Earlier today I was dying to find out information about the new achievements and rewards that were being introduced with Mists of Pandaria. Having found nothing easy to shift through, I decided to collect as much information on this topic as I could in one place, then make it easy to shift through. Here you go!

Reputation

Raiding

Questing

Dungeons

Scenarios

Pets

Mounts

Professions

General

PvP

Exploration

Rewards

Reputation

 60 Exalted Reputations

Attained by: Raise 60 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 70 Exalted Reputations

Attained by: Raise 70 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points and the title: The Beloved

 Ambassadors

Attained by: Raise 25 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Raiding

 100,000 Valor Points

Attained by: Earn 100,000 Valor Points
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Cleaning Up

Attained by: Defeat the Sha of Doubt in Temple of the Jade Serpent while under the effects of Purified Water
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Cutting Edge: Grand Empress Shek’zeer

Attained by: Defeat Grand empress Shek’zeer in Heart of Fear on Heroic difficulty, with Klaxxi Resonance inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Cutting Edge: Sha of Fear

Attained by: Defeat the Sha of Fear in Terrace of Endless Spring on Heroic difficulty, with the Ritual of Purification inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Cutting Edge: Will of the Emperor

Attained by: Defeat the Will of the Emperor in Mogu’shan Vaults of Heroic difficulty, with the Dampening Field inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Extinction Event

Attained by: Defeat Salyis’s Warband in Valley of the Four Winds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Face Clutchers

Attained by: Defeat Lei Shi while all members of the raid are afflicted by Parasitic Clutch in Terrace of Endless Spring on Normal or Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Getting Hot In Here

Attained by: Have the entire raid dance with Subetai the Swift after being hit by Pillage
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glory of the Pandaria Raider

Attained by: Complete the Pandaria raid achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points and the Reins of the Heavenly Crimson Cloud Serpent

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Questing

Questing

Dailies

Questing

 A Taste of History

Attained by: Find a Guo-Lai Vault Key and open an Ancient Guo-Lai Cache
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Ain’t Lost No More

Attained by: Return Old Man Thistle’s lost treasure
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Amber is the color of My Energy

Attained by: Recover the following Klaxxi Paragons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Champion of Chi-Ji

Attained by: Defeat every challenger at the Cradle of Chi-Ji
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Chapter I: Trial of the Black Prince

Attained by: Prove your worth to Wrathion and aquire a sha-touched gem upgrade
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Collateral Damage

Attained by: Use a Mogu Satue’s Crushing Slam to kill another opponent
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Defender of Gods

Attained by: Complete the Shado-Pan fanale, “Surprise Attack!”
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Defender of Gods

Attained by: Defeat 10 Shado-Pan Trainees within 10 seconds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Dread Haste Makes Dread Waste

Attained by: Complete the Dread Wastes storylines listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Eternally in the Vale

Attained by: Complete the follwoing milestones with the Golden Lotus
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Finish Them!

Attained by: Complete the follwoing milestones with the Golden Lotus
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fire in the Yaung-hole!

Attained by: Kill 15 or more Gai-Cho combatants with a single Highly Explosive Oil Barrel
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Dailies

 A Taste of Things to Come

Attained by: Successfully harvest your first special crop
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 5000 Daily Quests Complete

Attained by: Complete 5000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 10000 Daily Quests Complete

Attained by: Complete 10000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Daily anticipation

Attained by: Complete 150,000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Every Day I’m Pand-a-ren

Attained by: Complete 25 daily quests in Pandaria in a single daily reset period
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Friend on the Farm

Attained by: Become best friends with one of the characters at the Halfhill Market
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Friends on the Farm

Attained by: Become best friends with all of the characters at the Halfhill Market
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Getting Around with the Shado-Pan

Attained by: Complete 15 Shado-Pan daily quests with each of the following Shado-Pan heroes
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Dungeons

 And Stay Dead!

Attained by: Allow High Inquisitor Whitemane to cast Mass Resurrection, defeat all revived Scarlet Judicators, and then defeat Whitemane in Scarlet Monastary on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better…

Attained by: Defeat Feng the Accursed in Normal or Heroic difficulty after mimicking each of the following abilities
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Attention to Detail

Attained by: Defeat Jandice Barov without ever eliminating a false image in Scholomance on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Bomberman

Attained by: Trigger 15 exploasions within 15 seconds during the Sabeteur Kip’tilak encounter in Gate of the Setting Sun on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Burning Man

Attained by: Cause Brother Korloff to light six nearby training dummies on fire, and then defeat him, in Scarlet Monastery on Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Candle in the Wind

Attained by: Defeat Blade Lord Ta’yak while all four braziers are lit in Heart of Fear on Normal or Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Challenge Conqueror

Attained by: Complete ever Challenge Mode dungeon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Challenge Conqueror: Bronze

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Bronze or better
Reward: 15 Achievement points and the title The Undaunted

 Challenge Conqueror: Silver

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Silver or better
Reward: 20 Achievement points and the Ancestral Phoenix Mount

 Challenge Conqueror: Gold

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold
Reward: 25 Achievement points and a Full set of class-specific transmogrifiable armor

 Challenge Mode Dungeon Challenges

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold or better while in a guild group
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Conscriptinator

Attained by: Gain three stacks of Resin Residue by defeating Mantid Conscripts in Gate of the Setting Sun on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Empowered Spiritualist

Attained by: Defeat Thalnos the Soulrender while three Empowered Zombies are alive
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun Challenger

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Bronze

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Bronze or better
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Silver

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Silver or better
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Gold

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Gold
Reward: 10 Achievement points and Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

 Glintrok N’ Roll

Attained by: Defeat Gekkan and his Glintrok entourage in Mogu’shan Palace on Heroic difficulty within 5 minutes of being spotted by the Glintrok Scout
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glory of the Pandaria Hero

Attained by: Complete the Pandaria Heroic dungeon achievements listed below
Reward: 25 Achievement points and the Reins of the Crimson Cloud Serpent

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Scenarios

 A Brewing Storm

Attained by: Defeat Borokhula the Destroyer in A Brewing Storm
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Arena of Annihilation

Attained by: Complete the Arena of Annihilation scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Beat the Heat

Attained by: Defeat Little Liuyang without anyone taking damage from a Flame Wall in the Arena of Annihilation scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Binan Village All-Star

Attained by: Personally use each of the Brewmoon Festival defenses
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Brewmoon Festival

Attained by: Defeat Warbringer Qobi in the Brewmoon Festival scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Crypt of Forgotten Kings

Attained by: Complete the Crypt of Forgotten Kings scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Don’t Shake the Keg

Attained by: Defeat Brokhula the Destroyer in A Brewing Storm without getting hit by his Swamp Smash
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fancy Footwork

Attained by: Defeat the Abomination of Anger in the Crypt of Forgotten Kings scenario without anyone taking damage from the red clouds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 For Display Only

Attained by: Defeat General Zhu without using any of the artifact orbs in the Temple of Kotmogu scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Pets

 A Rare Catch

Attained by: Capture a rare quality battle pet
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 All Growns Up!

