The long awaited expansion to World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria is set to hit North America in just

under 12 hours and around the world launch events are being held in convention halls, retail boxed
stores and just about everything inbetween. Proud players lining up for midnight releases or making last
minute convenience store runs to stock up on energy drinks for the ensuing madness that is to come,
everyone hoping that the experience that awaits them can fill the empty void left by nearly a year of
stale content and lack of significant updates to the game.

Whatever their fancy and whatever their opinions, in the next day some estimated 3.5 million players
will turn on their computers and fire up the latest in Blizzard's line of expansions to it's industry defining
MMO, World of Warcraft, with another estimated 5 million players purchasing the game within the next
2-3 months. While precise figures are yet to be released, it stands to reason that barring some unforseen
circumstances, Mists of Pandaria is likely to put another entry in the history of First-Day PC Sales records.

Throughout World of Warcraft's history, each new expansion to World of Warcraft immediately breaks
the previous record for PC Games, and despite the hemmoraging of players from the subscription-based
giant, it is expected to once again claim the title from current record holder Diablo 3, also a Blizzard title
which sold 3.5 million copies within it's first 24 hours.

But is the hype worth the time? With dozens of MMOs on the market at this very moment, what makes
this latest expansion stand out from the rest of the industry that all too many people are eager to
proclaim is simply filled with clones of World of Warcraft? Is there innovation or perhaps a reboot of
their formula to bring things more in line with a modern industry? It's time once again for that hurculean
task as we delve into the Mists of Pandaria.

**************************************************

First announced on October 21st, 2011 at Blizzard's (somewhat) yearly convention "BlizzCon", Mists of
Pandaria unveiled it's features to an enraptured audience of 40,000 attendies and millions watching on
DirectTV around the world. Unlike previous expansions however, a vocal collection of the playerbase
quickly mobilized to critique and call out the expansion as being "Childish", "Copying Kung Fu Panda"
and striking similarities in some of the expansion's new features to popular portable game juggernought
Pokemon.

Meeting them were "Fact Checkers" and a growing population that accepted the changes and in fact
seemed to embrace them, even pointing out that the Pandaren race predated the Kung Fu Panda movies
by years. So quickly did the vocal opposition to the expansion spread that by the end of the first day of
the convention Chris Metzen, Blizzards Senior VP of Creative, answered critics at a panel discussion that
evening. He assured fans that World of Warcraft wasn't changing directions and that Mists of Pandaria
was the "Calm before a great storm." but little it was to stop the arguments raging across message
boards and even between guildmates within the game.

The primary point of contention is the expansion's primary focus, the new player race called the
Pandaren. A race of bipedal pandas with flare and flavor from a variety of Asian sources. As a race the
Pandaren have a focus on spiritual enlightenment, inner-strength, and drinking. Possessing a calm and
accepting demeanor, the Pandaren are a light-hearted people, a fact that is soon revealed to be a
necessity of where they live, but we'll touch base on that later. Drinking is such a heavy focus for the
Pandaren people that many "Brews" that they produce contain mystical properties, these brews are
created across the continent of Pandaria at countless breweries that claim an important part of many
Pandaren's day.

An ancient race that predates even the ancient Night Elf empire, the Pandaren have lived isolated from
the world, having departed from their Night Elf allies in the wake of their practicing of arcane magic. To
defend themselves however they have another piece of contention of the game's vocal opposition, the
martial arts. Using a martial art that appears 1 half Drunken-style and 1 part Animal-style, Pandaren seek
to master the self and live a life of harmony, purity and self-betterment. They are difficult to anger, and
even harder to provoke into combat, however amongst the game's lore, the fighting ability of the
Pandaren monks are legendary.

With large martial-arts using panda men running around with light hearted attitudes, it can be easy to
see the parralells between the Pandaren and Po, the Dragon Warrior of Kung Fu Panda fame. However to
finally put the issue to rest seems impossible, but for the record the Pandaren have existed since before
Blizzard was founded, existing as drawings and stories belonging to Blizzard's Art Director (and confirmed
Brother of Metal) Sam Didier. The first in-game sighting of a Pandaren was in 2002/2003 with the release
of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Development of Kung Fu Panda first began in late 2004 (well over a
year after the game's release) and was released to world wide box office acclaim in 2008 by
DreamWorks. However, as the movie franchise is more engrained into masses of pop-culture, there is
little hinting that this fact will actually catch on, so let us just move on to the review.

