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

The Townlong Steppes is located in the northwestern part of Pandaria and the zone borders both the Kun-lai Summit and the Valley of the Fourwinds. Once home to the Yaungol, it is the ancestral home of the Mantid, the race that forced the Mogu to build the Pandaren Wall to protect Pandaria. As the Mantid have attacked 100 years too early, the Wall is under attack once more.

The zone contains two dungeons, the Gate of the Setting Sun and the Siege of Niuzao Temple. Blizzard describes it thus (even if they get the name of their zone wrong):

Separated from the rest of Pandaria by the Pandaren Wall, the rampaging mantid people of the Townlong Wastes devour everything in their path in order to build their own crystalline empire of ruthless warriors and scheming feudal lords. The pandaren are left reeling when the mantid’s thousand-year cycle of aggression kicks off a hundred years too early and their greatest warriors burst through the Pandaren Wall.  The beleaguered pandaren must now face the worst swarm in recorded history while trying to isolate the cause of the mantid’s erratic behavior.

Townlong Steppes in game map

Lore

The Mantid are the predominant race in the Townlong Steppes now that the Yaungol have been chased from their homes and into the Kun-lai Summit. Annother intelligent and highly-evolved race of insect-like creatures like the Nerubians, the Mantid have threatened the people of Pandaria since prehistoric times. Their society does have a queen, but they are not a hive mind like the Silithid. Sentient, they are capable of constructing tall buildings and mastering weapons.

Every mantid generation, the young hatch in incredible numbers and then swarm toward the rest of Pandaria. Devouring anything in their path, only the strongest return. That is why the Mogu built the Great Pandaren Wall to protect themselves from the Mantid swarm. The Pandaren realized they too would have a need for the wall and have maintained it since defeating the Mogu. The generational swarm has risen 100 years too soon this time, so the Pandarens are scrambling to defend themselves and the wall from their attacks.

It seems the reason for the early swarm may be that the Mantid queen has been corrupted. This can be assumed because of the new faction, the Klaxxi:

Keepers of the mantid culture, these stoic mantid lords have determined that their own queen has been corrupted and must be destroyed. Although wary of outsiders, it may be possible to earn the trust of the Klaxxi, gaining access to their unique arms and armor.

Dungeon(s)

Siege of Niuzao Temple

Four bosses, but that is all we know about this dungeon so far. Speculation is that it will be another Mantid dungeon because of some of the Achievements that have been discovered.

The Gate of the Setting Sun

The Gate of the Setting Sun dungeon is located within the Pandaren Wall boundary between the Townlong Steppes and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Which zone actually contains this dungeon is unknown, so I am adding it again even though it was in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms wrap up. Since that post, the following bosses have been discovered in the Players Handbook:

Striker Ga’dok

Has a “devour” attack where he charges a player and eats them, inflicting massive damage over time. Other than that, he has lots of bombs and minions making for a fight heavily dependent on players not standing in crap that will kill them. The bombing strafe run at 70% and 30% health will be particularly difficult for some players to survive, I’m sure.

Commander Ri’mok

Simple boss – he deals damage and summons waves of adds, some stronger than others. Players will have to kill the stronger adds (called Saboteurs) while AoEing and dealing enough damage to the boss to kill him. The twist on this fight is the boss will “exude a viscos fluid” which decreases the damage of anyone standing in it – this includes the boss so tanks will be able to position him in this to their benefit.

Saboteur Kip’tilak

This is another boss that will rape players with no awareness of their surroundings. Saboteur Kip’tilak throws a packs of Stable Munitions around the room. These won’t explode unless they are hit by another explosion, which can come from the boss or from players when the boss picks a player at random and attaches four explosives to their back. Then at 60% and 30% health, he will throw more Stable Munitions on the ground and these explode once all are placed. It seems all explosives are directional, exploding in the “cardinal directions” so it should be very easy to avoid damage – if players are paying attention.

Raigonn

This fight looks like a blast. I think the fight will go like this based on the abilities in the Players Handbook at the moment:

The boss shows up and charges the Outter Gate on the Pandaren Wall – players must stop him before he breaches the Inner Gate. Unfortunately, he has a heavy carapace and takes 100% reduced damage until his vulnerability is destroyed. This is near his head and players will be able to ride the boss to attack it. He doesn’t like that, so he will charge the gate and knock all players off, plus deal massive damage to them. Since the mantid are also a part of a swarm, he is summoning his most powerful friends to attack you as well.

So the boss attacks, players jump on him and attack his weakspot. Raigonn charges the wall and knocks them off. Eight Hive Protectorate show up and must be defeated before players can jump on the boss again. I think these will need to be single targeted because they have an ability that, once they get to 50% health, they cast Hive Mind which increases the attack speed of nearby Hive Protectorate by 50%.

Once all eight are dead, players will hop back on the boss until he charges the wall again. Then three Engulfing Mantid join the battle. These three mobs cast tornadoes that the players will have to avoid until they’re dead. Then players rinse and repeat the attack on the boss until the charge when the Swarm Bringer joins the battle and inflicts massive AoE damage on the party until he is destroyed.

