Rank 2: Mists of Pandaria
Mists of Pandaria is perhaps a prime example of how you often only appreciate things when you no longer have them.
I too was skeptical before the launch of Mists of Pandaria and thought, “Goodness, now such a panda-Asian nonsense – must it be?” However, the skepticism did not last long, as after the first dozen quests in the Jade Forest I fell in love with the expansion.
Unfortunately, the quality of quests did not hold up in every area (I mean you, Kun-Lai Summit), but overall, the stories of the areas were entertaining. I particularly liked the Klaxxi as a new species, connected with the Old Gods.
However, the story’s focus quickly shifted to the escalating conflict between Horde and Alliance, with Garrosh as the long-established villain. The Siege of Orgrimmar is still one of the most exciting raids for me.
But the class design in Mists of Pandaria was brilliant as well. The development team was eager to experiment and gave each specialization a distinct identity, leading to sometimes strange but grandiose abilities.
This allowed druids to cast the spell “Symbiosis” on a teammate. This meant that the teammate learned one of the druid’s spells, and the druid learned one of the other player’s spells. For example, druids could use Ice Block or shadow priests could cast Serenity. While this was difficult to balance, it was immensely enjoyable.
Only the absurd number of daily quests was a horror that almost caused many to suffer from a “WoW burnout”. Luckily, Blizzard did not hold onto that for too long.
The highlight from Mists of Pandaria: My little farm. I believe I have not visited any place in World of Warcraft as often as my farm in the Valley of the Four Winds. Every day, herbs were planted there, gifts were collected for the inhabitants, and daily quests were completed. Even though this was probably the start of the “mobile game mechanics” in World of Warcraft, I had immense fun with it. To this day, I still enjoy planting a few trees there now and then…