**************************************************
The Mists of Pandaria is set in the months proceeding the fall of Deathwing the Destroyer and the end of
the Cataclysm. The world of Azeroth is wounded, deeply, but it has begun to heal. Left behind are the
scars of a world broken and burned so deeply that even as the months roll on, new discoveries are being
made and mysteries are being revealed to the people of Azeroth. New resources and sealed ruins have
opened to the world, new dangers and a time of unbridled expansion and resource grabbing has grasped
the Alliance and the Horde. A rushing war and conflict that sees a monumental discovery.

Far to the south in the section of ocean known as the "South Seas", rests the island of Pandaria and it's
peaceful Pandaren inhabitants. For generations the Pandaren have lived in harmony with their
surroundings, but all that changes when the Cataclysm weakens the misty barrier that concealed their
home, created by the last Pandaren Emperor, Shaohao, over 10,000 years ago. With the barrier
weakened, a nearby naval battle between the Alliance and Horde sees two crews shipwrecked upon the
island of Pandaria, bringing violence, pain and war to the lush and fertile continent of Pandaria.

Players will embark on an adventure across the newly re-discovered continent, learning of the history of
the Pandaren and the horrors that once held a grip on their people, and finally learn why the Pandaren
live their life in focus, harmony and inner peace. Along the way many of Azeroth's most powerful people
will seek the Island for their own reasons, giving players a chance to work closely with figures they have
come to know in the many years past. With the level cap raised once again, players will quest and
slaughter one another along their paths to the new level cap of 90 .

With the expansion's release, players will now be able to play a member of the Pandaren race, however
player Pandaren are descendants of a group of Pandaren wanderers who, instead of suffering The Great
Sundering 10,000 years ago, set off from the island of Pandaria atop an island-sized ancient turtle named
Shen-zin Su to experience the world and embrace a strange wanderlust that had gripped them. It is
these Pandaren, the "Grandchildren of Liu Lang", which embrace the Alliance and the Horde and forge a
path within each faction.

Player controlled Pandaren begin the game on Shen-zin Su, unaligned with any of the game's factions.
Adventuring with other Pandaren across the back of the great turtle (that they had dubbed "The
Wandering Isle"), the PCs come to discover the existance of the Alliance and the Horde and through
many trials end up leaving the other Pandaren to join the world of Azeroth. Upon completion of these
many quests the player is given a choice of whether to join the Alliance or the Horde, a choice which is
permanent and will set them on a journey all their own, and in many case teaching the people of their
factions about certain Pandaren cultural pieces...
**********************************************

The Monk, a class focusing on the martial arts and inner-mysticism, is brought by the Pandarens when
they arrive in Azeroth proper. Heroes and common people from across Azeroth flock to learn of the
ancient art the Pandaren developed over 10,000 years ago. Soon there were students of the Pandaren
martial arts all across Azeroth, leaving the door wide open for players to take hold of a much faster
paced combat style than most will be used to.

The Monk class is seperated into 3 specialties that players will choose from, each with their own
playstyle and focus, though each uses a "Chi" system of resources that builds up a collection of Chi as the
monk executes the basic maneuvers of their class, which may then be spent on more powerful abilities
ranging from heals, flashy damage-causing abilities, status effects and so on. Each monk uses a mini-
profession called "Brewing" to allow them to make self-buffing items as well as numerous martial arts
"Stances" which grant them further access to abilities dependant on their chosen specialty.

Brewmaster - A class focused on absorbing damage and holding the attention of hostile creatures,
Brewmasters use a combination of brews, kegs and evasive arts to dodge about as well as minimize
damage. Using a combination of mystical tricks and more mundane misdirection, Brewmasters can
redirect attacks or even throw a keg of alchohal atop a collection of enemies and set them ablaze by
breathing out a cone of flame as the hold a torch to their lips.

Mistweaver - A healing/damage hybrid class, Mistweavers can further choose to focus on either dealing
damage to the enemy or healing and preventing it in themselves and their allies. Using mystic medicine
and summoning the power of the Last Emperor's mists, the class has immense healing potential in a
short amount of time, but also possesses the tools to lay down gentle healing mists, shelter allies within
spheres of mystic power to protect them from harm or set down statues that pulse an aura of healing
whenever the Mistweaver strikes an enemy or casts another healing spell.