Attained by: Raise a pet to level 25.
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 All Pets Allowed

Attained by: Raise a pet of every family to level 25
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 An Uncommon Find

Attained by: Capture an uncommon quality battle pet
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Battle Master

Attained by: Earn 200 pet battle achievement points
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Big City Pet Brawler

Attained by: Complete each of the Big City Pet Brawlin’ achievements listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Big City Pet Brawlin’ – Alliance

Attained by: Win a pet battle in each of the Alliance cities listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points
Restrictions: Alliance only

 Big City Pet Brawlin’ – Horde

Attained by: Win a pet battle in each of the Horde cities listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points
Restrictions: Horde only

 Building a Team

Attained by: Capture 25 pets in a pet battle
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Cat Fight!

Attained by: Win 10 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Collector’s Edition: Baneling

Attained by: Owner of the Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Collector’s Edition Baneling
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Collector’s Edition: Lucky Quilen Cub

Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Lucky Quilen Cub pet
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Continental Tamer

Attained by: Complete all of the pet battle mauler achievements listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Eastern Kingdoms Safari

Attained by: Catch every battle pet in Eastern Kingdoms
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Eastern Kingdoms Tamer

Attained by: Capture a battle pet in each of the Eastern Kingdoms zones listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Experienced Pet Battler

Attained by: Win 50 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Experienced Pet Brawler

Attained by: Win 50 PvP pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Family Reunion

Attained by: Capture a battle pet from each family
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Going to Need More Leashes

Attained by: Collect 250 unique pets
Reward: 10 Achievement points and Feral Vermling pet

 Going to Need More Traps

Attained by: Capture 50 pets in a pet battle
Reward: 5 Achievement points and Strong Pet Trap

 Grand Master Pet Battler

Attained by: Win 1000 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Grand Master Pet Brawler

Attained by: Win 1000 PvP pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

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Mounts

 Collector’s Edition: Imperial Quilen

Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Imperial Quilen mount
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Grand Expedition Yak

Attained by: Obtain a Grand Expedition Yak from Uncle Bigpocket in Kun-Lai Summit
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Professions

Cooking

Archaeology

Cooking

 Get Some Chopsticks

Attained by: Cook 7,500 Mists of Pandaria cooking recipes
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Archaeology

 Ballad of Liu Lang

Attained by: Discover each of the lore objects in Pandaria that tell the tale of Liu Lang
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Between a Saurok and a Hard Place

Attained by: Discover each of the Saurok lore objects in Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Apothecary Tins

Attained by: Restore 5 Apothecary Tins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Apothecary Tins

Attained by: Restore 20 Apothecary Tins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Carved Bronze Mirrors

Attained by: Restore 20 Carved Bronze Mirrors
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Carved Bronze Mirrors

Attained by: Restore 5 Carved Bronze Mirrors
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Cracked Mogu Runestones

Attained by: Restore 5 Cracked Mogu Runestones
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Cracked Mogu Runestones

Attained by: Restore 20 Cracked Mogu Runestones
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Edicts of the Thunder King

Attained by: Restore 20 Edicts of the Thunder King
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Edicts of the Thunder King

Attained by: Restore 5 Edicts of the Thunder King
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Empty Kegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin

Attained by: Restore 5 EmptyKegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Empty Kegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin

Attained by: Restore 20 EmptyKegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines

Attained by: Restore 20 Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines

Attained by: Restore 5 Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Iron Amulets

Attained by: Restore 5  Iron Amulets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Iron Amulets

Attained by: Restore 20 Iron Amulets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Manacles of Rebellion

Attained by: Restore 20 Manacles of Rebellion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Manacles of Rebellion

Attained by: Restore 5  Manacles of Rebellion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Mogu Coins

Attained by: Restore 5  Mogu Coins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Mogu Coins

Attained by: Restore 20 Mogu Coins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Game Boards

Attained by: Restore 20 Pandaren Game Boards
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Game Boards

Attained by: Restore 5 Pandaren Game Boards
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Tea Sets

Attained by: Restore 5 Pandaren Tea Sets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Tea Sets

Attained by: Restore 20 Pandaren Tea Sets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pearls of Yu’lon

Attained by: Restore 5 Pearls of Yu’lon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pearls of Yu’lon

Attained by: Restore 20 Pearls of Yu’lon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Petrified Bone Whips

Attained by: Restore 5 Petrified Bone Whips
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Petrified Bone Whips

Attained by: Restore 20 Petrified Bone Whips
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Standards of Niuzao

Attained by: Restore 5 Standards of Niuzao
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Standards of Niuzao

Attained by: Restore 20 Standards of Niuzao
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Terracotta Arms

Attained by: Restore 5 Terracotta Arms
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Terracotta Arms

Attained by: Restore 20 Terracotta Arms
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Thunder King Insignias

Attained by: Restore 5 Thunder King Insignias
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Thunder King Insignias

Attained by: Restore 20 Thunder King Insignias
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo

Attained by: Restore 5 Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo

Attained by: Restore 20 Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Walking Canes of Brewfather Ren Yun

Attained by: Restore 5 Walking Cates of Brewfather Ren Yun
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Walking Canes of Brewfather Ren Yun

Attained by: Restore 20 Walking Cates of Brewfather Ren Yun
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Warlord’s Branding Irons

Attained by: Restore 5 Branding Irons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Warlord’s Branding Irons

Attained by: Restore 20 Branding Irons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Worn Monument Ledgers

Attained by: Restore 5 Worn Monument Ledgers
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Worn Monument Ledgers

Attained by: Restore 20 Worn Monument Ledgers
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Documents of a Dark History

Attained by: Discover the following artifacts
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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General

 Double Agent

Attained by: Reach maximum level on both an Alliance and a Horde character
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Dynamic Duo

Attained by: Reach maximum level with two different classes
Reward: 20 Achievement points

 Got My Mind On My Money

Attained by: Loot 200,000 gold
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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PvP

 Blackout

Attained by: Kill 100 enemies that are holding an Orb of Power
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Attained by: Kill 100 enemies that are holding an Orb of Power
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 End of the Line

Attained by: Seize control of a mine cart that is controlled by the opposing team within 20 yards of the depot, and then capture it
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Escort Service

Attained by: Capture 100 mine carts in Silvershard Mines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Five for Five

Attained by: Capture five mine carts in a single Silvershard Mines battle without dying
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Four Square

Attained by: Hold all four Orbs of Power at least once in a single Temple Kotmogu battle
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Exploration

 A Worthy Opponent

Attained by: Defeat one of the powerful champions of the Pandarian races that wander the continent
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Could We Find More Like That?

Attained by: Defeat one of each type of Pandarian champion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Dread Wastes

Attained by: Explore Dread Wastes, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Jade Forest

Attained by: Explore Jade Forest, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Krasarang Wilds

Attained by: Explore Krasarang Wilds, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Kun-Lai Summit

Attained by: Explore Kun-Lai Summit, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 ExplorePandaria

Attained by: Explore the regions of Pandaria
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Explore Townlong Steppes

Attained by: Explore Townlong Steppes, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Attained by: Explore Vale of Eternal Blossoms, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Valley of the Four Winds

Attained by: Explore Valley of the four Winds, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Finders Keepers

Attained by: Find 6 of the lost treasures hidden throughout Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fish Tales

Attained by: Discover each of the Jinyu lore objects in Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glorious!