Then the carapace is broken by the players and the last part of the fight starts. The boss takes 300% more damage, but doesn’t seem to be tankable. For one, he has a Fixate ability where he chases one player around who is given a 75% speed buff and places a tar on the ground, slowing anyone in it. He also slowly enrages, dealing more and more damage every time he does an AoE stomp so I think he will need to be kited by the Fixated player while the rest of the part tries to kill him with help from Pandaren Bowmen who show up after the carapace is broken.

Quests

Townlong Steppes is a level 89-90 questing zone, where players will be working with the Shado-Pan Clan to determine why the Mantid have attacked early. Whether or not the Klaxxi appear in this zone or the Dread Wastes has yet to be seen.

Wrap Up

I want to see how they’re going to progress the story line, but unfortunately I feel a “Old God done gone and made the Queen insane” line coming up. The Townlong Steppes zone itself looks gorgeous, full of contrasting greens, reds and whites with towering trees and architecture. I’m hoping to see some Mantid villiages, but the fact that the Mantid are going to have a faction to interact with fascinates me by itself.

The dungeons look like they’ll be the best part of the zone, though. I cannot wait to get into the Gate of the Setting Sun and get a crack at the last boss. Ride ‘em cowboy!

The Krasarang Wilds is one of the two new zones added between the Mists press event and Blizzcon 2011. Originally part of the Valley of the Four Winds, it has been vastly expanded so that it is now an entire zone of its own. As can be seen in the video, it is a large jungle, but dark and mysterious as opposed to the bright jungles like Sholazar Basin and Stranglethorn that we’re used to.

A level 86-88 questing zone, the Wilds will also contain one of the new raids (The Terrace of the Endless Spring) and will be the staging ground for future patches. Supposedly over the course of this expansion, the zone will change to reflect the fighting between the Horde and Alliance. At the moment, Blizzard describes it thus:

The Krasarang Wilds along Pandaria’s southern coast conceal many ancient secrets of a lost dynasty that have drawn the attention of prophecy-seekers among the Alliance and Horde. The Wilds are also home to the vicious, domineering Mogu, and a more insidious danger still: the Sha of Despair is believed to have escaped from its bindings in the Temple of the Red Crane, and stifling gloom has begun to blanket the land in its path

Krasarang Wilds in-game map

Lore

Mogu skins

In the Wilds, the Mogu are staging their first attempt at a return to power over all of Pandaria. Since the Wilds are dotted with Mogu ruins, I assume they’re searching for some “long lost” power which will help them re-conquer the continent. 12,000 years ago, they ruled over Pandaria and enslaved the existing races while creating many new ones. Of course, they didn’t call it that, they had a might makes right philosophy and the Mogu just happened to always be the strongest. The Pandarens lead the revolt that removed them from power, so you can imagine they’re high on the Mogu shit list.

In an effort to reclaim the Wilds, the Mogu try to re-employ their creations, the Saurok, to removed the Jinyu, Pandarens, and Horde/Alliance. These lizard-men aren’t having it, though. Designed to be smart enough to use weapons, they are refusing to cooperate and posing a threat to both the Jinyu and the Mogu.

Chi Ji, the Red Crane August Celestial, watches over the zone (as well as the Valley of the Four Winds) and his temple is located here. In times past, the Sha of Despair was imprisoned here, but has escaped. Whether this is due to the Mogu (I doubt it) or the Alliance and Horde meddling has yet to be seen. We’ve had a theme going so far for the rest of the zones, so I’m putting my money on it being the player factions’ fault.

Raid(s)

The Terrace of the Endless Spring

The Terrace of the Endless Spring is a Sha themed instance. So far, people have found four bosses in the players handbook and these fights look like they’re going to be a lot of fun – assuming they’re not super easy. The following is what I gleaned from the spells listed and could change/not reflect the actual fight at all.

Boss 1: Protectors of the Endless

Described in the Players Handbook as a “Fish full of Sha,” it is a council boss fight against three Jinyu Elders. Elder Regail, Elder Kaolan, Elder Asani are probably possessed, but that won’t stop players from kicking their asses. One uses nature spells, one water, while the third uses shadow. At the moment, they summon adds and have a lot of fear spells.

Boss 2: Sha of Fear

Described in the Players Handbook:

• Face your fears in up to 3 epic battles!
• Become the Champion of the Light!
• Waffles not included

I think this fight will be the most fun. A beam of light stands somewhere in the raid and one player standing in it is the “Champion of the Light.” This is the player automatically holds boss aggro, so it is possible to have anyone tank or pick up aggro. When a player is standing in this, a Wall of Light protects the rest of the raid from the bosses attacks. During the encounter, the boss will send adds and use both single target and AoE spells, while also teleporting players to deal with other threats, alla Lich King and Yogg’Saron. I add Yogg’Saron, because what those players are doing helps the rest of the raid by giving them buffs when they leave which prevent the fear abilities of the boss from working.