Windwalker - Specializing in dishing out damage in great bursts, Windwalkers focus on hand to hand
combat while wearing heavier armor. Slippery and agile, they strike quickly and can often times roll away
or stun their foes to gain some distance if necessary. With animations that make other classes seem
inadequete by comparison, the Windwalker leaps over their enemies at times, punishing them with
great kicks and flurries of punches that leave even the greatest of foes staggering.
Among the races of Azeroth there are only two which refuse to follow the path of the monk, the Goblins
and the Worgen. Primarily due to the size and body shape of the character models, these two races
reject the monk concepts on their racial principles... Greed is Good and Control the Beast. A goblin's
heart has no time for peace and harmony when it gets in the way of business, and the Worgen have
already mastered the Beast Within, and find the combat techniques laughable against the vicious attacks
of their true forms. Though personally, I'd think some discipline and inner peace could go a long way to
helping with that whole "Killing people and howling covered in their blood" thing the Worgen have going
on.

My experience with the monk was nothing short of exciting. The class is fast and fluid, and is a bit
familiar to a rogue or a death knight player, but still has it's own unique style. Building up Chi is quick and
painless, with half of a Monk's moves and spells not even requiring them. The ones that do however can
often make all the difference in the world, or will even buff the moves that normally don't use the Chi.
The addition of statues as a mechanic lends an intriguing series of strategies in mind for later raiding,
and I honestly can't wait to get this class on the live servers...

****************************************************

With a new continent to explore, a new class to master and a new race to level, Mists of Pandaria quickly
shaped itself to be far more ambitious in execution than the expansion's predecessors. However ever
expansion requires a "Bad Guy", a figure to rally against and unite players in their adventures. So it has
been for each expansion so far, and one would figure so it would still be... however such is another
departure from the status quo Blizzard has chosen for Mists of Pandaria.

As of this moment, there is no all-oppressive, world destroying, evil scheming villain for Mists of
Pandaria. At BlizzCon in 2011 Chris Metzen acknowledged this during the game's announcement saying,
"The villains... are us." going on to say that the warring factions of the Alliance and the Horde are what
bring the suffering and pain this time around, and that we are responcible for what will occur to the
peaceful people of Pandaria. Man, that's a bit of a buzz kill, Chris!

However, aiding us in our destruction are the spirits known as the Sha. These spirits are the
manifestation negative emotions of Anger, Despair, Doubt, Fear, Hatred and Violence. These spirits were
released originally by the Last Pandaren Emperor in the rituals that allowed him to isolate Pandaria from
the Great Sundering, but have laid dormant for many thousands of years. The Pandaren people make no
secret that they have lived their lives in compassion, inner peace and harmony in an effort to oppose the
Sha, as they each feed upon the slightest fist clenched in anger, the softest whisper-born curse or the
tiniest pang of doubt. When the Alliance and Horde bring the war to Pandaria, chaos erupts across the
continent as suddenly the players are providing all the fuel the six Sha could ever need.

Minor sha constantly seek to oppose life, to snuff out those that oppose the ideals of their origin. A
minor Sha of Anger will seek to create as much rage and anger in others, a Sha of Doubt will seek to
plant the seeds of discord and destroy the faith of those around it. Many Sha appear capable of
possessing and corrupting those who succumb to their vice, empowering them to levels requiring the
services of great heroes to oppose. Though the Sha may be defeated temporarily, the raging conflict
between the factions on Pandaria ensures that it is unlikely the Sha will return to their dormant state
anytime soon.

As the players adventure throughout Pandaria they will encounter numerous advesaries, many new
races and make powerful allies and enemies. They will learn about the immensely detailed lore
surrounding the Pandaren people and those connected to them. From the mischevious monkey-race
called the Hozen to the wise waterborn murloc-descendant race called the Jinyu, the cast of characters
along the way are a varied lot from the peaceful, to the war like, or even to the insectoid. The stories
surrounding the races of Pandaria and how they react and interact with the Horde and the Alliance are a
focus of the game's narrative.

****************************************************

One of the most talked about features of the expansion is the new Pet Battle System. Since World of
Warcraft's debut players have been collecting "Non Combat Pets" throughout their adventures. Ranging
from wolf pups, dozens of cats, magical beasts, dragon whelplings, little murlocs, undead baby dinosaurs
and so on, these "Mini Pets" had little function other than decoration and rewarding players for quest
chains and significant accomplishments. Piling up over the last many years, there exists some 500+ of
these pets waiting out in the world to be discovered, looted and bought by players. But up until now
they haven't ment anything...

