Mists of Pandaria Beta – The Good, the Bad, and the Bamboo

junkie, and, barring the occasional lapse, I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.  I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t been overwhelmingly excited with the recent offerings in Azeroth.  In spite of all this, I was pretty thrilled to be invited to the Mists of Pandaria beta testing.For those unfamiliar with Blizzard’s newest Warcraft expansion, Deathwing has fallen, and the Horde and Alliance are in all out war.  During a battle, the warring factions inadvertently unveil the previously hidden continent known as Pandaria, home of the enigmatic faction neutral race known as Pandaren.  As far as gameplay goes, the entire talent system has been revamped, and a new character class has been introduced — The Monk.

Click the link to read more about my journey in Pandaria.

The first thing I noticed in Pandaria was how the entire style of the island seems to be very heavily influenced by Kung Fu Panda, which is  to say it’s pretty much generic and “Asian.” (I assure you, the Kung Fu Panda comparison is not just in the architecture and setting.)  That being said, it is truly gorgeous.  The graphics have been improved, and, barring a few graphical glitches which are just plain going to happen in beta situations, the game looks phenomenal.  Pandaren are pretty cute, and while I don’t necessarily care for some of the aesthetics of their movement, I feel like they’re a great addition to the races that already inhabit Azeroth.

The second thing I noticed was how gosh darn crowded the island was!   I know, I know — It’s a beta, and some element of that is goingto manifest itself in ways like this.  That doesn’t mean the supernerd that wants to play by herself isn’t bitter about it.Which brings me to Tip #1 : Turn Off General Chat.  Some of you may be coming from WoW servers where this is just how things go anyway.  I know my own server is simply full of chat trash that I’d rather avoid, so mine is generally off anyway, but for those who are expecting a calming gaming experience, general chat on the MoP beta will really pull away from that.

Now that you’ve got yourself a little peace and quiet, let’s look around!  The pandaren starting area, as I’ve mentioned is pretty much a generic Asian village.    Visually, it’s stunning, and the surrounding environment is just gorgeous.  I’ll be honest, though — The quests and starting zone didn’t capture my attention the way, for example, the Blood Elf and Draenei zones did.  It’s simply not as engrossing.  Additionally, I found myself simply skimming over the quests to figure out how to get to the next quest.

Tip #2 : Join a Group.  There are a few quests in the starting zone that are downright impossible if you don’t group up.  The wait to use an item can be truly long and frustrating if you don’t.  Things like burning the Edict are a lot easier if five of you can get it done at once.  I’m not sure that the same problem with overcrowding will exist once the game is actually out, but it’s worth the group in beta at least.

If the quests didn’t grab my attention, the design of the monk class did!  I love how you have the option to be a Tank, a Healer, or a DPS class all in one.  In this way, it’s somewhat similar to a druid, but I feel like the options to the monk class might make it even more dynamic.  I’m really looking forward to how the class will play at higher levels and how it will work its way into the raid environment.

Until next time,

H2

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