Blizzard = lost respect.

[kaysee]

I have always held a high regard for Blizzard's creative powers, immersing worlds/histories, and hit after hit. I mean I am still eagerly awaiting D3 (which looks super) and will curiously await Titan.

I did think they started loosing creative juices though in WoW when WotLK was released. After creating Azeroth (and Draneor/Outland) with races and enemies rich in Blizzard's on history... WotLK then introduced history basically ripped off from the Norse mythology (to the point key NPCs are named Thor and Odin).

Ohhh how their creativity stalled. My respect dropped lower when in Cataclysm they then ripped off the Egyptian mythology to fuel new content and Azeroth become less a "Blizzard" created world and more aligned with Earth's RL history/beliefs.

After giving them that 2nd chance I cancelled (as did many others)! Now it what can only be described as per desperation to halt a subscription route they have announced their next expansion "Mists of Pandaria"... or "WoW Fu Panda":

http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/blog/3768750/World_of_Warcraft_Mists_of_Pandaria_Revealed-10_21_2011#blog

[YOUTUBE]nyeZ8khSEC0[/YOUTUBE]

it's highlights:
- Disney's Kung Fu Panda as inspiration for a new continent, new race and new class
- adding in Pokemon pet battles

I seriously thought this was an April Fool's joke or Birthday joke... but they're serious :O

Only thing missing is a Jack Black voice over. This is seriously embarrassing stuff from a company that doesn't need to do it. Shame on Blizzard.

 

[Kyptastic]

The Pandaren have been around since WC3.

Most of the Warceaft universe has been lifted/inspired by other properties - the original Warcraft is pretty much a rehashed Warhammer.

 

[Contrasted]

As Kyptastic said Pandaren have been around for longer than Kung-Fu Panda has, so its certainly not ripped from there, plus the idea that an asian animals can be associated with martial arts has been around for a long time.... And as with anything 'new' and 'creative' it is possible to just compare it to something else and just say it was ripped from there

 

[HBK619]

Yeah, I don't have any care for WoW or Blizzard in general, but if you're going to lose respect for a dev/publisher just because they use inspiration from elsewhere then you won't find many people in the gaming industry that you will have respect for...

 

[Father Jack]

This will make my defection to SWTOR all the more easier. I am not the slightest bit interested in kung fu panda. WotLK at least meant something lore-wise, and cata was an excuse to update old world content, but I have no idea what this new one offers.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

IOhhh how their creativity stalled. My respect dropped lower when in Cataclysm they then ripped off the Egyptian mythology to fuel new content and Azeroth become less a "Blizzard" created world and more aligned with Earth's RL history/beliefs.

If you remember back to Diablo 2 the area around Lut Gholein was clearly a rip-off of ancient Egypt and similarly Kurast was based on the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia.

 

[Abaddon]

The Pandaren were in Warcraft 3 ya d!ckhead

 

[Glenno23]

I guess with your lost respect, they'll now have to rely on their billions and billions of dollars to make them happy

 

[kaysee]

Yeah, I don't have any care for WoW or Blizzard in general, but if you're going to lose respect for a dev/publisher just because they use inspiration from elsewhere then you won't find many people in the gaming industry that you will have respect for...

Inspiration is normally more subtle.

Warcraft's beginnings (as Kyptastic alluded to) were inspired by Warhammer because they were originally contracted to develop a Warhammer game. When that fell through they re-tuned their work in to Warcraft.

TBH I only played through 2.5 of the campaigns in W3 with no mention of Pandarians anywhere... furthermore there's no mention of them on W3's detailed wiki page. I guess they must be important!

Blizzard's starcraft and diablo universe's are solidly their own IP (probably because they haven't tinkered with them too much)... but it is a shame to see WoW become so desperate.

Mind you if a StarCraft expansion introduces a new race of robots that transform into vehicles, or if Diablo adds in the new "Woody" and "Buzz" hero classes... I be off Blizzard forever.

In the mean time I just saw Kung Fu Panda 2 for $20 in a XBOX bargin bin. Time to buy and play that alongside the missus playing WoW, so I can pretend I'm playing on the PTR.

 

[Danog]

Inspiration is normally more subtle.

Warcraft's beginnings (as Kyptastic alluded to) were inspired by Warhammer because they were originally contracted to develop a Warhammer game. When that fell through they re-tuned their work in to Warcraft.

TBH I only played through 2.5 of the campaigns in W3 with no mention of Pandarians anywhere... furthermore there's no mention of them on W3's detailed wiki page. I guess they must be important!

Blizzard's starcraft and diablo universe's are solidly their own IP (probably because they haven't tinkered with them too much)... but it is a shame to see WoW become so desperate.

Mind you if a StarCraft expansion introduces a new race of robots that transform into vehicles, or if Diablo adds in the new "Woody" and "Buzz" hero classes... I be off Blizzard forever.

In the mean time I just saw Kung Fu Panda 2 for $20 in a XBOX bargin bin. Time to buy and play that alongside the missus playing WoW, so I can pretend I'm playing on the PTR.

You mean Vikings?

 

[Hawks1523]

lol, aww geeze.