However the Pet Battle System aims to change that. Often compared to the video game series Pokemon,
the Pet Battle System allows players to use their collected pets in battles with one another or wild pets
that roam the game world. Battling gives the pets experience which levels them up to unlock new
abilities, raise their strength and so on. Each pet bearing unique stats and abilities from the next,
creating an immense variety from which to choose from.
Much like it's often-compared to ancestor, each pet is given a type based on what it is. Animals and
magical beasts that mimic them are "Beast" types, mechanical pets are called "Machine" types, Dragons
are "Dragons", creatures that walk on two legs and have usable hands are labeled "Humanoid" and the
undead pets are, well "Undead", with many more types existing totally 10 in all. Each type possesses
strengths and weaknesses inherit in the type. Each is strong versus another and weak versus another,
and share a Type-Ability. Humanoid pets for example, will heal themselves each time they attack the
enemy. Machine types will reboot themselves once a match to 25% health when they are first destroyed,
and so on.

Strategy plays out in Pet Battles much like experienced Pokemon players would expect. Eventually as
players learn the system they will be able to form a team of 3 pets with which to battle other players and
wild pets. Teams can be customized and individual pets named before battle. During battles pets face off
one at a time, with the players or "Pet Trainers" able to call a pet to retreat and in it's place send out
another member of the team. While fighting each pet uses it's numerous abilities in an attempt to beat
the other. Once all members of a team are down, the battle ends.

Each battle is a turn-based battle based on each creature's speed and type, the abilities they use and so
on. Each pet type specializes in fighting another pet type but in addition, each ability a pet has will
specialize in opposing another type entirely. A humanoid pet might have a move that does high damage
to Dragon-types, despite that all attacks it does also do bonus damage to Critter-type pets.
"Enviromental" effects are also present, allowing pets to use abilities which alter the conditions of battle.
A particularly destructive pet might create a circle of flame around the battle, causing any pet which
leaves or enters the battle at the call of their trainer to take damage, or a snowfall and wind to whip
through the battle constantly causing the Miss Chance of all pets to be reduced.

In addition, pets can now to traded, again much like Pokemon (there really is no way around this
comparison), with players able to pack their pets into small cages and sell or trade them. Caged pets
retain their levels and abilities, letting you go out and not only find that elusive pet for your collection,
but also get it complete with already developed homing missiles, reactive armor and gauss rifle (that
would be the murloc pet Gruny, my favorite).

I'll go ahead and say it, this feature is indeed akin to Pokemon, however it's a feature that players have
been screaming for since the game's first expansion. Pet Battles are easy to get into (you're able to
queue up for them anywhere and the game will match you up with a similar opponent) and will be
difficult to master. I had some honest fun with the system, and seeing the pets I've collected over the
years fighting it out for my amusement is absolutely enthralling... however those who dislike Pokemon's
often mathy or grindy nature at the later stages might not be so impressed. I'm sure there will be entire
sections of WoW's community which will obsess over the Pet Battle System and cooky-cutter teams of
pets will be found which obliterate all comers... but until that does happen, I think I'm going to casually
enjoy this little feature.

************************************************

With the deep story and new game mechanics comes the core of the "PvE" experience of dungeons. 6
new basic or "leveling" dungeons will ship with the expansion, each with it's own corresponding "Heroic
Mode" which allows you to play through the dungeon again at the level cap for increased rewards in
exchange for a punishingly higher difficulty, bosses and mechanics. Also at launch will be 3 new "Old
World Heroic" dungeons, an updated-story relook at the dungeons of Scarlet Monastary Halls and
Monastery as well as fan favorite Scholomance.

New for the expansion are the brand new "Scenarios", smaller, shorter and more story focused
dungeons that Blizzard equates to being closer to old school "Group Quests" than actual dungeons...

Scenarios, much like dungeons, can be queued up anywhere and if you wish you can join other random
people from your server or battlegroup to give them a try. Each scenario has it's own rewards for
completion and can be done repeatedly without the usual "lockout" that players may be used to. A total
of 8 scenarios will be available at launch, with more coming out in future content patches. Interestingly
enough, Scenarios do not follow the "Tank, Healer, DPS" triad of dungeons, allowing any combination of
players to complete them. Unlike dungeons, scenarios are not 5-person party affairs, many utilizing only
3 players.