There’s also some kind of heart, possibly like XT, but attacking one version does damage to the players, while attacking the other does extra damage to the Sha.

Boss 2: Sha of Anger

“He’s really angry” is his description in the Players Hand book. I love his model, though the fight seems like it will be fairly simple. It is a two phase fight with lots of AoE damage and the second phase being a “unleash rage” phase, alla Council of the Fourwinds where players just take an ass load of damage.

The only interesting bit of this fight is the new mindcontrol mechanic. The boss places a debuff on random targets where, after a certain time, they will be mind controlled along with five people around them. As much as “pay the fuck attention” mechanics frustrate me as a raid leader, as a player they have always made fights more fun.

Boss 4: Salyis’ Warband

“What if we just put cannons on everything?” is the tag for her in the Players Handbook, but nothing else is known about this boss. I’m hoping for a great fight like Flame Leviathan in Ulduar, but I imagine this could go south like Occulus.

Quests

So far what we know about this the quests in the Krasarang Wilds is from MMO Champion. It is a level 86-88 questing zone with several daily quests for an as yet unknown faction. Supposedly, the Alliance and Horde venture into this zone seeking something mystical so perhaps it is for them, but the objectives make it sound like what I’d expect from the Shado-Pan reputation dailies they promised us. Perhaps a faction based around the raid? Any faction based in the Wilds has yet to be announced, so only time will tell.

Wrap Up

This raid looks like it’s going to be so much fun! I can’t wait to get in there and down some bosses. As to the zone itself, I love the lay out. From dark jungles with spots of bright color, to gorgeous, sandy islands surrounded by clear blue water, this is going to be my favorite zone just from a visual standpoint.

The zone, questing wise, is up in the air with so much left unknown about it. I think it’s going to be good based on the lore we know so far. After all, this is where we’ll meet the Mogu and the Saurok for the first time and both races appear to have a lot of story based around them. Not to mention, the Jinyu are back and these guys look ready to kick some Saurok ass!

The Kun-Lai Summit is located in northern Pandaria and The White Tiger, Xuen, is the August Celestial that watches over it.  Several species will be here for players to interact with: Pandarens, Zandalari, Yaungol, Hozen, Sha, and Grummles. Mount Never-Rest, the tallest mountain on Azeroth, is here and supposedly dwarfs the Temple of Storms in the Storm Peaks. Blizzard describes it thus:

High atop the frigid northern peaks of the Kun-Lai Summit looms the Temple of the Tiger, an ancient training ground protected by an elite force of martial priests, along with the spirit of the White Tiger itself.  Deeper into the mountains is the hideout of the Shado-pan: a mysterious order charged with protecting Pandaria from the dark things buried beneath its surface. When the isolated people of Kun-Lai are threatened by marauders from the west and a Zandalari troll menace invading its northern shores, they turn to the Alliance and Horde for help.

This zone is not yet open in the beta, but some people have pulled code and created the following fly throughs for us. One is of different parts of the zone and the second is of the Shado-pan Monastery where the new dungeon is also located:

Kun-Lai Summit map

Lore

As stated previously, the White Tiger August Celestial lives in the Kun-Lai Summit, along with several different races. Originally, the Summit was the home of the Pandaren Shado-pan and White Tiger clans as well as the Grummles, but due to the Mantid, the Yaungol were chased out of their native Townlong Steppes. Instead of trying to chase the Mantid out of their homes, they’ve decided war with the Pandarens would be easier and are trying to make the Summit their new home even though it’s inhabited already.

The Yaungol are relatives of the Tauren from before the Sundering (note, not the Shattering) and got trapped on Pandaria when the Sundering occurred. They are literally yak Mongols, just missing their Genghis Khan, and while the models are available, there is speculation that they will be replaced later because they do not look much like yaks:

Yaungol

Another race in the Kun-Lai Summit, and one that is presumably not hostile to players, is the Grummles. These are sherpas that the Mogu created back when those giants still ruled Pandaria. These little guys help everyone navigate the treacherous terrain of the Summit, though how is currently a mystery.

Grummles

In the peaks of Kun-Lai Summit, the Shado-Pan Monastery houses the Shado-Pan Clan while the White Tiger Clan lives and trains at the Temple of the White Tiger. The White Tiger clan is and “elite force of martial priests” dedicated to protecting the Temple and the August Celestial, Xuen. Their fighting prowess doesn’t hold a candle to the Shado-Pan, who are dedicated to protecting Pandaria and locked in a timeless struggle with the Sha. They have trained to keep their emotions in check so they do not feed or create Sha, which are the demonic physical manifestations of negative energy that apparently only exist on Pandaria.

Dungeon(s)

Shado-Pan Monastery

The Shado-Pan Monastery dungeon is within the Shado-Pan Monastery, which is also a questing hub in the Kun-Lai Summit. That isn’t going to be confusing at all. Apparently, the Horde and the Alliance have once again screwed everything up (learning nothing from the Jade Forest, unless this is another repercussion from there) and players have to fix it. Sent into the Monastery by the Shado-pan Clan (even though they’re the best the Pandaren have to offer, they can’t fix it) to defeat the Sha that have taken over the Clan’s base of operations.