I'll just leave this here.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Pandaren

Pandaren aren't new, and is in no way trying to cash in on Kung Fu panda. People wanted Pandaren before Worgen if I'm not mistaken, but blizzard put Worgen in first.

 

[JordanWCE]

They're merged with Activi$ion, what did you expect?

 

[Ice-Wolf]

Inspiration is normally more subtle.
Blizzard's starcraft and diablo universe's are solidly their own IP (probably because they haven't tinkered with them too much)... but it is a shame to see WoW become so desperate.

Yeah because Starcraft bears no obvious similarities with Warhammer 40k
The Zerg are almost a carbon copy of Tyranids.
The Protoss bear a similarity to the Eldar.
The Terrans are a less extreme version of the Imperium of Man.

 

[Kyptastic]

lol, aww geeze.

I'll just leave this here.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Pandaren

Pandaren aren't new, and is in no way trying to cash in on Kung Fu panda. People wanted Pandaren before Worgen if I'm not mistaken, but blizzard put Worgen in first.

They almost had Pandaren before Draenei. Some would say that would have made more sense lore wise

Plus, speaking of Transformers in Starcraft...

will be able to transform into this in Heart of the Swarm

 

[Hawks1523]

They almost had Pandaren before Draenei. Some would say that would have made more sense lore wise

Yeah, wasn't sure if it was draenei or worgen. Either way people have wanted them in long before now.

 

[kaysee]

yeah, wasn't sure if it was draenei or worgen. either way 12yo and chinese have wanted them in long before now.

efa!!!

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah, when I saw that I laughed. After this expansion finishes, I will not go back. WoW is going to be Wapanese desu desu cutsey crap. Yes, yes, gnomes have always been around but they're an exception!

I'm looking forward to Guild Wars II.

 

[Killer eagle]

Warcraft 2, diablo and starcraft where the big blizzard games for me. i never played wow, have played another lesser known mmorpg years ago just before wow come out, and after seeing a mate play it there where 2 major aspects of it i thought didn't compete.

 

[Contrasted]

Yeah, when I saw that I laughed. After this expansion finishes, I will not go back. WoW is going to be Wapanese desu desu cutsey crap. Yes, yes, gnomes have always been around but they're an exception!

I'm looking forward to Guild Wars II.

Pandaren aren't weaboo crap, they are generally drunken brawlers, also WoW is one of the most western RPGs around...

 

[omit]

Plus, speaking of Transformers in Starcraft...

will be able to transform into this in Heart of the Swarm

And this transforms into anything

 

[Thrawn]

Pandaren aren't weaboo crap, they are generally drunken brawlers, also WoW is one of the most western RPGs around...

They are cuddly bears that get drunk and do kung-fu moves FFS. They were originally intended as an April Fool's joke. Out of the many other races in WoW, they chose something that was intended as a joke and had little to no bearing to the lore. Hell, I would rather play as a kobold.

That WoW is one of the most western based RPGs is irrelevant - MoP is clearly catered to a Chinese market and pre-teens. You can enjoy watching little pandas running around with a hundred variations of names from Kung-Fu Panda and vanity pet Pokemon-like battles all you want, but I'm not going to continue playing a game that keeps on getting dumbed down for the sake of kiddies (there's enough of them already polluting the front of SW and in chat). WoW has lost its appeal and basing an entire expac on freakin' pandas is going to hurt their subscription base big-time. I do not recall the amount of bitching generated as much as this from any single issue, and I have played WoW since release back in December '04.

I've been losing patience with some of their decisions this expac, that's why I've been super casual but this just kills it for me. Guild Wars II, from what I've seen, looks so much more appealing. I'd play the new SW mmo but I only have the time to play just one, and I prefer the medieval/fantasy types more.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Blizzard cannot hear you, they are eyeball deep in money since you keep paying for WOW, no matter how stupid it got.

If this is the final straw, wow.. How about paying for constant new dungeons which were just re-hashed old dungeons they took out 2-3 years ago?

I dont want to sound bitter, Starcraft/Diablo/Warcraft(excluding wow) are 3 of my 5 favourite game franchises

Panderians become the third most stupid race.

 

[Dazb86]

Isn't there already cows in that game? How are pandas different?

 

[Dawesome Dock]

I enjoy the fact that people are so ignorant that they keep referring to Pandaren to Kung-Fu Pandas. I'm pretty sure if they made a movie about a Kung Fu any animal you'd have the same reaction. Is that because you can't have fun with something new. Also they planned to bring in the Pandaren at the start of the Burning Crusade so it's not exactly brand new to their thoughts.

It's all bloody optional aswell, you don't HAVE to be a Panda or you don't HAVE to play that pokemon crap, you can do what you want. Just because it's there to do doesn't mean you have to do it.

This expansion will be bringing the Horde vs. Alliance to the for-front as they battle for the new continent. I'm expecting it to be pretty interesting and then the next expansion will be even bigger. Give it a chance or you're kidding yourself.

 

[Jamaylor]

I'm glad I don't play WoW, I'm more annoyed that the Necromancer isn't a character in the new Diablo (but may be in an expansion)