Also on the docket for the expansion are the "Proving Grounds". These often-requested single-person
dungeons or training instances will put players individual skills to the test in increasingly more difficult
tests of their skill and knowledge of their class. Progress in these trials are tracked and achievements and
gear earned for significant progress. Blizzard expects players to wear earned titles and use progression-
achievements as a mark of pride in guild-recruitment or your standard ego-waving fair. Each class and
specialization will be given different tasks and will have their gear equalized so that "Gear Advantage"
isn't a factor in progress. A healer might need to continue to heal a target, move out of damaging auras
and use threat-lowering cooldowns as they and a target are besieged by waves of increasingly more
difficult enemies. Damage dealers will need to use their utility abilities in perfect harmony with
increasingly difficult damage-races to beat the challenges they face and so on.

New "Challenge Mode" dungeons have been added. These dungeons are speed challenges that premade
groups can tackle and compete with one another in a ladder of ranked times. Groups can compete for
top spot on their server and battlegroups by completing special dungeons as fast as possible with
equalized gear. Competing these dungeons in the fastest possible times (and certain benchmarks below
that) will earn rewards ranging from weapons and armor that use unique player-reactive graphics (armor
accents which glow when a spell is casting, weapons that flare with additional graphics on critical hits),
titles, mounts, pets and of course bragging rights as your team of players and your ranking can be viewed
by anyone. This feature, amongst all the others, has Blizzard most excited to see hit the live servers.

I've had a chance to try them all, and I must say that I haven't been this excited to run dungeons in World
of Warcraft in a long time. Challenge Modes are amazingly intense and I really look forward to tackling
them with my team. Scenarios are a casual break from the everyday, and while they offer better rewards
than just questing at times, the ease of which they're accomplishable kind of puts me off just a little.
Even as it stands I found myself running off alone to kill entire packs because the other two members of
my party just weren't needed to get the job done. In total 15 new dungeon experiences, 8 Scenarios, 9
challenge modes and 3 raids will be available at launch.

*************************************************

Player versus Player or PvP is always a hot topic in World of Warcraft. The eSports community has a firm
hold on the game, and with the Arena Season competitions a popular feature in the game, there seems
little reason for them to go away. In addition to the existing PvP Battlegrounds in game, Mists of Pandaria
adds two more, the "Silvershard Mines" and the "Temple of Kotmogu", each with their own unique
objective-based goals. Also added into the Arena Map Rotation are the Tol'Viron Arena Grounds.

The Silvershard Mines is a resource-gathering map which sees each side competing to control mine carts
loaded with resources and escorting them to 3 different collection points at the end of the rails. Mine
carts can be diverted by the enemy teams by switching the tracks at key locations, making them focus
points for conflict. Each minecart is surrounded by a circular graphic showing it's control radius.
Whichever cart has the most players within it's circle controls the cart and will cause it to move forward
down the track. When a cart is under the control of a faction, that faction earns a slow crawl of points
towards victory. If they manage to get a cart to the collection point at the end of the track, they score a
big influx of points. 3 carts and 3 main tracks run at the same time, leaving each team to focus on any
number of objectives in a strategy to collect a set amount of resources to win.

The Temple of Kotmogu is a new "Keep Away" style of objective map. The goal is obtain an artifact
(Surprise! It's cursed!) and keep it within several different control zones across the map. Keeping the
artifact in each zone is worth a number of points (2 for the outter most zones, often near your spawn
point, 4 for the outter-circle of the temple and 6 for the inner circle and the altar itself) that slowly
progress towards a resource goal. The key is that the player carrying the artifact begins to take more and
more damage the longer they hold it until finally the slightest breeze can slay them. Players will be
expected to pass the idol around to avoid stacking the damage too high, even though the debuff will
persist upon players (even if they do not hold the artifact anymore) until the opposing team obtains the
artifact, at which point debuffs are removed and points begin to accumulate again until one team is the
victor.

The Tol'Viron Arena (Also called the Uldum Arena or Tol'Vir Proving Grounds) is the sixth arena to be
added to the game, and the first added since the release of the Dalaran Sewer arena during Wrath of the
Lich King. It follows a similar design to the Nagrand Arena, using pillars as their main focus along with a
few knooks and crannies for players to hide in when the going gets tough. It uses architecture from the
Cataclysm expansion and returning players will recignise it immediately.

