Mists of Pandaria

Wtf have a started O_O

Will not do Vanilla and TBC as I am personally a Wrathbaby!

Wrath of the Lich King Personally I love the Northern atmosphere and a Lich Army you have to face. Style-wise, it is my favorite of the lot, hands down. Not to mention it had the most epic badguy of all the expansions. Sadly, I did not PvP yet back then, did do a lot of Heroics, which were very easy, and briefly scraped ICC, which felt very epic to me. Arthas and the scourge were something you really had a deep-seethed hate towards as a Blood Elf RPer, which also made it awesome immersion-wise. It may be my point of view as wide-eyed newbie, but it just felt grander and more gripping.
Cataclysm Got into PvP this expansion... And to me that was pretty much all there was in Cataclysm, the badguy was lame and why the fuck would my character even care he was there? Had she, theoretically, not ventured outside of Quel'thalas, she would have merely heard about it from the occasional traveler... I did level a lot of alts in Cata, as I only joined up in Wrath, which kept me going and did not make me want to quit the game. The revamp of the old zones made for very nifty questing! Oh yes, and it gave us transmog. Nuf said.
Mists of Pandaria It is just... not my thing... I found the Pandaren ladies quite adorable when I saw them, but I could not bring myself to ever play one because I could not immerse in the Pandaran culture nor Pandaria at all. It is all so bloody colorful, with instances that contain... bunnies... and... alementals... Seriously? And the only 'darker' zones in the game are flocked with mantid, which are hard to deal with when you have a phobia for grasshoppers. Once again I did not feel like my character had any place in the expansion, it always felt like she could just pack her bags and go home and lead an easy life there. Who cares about some Thunder King? The PvP dailies in Krasarang Wilds were a lot of fun on my rogue, but otherwise? Meh... First expansion in which I started to think of quitting.

New arena, Pao will love this one.

Personally I'm a bit meh about it, it looks like Warriors will be able to charge you from basically anywhere unless you're behind a pillar.
Not sure if the orb locations are classified as highground and "out of sight" but I doubt it.

I want to role-play in that arena.

Well I didn't play until beginning of Cata, so.... until then it was something I had seen announced in TV years ago, thinking "Niiice, but I'll never pay a sub."
Oh, and then the Wotlk cinematic showing in TV and me going "OMG ARTHAS but I'll never pay a sub."

So yeah. But MoP does seem cooler than Cata, I love the way they changed how the story is told, never felt so invested in it in other parts of the game.

I'm just disappointed how they could have a huge awesome dragon as the villain previously, and yet somehow manage to make it so boring and anticlimatic

Emrys wrote:It is all so bloody colorful, with instances that contain... bunnies... and... alementals... Seriously?

This is exactly why I love it so much! Out with the grimdark, in with the whimsical fantasy adventures <3

Emrys wrote:Who cares about some Thunder King?

Only that the battles on that Island are decisive to the future of your entire race. Honestly, for Blood Elf role-play, this is the most interesting expansion since their introduction in TBC. Blood elves get a lot of story focus, and a lot to do. Unfortunately the role-playing community appears to be ignoring these golden opportunities. Which makes me a saaaaad Panda.

Allonia_Miral wrote:I'm just disappointed how they could have a huge awesome dragon as the villain previously, and yet somehow manage to make it so boring and anticlimatic

I generally find dragons to be the dullest aspect of any fantasy universe.

Coppersocket wrote:Personally I'm a bit meh about it, it looks like Warriors will be able to charge you from basically anywhere unless you're behind a pillar.
Not sure if the orb locations are classified as highground and "out of sight" but I doubt it.

Hmm... perhaps running onto the platforms -> leap off over the fence will make warriors unable to charge? I think some shadow tendril fun is to be had there :9

@Erwt: I realize the Blood Elves are majorly involved in the plot by well... for some reason really wanting to go fight there because Lor'tehmar was tired of sitting around doing nothing. But I am just not feeling the immersion... :< (Even though I was really looking forward to it even) Like I said earlier in another topic, I already feel it is borderline lore-lol that Jaina/Vareesa pulled that many soldiers of a nearly extinct race out of their arse... I never get this feeling of necessity of being there, besides that Lor'themar wants to show 'HE CAN BE AWESOME TOO YA KNOW!" The only part in the quest-scenario-thingies that made me chuckle was the very last when he went all smooth on Jaina and Vareesa was screaming 'They killed my husband!' in the background.

Longknife/Decurius wrote:I heard people kept complaining about dailies for months now.

I've been puzzled over this as well.

This is my theory for why there are so many complaints:

-People have the mentality that caps are there to be reached
-Blizz removed the daily quest cap and introduced a bunch of dailies so that people could choose the dailies they like
-Valor points have a weekly cap (IT MUST BE REACHED!!!!)
-Dailies reward some valor points as well as lesser charms
-Lesser charms are required for a chance to get extra loot (HAVE TO GET THOSE LESSER CHARMS!!!!)

This all results in the mentality that ALL DAILIES MUST BE DONE ALL DAY EVERY DAY OR YOU ARE NOT GEARING FAST ENOUGH.
Or as GC said it in a tweet:

What if raiding was an option, daily questing was an option and dungeons were an option?
Then my expectation is players would choose the most efficient path (not the most fun) and tunnel on that one.

Currently, we expect to release World of Warcraft Patch 5.3: Escalation next week on Tuesday, May 21!

Full Read:

"Oh boy".