Attained by: Hunt down and defeat each and every one of the Pandarian champions
Reward: 30 Acdhievement points

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Rewards

Titles

Other

Mounts

Pets

Titles

 The Beloved

Achievement name: 70 Exalted Reputations
Attained by: Raise 70 reputations to Exalted
Additional Rewards : 10 Achievement points

 The Undaunted

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Bronze
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Bronze or better
Additional Rewards : 15 Achievement points

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Other

 Full set of class- specific transmogrifiable armor

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Gold
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold
Additional Rewards : 25 Achievement points

 Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

Achievement name: Gate of the Setting Sun: Gold
Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Gold
Additional Rewards: 10 Achievement points and Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

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Mounts

 Reins of the Crimson Cloud Serpent

Achievement name: Glory of the Pandaria Hero
Attained by: Complete the Pandaria Heroic dungeon achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points

 Reins of the Heavenly Crimson Cloud Serpent

Achievement name: Glory of the Pandaria Raider
Attained by: Complete the Pandaria raid achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points

 Ancestral Phoenix Mount

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Silver
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Silver
Additional Rewards: 20 Achievement points

 Imperial Quilen mount

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Imperial Quilen
Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Imperial Quilen

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Pets

 Feral Vermling 

Achievement name: Going to Need More Leashes
Attained by: Collect 250 unique pets
Additional Rewards: 10 Achievement points

 Strong Pet Trap

Achievement name: Going to Need More Traps
Attained by: Capture 50 pets in a pet battle
Additional Rewards: 5 Achievement points

 Lucky Quilen Cub pet

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Lucky Quilen Cub
Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Lucky Quilen Cub pet

 Baneling pet

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Baneling
Attained by: Owner of the Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Collector’s Edition Baneling pet

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Anyone who listens to my podcast knows I’ve been playing World of Warcraft since Vanilla. Over all that time, I’ve had one main toon, my paladin Janaelle who currently resides on the server Twisting Nether. That’s not to say I don’t have alts; my shaman Luthvien was my main raiding toon during Cata, my DK Orest was my main pvp toon during Cata, and for the last quarter of BC I played a warlock when my guild exploded with healers. Always, though, I’ve been drawn back to my paladin to take names, kick ass, and gather EVERYTHING of Jan. I hoarded items, clothes, crafting mats, achievements, mounts, and pets all on that one toon. After so much work was put into her, so many hours, such a high play time value, why would I ever waist all that time spent and choose a new main? I had invested in Janaelle.

Thanks to patch 5.0.4, I am now invested in my entire account! All my achievements (well most of them) from her are shown on all my other toons. All the mounts, pets, etc. that I’ve gathered can be shown off on any of the four servers I currently inhabit. No longer will I feel like an alt is lacking because all that time, all those accomplishments, can’t be seen. No longer will I feel like one of those “Oh, I’ve done that but can’t prove it” jackasses. GG Blizzard.

Oh, and Ray, you’re not a special pony. Hmm, guess I lied.

The time has finally come to experience patch 5.0.0 and the beginning of Mists of Pandaria. I just pre-ordered my collectors edition of the game and now get to experience part of it this coming week as the patch hits (probably) Tuesday. So get ready to update your add ons and find out if your graphics card can handle MoP!

In case you were living under a rock, here’s the run down of what we get to look forward to:

• The New Talent System! And all the class changes Blizzard has been prepping us on. For an extensive list, check out MMO-Champions list:

Death Knight

Skills
General changes

Druid

Skills
General changes

Hunter

Skills
General changes
All Changes

Mage

Skills
General changes

Paladin

Skills
Holy changes
Retribution changes
Protection changes

Priest

Skills
Discipline changes
Shadow changes

Rogue

Skills

Shaman

Skills
General changes
Restoration changes

Warlock

Skills
Affliction changes
Demonolgy changes
Destruction changes

Warrior

Skills
Arms changes
Fury changes

• New Ability Animations!

Druid

Mage

Warrior

Paladin

Priest

Rogue

Shaman

Warlock

• Reduced Experience necessary to get to level 85.
• AoE Looting! Fucking finally….
• New Scarlet Monastery and Scholomance! Though there is no access to the Heroic versions of these instances. Here’s what to expect from the new instances:

Scarlet Monastery

• The Graveyard and Cathedral are now combined into one instance.
• The Armory and Library are now combined into one instance.
• Mograine is no longer in the Cathedral and has been replaced with Commander Durand.

Scholomance

• The entire dungeon has new art, increased texture resolutions, and the new lighting system, making for a very nice environment.
• After killing Professor Slate, you can drink a potion that will give you increased damage and his model. The potion works as a shapeshift and currently persists outside of the instance. You cannot mount with it however.

• All Valor Points are converted to Justice Points in a one to one conversion.
• All Justice Points are converted to…Justice Points, but you get a little extra.
• Account Wide Achievements
• Account Wide Mounts
• Account Wide Pets
• Spell Resistance is removed
• Changes to Hit, Spell Hit, Expertise, and Parry
• New Druid Forms:

• New Warlock pets!

• And new Warlock pet emotes!

• Cross-Realm Zones so you can level with your friends who are on different zones now
• Interface Changes like the following:
  • Character Creations Screens
  • Character Selections Screens
  • New Mount interface
  • New Pet interface
  • New buff frame
  • New faction tooltips
  • Loot frame changes
  • New vendor filters
  • New PvE Queue frame
  • Dungeon journal expansion
  • New Maps
• Battle Tag Support!
• Graphics changes!

Ashes of Al’ar mount

Those pissed that they can no longer be special ponies with the addition of account wide mounts and achievements in World of Warcraft have something new to fear – The Black Market Auction House. The new Black Market AH allows players to bid on special items that are not sold by NPCs, like the above Ashes of Al’ar mount. Other items that have been seen are the Reins of the Blazing Drake, Swift White Hawkstrider, and Riding Turtle.

It’s not just mounts that will be sold, though. The picture (below) posted by MMO-champion suggests there will be pets, crafting recipes and the long lost Tier 3 armor sets. If you were looking to transmog your gear into these gorgeous sets, you no longer have to wait for them to be added to the Dark Moon Faire, though hopefully they still will be. There’s also speculation that even more items that are no longer obtainable will be reintroduced into the game this way like the Zul Garub tiger and raptor mounts, the Ulduar black and plagued proto-drakes, or the batling pet from the Wrath release event.

But who’s responsible for this madness? Madam Goya, who makes her home at the Tavern of the Mists in the Veiled Stair, which is north of the Valley of the Four Winds. Wrathion is chilling with her, but I’m not sure if that means anything.

Only time will tell if Blizzard/Activision has made a smart play with this new Auction House, but one thing’s for sure, all of those who farmed up a ton of gold and want something to spend it on will finally have a place to dump their  cash. Maybe inflation will go down on the regular Auction House now?

I will now have Caramelldansen stuck in my head all damn day and that’s a good thing! I love this song, the bits of the Pandaren female dance that copy it crack me up, and I can’t wait to see people mimicking it at the next Blizzcon. One problem: Now this race is even more ditzy and spazzy. Oh well – *bursts into dance*

Here’s the original speedy cakes remix of Caramelldansen (the only good version!) for those of you who missed the meme several years ago:

The Pandaren male dance isn’t as interesting as the female’s, but that’s because I can’t recognize where it’s from. If you do, please toss it in the comments below for me. Also, is it just me, or is he grimacing the whole time? That face is terrible, but I love the freeze.