While it doesn’t seem to be a very large instance, it is also set out in the “real world” for players to see even before they go inside. We do not have access to the dungeon yet, but assume to see something similar to The Jade Serpent Temple with lots of corrupted/possessed Pandarens and Sha running around (I’m sensing a theme). This is what it looks like from the outside:

Quests

Players visit Kun-Lai Summit because the Pandarens living there are threatened by Yaungol from the west and Zandalari trolls invading from the north. Since they have allied with both the Alliance and Horde, they ask them for help and so, this zone will have several quest hubs. Both the Shado-Pan Monestery and Temple of the White Tiger are quest hubs, but beyond that we don’t know anything.

The Shado-Pan are a reputation faction, though, so players will probably have daily quests with them. Blizzard has said we can “move through their ranks and become an elite Shado-Pan warrior,” but the only rewards we have been promised are armor sets. I’m hoping for some awesome titles (Ninja Janaelle sounds pretty wicked awesome), but time will tell what we really get.

Wrap Up

This zone holds potential to be a complete cock-up and an amazing zone, depending on the amount of phasing and reused themes Blizzard puts into it. I am more than displeased that the Zandalari are involved once more (haven’t we killed them TWICE?), I think the Yaungol would have been better as a new kind of Centaur, but the Grummel and Pandaren Clans seem like they’ve got a lot of lore and interesting quest chains. The Sha, which a very interesting concept, seem to have only one theme – Players did a bad thing, made Sha, now must kill Sha. For an evil demonic presence that has an entire elite force dedicated to destroying it, they’re very predictable and easy to dominate.

The zone itself looks like a mix between the Storm Peaks and the Barrens, which could end up both very bland or insanely awesome. This will depend on how high your settings are turned up and especially what your draw distance is especially since Blizzard spent all that time making the mountains look pretty instead of giving us new character models.

Kun-Lai Summit also seems like it will be a Horde and Alliance quest zone with the Pandaren hubs dedicated to both factions. I, once more, expect a ton of world PvP to crop up in the zone within the first month as players will be killing the same mobs and working on the same quests ala Sholazar Basin and Deepholm. For those of us on PvP and RP-PvP servers, remember to quest in pairs or groups and bring the pain. We’re at war now.

Click to zoom in; it's worth it.

Next up on the Zone Wrap Up is the Jade Forest, picked because it is the only zone on the new continent that has been opened in beta so far. That is also why there are two videos this time. The first is of an Alliance character running from the starting area, all the way to the Horde starting area. It gives a good idea of how huge the zone is, shows how areas transition and change, but it’s rather boring. The second is the Blizzard video from the press release, which is much prettier, engaging, but doesn’t show as much.

The Jade Forest is located on the far eastern edge of the new Pandaren continent and is the starting zone for both Horde and Alliance 85s. The August Celestial Yu’Lon, the Jade Serpent, resides here, along with the Jinyu and the Hozon. The Temple of the Jade Serpent dungeon is here (thanks to the August Celestial), the Order of the Cloud Serpent (those guys who help you raise/train your own personal Cloud Serpent mount). Blizard describes the zone thus:

“After a naval battle between the Horde and the Alliance leaves the survivors stranded on the beaches of Pandaria, rescue parties of those factions’ elite soldiers set out explore the mysterious, fog-shrouded island. You are among them.

As one of the first explorers to set foot on Pandaria, you’ll begin your investigation in the midst of the emerald bamboo and coastal marsh of the Jade Forest, where two of Pandaria’s most prominent races make their homes. The monkey-like Hozen and the Jinyu fish-people thrive near the rivers of the Jade Forest, and your first encounters with them are likely to be hostile. Yet, ultimately, your lack of allies and guidance in this unfamiliar land will make befriending the natives your only option”

The Jade Forest map

Lore

The Jade Forest will be where the Horde and Alliance crash their ships and then proceed to meddle in forces they don’t understand. Eventually, they’ll screw up so bad they’ll release the Sha of Doubt and have to go into the Temple of the Jade Serpent to fix all of their mistakes. That dungeon is only part of it, though, and the repercussions will be felt throughout all of Pandaria. So all the denizens of the continent are clamoring to be our friends of course.

Besides the Pandarens themselves, the enemy races of the Mogu and the Mantid, the Hozen and the Jinyu races live in Pandaria and will become allies of the player factions. Because Blizzard has an idiotic sense of humor this time around, the Jinyu will assist the Alliance and the Hozen will assist the Horde. I’m going to try to spoil as little as possible about the questing in these areas, but consider this your spoiler alert. If that kind of thing gets your knickers in a twist, skip to the Dungeon section.

Jinyu

The Jinyu are an amphibious (not fish) race that live in and around the streams in the Jade Forest. They have altered the forest in which they live with their elemental magic, creating small streams for their own uses. Regularly damming rivers to create their homes and breeding pools, the towns and camps that extend beneath the water are regularly in conflict with other races whose water resources they’ve diverted.

