When Chris Metzen announced the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft at BlizzCon 2011, many fans of the MMORPG were astonished. One of the reasons: the Pandaren.
How did the announcement go down back then? When Chris Metzen, who was then Senior Vice President and creative lead for World of Warcraft, took the stage at BlizzCon 2011 to announce the new WoW expansion, millions of fans mainly wanted to know one thing:
How does Blizzard respond to the first setback in the form of the heavily criticized Cataclysm era, which is still one of the least popular expansions in WoW history? Or, in other words: How does one want to build on the successes of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King?
Well, the answers that Metzen had that day were not well received by a large part of the community. Some simply did not like the Chinese setting of Mists of Pandaria. The pet battles were also ridiculed as “Pokémon Lite.” However, most of the criticism was directed at the new playable race, the Pandaren.
Soon you can experience Mists of Pandaria again on the Classic servers of WoW:
“Everybody was kung fu fighting”
Even today, countless heated discussions from 2011 and 2012 can be found online, where players debate the upcoming introduction of the Pandaren. And it all started with the official preview trailer on YouTube, in which the new WoW race was seen for the first time and which consequently received countless dislikes. Here’s a sentiment barometer from back then:
- TheMeeelting said: “You messed it up, Blizzard. You really messed it up.”
- yazzannaegg was obviously upset back then: “Pandas. PANDAS??? PANDAS?!?!?!? That’s the DUMBEST thing Blizzard has ever done for World of Warcraft. NO.”
- stylo30031986 wrote about the Pandaren: “They were intended as a joke. They were never really part of the lore.”
- Many made comparisons to an animated film series – for example, zach10364: “I should watch Kung Fu Panda 2 to stay updated on the story. ;)”
For many critics, it was clear: After Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria would herald the end of WoW. And the fluffy pandas on two legs are to blame! And the pagodas! The pets! What is Blizzard thinking?!
Stolen from Kung Fu Panda?
What’s behind the criticism? Well, not much. The Blizzard designers had already been working with the Pandaren as a playable race since at least 2002.
- Firstly, in the form of an April Fool’s joke from 2002 for “Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos.”
- Secondly, quite concretely, with the official introduction of the Pandaren into the Warcraft lore with the expansion “The Frozen Throne” (via wowpedia.fandom.com).
- Thirdly, Blizzard actually wanted to introduce the Pandaren as the Alliance counterpart to the Blood Elves, but had a problem with China, which is why the Draenei were introduced in The Burning Crusade instead.
So when Blizzard announced the Pandaren for Mists of Pandaria, the furry friends were already firmly embedded in Warcraft lore.
On July 22, 2025, WoW Classic will enter the next round and – fittingly – take you to Pandaria. The preparation patch for Mists of Pandaria Classic was released on July 2 on the Classic servers. Look forward to the following highlight innovations that have come with the update (Source: worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com):
New playable races: With the release of the preparation patch for Mists of Pandaria, you can join as a member of the mysterious Pandaren either the ranks of the Horde or the Alliance and face the conflict brewing on the shores of Pandaria.
New class: Learn the mystical powers of the Monk – defeat enemies with the devastating attacks of the Windwalker, increase the number of your allies with the spiritual energies of the Mistweaver, and casually deal massive damage with the unyielding strength of the Brewmaster.
Revised classes: All classes have been equipped with a new talent system, improved abilities and spells.
Area looting: Loot all nearby enemies at once and thus speed up the looting process.
World event: Attack on the island of Theramore: Join the fight and participate in the scenario “The Fall of Theramore,” which describes relevant events for the expansion.
Pet battles: Dust off your pet collection on your shelf and prepare it for new battles in the form of a tactical mini-game. Need pets? Adopt instead of buy: Tame new and interesting creatures on your adventures in Pandaria.
A benevolent look at Mists of Pandaria
What’s the truth behind the gloomy predictions back then? Nothing. MoP could not bury WoW. On the contrary, many WoW players look back on the expansion very positively today, as evidenced by many recent comments under the preview trailer of Mists of Pandaria (via YouTube).
- Fafancina admits in hindsight: “MoP was everything we wanted, but we were so blinded by the ethnicity of the Pandaren.”
- drae6984 added 8 years ago: “So many dislikes just because of the pandas… Now people can only dream of an expansion like MoP.”
- darthroes feels similarly 3 years ago: “So much aversion, only to realize years later that this was one of the best expansions ever made.”
Why was MoP really good? The zones of Pandaria are beautifully colorful and varied. The quests are diverse, and the story of the expansion is compellingly told until the end. But much more importantly, MoP also shone in gameplay at endgame.
There, not only the usual offerings of dailies, raids, dungeons, and PvP awaited players, but also scenarios, the new class, pet battles, the personal player farm, and the challenge mode. Never before has there been so much to do in WoW for different types of players.
Additionally, there were meaningful adjustments such as the talent matrix, AoE looting, account-wide progress for many areas, the mythical difficulty level, flexible raid sizes, and much more. And since Blizzard made many good decisions in class design, a large part of the existing playstyles was a lot of fun. By the way, anyone who thinks that everything in Pandaria is just colorful and fluffy is mistaken: Mists of Pandaria has some of the meanest quests of all time