Update: Thanks to Bryter from the Stopcast podcast commenting below, the Pandaren male dance is from LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem. Handy-dandy embed:

When I tell people I RP (role play for the uninformed), I usually get several reactions: trolling, confusion (wtf is that?), amusement, and intrigue. Of those who think my hobby is interesting, a few always comment, “I would get into that but I don’t know how/don’t have the time.” To you, here’s how and let me remind you, there is always time.

Know Your Lore

First when you get into RP, and this goes for any game setting, you need to know the lore. It won’t matter how good a roleplayer you are, if you don’t know the very basics of the game you’re playing, you’re going to make an ass of yourself. Now, this isn’t to say you need to know that Arthas had a sister, or the specific lineage of Mograine, but you had better know that Arthas was the Lich King and he was once the crown prince of Lordaeron. You should also know that in the wide world of Azeroth (that’s the name of WoW’s main planet), it is not commonly known that Bolvar is the new Lich King, but that is on the more obscure edge of necessary lore knowledge.

Here’s some links to either refresh or inform your memory:

• World of Warcraft: Short Stories
• World of Warcraft: The History of Warcraft
• World of Warcraft: Leader Short Stories

One thing to remember: There is always someone who knows more lore than you do. Always. So if you get corrected, just absorb the information and move on. Maybe toss out a thank you, but don’t get butt hurt over it. RP’ers are a bitchy bunch, but when it comes to lore, we just want to help each other learn. If you are interested in learning more than the bare bones of the world (something I recommend) check out WoW Insider’s Know Your Lore posts. These guys have a ton of interesting articles and tid-bits about World of Warcraft’s history and characters in easy to read formats.

Maybe this isn’t enough, though. Maybe you need to know something that isn’t easy to find because you want to do something different with your character. Don’t fret, this is common and the forums are the place to go for this. My RP server has it’s own RP forum (Linked in the Twisting Nether Gazette picture at the top of this blog) and we have two sections dedicated to RP and Lore questions. Just last week we had a player wanting to roll a new character who had to wear a gas mask all the time. Why? He wanted the guy to die if he wasn’t breathing in plagued air all the time, but wasn’t sure if that would break lore. My community brain stormed with him, and we decided it could be possible if he belonged to the Royal Apothecary Society and had either done an experiment on himself or been part of one that went very wrong.

Creating your own Character

When creating your RP character, there are many guidelines to follow. The biggest no-no, though, is RPing something more powerful than the average character, like a Dragon, the youngest Trollbane sibling, or anyone else who would normally be considered a major lore character. This simply comes with an implication that you are  better, both IC and OOC than other people and no one will want to play with you. There are some rare players who can pull off the above, but if you’re just starting out that player is not you. Sorry to burst your bubble.

After you accept you are not an Aspect, is time to decide who you really are – or who you’re going to pretend to be. If you have never RP’d before, I recommend playing a character that has very little back story and is leaving a sheltered life. This makes it very easy to explain why you may not know important events, lore characters, and has little to past.

My first, longest running, and favorite toon started out this way and I am still playing her six years later. She was an orphan from Northshire Abbey, her older brother died to the undead in the Easter Plaguelands after joining the Argent Dawn. He was a paladin and his death inspired her to become one as well. She left the orphanage to spread the love of the Light and help anyone she could. This explained why I knew shit all about the lore (naive little Light-fool), where I came from, and why I was a paladin. Later, after I met many other players, I was able to expand her background without saying she was from somewhere that was impossible (like Gilneas at the time since this was back in Vanilla).

If you have RP’d before, just not in an MMO setting or in WoW, you can easily get more creative and expand on your back story. I suggest picking a location that has some history you find interesting, be it Silvermoon for the events in Warcraft 3, or Westfall for the Defias problems, and build around it. Perhaps you watched your great city fall, or you fell with it to be raised as a Deathknight. Perhaps you ran with the Defias and learned your trade as a thief amongst them. Just remember that your toon was not born a badass ass-kicker and came from somewhere – build off that as well.

The last suggestion, if the above two don’t work for you, is to pick a theme or a character from a book/movie that you really enjoyed and copy it. No, this is not original, but if it works for you, it works for you. One of the most interesting characters I ever played with was trying to be Clint Eastwood in every western he ever stared in with a little bit of Rambo thrown in.

Character Quirks

The best characters have something memorable, something that makes you go, “Oh that guy!” when brought up even years later. My paladin fidgets when she lies and (because of some resent story lines) sings to herself, my Deathknight banters with his lich minion and hits on every woman in sight. In times past, my paladin drank only from her own flask and instead of saying “Goodbye”, would say “Be safe.” I know another paladin who reads constantly, several characters that smoke (cigars and cigarettes), one who is afraid of being touched, and another that just plain can’t lie at all! It gives them depth and life that they otherwise wouldn’t have. (Note: An accent is not a quirk)

One of the most difficult quirks to give to your character is to have them stand-offish or just a plain asshole. OOC (Out Of Character), people may think you’re the nicest guy, but if you insult them IC (In Character) their character may hate your guts. I play with several people I think are the nicest OOC, but IC one or another of my toons hates them passionately. If you decide to play a character like this, here’s a quick guide to help you along: How to find RP when your character is an antisocial jerk

So pick a quirk for your character, be it a mannerism or a bad habit, but stick to it. People will remember you and that’s the greatest compliment a role player can receive.

Mods

There are several mods for Roleplaying in WoW, all based around telling people more about what they’re looking at when they see your character. MyRolePlay, Total RP 2, and FlagRSP2 all serve the same function to varying degrees of complexity, they describe your character further, give “Current” information (like your arm is bandaged from a fight the night before), and in general spell out what you don’t want to emote every time you meet a new player or you want to be noticed (like a wound, badge, or distinguishing scar).

All RP servers use one of these mods, but which is determined by the server in question. Twisting Nether (my server) uses Total RP 2 (TRP2), Wyrmrest Accord uses MyRolePlay (MRP). On each server, you are looked down on for using the other two mods. This is idiotic, but it’s true nonetheless so ask around to see which one they want you to use.

Need some help writing your description? WoW Insider took the time to write a “do’s and don’ts” for any RP’ers out there. It’s super informative, well written and can’t say anything better than I can. Take a look.

One other mod that is useful for RP is WOWScribe Chat Logger. This very simple mod adds a .txt file to your World of Warcraft logs and records anything that enters your chat screen in the channels you designate. If you want to remember a specific conversation later, it will be right there in your logs. I use this when transcribing in game RP into a story format for other people to read and find it immensely useful.

Playing with Others

Can’t we all just get along? Not in the RP community. We all have the way we think RP should be done “best” (that includes this How To, keep in mind) and the things that deviate from that really rile us up. So instead of giving a lesson in RP culture, I’ll give out some facts and clue you in on the hot button topics.