Jinyu Concept Art

Their society is caste-based with individuals chosen for their life-long roles at a young age and final say in all communal decisions is granted to the elder Jinyu in a tribe. These elders can speak and listen to the waters that flow through Pandaria. This makes them “wise and powerful” as Blizzard seems to be pushing a very serious Alliance to the childish, fun Horde.

The Jinyu have been at war with the Hozen for a long time because a thousand years ago, when the Pearlfin Tribe ruled Pandaria the Hozen somehow caused a waning of the Jinyu’s numbers and influence. After this “betrayal,” Pearlfin Village became all that was left of these people and the Jinyu have been at war with the Hozen ever since.

The Jinyu become allies of the Alliance by meeting a “man” named Bold Karasshi and getting him to help free Admiral Taylor from a Hozen prison. The Alliance and Jinyu prisoners that you rescue then hideout in Pearlfin Village. Shortly afterwards, the Alliance discover the Hozen have joined the Horde and attempt to recruit the Pearlfin Tribe. Instead of saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the spirits have to be consulted and eventually the amphibians agree join the Alliance in exchange for training in military knowledge and armaments.

Hozen

Hozen Village - Camp Nooka Nooka

Unfortunately for the Horde, the Hozen are not as flushed out as the Jinyu. Instead of being plane laziness on the part of Blizzard (the usual cause) they are actually extremely short-lived (the oldest barely reaching twenty years of age). This means their society lacks roots, with little history remembered by each tribe. Since they are tribal, they do all live (and fight) together until their tribes eventually fall apart. Foragers and hunters, they live in the treetops and mountains of Pandaria.

The Hozen hunting grounds should be avoided, as the race is notoriously short tempered and a lack of food commonly pushes entire clans to ravage food sources outside of their territory. This always results in enough food being gathered or enough Hozen dead ensure the rest will survive. Of course, because Blizzard thinks the Horde need more children, this race of 14-year old boys is equipped with grenades and machine guns in an effort to stamp out the Alliance presence in the forest.

Dungeon(s)

Jade Serpent Temple

So I did a huge write up on my opinions with images and screenshots and instructions on how to complete this instance, and then Word Press inexplicably lost it. I am annoyed and really don’t want to spend another hour trying to recreate it so please just go visit WoW Insider as Ann Stickney did a good enough job at saying the same things I was trying to say…except she’s a lot more excited about this extraordinarily easy dungeon than I am.

Quests

For a good run down of the Horde quests in the Jade Forest, check out Cymre’s blog: Bubbles of Mischief. I have not found a good blog detailing any Alliance quests, but I keep hearing that they’re much more engaging and fun than the Horde ones when it comes to story. (If you know of one, please put a link to it in the comments below) This is ruined, of course, when the Alliance discover that Anduin Wrynn has been captured by Garrosh. And it’s captured, people, not kidnapped. This is a war, remember?

The other quest of note is, of course, the questline to get your hands on your very own Cloud Serpent flying mount. Players start by being given an egg that can be hatched in a series of quests followed by dailies. The daily quests allow players to feed and train their newly hatched cloud serpent until the day it can learn to fly. After that, they have to prove themselves on the racetracks and skyways that belong to the Order of the Cloud Serpent. Blizzard says this should take 20 days or so.

Wrap Up

My opinion of the Jade Forest is iffy. I think it was a terrible idea to give only one starting zone for both the Horde and Alliance and will make leveling for the first two months a pain in the ass. While the zone is absolutely gorgeous, it has little color in it to liven up all the green and stone textures. Eventually it turns into a green and beige blur with occasional buildings and watery areas to break it up (the lakes and streams are amazing, though).

The quests are interesting and engaging, similar throughout to Cata questing. The themes, though, feel over done, reminiscent of Sholazar Basin and Twilight Highlands. The dungeon is a blast to play through, but it’s easy, too easy. Only one boss made me work hard and the rest was a breeze the very first time any of us had ever seen the place. All the mechanics are old combinations instead of twists on old moves. It needs a lot of work before the official release comes out for me to be happy with it.

The second zone in my Zone Wrap Up is the Valley of the Four Winds. It is located on the southern edge of the new Pandaren continent and seems to be just a questing zone. The Tillers farm will be located here along with at least one Brewmaster scenario and the new Stormstout Brewery dungeon. Unfortunately, the only screen captures so far are from the video above, so I’ll leave you with just the video.

Blizzard has described it as:

A tranquil plain of lush farmland, bordered by dense mysterious jungles along the south and impassible mountains to the north. The valley is considered the “breadbasket” of Pandaria, but the year’s harvest is in jeopardy and a terrible malaise has overcome the Pandaren that live along the coast. The valley is also the home of the legendary Stormstout Brewery, where Chen Stormstout and his niece Li Li hope to journey to discover the whereabouts of their long-lost ancestors.

