When Chris Metzen announced the Mists of Pandaria expansion of World of Warcraft at BlizzCon 2011, many fans of the MMORPG were stunned. One of the reasons: the Pandaren.
How did the announcement work at the time? When Chris Metzen, then Senior Vice President and Creative Lead for World of Warcraft, took to the stage at BlizzCon 2011 to announce the new WoW expansion, millions of fans wanted to know one thing above all:
How does Blizzard react to the first setback in the form of the heavily criticized Cataclysm era, which is still one of the most unpopular expansions in WoW history? Or to put it another way: How do you want to build on the successes of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King?
Well, the answers Metzen had in his luggage that day were not very popular with a large part of the community. Some people didn’t like the Chinese setting of Mists of Pandaria in general. The pet battles, which were ridiculed as “Pokémon Light”, also received some ridicule. Most of the criticism, however, was directed at the new playable race, the Pandaren.
“Everybody was kung fu fighting”
Even today, there are countless heated discussions from 2011 and 2012 on the net, in which players argue about the imminent introduction of the pandaren. And that started with the official preview trailer on YouTube, in which the new WoW race was seen for the first time and which therefore garnered countless dislikes. Here is a mood barometer from back then:
- TheMeeelting wrote: “You screwed up, Blizzard. You really screwed up.”
- yazzannaegg was obviously annoyed at the time: “Pandas. PANDAS??? PANDAS?!?!?!? This is the DUMBEST thing Blizzard has ever done for World of Warcraft. NO.”
- stylo30031986 writes about the Pandaren: “They were meant as a joke. They were never really part of the lore.”
- At the time, many drew the comparison to an animated film series – such as zach10364: “I should watch Kung Fu Panda 2 so that I can keep up to date with the story. ;)”
For many critics, it was clear: After Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria will usher in the end of WoW. And the fluffy pandas on two legs are to blame! And the pagodas! The pets! What do you allow, Blizzard?!
Stolen by Kung Fu Panda?
What is the truth of the criticism? Well, not much. The Blizzard designers had demonstrably been working on the Pandaren as a playable race since at least 2002.
- First, in the form of an April Fool’s joke from 2002 for “Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos”.
- Secondly, very specifically, with the official introduction of the pandaren into the Warcraft lore in the course of the add-on “The Frozen Throne” (via wowpedia.fandom.com).
- Thirdly, Blizzard actually wanted to introduce the Pandaren as an Alliance counterpart to the Blood Elves, but China probably had a problem with it, which is why the draenei was available in The Burning Crusade after all.
So when Blizzard announced the pandaren for Mists of Pandaria, the furry friends were already firmly anchored in the lore of Warcraft.
WoW: Mists of Pandaria Classic
On July 22, 2025, WoW Classic will go into the next round and take you to Pandaria. The preparation patch for Mists of Pandaria Classic landed on the Classic servers on July 2nd. Look forward to the following highlight additions that came with the update (source: worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com):
New Playable Races: With the release of the Mists of Pandaria pre-patch, you’ll join either the ranks of the Horde or the Alliance as a member of the enigmatic pandaren and face off against the conflict brewing on Pandaria’s shores.
New Class: Learn the mystical powers of the Monk – destroy enemies with the devastating attacks of the Windwalker, increase the number of allies with the spiritual energies of the Mistweaver, and shrug off massive damage with the relentless strength of the Brewmaster.
Revamped Classes: All classes have been updated with a new talent system, improved abilities, and spells.
Area Looting: Loots all nearby enemies at once, speeding up the looting process.
World Event: Assault on Theramore Island: Join the fight and take part in the “Theramore’s Fall” scenario, which describes events relevant to the expansion.
Pet Battles: Dust off the pet collection on your shelf and prepare it for new battles in the form of a tactical mini-game. You still need pets? Adopt instead of buy: Tame new and interesting creatures on your adventures in Pandaria.
Benevolent view of Mists of Pandaria
What is the truth of the gloomy predictions of that time? Nothing. MoP couldn’t bury WoW. On the contrary, many WoW players today look very positively at the expansion, which can be seen, among other things, in many recent comments under the preview trailer of Mists of Pandaria (via YouTube).
- Fafancina admits, “MoP was all we wanted, but we were so blinded by the pandaren ethnicity.”
- drae6984 added 8 years ago: “So many dislikes just because of the pandas … Now people can only dream of an extension like MoP.”
- darthroes takes a similar view 3 years ago: “So much dislike, only to realize years later that this was one of the best expansions ever made.”
Why was MoP really good? Pandaria’s zones are wonderfully colorful and varied. The quests play varied, the story of the expansion is told in an exciting way until the end. But more importantly, MoP was also able to shine in the endgame.
There, not only the usual range of dailies, raids, dungeons and PvP awaited the players, but also scenarios, the new class, pet battles, your own player farm or even the challenge mode. Never before has there been so much to do in WoW for the most diverse types of players.
In addition, there were sensible adjustments such as the talent matrix, AoE looting, account-wide progression for many areas, the mythic difficulty level, flexible raid sizes and much more. And since Blizzard had made a lot of good decisions in the design of the classes, a large part of the existing gameplay was also a lot of fun. By the way, if you think that everything in Pandaria is just colorful and fluffy, you’re wrong: Mists of Pandaria has some of the most evil quests of all time. Need a boost to get started? Buy WOW Classic MoP Gold and dive straight into the action!
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