While PvP has never been my specialty, because of my main class being a Death Knight Tank, the
possibilities to excel in PvP have been present for several expansions. Wanting to try out the new
battlegrounds I entered expecting to continue my dominance but was reminded horribly that every new
expansion that balance issues in PvP are some of the most painful lessons to learn. The mine-cart
experience is certainly a different one, though so far it seems the "winning" strategy everyone subscribes
to is to simply leave 1-2 people at a cart and the rest of the group running around at random zerging
anything they can find... not precisely unexpected given the state of battlegrounds I do suppose...

*****************************************************

Blizzards unique art and music style have set the bar high for the companies who follow them. Rarely am
I ever blown away as I am sitting down to listen to the latest music or graphical feasts than a Blizzard
title. Whether it be Diablo's haunting music and torturous images shown over the years, Warcraft's
iconic melodies and epic clashes or Starcrafts heroic tunes and overengineered codpieces, there is a
certain magic to the sights and sounds that players experience in their games, and Mists of Pandaria is
no exception.
With each expansion the limits of World of Warcraft's engine are pushed, broken, repaired and pushed
again. At maximum graphic settings Mists of Pandaria is a visual feast for the eyes, with some vistas
causing collections of players to stop and stare for a moment while questing... that is when an artist
knows they've done an exemplary job at their craft. Examined close enough, the game's aging graphic
engine does show itself, but every new model, graphic and vista is a sight to behind, and the Pandaren
and Monk animations are amazing. However monk animations given to the pre-Mists of Pandaria races
can look a little silly or goofy at times.

The game's music is almost indescribable at times, it's use of traditional asian instruments in a Blizzard
style creates a mix of music that pulls players into the world that they've crafted with immense time and
care. Intermixed are more modern instruments and mixes of traditional music stylings that accent an
intrusion into an otherwise peaceful harmony in parrallel with the game's own story. Never does the
intrusion become a negative, and in fact often times my mind would focus on the more traditional
sounds without thinking, and only when I would stop to listen closely did I hear the more modern sound.

Weapons and armor have taken on a more Eastern flair, with straw hats, rope, bamboo and other
accents being present in the more detailed pieces, though still present are World of Warcraft's more
traditional pieces. Each unique race within Pandaria has it's own unique armor styling that players will no
doubt spend countless hours fussing over, matching colored traditional straw hats to existing outfits to
create their own unique appearance for themselves.

Of the character models, Blizzard has stated that they are in the process of remodeling the original races
to bring them more in line with the modern racial models. Putting the human model beside the models
for the pandaren really shows off where the game's engine once was and where's it has come. They are
expecting to roll out the new race graphics as time goes on, race by race, and while they won't have it
present at launch, I'm personally of the opinion that content should trump flash in most cases... but
exceptions happen I suppose.

*******************************************************

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is another highly polished title from Blizzard Entertainment (or
Activision Blizzard, if you're nasty). Having spent the last 6 months in testing, one can only hope as it
goes forward that we won't see too many issues crop up at launch and we'll see another smooth release
akin to most Cataclysm servers. However, I am troubled, balance issues were present even leading up to
last week on the beta servers, with Monk Healers (Mistweavers) being able to push out increadible
amounts of healing for little mana. Balance issues have the capacity to make many people unhappy,
unset the balance in guilds as people rush for coveted raid spots and makes people feel that they are
forced to level a copy of the "flavor of the month" class... though never is it so pronounced than at the
beginning of an expansion.

With it's Pokemon inspired Pet Battle System, Martial Arts Panda and light hearted comedy, there are
many parallels to draw to other properties, and over the last year many have stated them with great
fervor and volume. However it can't be ignored that there are parrallels, even if the players themselves
did (literally at times) beg for them. I can see where many might feel a bit let down or in some extreme
cases even betrayed by the game's direction.

As an example, though I don't quite have the room to do it here completely, if one were to go back and
view all of the intro cinematics for World of Warcraft expansions and compare them to that of Mists of
Pandaria, one stark difference is visible... comedy. The animation is fluid and the quality is unmatched in
the industry, but over the previous 4 cinematic intros, only one showed a minor amount of comedy...
which was disguised in the brief 3 second clip of a warlock demonstrating his power or a mage
polymorphing an enemy. The cinematic style was different, and did nothing to quell fears that this was
anything but the "Kung Fu Panda Expansion". While that statement is false, perception and initial
reaction to the cinematic for me, was mixed. (Though again, the cinematic quality itself was immensely
high).

