get along. Grinding rep for months through daily quests and downing raids over and over just isn’t my bag. Yes, I did get a Wintersaber mount and ran Strath until I got Baron Rivendare to give up his horse as well, but that was years ago. Just wanted to make that clear up front.

All of that said, Mists of Pandaria is likely to thrill any avid fan of the game. It may even bring back a few of those that have turned away from WoW.

What I liked about MoP

Though I may be a jaded ex-player, there was a lot to like about Pandaria. Chiefly, the western stylized take on Chinese art and architecture was absolutely gorgeous. From agrarian farmhouses to grand temples this game delivers impressive sights. I enjoy cherry trees in bloom, so the arboretum was one of my favorite areas. However, there is plenty to be said for the Dread Wastes where various sentient humanoid insects are vying for power over one another. The area has been laid to waste by negative energy and the blue and purple landscape is a stark contrast to the verdant and lush Jade Forest.

Weather effects are spectacular.

Blizzard is sticking to their strong suit of finding good things in other games in the genre and incorporating those elements into Warcraft. In MoP we see the addition of lore objects scattered throughout the game that players can click on to learn more about the history of this new land. Another feature that I’m glad to see make its way into WoW is the ability to loot multiple enemies at a time within a given radius of your character.

Like showing off your hard won special mounts? Then the account wide stable for mounts and non-combat pets is going to be great for you. Now all of your characters benefit from the ability to use that rare mount you worked so hard to get on your main. Which would be great if I were still playing because that violet protodrake took forever (or a year, but who’s counting) to earn. This will also mean that you only need to level your non-combat pets once, which is a boon in my book.

Lastly, I like the idea of the scenarios – three person instances that don’t require a standard group dynamic and that are based more around task completion than clearing trash and killing bosses. However, that brings me to my next section.

So this stuff was kinda meh…

While I like the idea behind the new scenarios, I wasn’t as thrilled by the implementation. Granted that this is still beta and things are unfinished, but there didn’t seem to be any real reward system in place for running the content. An achievement for a half hour of work isn’t the worst, but maybe some gold or a token blue item would be nice. The only way that you receive a reward at all is from choosing to queue for a random scenario once a day. Doing so awards you valor points and a treasure cache which yielded only a small amount of gold for myself and for others I spoke to in game.

I’m a monk. Duh!

Monks didn’t really thrill me. They weren’t bad, but they felt to me like a class that was thrown in to be thematic without a clear purpose. Monks can specialize in tanking, dps, or healing much like druids or paladins can. So my point here is that there really didn’t need to be another three-way hybrid class thrown into the mix. Again, that’s just me and I’m sure a million other people will think I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Lastly, the new specialization system just takes away the feeling that I had control over the evolution of my character. Of course, if you were building a warrior to be a tank, then you’re likely taking the same talents that every other tanking warrior is. So again, it’s not a bad thing because it was mostly an illusion of customization. What the new system does allow for is  more meaningful choices of powers every 15 levels instead of talent points. However, I still felt as if I were railroaded in those choices in order to support the specialization choice.

And then there were the less than good things.

So far a good expansion for a long lived game. Still, there were a few points where I really think somebody dropped the ball and then someone else kicked that ball into the street where it was then hit by a car.

Pet battles – largely an exercise in time wasting. As I mentioned in another article, this is just Pokémon dressed up in a World of Warcraft skin. Take up to 3 pets into battle against a team of others, fight, and attempt to capture the enemy if you want to add to your collection. You know, try to catch them all. Currently, there are no real perks to fighting battles and beating trainers in the various towns.

While the Pandaren are a race that has made an appearance in the form of Chen Stormstout, a neutral hero in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, they have also been used as an April Fool’s joke. Even so, I can see them as a source of untapped lore that might be suitable for an expansion. However, their dynamic starting zone with the ability to choose sides is exactly what the Goblins should have been. I’m not going to spend time really arguing this point, but it seems to me that a race known for being neutral should remain that way.

So did I like it?

My opinion stands that this expansion is good in that it does what WoW is supposed to do. It creates a plethora of new content to explore, even if that content behaves very much the same as the old did. Clearly people have enjoyed it so far or they wouldn’t be playing. It incorporates features that worked well in other games and improves the player experience in WoW. In the end game it provides new ways of doing instances and plenty of new factions to impress enough to gain access to their coveted gear, recipes, and mounts. Current players are likely to love the expansion and everyone else will probably just let it dip right off of their radars.