Unlike the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, this Valley looks exactly like I wanted the entire zone to look. Green, flowers, animals, growing things; I am more than pleased. This zone appears to be a cross between the Wetlands with water, cliffs and trees and Nagrand with its bright colors, multitude of animals, and plenty of growing things. I am loving it.

Lore

Chen Stormstout standing on dwarves

The Valley of the Four Winds, is what Westfall used to be to Stormwind. They supply all their food, a task made easier by the magic waters that flow out of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. These waters make the fruits and veggies grow to huge proportions and the Pandarens have long taken advantage of this.

Chen Stormstout in Warcraft 3

This fertile zone is also the ancestral home of Chen Stormstout, the wandering Brewmaster introduced in Warcraft 3. His families brewery is still located in the Valley, though he left Pandaria searching for exotic ingredients for his recipes. Apparently this is something all Brewmasters do, except this Brewmaster went all the way to Kalimdor to do it!

Along the way, he met the Orc Rexxar of the Mok’Nathal clan and paused his journey to travel with the Beastmaster for a time. They went to Theramore and met Jaina Proudmore, saw the horrible things her daddy was doing and this had him choose to protect Thrall and Durotar from more Kul Tiras incursions. Basically, he did a bunch of good shit for the Horde and makes a fucking strong beer.

Chen isn’t the only important person in the Valley, though. Chi’Ji, the Red Crane August Celestial also dwells here. For those who don’t know the The August Celestials are four “powerful ancestor spirits” that watch over the lands of the Pandaren. They are Yu’lon the Jade Serpent, Xuen the White Tiger, Chi’Ji the Red Crane, and Niuzao the Black Ox. I believe there will be another dungeon announced here for Chi’Ji’s temple, a questline that takes place in it, or a scenario that you’ll get to play in since Blizzard has said we will be “servicing” all four temples.

Raid(s)

None, zip, zero, nada, zilch. We got nothing. This zone seems to be purely light hearted and fun, not for them hard-core, angry raiding crowd. So set down those legendaries, kick off your plate boots, and come relax, save the beer, farm the land, find a new pet or five. Relax before you go kick someone’s teeth in later.

Dungeon(s)

The Stormstout Brewery

The great thing about the new dungeons, in my opinion, are that full-sized out in the world. Yes, it is instanced, but you can eventually fly around it and really see the full scale instead of just guessing about it because the entire dungeon is right there in the Valley. Players will be heading inside with Chen to discover why there’s no more beer.

And why is there no beer, you ask? Because of drunk monkeys, giant evil rabbits and oh, let’s not forget, the beer has gone so bad, it’s become alive and wants to kill us all. This instance makes zero sense, so it had better be funny as all hell.

Unfortunately, there are no images of the “alementals” yet, but the evil giant bunnies (also known as Verming) have a couple shots and I dredged up the map from Blizzcon. And don’t be fooled, that evil bunny is holding a lit barrel of explosives in his mouth. They’re not just evil, they’re stupid!

Quests

The only confirmed questing is the Daily quests we will be doing for the Tillers and the scenario for the Brewmasters. They are both “artisan” factions like the Lorewalkers, but the Tillers seem the most flushed out. There’s even a reason they’re sending you to clean up their local problems instead of doing it themselves: They’re too busy trying to feed the rest of the continent! Okay, I can buy that for once.

Though, if there’s a giant evil bunny in my pumpkin/radish field, I think I’d hit it with a large shovel instead of sending out the next adventurer to walk by in my place. And look at those weeds! Come on, you’re telling me you’re so busy you can’t weed or deal with the giant evil bunny? Fine! Give me my own farm and I’ll do your chores and my own!

And they do, give you your own farm I mean. This with be a phased area that you will perform different daily quests for to make it bigger, increase your reputation with the Tillers, grow herbs, pets, and cooking materials. My friend Nika Davies from the Twisting Nether server had a great opinion on these things and I tossed it up as a blog you should check out if you want to know more.

The other artisan faction found in the Valley of the Four Winds is the Brewmasters that Blizzard is using to create most of the first scenarios they’re putting out. So, presumably, you will find an encounter out here (or two) that goes along this lines:

…The lightning lager scenario that you can encounter by finding one of the Brewmasters out in the world. And the idea here is that you’re helping the Brewmaster create her Lightning Lager that can only be brewed while it’s raining and in the middle of a thunderstorm. The problem is that she’s being sieged by saurok, so she’s got a saurok problem to deal with. So you’ll have to help her defend the brewery from the saurok while putting out fires.

Whatever the heck a saurok is. There’s speculation that it’s this:

Well, go kill a bunch of those things in a lightning storm then! Sounds like a great idea. Just don’t lift your sword/mace/whatever up too high.

Wrap Up

All in all, I think this is going to be one of my favorite zones. I like the idea of having a relaxed, fun place to make my own little farm even if the entire Stormstout Brewery makes me angry with its idiotic concept and ridiculous mobs. Now if I can just bring other people onto my farm, I’ll be a happy camper.

Screen shot from the Vale of Eternal Blossoms

To help keep things simple, I’m going to try to dilute the information coming out of the Beta and Press Release for the new content by tackling each zone on its own, including the instances and raids that are (as of the time of writing) going to be there.

