Initial Thoughts on Pandaria

[Ginaz]

Panda monk is now 52.  DPS has been pretty good in dungeons, esp. with trash mob pulls using fists of fury and the spinning aoe kick ability.  I still can't believe how fast leveling has been.  I leveled every class (minus DK) to 70 from vanilla to BC and I remember it taking me months to just get from 1-60.

[SurfD]

The alchemist potion from cata is still usable and has had its stats buffed up to MoP levels even though it is the same item.

I like this. However, i still want my damn epic alchemist trinkets......why are they NEVER available at the opening of the new expantions.  Everyone else usually gets craftable epics right off the start, but alchemists are always stuck with nothing but pots to sell.

[Setanta]

Pet battles are (sadly) addictive. I levelled my rogue to 86 and maxed inscription and made a tiny profit on shoulder 'chants and glyphs. Flogged off my 3 dark whelplings, 3 sprite darters (I'm horde) and mechanopeeps etc at 3-5K each. That made up for the butthurt over the 3 mechanohogs I'd built in WotLK.

My rogue (last of my level 10 capped toons to hit level 85) is now a panda and is wearing a leather dress and an eyepatch for shits and giggles. I like the look because I'm a RPing hack and besides, who doesn't want to go stabby-stabby as a ball of fur in a dress?
It beats the Belf that she once was!

I'm finding it hard to get motivated levelling though (usually I level my hunter and pally or druid first), but I have got my Monk panda to 41 through dungeon tanking. As a tank, they seem like the DKs or Pally tanks of old. I'm nopt sure if I'll maintain enough momentum within the game to cap all my 'toons or even to hit raid-finder. My nights are usually: put another 2 levels on a GW2 'toon, play some WoW and hit a few bars.

The game is fun again, I'll give it that.

The most fun is riding through the barrens on my swift Zhevra. Some poor sucker asked my how I got it... so of course I told him it was a small-chance drop off Zhevras. Three days later he messaged me with all sorts of abuse :)

[luckton]

I'm actually ok with rep grinds if they had more carryover to your alts. I think every faction should sell a 300% BoA tabard at exalted for your alts to wear for dailies.

This is a suggestion that should be made.

Done.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6794229784?page=3#57

We're working on a change for a future patch that will make it easier to gain reputation with a specific faction on every alt on your Battle.net account, after you reach a certain reputation with that faction on another character.

Stay tuned for more information on this, likely coming before the end of the week.

[Paelos]

One of the quests had me riding yaks through a giant car wash. 

This expansion has quests that are obviously the same as before, then you get stuff like that which just makes me smile.

Another personal favorite is rolling barrels down a hill and lighting them on fire.

[Hutch]

One of the quests had me riding yaks through a giant car wash. 

As I quipped in /g, "I want a yak mount now!"

[Lakov_Sanite]

One of the quests had me riding yaks through a giant car wash. 

As I quipped in /g, "I want a yak mount now!"

You can buy them right near there.

[Jimbo]

Did they change the way you get justice points?  I noticed on random dungeons finder that  not getting any gear for it.  Also it is only 60 justice points for a dungeon. 

[Miasma]

I have no idea how you get justice points at 90 anymore.  I had to do a bg, get the honor, convert it to justice and then buy the item I wanted.  I think the only way you can get it is doing random normal modes which 90's can't currently queue up for.

[luckton]

I have no idea how you get justice points at 90 anymore.  I had to do a bg, get the honor, convert it to justice and then buy the item I wanted.  I think the only way you can get it is doing random normal modes which 90's can't currently queue up for.

They hotfixed the "90s can't queue for regulars" thing.  You still get Justice from boss kills in heroics.

[Merusk]

It's always been that way, you guys have been running nothing but Heroics for too long and forgot.  Normal dungeons give JP on completion, Heroics give JP per boss and VP on completion.

My biggest bitch right now is that Heroics required (until the hotifix) iLevel 340 to get in.  There are 4 heroic-only dungeons that give quests.  The rewards for those quests are... iLevel 340.     So, as usual Quest Itemization is bullshit.

[Miasma]

I did two heroics last night and while I didn't count my jp the other people in the group said they weren't getting any on boss kills.  I'll remember to check tonight.

[Jimbo]

It used to be during Cata @ 85 you could cue for the Random Dungeon and get Justice Points up to 7x a week, Heroic Random Dungeon and get Valor Points up to 7x a week, I could have sworn I got a loot bag all the way to 85 with my mage doing the Random Dungeons.  You also got JP for killing the bosses. 

Now it is 60 JP for the random and no bonus for the dungeons or more for the bosses.  Not high enough to cue for the Heroics.

[luckton]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6794229784?page=3#57

We're working on a change for a future patch that will make it easier to gain reputation with a specific faction on every alt on your Battle.net account, after you reach a certain reputation with that faction on another character.

Stay tuned for more information on this, likely coming before the end of the week.