Mists of Pandaria is absolutely and undoubtably ambitious, with class, race, ability and countless other
"Balances" being a constant thorn in the side of any MMO developer, Blizzard decided to charge
headlong into a challenge of not adding just a new race or just a new class as they had done in
expansion's past, but instead did both at once. With so many new features added this expansion, it's
hard to believe that they all share the same level of quality.

Over the course of this game's development I've had the opportunity to try nearly everything, at times at
gawked in disbelief in a good way... and at other times, in a bad way. And while I may be able to find
redeeming qualities in almost everything these days, there are still some things I can't really look past
without pausing to shake my head. Some things Mists of Pandaria does, just seem a little over the top,
and having been a fan of the Pandaren myself since they were nothing more than concept drawings on a
Man of Metal's mighty desk, I would have prefered to have a few more powerful no-nonsense Pandaren,
the kind of bears that live more up to the grizzly than the panda. I'd have loved a little more involvement
of some of the "old world" than a few quests and revamped instances...

****************************************************

But, all in all the minor disappointments I felt over the course of playing the game are not as hindering as
my final few thoughts. The writing, as they say, is on the wall, there's an elephant in the room (two of
them actually) and it's time, even for just a minute, to give them a nod and a few peanuts... the first
being the comparison of World of Warcraft and the newly released Guild Wars 2.

The latest in a neverending line of "WoW Killers", Guild Wars 2 has managed to impress and enthrall
many across the industry. It's graphic style if excellent, it's lore established and it does so many things
that World of Warcraft really should learn from. Ranging from the simple to the complex, Guild Wars 2 is
on the pioneering edge of a change in the MMO industry. It's no surprise the New Kid gets compared to
the Veteran Reigning Champion. Now while I believe the two are completely seperate games and any
rational human being can play both at once, there are still many things which the Champ can learn from
the Kid, things which are now in the minds of the MMO playbase which the lack-thereof will be seen as a
negative... even to me.

Often called a Traditionalist in MMOs, I was so used to rushing to max level, pushing over the slow and
weak in my way to be the first to hit monsters and quest items so that I didn't have to stand around and
wait for 30 others to do it as well, let alone those same 30 people also looking to do the same to me. I'm
used to the cut throat enviroment of a traditional MMO, I'm used to being an elitist because it was
necessary, and turning away help or doing things with the minimal number of people required because
of competition for loot...

Guild Wars 2 changed that however. While certainly not the absolute first, Guild Wars 2 changes a lot of
little things in the typical MMO model. Being able to move and cast with nearly everything, helping
someone gets you rewarded, rescuing someone from the jaws of death ment getting a little XP. You
didn't mind stopping to help someone out because you were rewarded, not a lot, but just enough. Guild
Wars 2, for it's own faults, improved upon the design by allowing cooperation in an MMO. It seems so
natural now to think about it...

And as well, and finally... the Subscription business model. Now I understand that given a choice, I'll
subscribe to a Free to Pay game that I enjoy, and for me in the end, there's little difference... however
Free to Play titles have cash shops with nice little bonuses, perks and the like to purchase. I really
wouldn't mind seeing World of Warcraft putting in a cash shop, going "Free to Play" (beyond Level 20)
and really begin adopting more of the modern MMO conventions that are out there these days.

Is Mists of Pandaria worth your money? Is it worth sticking around in World of Warcraft for? Absolutely.
Without a doubt it's money well spent if you're a World of Warcraft player. If you're not a current player,
there's a Battle Chest package to pick up that'll bring you up to speed... but could it be better? Sure.

If Mists of Pandaria was released before Guild Wars 2, and I hadn't had the time playing through it with a
far less cutthroat attitude, Mists of Pandaria would be an easy 9 out of 10. For it's ramped up graphics,
it's ambitious undertaking, massive amounts of content and excellent execution... absolutely. However
since Guild Wars 2's release I've found myself wanting an experience in World of Warcraft with some of
the little things... maybe even a few things from Star Wars: The Old Republic too.

It would appear, my long time away from World of Warcraft has taught me a bit more about what I'd like
to see in an MMO. How about that?