OOC vs. IC – Don’t take it personal

IC channels are whispers (/w [name]), /s, /y, /e and sometimes /g. OOC channels are General, Trade, Party, Raid chat as well as text in an IC channel that has (( )) or [[ ]] surrounding the words. ((So this would be considered OOC))

Now, what happens in IC means shit all OOC. If my deathknight tries to kill you, it doesn’t mean I hate you IRL (In Real Life), it means my deathknight is an asshole who wants you dead. My warlock is dismissive and condescending. Does that mean I think you’re an idiot? NO because I am not my character.

There’s a saying in the RP community, “Do not take IC, OOC.” If you don’t like what is happening to your toon, open up an OOC dialogue with the other character(s), let them know how you feel. 9 times out of 10 they’ll help you out of the situation. That 1 time out of 10 is a meta gamer and we’ll get into that below.

Spelling and Grammar – we dont spek like this k?

Grammar, ah that touchy subject. In the RP community, if you are not using punctuation, capitalization, and spelling correctly (or at least trying to) you will not be respected. Some would say sad, but it’s still true. RP’ers (90% of them) believe to RP you need to have periods, commas, apostrophes in the correct places, capitalize your sentences and make an effort to spell out your words. We never use lol, lmao, j/k, wtb, etc. in “speech” and if another player does, you’ll commonly read, “Lawl? What does that mean?” This is a polite way of telling you to emote that you’re character is laughing instead of saying “lol” at the end of your sentence.

There is a darker side to this, and that is the Grammar Nazi who does not care if you are making an effort at correct punctuation and spelling. He or she is only concerned that you said your instead of you’re or spelled Pennsylvania “Pensilvania.” This guy is a douche, but there is one in every RP community so just ignore him and keep trying your best.

Emotes – Speaking without words

A good story is never just about the dialogue. People sit, stand, they have expressions and ticks, tells, quirks and RP’ing in WoW is the same way. To do this, players use emotes and there are several ways to do so.

If you want to start out your speech with an action, use /e instead of /s. This puts all test as a different color and adds your character’s name before what you type. So if I want to sit down, then ask how Player B is doing, I would type:

/e sits down and says, “How are you doing, [character name]?”

Which, to everyone else, appears as:

Janaelle sits down and says, “How are you doing, [character name]?”

This is also a good way to interact with a story when someone is giving a very long speech. Reacting by nodding along, rolling ones eyes, yawning or fidgeting is all making the story a little better (and a little less boring for you). The only thing to remember is to be subtle. No one around you can read your mind, so don’t tell them what you’re thinking in your emotes. Also, “frowns and seems subdued” is much more intriguing than “is clearly depressed.” Let others read into your actions the way they would IRL. This can lead to some hilarious misunderstandings because conflict breeds good story and RP is all about the story.

Of course, you can also emote while speaking, brushing hair out of your eyes, hesitating, voice cracking, etc. This is donated in /s by * * or < > around the action (which one used is common to each server). So if my character starts crying in the middle of her dialogue, I would type:

/s I was just walking past and- and *tears fall from her eyes as she starts to cry* he was just lying there, in the gutter, dead!

With certain mods, this would look to those around me as:

I was just walking past and- and *tears fall from her eyes as she starts to cry* he was just lying there, in the gutter! Dead!

Metagaming/God Modding – How not to piss everyone off

This is when one player takes control of the actions of another player. Usually, this occurs in fights when Player A throws a punch and Player B, then decides that it hits, how hard it hits, and the result of the blow. The worst I ever heard was the following:

Dickwad slashes [character name]‘s throat, killing them instantly.

Sorry boys and girls, but at no point in time can you kill another players toon. Ever, period, even if they are the above fucktard. The above really is an emote done by a role player who was eventually laughed off my server for being an idiot. Don’t be that guy.

The best way to go around any interaction is to add “attempts to” to your emotes:

Niceguy attempts to punch Drunkguy in the face for insulting his mother.

This gives the other player, here Drunkguy, an opportunity to respond. A good RPer is likely to say something like:

Drunkguy takes a punch to the face, getting knocked over a chair. He quickly regains his footing, grabs a nearby bottle, breaks it over the bar and swings at Niceguy.

After this, the fight can go any way and the emotes can get longer (something called Textwalling which I’ll also explain) and there are many different ways to resolve an IC fight (something else we’ll get into). In general, no one accepts it when their character is told their blindsided and knocked unconscious, so don’t do it to other people.

The flip side of Metagaming, is making your character invincible. No one wants to play with a toon that can’t be hurt, always gets away with their crimes and can do whatever they please without consequence. No one. Besides, (again) conflict breeds good stories. In the above situation, Niceguy can end up with a scar from the broken bottle he can carry as a reminder for revenge or as a need to watch his temper. Drunkguy can get his ass kicked and meet new players while stumbling around Stormwind, trying to get assistance or to the Cathedral for healing.

Textwall – Crits my eyes for OVER 9000!

This is when your emote/speech is so long it fills up the entire chat window or spans more than one dialogue bubble. Everyone has something to say and most of us talk too much (especially me), but if you’re just talking over everyone else, you’re going to get ignored. I can name at least one person I don’t like to RP with because you can never get a word in edge wise, and when you can, he will tangent and simply ignore what you say until he’s done with what he has to say.

Now, if you’re giving a sermon or a speech before a group of people, this is to be expected, but if you’re in a tavern discussing the recent attacks by Horde, you’re telling those around you “my character is better than yours and is way more interesting.” In general, keep it simple, keep it short and remember: Other people want to be a part of the story too.

Resolving IC Fights – Making everyone happy

Now this topic is letting the cat out of the bag. The first thing to know is that every RP’er has their preferred way of fighting IC’ly and there’s always the one that they think is just stupid. You’re going to get into a fight with someone about this (For me it’s bringing OOC players to an IC fight – how did I kill or get killed by someone not there?!), so just expect that you can’t make everyone happy. That being said, there are several types of RP battles:

There’s the staged fight where the combatants have decided before hand who is going to win and, sometimes, how the fight resolves. Usually these fights are part of a larger, over-arching story line and are pushing along that story. For instance, in one of my own stories, Janaelle’s foster-sister was chased down the Tram by an evil badguy and his dogs. She killed one of the dogs before being taken down by the other, then knocked out by the evil badguy. All of this we knew before hand, but played out to further the story for the others involved (who didn’t know how the fight was going to end)

Another IC way to fight is a roll battle, where participants emote what they do, and sometimes how it would effect the other player, then have a roll off to see who succeeds with the highest roll winning. This can be augmented in a myriad of ways, with the two combatants deciding if Player A rolls X higher than Player B, they “crit” or give another effect to their blow. These fights are usually spontaneous, though they may be part of an overarching plot. At one point, Janaelle found out about a Worgen who was involved with a badguy and was confronted after asking people about her. A fight ensued where I lost most of the rolls. At one point, her head was slammed into the wall and, after rolling to see if she was indeed slammed into the wall, I rolled to see if she was dazed from her head hitting the stone so hard.

Similar to the roll battle is the emote off, where one player emotes their attack and the other player responds. I’m not a personal fan of this because it often ends with metagaming and people getting angry. Not to mention, if combat involves more than two people, emotes can get lost and this can be really frustrating if someone is getting steam rolled by the other players’ text before they’ve a chance to react.