Vale of Eternal Blossoms World Map

To start off, we’re going to learn about the Vale of Eternal Blossoms because the Alliance and Horde hubs will be located here. It is located in the central part of Pandaria along with the Mogu’Shan Vaults raid, two dungeons, Mogu’Shan Palace and the Gate of the Setting Sun, and the Temple of Power battleground. It is a level 90 zone that Blizzard describes as:

The ancient seat of the pandaren empire has been hidden for generations, shrouded in mists and walled-off by impassible mountains.  The waters of the Vale are believed to have mystical powers… which has attracted the attention of ancient enemies as well as power-hungry factions within the Alliance and Horde. What secrets lie buried below this mystical font of power?

I’m really hoping this legendary Valley isn’t going to be as brown as the Barrens like the map makes it look. Not to mention the screen shots. I demand color, Blizzard! Pink, purple, blue! Where are the FLOWERS?! Ahem, moving on…

Lore

In came screen shot of a Mogu

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms was the original seat of the Mogu Empire where the Mogu harnessed the power of the Vale’s magical waters. This power they used to rule the continent until the Pandaren overthrew them. They then walled up the Vale to prevent its power from being abused.

With the Mogu returned, the Vale is in more danger than ever, and the Order of the Golden Lotus (the Pandaren chosen by the Celestials themselves toprotect the Vale) are looking to the players to keep it safe. That’s why the Order sets up hubs for the factions on either side of the Vale, apparently because the Horde and Alliance can’t get along for two fucking seconds. I’m starting to think that whole Dalaran and Shattrath thing was a fluke.

The Lorewalkers, the faction of scholars who keep track of all the lore of Pandaria, have set up their archive in the Vale. After players bring them artifacts, they’ll tell stories about the objects which are supposedly repeatable. Personally, I think this was a cop-out for more hunt and gather, but the quality of the lore presented will be the only way to know for sure.

Raid(s)

Mogu’shan Vaults is a six boss raid and that’s about all we know about it right now. I think it looks gorgeous and it’s not as purple and red as I expected. It was originally called the Mogu’shan Palace, but that is a five man dungeon now. Below are some screen shots to give some additional information about the raid.

Mogu'shan Vault screen shot

Mogu'Shan Vault map

Dungeon(s)

Mogu’shan Palace

Because of the name change, I have been unable to find anything on this dungeon except it’s a level 85-90 dungeon. Well no shit. Thanks to the person who actually was dumb enough to write that. News flash, obvious information is not useful information.

The Gate of the Setting Sun

Players will be dispatched to meet up with the Shado-pan clan who were sent to the gate of the Great Pandaren Wall to contain the Mantid expansion before they can launch a full-scale attack. I predict we will be battling waves of Mantid as they tried to cross the wall and into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. As gauntlet dungeons are my favorite, I’m expecting great things (which means I’ll probably be let down again).

The Gate of the Setting Sun screen shot

Battleground(s)

Apparently this temple looks just like the Uldum temples? I don’t understand this, but sure okay, why not. Hopefully the images are just placeholders and this battle ground won’t be more reused skins.

The Temple of Power is set in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Why are the Horde and Alliance fighting over it? Well, supposedly it contains an artifact that could turn the tide of war (but since this is a battleground, no one will ever get their hands on it). This artifact sits in the center of the map. Whoever claims the artifact must hold onto it as long as possible the opposing faction trys to kill you and the artifact is trying to kill you by increasing the amount of damage it deals the longer you hold it.

Yes, this is Murder Ball from Warhammer Online and Black Garden from Rift. The rules are exactly the same except artifact carriers earn more points when they hold the artifact in the center of the map than if they carry it around the outer rim. This busts up the tactics from War and Rift where the artifact was held by your spawn place for quick reinforcements. Of course, we can still do this, but points will accumulate much more slowly.

I didn’t see any word as to whether this would also be an RBG, nor how many people would be playing against each other, but I still think this battleground will be a lot of fun. Black Garden in Rift was my favorite and I’m excited by the new twist in the rules. Bring it Horde!

Quests

All that we know so far is that this entire zone will be a level 90 daily quest hub to gain reputation with the Order of the Golden Lotus. Whether there will be other quests, is unknown and I honestly hope there won’t be. The idea of a zone dedicated solely to endgame questing is something I’m excited to try out and the concept so far has potential.

Everyday, the Mogu will be attacking different parts of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and players will be sent to defend it depending on their reputation level with the Order of the Golden Lotus. If you are Neutral or Friendly with them, you will not be sent to the front lines (I would think that if they don’t like you, they would send you there, but hey that’s just me), but will instead take less important missions around the zone. These daily quests will change every time you increase in reputation, with a supposed wrap-up quest once you become Exalted.

