Today is (was?) Day 1 of Blizzcon.. so of course this is the day we get the big announcements..
In no particular order.. here’s what I know was announced today.. and my thoughts on each one:
Annual Pass
On the surface..this isn’t anything new, as Blizzard already offers annual subscriptions for WoW. The only differences I saw between the Annual Pass announced today, and a ‘normal’ year long subscription is that you get a in game mount (Tyrael’s Charger). The Annual Pass can be paid for monthly, but is still a 12 month contract. Purchasing an Annual Pass also gets you a guaranteed beta key for the next expansion.
The big difference is…. purchasing an Annual Pass..gets you a “free” copy of Diablo 3 (digital download) when it comes out. This seems to be a move by Blizzard to turn your WoW subscription into a “Blizzard Pass” – similar to Sony’s Station Pass. If this is the case.. I think Blizz should just come out and say so.. and throw SC2 into the deal to. I can’t see anyone justifying a year long WoW subscription just to get the expac (which, I don’t think a release date was announced for today).. D3.. and a mount..
If it’s going to be a ‘Blizzard pass’.. give me access to ALL blizzard games for the $15.00 a month (or, whatever it comes out to yearly).
Mists of Pandaria
The next expansion to WoW… is Kung Fu Panda 3… Po comes to Azeroth..
Err.. ok.. so that’s not really what they’re calling it.. Blizz is calling it “Mists of Pandaria” and is highlighting these features:
- New Race – Pandarian
- Completely lame racials included (Bouncy!.. Epicurean!)
- Neutral faction till level 10..then you choose Horde or Alliance (wonder if this means cross faction communication is possible via the Panda language?)
- Female model not done yet.. Hey wait.. that sounds like what everyone heard till weeks before Cataclysm launched about the Worgen.. guess this will be the same thing, and the model will end up being… not good.
- New Class – Monk
- Big feature… no auto attack! Hey.. wait.. where have I seen that feature before in a game.. oh yeah… TOR!
- Hybrid – can tank, DPS, heal.
- New Talent System
- This one could actually be good.. Blizz is reducing the number of talents 1 every 15 levels now
- At each level, you get to pick one of three talents.. Blizz says this means “no cookie cutter” or “mandatory” talent builds.. I’m sure we’ll still see them.
- Level cap raised to 90
- New Continent – Pandaria
- 5 new zones, 1 continent
- No flying till max level
- Pet Battle System
- Pokemon comes to WoW (that is pretty much all that needs to be said)
All in all… a pretty ‘meh’ announcement from Blizzard today… Nothing announced today gives me any urge to re-subscribe to WoW to try it.
In closing..
Lightsabers are greater than Pandas