Lastly, we have the duel which is self explanatory. The winner is the, well, winner. Detractors of this will comment about having or not having PvP gear, lower levels getting their asses kicked, etc. I am a personal fan of this one for one reason: If you are attacked by a Horde RP’er, they will judge you the exact same way. I’m not about to get my ass kicked by someone who gets their ass kicked by the Horde who respect me IC’ly because of my PvP ability and gear. Sorry, but I’m not okay with that, though I make exceptions for people with PvE gear (for reasons that we don’t need to go into).

Now What?

Now get out there and RP! Find the other RP’ers, find their IC and OOC channels that you can join to find more RP, ask them if they have a community website, find their guilds and join in. Like in the real world, people will not come to you. Go up and say hi, make friends, make enemies and most importantly make a story. If you’re a writer or an artist, document that story. My Janaelle has a journal and my Orest has his story documented on a forum.

Now go forth, make story, and have fun! You never know how much you’ll enjoy this side of World of Warcraft (or EVE, or Rift, or SW:TOR) until you’ve tried it. It’s my second favorite way to play these games, so if you have a question or think I left something out, let me know and I’ll do my best to address it.

My shaman, Luthvien

I love transmogging. Besides no longer needing to carry around RP gear, I can raid in gear that actually matches! Finally! After several other MMOs implemented similar systems (Aion, Rift) Word of Warcraft patched their game to allow players to change the appearance of their gear.

While not everyone uses the transmog system, others are changing their gear’s appearance weekly. There’s even a controversy which developed over auction house prices soaring for popular, low level gear choices. Basically, a few entrepreneurial players put BoE greens up and are charging 300-1000 gold per piece. Some players think this is outrageous and are pretty peeved that they can no longer purchase cheap gear to augment their leveling process. Certainly I feel their pain; the outfit on my shaman there cost 3000 gold because I picked it up this month, well after the selling of transmog pieces became popular. The belt alone cost 1500g.

But you probably knew all about that. What you may not have known, is that because there are so many different sets and ways to customize your gear now, a new kind of blog has sprung up. These show off the sets the blogger has made and explain how other players can also get their hands on the sets. Some are sexy, some badass, others silly, and a few even mimic major lore characters. Even WoWhead got in on the action, creating a section of their site to see full gear sets easily.

High Tinker Mekkatorque from Dizzy's Dressing Room

These sites also help players with races that are particularly difficult to find good looking gear. Elves (both Blood and Night), humans, undead, and trolls have an easier time than other races, especially the worgen and tauren. Since Blizzard/Activision has never taken the time to make gear specifically for the larger races, there are many pieces that look just plain stupid when these races put them on.

If you’re not one to copy from others and really want to learn how to put together your own gear sets, you’re not likely to find a guide to help you. It is fairly simple to pick a gear set that Blizzard has already constructed for you, but if you’re looking to mix and match pieces to form the perfect set, things get a lot harder, but not all is lost. The WoW Model Viewer, after a bit of tinkering, will help you view the sets without hunting them down as will MogIt, an in game mod for the exact same purpose. After picking one or the other, the steps from here are simple. Choose an item or color scheme and away you go!

Another outfit from Dizzy's Dressing Room

Once you choose an item to build your set around, you’re looking for items that enhance it and don’t detract from it. So if it’s a chest piece, don’t put on a tabard or wear pants that clash horribly. You want to stick to the colors that are displayed on that item. So if your spiffy helm is blue, white and gold, don’t choose pants that are green. If you choose a weapon, you will have to remember the weapon enchant’s effect while crafting your gear. After that, you consider the effect you’re going for. Are you trying to stand out in the crowd? Look sexy, badass, or silly? Do you want other people to want your gear? Lastly, how much gold are you willing to spend just to look good?

Only after you’ve acknowledged and answered these guidelines can you start putting together you’re set. For people concerned with money, look into what you can farm out of old school raids; the T2 armor from Molten Core still sees a lot of action for a reason. Use your resources and remember all the old school dungeons that you can solo if you have the time. If you’re on WoWhead and you find a set you like but can’t get, there could be a set identical in another color a few dungeons lower because Blizzard is lazy and re-skins all their gear.

If you don’t care about the price of your gear, just check out the auction house. Surf for weapons, helms, chest pieces and/or shoulders because these will stand out the most when on your toon. When you find something you like, keep surfing for pieces that match or take your hunt outside the game with that piece in mind.

After that, it’s all up to your individual tastes and I’ll leave you to your mogging with one final tip: Pick two main colors and two main accent colors when picking out your gear and stick to them! Too many colors becomes a travesty and just because something looks cool, doesn’t mean you need to wear it. Edit down, not up! Unless your goal is to look like a horror show, then do what you want.

Show/tell me your favorite outfit in the comments below and how you picked it. I’d love to know.

of·fend

Cause to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful.

hyp·o·crite

A person who indulges in hypocrisy.

hy·poc·ri·sy

The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.

Definitions for those who decide to argue with me in the comments. Let’s be at least on the same page to start out with.

For those World of Warcraft players living under a rock, there was a large “scandal” involving Blizzard and a character named Jii Firepaw. He said some shit and it made people upset, so blizzard changed it. I didn’t care. I didn’t care it was offensive and I didn’t care that it was changed to be less offensive. What I do care about is the backlash to these women’s opinion; the people who were offended that they were offended.

As always when a minority speaks out, whether that be transgender, homosexuals or feminists, those more concerned with their own comfort than the message being presented flipped their shit. Messages like the following popped up everywhere:

I see some of these same players tweeting that someone harassed them in RL while walking down the street, at work, said something rude, made a grab at them, etc. I have never personally done this, nor ever witnessed any male or female in my presence ever do anything beyond give a “check them out” look. I bet if I merely walked by some of these people perhaps held the door for them and said “Hi, nice day isn’t it” they’d scream “PERV WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO MARGINALIZE ME?!” Um, I was being nice and making conversation…but ok.

I won’t even start in on the idiocy of such statements. I will point out that this criticism has nothing to do with the issue at hand, but is a common knee jerk reaction some men have whenever they hear the word “sexism.” Unfortunately, some feminists have their own knee jerk reactions that boils down to: if you’re not offended with me, you’re a horrible, terrible person and insist they’re speaking for “all women.”

And that’s where the beginnings of my rage starts. Ceraphus, of The Sundering podcast got tired of that argument, as most people who just don’t give a fuck are likely to be, and wrote a blog saying as much. Towards the end, his message gets a little lost when he discusses how he wants diverse characters who are sexist and says incidents like the Jii Firepaw dialogue are “minor infractions.” Immediately the feminists were all over him, missing the entire message of his blog and honing in on the parts where the meaning could be interpreted in a way that had nothing to do with Ceraphus’ point. On this part, Oestrus said it best in her blog:

We have become so wrapped up in drawing our battle lines, in giving certain words or phrases so much power over us that we have forgotten what goes into those words to trigger these responses in us.  We have stopped asking people what they mean when they do or say things and we just take these words or these actions at face value.  In the rare occasions where someone is asked what they meant by something they did or said, it’s very likely that the person who is asking the question already has their mind made up and there is nothing that the person on the receiving end of the question can do to change their minds.  They have already decided that this person has done wrong and they are basically just asking for clarification to drive their point home.  They have no intention of giving this person the opportunity to clear the air or to right a perceived wrong.