If the story is good enough, I am more than willing to take on the Mogu day after day until I’m Exalted, especially if I get a “story end” along with my reputation rewards. One consistent gripe of mine in WoW has been how the stories just don’t end. Westfall and the Defias went on for three expansions before it changed in Cata (and who wants to be there’s no wrap up in MoP?) and that’s just the tip of the ice berg. I could go on and on about how this frustrates me. But I won’t because this could be a solution finally.

Wrap Up

There’s some highs and lows for the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. It has potential and it could be shit, but for now I’m looking forward to getting in here. It could be more colorful, but perhaps Blizzard thought the other zones made up for the color and wanted a more Autumn theme going on. Only they know, and they’re not saying and I’ll admit I’m a sucker for bright colors.

The highlight has to be the new battleground which is a fresh breath of air to the old battleground rulesets. More than anything I want to dive in here and beat up some Hordies, but that’s just my violent tendencies getting the better of me. The biggest question I have is how World PvP is going to fair in a main Daily quest zone where the Alliance and Horde hubs also have a place. This could be epic scale PvP, reminiscent of our lost Southshore and I for one, am all for it.

Come at me bro!

Chris Metzen, senior VP of Story and Franchise Development

I’m frustrated. That’s about the only way to describe my feelings with World of Warcraft lore. I’m specifying WoW and not Warcraft, because the lore there and in Vanilla WoW (and BC), I didn’t have these concerns and this feeling like the faction I play the most, is weak and pathetic with useless leaders. At one time, we had Onyxia! Now we have Jaina Proudmore jokes.

Yes, I’m bringing this up again. It’s been nagging at me ever since I read the Chris Metzen interview by WoW Insider. A lot of Horde players (and even some Alliance players) don’t understand why I’m so upset with the lore and the direction it took during Cataclysm. I’m going to attempt to explain my opinions and why this guy needs to get his fuzzy head out of his fuzzy ass. It all boils down to one thing: morale.

Throughout all of Cataclsym, the Alliance has gotten its collective ass handed to it. Go ahead and argue about Camp Tarajo all you want, but when you place all the weights on the scales, it tips heavily in the Horde’s favor: Ashenvale, Southshore, Andorhol. I can pull out a few more here, but suffice to say that would be beating a dead horse, or the Alliance as it stands.

This is not a “woe is the Alliance, we got beaten post,” this is a post telling you, if we get beaten forever, we’re not going to care much about our faction or this damn game. Warhammer Online died with the biggest complaint being one faction was over powers and kicking the other factions ass. While this isn’t lore, I believe it could get that way. Why? Shortly after the information about Theramore burning (another feather in the Horde’s cap), my server saw a huge wave of faction transfers from Alliance to Horde. I can’t blame them because let’s face it, Horde are just cooler.

The Forsaken got so much love in WotLK, the trolls got their own patch in Cata, the Cata expansion revolved around an Orc, and with all this, the Alliance got Worgen. I’m not complaining about that. The Gilneans have a rich, vibrant lore full of grand characters, both good and evil, with so much story potential (the Goblins, not so much). What are they doing now? They squat in a tree, unable to retake their home because of the Forsaken. Their entire starting zone is empty. Hell, my RP server did more with their story than Blizzard did (tipping my hat to Venedict from Twisting Nether because IMO, you out-did Blizzard with your Worgen riots). Admittedly, the Human’s got a little bit of a lore push in the Barrens, the Night Elves did in Kalimdor as well, but most of that (not all) was the Cenarion Circle and the Argent Crusade who are neutral factions that do not belong to the Alliance or the Horde.

Then there was the debacle at Blizzcon 2011 with a homophobic and anti-Alliance closing ceremony and the Alliance was up in arms (not to mention the homosexual community). Blizzard runs in waving it’s white flag, apologizes for being asshats, and tells the Alliance they will have their hayday. So here it is, Metzen announced how they’re going to make it up to the Alliance:

Garrosh with be the end boss of Mists while Theramore burns. Varien will have “some awesome moments,” as will “other characters like Vol’Jin.” Oh, and let’s not forget that we will be laying siege to Ogrimmar. We, not the Alliance, but the Horde and the Alliance will be moving in to take down big, bad Garrosh Hellscream. Woo Alliance?

I get that their needs to be a balance, something similar to the Burning Crusade which was all Blood Elfs vs. Dranaei, or WotLK which, despite being heavy on Forsaken lore, was about both factions fighting and coming together to kill Arthas. The Cataclysm expansion, though, was just a giant shit on the Alliance (lore wise) and to top it off, we’re starting the next expansion by blowing up an Alliance port. The scales should be even, but they’re not and apparently it’s going to stay that way.

Yes, I think the Alliance is owed something. I think half the player base deserves to be acknowledged and given more than the pittance it has been offered. I think that Metzen needs to stop hiring writers who think like he does and get some guys in who don’t so we can have a more diverse story. I’m happy Varien is going to stop being such a dumb monarch, but I’m not happy that the crap piled on my faction isn’t going to be scraped off.

Chris Metzen thinks he’s doing a good job, though:

“I definitely think we’re coming with some Alliance love. They’ll be proud to be Alliance by the end of this thing.”

Fuck you.