Mists of Pandaria

Update - For the record, the international codes 009 and 041 only seems to appear on Blizzard's online games trademarks. This isn't a book or anything like that. It appears incredibly likely based on previous trademarks obtained by Blizzard that this is the next expansion.

Drefurion wrote:If Pandaren are going to be playable.. I wonder what the opposing faction will receive as playable race..

Eloresh wrote:

Drefurion wrote:If Pandaren are going to be playable.. I wonder what the opposing faction will receive as playable race..

Ogres?

*edit* Probs we'll see a new class (if this expansion is real) a Shaolin-fighter orso.. And they'll all be thaught by the Pandaren..

Nithel wrote:I always thought Pandaren were a joke. o_o Something like leprechauns existing in this world. Where do they come in? xD Or is this a draenei thing, they'll appear on a floating island that crashlanded into Azeroth?

An History of Rumors
The pandaren started as a creation of the Blizzard artist Samwise Didier and an April Fool's joke, but they got a massive response from Warcraft fans. In the first BlizzCast episode launched on Jan. 10, 2008, Samwise recalled the process to the creation of the Pandaren April Fool's page: "But so we put that up in there and everyone was like “Oh my God! A PANDA RACE? That’s kind of cool!” And I’m like “Are you kidding me, really? You want to see pandas in Warcraft III or whatever?”" Soon, they were included in the Warcraft III expansion and Chris Metzen began to write them into the game lore. Due to this popularity, pandaren were rumored to be the new playable Alliance race to be introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion.

Their possible appearance in WoW has been hinted at multiple times by Blizzard. Katricia: "Maybe they will be found in the beta or retail version of the game and maybe they will be granted a special place in an expansion. Just imagine how exciting it will be to find one!" and "pandaren will not be a playable race ... at this time. Will they make cameo appearances in the game as NPCs? Some things are best left unanswered I think "

Supposedly, a gaming magazine was brought to Blizzard's offices in the fall of 2005 to view the Burning Crusade expansion pack for the first time. There were dozens of posters and artwork depicting the pandaren as the new Alliance race. This rumor goes on to suggest the race was then canceled for reasons concerning "pandas being a sacred animal" in China, or with the "political problems [associated with a] Japanese/Chinese hybrid", in WC3 beta, pandaren wore samurai armor, but this was soon fixed. Other gaming sources stated that when "mentioning the ex-April-Fool's-joke Pandaren Empire to Blizzard staff got a surprisingly cagey response..." Blizzard has yet to confirm or deny these rumors directly.

In any case, Blizzard revealed in May 2006 that the new Alliance race for the expansion was to be the draenei, thus rendering most rumors incorrect. Nevertheless, Katricia's comments still leave some possibility for a future appearance in World of Warcraft.

Another persistent rumor regarding their non-inclusion in the game is that there is a law in China prohibiting any depiction of violence against pandas, even anthropomorphic pandas, even in a video game. This rumor is, in fact, baseless. Not only does such a law not exist, but there is at least one Chinese MMO that does feature both PvP and a playable race of pandas.

During the discussion panel at Blizzcon 2009, it was stated that the Pandaren have not had an increased presence in the game due to legal issues with China.