Rightly so, Ceraphus was pissed about the personal attacks that came from the feminists and decided to make it a discussion topic on his podcast. The discussion started and ended with insults of those who called for Jii Firepaw to have his dialogue changed and everyone being offended at the people offended. The comments came mostly from the listeners, not from the hosts, but in the end, they did agree with these people. The message ended up coming across as, “If you don’t like it, tough and shut up because I’m not bothered by it.” They told those who were offended to seek help, without knowing if they already were trying to get help, or with much sympathy for why people could be offended by this one line. Instead, they were insisting that these feminists should deal with their feelings because they should never have been insulted in the first place, that they should have kept quiet so they can have a diverse, sexist character to make the World of Warcraft more realistic.

But why? Why does it matter so much if these people care that a dialogue offended them? It was one line. It does not affect me in any way if that one line is offending or if it’s being changed. One line of dialogue does not form a character’s personality, it does not craft a story, it does not change who Jii Firepaw is. The leader of the Horde Pandarens made one sexist comment and that does not make him sexist. Blizzard did not have to go through and change all his lines, just one. So how can anyone say he was meant to be a diverse, sexist, flawed character in the first place?

Llandrywyn on the MMOC forums said:

“If a character can be conveyed in the same terms, for the same overall feeling and with the same overall character traits, is it not just good and respectful practice for the designers to minimize content that might offend?”

Besides that, what is wrong with being respectful of other’s views, whether or not we agree with them? Not everyone arguing for a change insisted they had to be agreed with. They didn’t all call Ceraphus names and tell him he was horrible for not caring about this sexist comment. Oestrus said it best, “If I have to respect someone’s right to be offended, then they have to respect my right to not be offended. That’s all I’m saying.”

And that’s all I’m saying! Stop caring about other people caring! If you are bitching about the people who are bitching, you’re a hypocrite, plain and simple. Everyone has their own pet peeves, is offended by something trivial and has the right to express that just as you have the right to not be bothered by it. They don’t have to sit quiet and take it and if what they want doesn’t affect you, why are you fighting against it?

I figure I know a good thing or three about paladins, having spent the last seven years playing one, so I’m taking the time to write down my thoughts on the new talent tree. Exact numbers haven’t been released yet, but the general gist of the abilities has been out for a while now and beta testers have been screwing around with most of the abilities. I’m still not sure how much I like the new system, but if it really does make balancing easier than I’ll be all for it. Anything to make the days of “Fuck class X and their OP shit, I quit” over and done with.

Tier 1

The first tier opens at level 15 and is a choice between three different speed buffs. Speed of Light is the fastest, a 70% increase for eight seconds on a one minute cool down. Long Arm of the Law is next with a 45% increase for 3 seconds upon a successful Judgement strike. The last is Pursuit of Justice and is similar to the current talent in the Retribution tree, giving a solid 10% movement speed buff at all times and an extra 10% per charge of Holy Power.

Speed of Light looks like it will have the most benefit in PvE situations for Retribution and Holy Paladins. This will get them from point A to point B, maximizing their DPS when changing targets or allowing them to get to dying comrades faster. I can see Protection Paladins also finding this talent selection useful for the same reasons, but the flat 10% movement speed buff at all times will always be the best bet for tanks for positioning during boss fights. Long Arm of the Law will be the choice for Ret and Prot in PvE, allowing incremental speed buffs instead of relying on the one minute cool down to catch up to kiting classes. Holy Paladins should take a closer look at this one for PvP or PvE because we will be continuing to rely upon Judgement to regain mana and will be casting it every time it’s up anyways. Though, since Holy Paladins can create up to five charges of Holy Power, Pursuit of Justice might end up being very over powered.

I will be using Long Arm of the Law in my Ret and Holy specs because I like having a short speed boost available whenever I need it.

Tier 2

The second tier opens at level 30 and allows Paladins to choose between a stun, a CC, and a snare. Fist of Justice replaces Hammer of Justice, lowering the cool down on the six second stun by 30 seconds and increasing the range by ten yards. Repentance remains the same, except has a 1.5 second cast time instead of being instant. It is still only usable on Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Undead and Humanoids, leaving them incapacitated for one minute or until they take damage. The third choice is Burden of Guilt, adding a 50% movement speed debuff to victims of the Paladin’s Judgement for 12 seconds.

In PvE, I don’t see Holy Paladins taking Burden of Guilt and I see most Prot Paladins picking it up. Other than that, there’s no real reason to choose one talent over the other. PvP, on the other hand, will be full of arguments why one is better than the other. I think Holy will stick to Fist of Justice for access to a quick, ranged stun to augment their team, while Prot and Ret will find equal benefits from picking any of the talents in the tier. Again, though, I see Prot having added benefit in picking up Burden of Guilt, especially as the slow will help them flag carry during RBGs while not forcing them to reduce their DPS.

As Ret I will be choosing Burden of Guilt because I don’t like to CC as DPS and as Holy I will take Fist of Justice. The stun is useful on bosses with adds as well as during trash to help reduce damage on tanks, or to keep mobs off of me.

Tier 3

Tier three opens up at level 45 and gives Paladins, regardless of spec, a choice between three different heals. Selfless Healer places a buff on the Paladin (stacking up to two) every time a Judgement hits successfully which reduces the cast time of Flash of Light and it’s effectiveness by 50% per stack. Eternal Flame consumes all available Holy Power to place a HoT on a friendly target that lasts for 30 seconds, the strength of which is determined by how much Holy Power was used. Sacred Shield is the third option, brought back from the end of WotLK, which places a shield on a friend target, absorbing an amount of damage every 6 seconds and increasing the critical strike chance of Word of Glory by 30%.

In PvP, all paladins will be choosing Selfless Healer, though. An instant cast Flash of Light every 16 seconds at 100% effectiveness is just too good to pass up. This tier bothers me for PvE because it doesn’t benefit Ret Paladins in any way. They can pick any one and it just plain doesn’t matter. Prot Paladins will pick Sacred Shield for the absorb and the increased self-heal with Word of Glory. The real benefit of this tier is for Holy Paladins who will have a real reason to change between talents depending on each boss fight, how many other paladins there are in the raid, and what class the tanks are. Unfortunately, this also means Paladin healers will be required to carry stacks of the dust that allows them to change their talents wherever they go.

Tier 4

The fourth tier in the Paladin’s talent tree opens at level 60 and offers the class a choice of three cool downs. Hand of Purity has a one minute cool down, can be placed on a friendly target and reduces the damage of periodic effects by 70% for six seconds on that target. Unbreakable Spirit reduces the cool down of Divine Protection, Divine Shield, and Lay on Hands by 1% per Holy Power spent, up to a 50% reduction. Clemency is an instant cast spell with a five-minute cool down which instantly ends the cool down of Hand of Protection, Hand of Sacrifice, Hand of Salvation, and Hand of Freedom. The cool down on this one seems a little long and I imagine it will be nerfed to one or two minutes as none of these Hands are game breaking and easily removed.

