Pandaren are a staple of World of Warcraft – but China has resisted. So much that instead, we got the Draenei.
Draenei and their lightforged brothers and sisters are among the more popular races in World of Warcraft. The characters lovingly referred to as “space goats” can be seen in nearly every group and have long become a staple of the story.
But that wasn’t always the case. The Draenei were actually a stopgap and a replacement for another race – the Pandaren.
Currently, Pandaren are popular again – because WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria is on the way:
What was Blizzard’s plan? When Blizzard wanted to present the new races at BlizzCon 2005, only Horde players got to see their new race – the Blood Elves. There was no in-game material available to show for the Alliance at that time.
The reason for this: Blizzard actually wanted to introduce the Pandaren as a new race for the Alliance, but this was not approved by China.
Where does the information come from? Concept artist Trent Kaniuga revealed this in a Reddit post some time ago. When he was asked for details, he said:
“It was kind of like this: We made concepts for the Pandaren cities and buildings and then China said: ‘Wait, you can’t use pandas.’ So we then made the Draenei.”
What is the issue with pandas in China? In China, pandas have always held a very special status and are seen as a kind of “national treasure.” Therefore, the government closely monitors how and in what context pandas are portrayed in all media.
According to Kaniuga, the reason was that Blizzard did not take enough time for negotiations with Chinese authorities. Kaniuga believes that China would have agreed, but it simply required more time.
That the Chinese government ultimately did not stand in the way of Pandaren was then shown by “Mists of Pandaria” several years later – when the Pandaren became playable for both factions.
Has it harmed WoW in the long run? That’s probably hard to say. It is clear that some content was cut back then, after all, concept art and ideas for the pandaren culture already existed from the artists. However, the rejection from China, according to Kaniuga, came so early in development that Blizzard still had enough time to develop the Draenei and integrate them better into the entire story of World of Warcraft.
In fact, The Burning Crusade would likely have been an expansion with a very different feel if Pandaren had populated the game world back then. So the change to the Draenei may not have been the worst decision.
Or what do you think?