Be Prepared
Hold on to some of those currencies you’ve been earning over the course of patch 5.2. The gear-upgrading Void Binders are returning in patch 5.3, but it will be cheaper to upgrade items using Valor and Justice Points. Upgradeable PvP items from Season 12 will be eligible for upgrade once again at their original costs. In addition, Heirloom items will be cheaper to upgrade, whether you’re using Justice Points, Honor Points, or Darkmoon Faire tickets. We’re also speeding up the leveling process from 85 to 90. Here are the details:

• The experience required to level from 85 to 90 will be reduced by 33%. Time to dust off those alts!
  
• The Void Binders are coming back!
  
• Items upgraded with Valor will now cost 250 Valor Points to upgrade per 4 Item Levels, for a total of 500 Valor for 8 Item Levels per item. This applies retroactively to all items that can be upgraded using Valor.
  
• Items upgraded with Justice will now cost 750 Justice Points to upgrade for 8 Item Levels. They can only be upgraded once, for a total of 750 Justice and 8 Item Levels per item. This applies retroactively to all items that can be upgraded using Justice.
  
• Malevolent Gladiator’s Conquest (Season 12) items that have upgrades available will still be upgradable at their original Conquest Point costs (750 Conquest Points per 4 Item Levels, with two upgrades possible).
  
• Dreadful Gladiator’s Honor (Season 12) items that have upgrades available will still be upgradable at their original costs (one upgrade at a cost of 750 1500 Honor Points for 8 Item Levels).
  
• No other PvP items will be able to be upgraded.
  
• The amount of Justice, Honor, and Darkmoon Faire tickets needed to upgrade Heirloom items will be reduced by 60%.

Item Level Requirements
Are you ready to face the Raid Finder, Heroic dungeons, and new Heroic Scenarios? Make sure that you’re geared up to dive right in:

• Heroic Scenarios require an average Item Level of 480; unlike normal Scenarios, you’ll need a pre-made party to enter.
  
• An average Item Level of 435 is required for Heroic dungeons.
  
• An average Item Level of 460 is required for the Raid Finder version of Mogu’shan Vaults.
  
• An average item level of 470 is required for Raid Finder versions of Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Spring.
  
• An average Item Level of 480 is required for the Raid Finder version of Throne of Thunder.

A number of significant changes are coming to PvP and PvP gear:

• All characters now have a base Resilience of 65%.
  
• Battle Fatigue now reduces the effectiveness of healing and absorb spells and abilities by 45% (was 30%).
  
• PvP Power bonus to healing is now based on class and specialization.
  
• Healing specializations receive a 100% bonus to healing from PvP Power.
  
• Damage specializations for Druids, Monks, Paladins, Priests, and Shaman receive a 70% bonus to healing from PvP Power.
  
• All other specializations and classes (including tanking) receive a 40% bonus to healing from PvP Power.

Next Tuesday? Already? Jeez.

To the event-planning mobile!

While I would make a post out of this, WoWhead has a very nice way of making their posts.

http://www.wowhead.com/news=212840/patch-5-3-pvp-changes-additions-cosmetic-rewards#.

http://www.wowhead.com/news=212834/5-3-ptr-hidden-brawlers-guild-items-tom-chilton-interview

So. Arenfel with TTH
http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2013/may/tcg-series7-044-full.jpg

Spoiler:

And someone's fucking mad
http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2013/may/tcg-series7-042-full.jpg

Spoiler:

That last one is pretty bad. Wulf can deliver a better painting.

It's not amazing, no. But I did like the eyes.

I'm jealous Arenfel gets to take that firs-

SOMEONE COLOUR HIS BEARD IN BLACK, PLEASE! ARTISTS?!?!?!

Vaell wrote:I'm jealous Arenfel gets to take that firs-

SOMEONE COLOUR HIS BEARD IN BLACK, PLEASE! ARTISTS?!?!?!

Where's my medal?

Spoiler:

Very pleased with the patch so far.

The scenario's are fun and the lore-bits, even the ones I complained about earlier, are all well done.

When I was young...

Thelos wrote:When I was young...

it seemed that life was so wonderful,
a miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
joyfully, playfully watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
clinical, intellectual, cynical.

There are times when all the world's asleep,
the questions run too deep
for such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
but please tell me who I am.

Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical,
liberal, fanatical, criminal.
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're
acceptable, respecable, presentable, a vegtable!

At night, when all the world's asleep,
the questions run so deep
for such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
but please tell me who I am.

Spoiler:

Damn it, Copper! You just beat me to it! I was going to post the lyrics!

Scenarios are kinda awful, and there is little to no content on this patch overall. But it fixed a few things, plus might as well have more time to gear up for the next raid.

EDIT: also kudos to the supertramp reference

I like scenarios.

I thought the story bits in the new scenarios were awesome. Gamewise they might get dull when you repeatedly run them, but that's how any scenario is. Besides, the story bits is what they exist for, right?

Yeah, but think about it. In a vast game as WoW that caters towards a mass of people, story should always come second to gameplay.

Even if the scenario stories were interesting (which I can't say they are either) you can't make monotonous gameplay to tell that story. Considering that there'll be no more dungeons in MoP and all we'll get are these, it's quite disheartening. Though in Blizzard's point of view, it's easier to make a bunch of scenarios taking place in 1 room instead of designing mini-raids to tell the same stories.

I can store my transmoggin gear into Void Storage now! Glorious bag space, wohooo!

...aaaand that's about it. Guess I'll play through the new scenarios once at least, while also giving that new BG a go.