In PvP, there are benefits to all of these talents, but I think Unbreakable Spirit and Hand of Purity will be the top two used by Holy and Prot, while Ret will mostly use Clemency for the extra Hand of Freedom. Paladins interested in PvE will be split between Hand of Purity and Unbreakable Spirit. The raid utility of the later is inarguable, whether you’re DPS, heals or tank spec’d, while the former allows quick access to Paladin “Oh shit” buttons and how we love our “Oh shit” buttons.

I will be using Hand of Purity in my PvE Holy spec, Unbreakable Spirit in my PvP Holy spec, and Hand of Purity in my Ret spec.

Tier 5

Tier five gives Paladins the choice between three enhancements to existing cool downs. Holy Avenger improves Guardian of Ancient Kings so that the Paladin casts the next five abilities that require Holy Power as if three Holy Power were consumed without using any Holy Power. Sanctified Wrath improves Righteous Fury depending on the Paladin’s spec. For the duration of the Righteous Fury buff: Holy Paladins no longer have a cool down on Holy Shock, Prot looses the cool down on Judgement, and Ret doe not have a cool down on Hammer of Wrath. Divine Purpose, if chosen, gives Paladins a 15% chance when casting any Holy spell to have the next ability that would require Holy Power cast without consuming any Holy Power and with a strength of three.

This is another tier where the benefits of each ability could be argued, though I think the weakest ability is Holy Avenger no matter what spec you are using, whether in PvP or PvE. Ret paladins will probably see the most DPS increase from Sanctified Wrath, but Divine Purpose is an ability they use now that allows a huge burst of occasional damage. Holy Paladins could have a very decent cool down to save a tank in Sanctified Wrath, but Divine Purpose could again give that additional burst to healing that makes it essential. Prot Paladins will get the short end of the stick as I protect all will need to take Divine Purpose as it gives them the most bang for their talent slot.

Tier 6

The final tier opens up at level 90 and gives paladins access to three abilities. Holy Prism has a 20 second cool down and sends a beam of light towards a target, turning them into a prism for Holy energy. If the target is an enemy, the spell deals damage to the target and heals the five nearest allies within ten yards. If the target is friendly, the target is healed and then heals the five nearest allies within ten yards. Light’s Hammer has a one minute cool down and hurls a Light-infused hammer to the ground where it blasts a 10-yard radius for 15 seconds, healing allies and damaging enemies standing within it. Execution Sentence has a hammer slowly fall from the sky on to the designated target over ten seconds, causing increased Holy damage on enemy targets and healing on friendly targets with a final burst at the end.

There will be many arguments for while certain spells should be used or shouldn’t used, but these will all be situational. If there is a lot of AoE damage, healers will want to choose between Light’s Hammer and Holy Prism, while if there isn’t they’ll want to use Execution Sentence. In PvP this choice will be based on 2v2, 3v3, 5v5 and what position you will be playing during the RBG. DPS and Prot Paladins will be forced to choose along the same lines, but instead if there’s a lot of adds, they’ll choose between Light’s Hammer and Holy Prism, and if it’s a single target fight they’ll use Execution Sentence. In PvP, the same will apply so you will know a good paladin from a bad one by how often they switch out this talent for another.

All in all, I’m very pleased with the talent tree for Paladins. What I’m not happy about is the lack of Divine Sacrifice! I miss this spell as much for its utility as for all the mishaps it caused when I clicked it on accident and killed myself during a fight. Come on Blizzard, gimme my DI back!

After watching the two videos for the Pandaren introduction (linked at the bottom for easy viewing), I am both impressed, amused and disappointed with Blizzard/Activision’s choices when allowing Pandaren’s to choose their faction. While they have some differences, Garrosh Hellscream and Varien Wrynn say and do nearly the same things when talking to their new recruits. Even though our factions are supposed to be clashing about our differences, our leaders are nearly exactly the same. Maybe that’s why Garrosh is so mad at the Alliance, he’s pissed because Varien is copying him!

So both factions start out at the turtle and are taken to their respective capitals via hot air balloon. They talk to their faction representative, Jii Firepaw or Aysa Cloudsinger, who say nearly the same thing: We’re here, we have to help these guys because of our belief system, we need allies, let’s find out who their leader is. The only part that confused me was Aysa knows an awful lot about the Alliance to not have a clue who the King of Stormwind is.

After you accept this quest, you run through your faction capitol and people say stuff as you pass. The Horde version has you recognized and cheered for saving someone, while the Alliance just has many NPCs go, “Whoa, a Pandaren,” with one notable Worgen rogue seeming to mock you for the choice (or at least I took it that way). I liked that the Alliance had so many new NPCs making their city feel alive, but the way the Horde seem so happy to have you among them was a much more rewarding scene.

Each side ends their journey as they enter the throne room and greet their respective leader. For some reason, both sides seem annoyed by the Pandaren calling them “Emperor” and are given stern corrections (though on the Alliance side it isn’t Varien who corrects Aysa). Both leaders then ask you to walk with them and tell the pandas how their faction works. For the Horde it’s a, “We might be looked down on, but we’re strong,” moment while the Alliance get, “We work with and stand by each other no matter what.” Varien’s speech felt forced, as though the writers are trying to force him to be something he’s not. Garrosh took far more pride in his people than I’ve come to expect, while simultaneously putting down any one who wasn’t an orc.

Once the pandas say they understand what it means to be a part of [insert faction here], more identical dialogue follows. The new allies are informed that some of their friends have chosen to join the enemy faction and they must no longer consider these Pandarens friends or family. Ties and friendships across enemy lines will not be tolerated.

Each faction leader asks their new panda allies, in the nearly the exact same words, to show their their skills at fighting. What proceeds is the only real difference in the two introductions (even if it’s mimicked on the other side pretty closely). Depending on the faction you picked, one of two things happens:

The Alliance get to knock Varien on his ass! If you’re like me, you’ve been dying to give the Stormwind King a good punch for several expansions now and Blizzard gives you this chance. For this, and things alone, I love them.

Horde Pandarens are asked by Garrosh to prove themselves in the arena, pitting them against three beasts from Outlands and Northrend. These level 10 elites dwarf the little Pandas, but Hellscream thinks is a great privilege for his new allies and even refers to it as a gift. What a crazy gift…

In the end, I feel like this whole thing could have been so much more than it was. A chance to really inspire both factions fell through the cracks as the writers half-ass the dialogue and make both Pandaren leaders seem a bit silly and ineffectual. After all, neither Garrosh nor Varien address them directly, instead talking and interacting solely with the player.

Jii Firepaw gets the worst of it. While he has caused the most drama in World of Warcraft this expansion, he seems a pathetic choice to lead the wise and noble Pandarens who have joined the Horde. After finishing the battle against Garrosh’s beasts, he tells the player he never could have finished the battle against the level ten elites without you! Aysa just seems like a dippy little do-gooder who is meant to take the place of the now (probably) emo Jaina Proudmore. Possibly there is a reason for this, like character growth throughout the expansion or something, but with the writer’s track record so far I find it doubtful.

What the hell happened to strong faction leaders?! Maybe I’m off base here, but Blizzard screwed the pooch on this one. I can’t be the only one who thinks the Pandarens are turning into the joke race we were promised they wouldn’t be.

Alliance Pandaren Introduction

Horde Pandaren Introduction