And the fine print:

Earning reputation with various factions has long been an important part to World of Warcraft and as time has gone on, we've made tweaks and changes to the system to make it more interesting and to give players access to unique items. For example, we recently hotfixed the game to apply a change to some reputation items which you can read about in our recently updated blog that allows players to purchase certain items much sooner. And we're not done!

Coming in a future patch, earning reputation is going to become much more fluid. Basically, once one of your characters has reached at least Revered reputation with a faction, all other characters on the same Battle.net account will then earn reputation with the same faction at twice the rate. Going one step further, and as an added bonus, your main character who reached Revered will also begin to earn double the reputation as he or she climbs to Exalted.

Here's a simplified break down:

Any single character earns Revered reputation with a faction
All other characters on the Battle.net account begin to earn double reputation for that one same faction
The Revered character earns double reputation as he or she works toward Exalted

Profit

We’ll keep you posted as this change is closer to being implemented. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your feedback!

I like it, though I think double rep from Revered to Exalted is kinda overkill.  Also, if this is reverse-applied to ALL PREVIOUS factions (Vanilla, BC, Wrath, and Cata), that would be 

[Merusk]

I did two heroics last night and while I didn't count my jp the other people in the group said they weren't getting any on boss kills.  I'll remember to check tonight.

42 per kill. I checked myself this evening.  Like i said, too many people have been running nothing but heroics for the last 18 months and forgot you don't get JP for anything but completion in normals.  My guildmates were bitching about the same thing the other day and still don't believe me that it's the case.

[SurfD]

There is also the possibility that they were JP Capped.  If they have been chain grinding Heroics and get in a groove, it is easy to forget that you might cap out.

[Paelos]

I hit 90 today, opened up the dailies, and started flying around the island.

Time to rep grind! Can somebody please tell me how that's supposed to go? Do I head to that shrine place first and talk to everyone?

[Hutch]

One of the quests had me riding yaks through a giant car wash. 

As I quipped in /g, "I want a yak mount now!"

You can buy them right near there.

Oh, you're right. This guy. He sells a couple "cheap" i.e. 3k mounts, and the new expedition mount for 120k.

[Merusk]

I thought that was ridiculous.. then I started doing all my dailies.  I'm pulling-in about 1k a day without trying between the rewards and dropped things.  I'll certainly never grind for it myself, but I'm about 6k up after leveling just the hunter.  That's even after blowing 2-3k on gems and reforging.

I hit 90 today, opened up the dailies, and started flying around the island.

Time to rep grind! Can somebody please tell me how that's supposed to go? Do I head to that shrine place first and talk to everyone?

Yes, go to the Pagoda underneath the Spear-Pandas for the Golden Lotus Rep. It works like Molten Front - do their series of 5 quests then get sent to the 2nd node for the series that gives the reward box at the end.

Then - since you have a job - pick one of the other factions to do for the day.  Tillers, Cloudserpent or Klaxxis (and later Shado Pan) and do theirs.  You should have quested through the hubs already but if you don't know where they are just ask.

If you want to do the fishing ones they take very little time and you can do those as well.  If your aim is raiding then go Klaxxis because they have gear.  The others are more vanity and trade factions.

[Lastwolf]

I hit 90 today, opened up the dailies, and started flying around the island.

Time to rep grind! Can somebody please tell me how that's supposed to go? Do I head to that shrine place first and talk to everyone?

The main town in the Vale of Eternal Blossom, has a semi circle of dudes that are representatives of each faction (or at least they are  in Horde town) , right out front, that will direct you to go speak to various commanders in the quest hubs, after that you just have to remember where the hubs are at and go there daily.

Obviously Shado-Pan and August Celestial aren't unlocked at the start and as I still haven't unlocked them I'm not sure how that goes.

[Merusk]

Obviously Shado-Pan and August Celestial aren't unlocked at the start and as I still haven't unlocked them I'm not sure how that goes.

One of those quest givers with the non-dailies you get in VOEB at 90 gives you a quest for the Shado-Pan.  You have to hit Revered with the Golden Lotus before they'll talk to you.  August Celestials work the same way, unlocking at Revered. Their hub is at the Crane shrine in Karasang, I believe.

[Hawkbit]

Monk is almost 45, less than a week of starting him.  I did the dwarf route of Loch -> Wetlands -> Arathi -> Hinterlands -> WPlague -> EPlague is where I am now.  With two heirloom pieces, I'm consistently 2-4 levels above the quest level, which is likely slower leveling.  But it's been fairly fun. 

I didn't do much of the Cata revamp leveling, but it's pretty fun.  I miss the old world's quirkiness, but this quest flow is superior. 

If anyone else is rolling a monk - have you tried tanking with him?  What's it like?

[Miasma]

I don't really like the energy/chi resource model so I'm not enjoying my monk.  I also thought the animations would be better, some people love them but I think they're just meh.

[Merusk]

I haven't been impressed enough by what I've seen live and they didn't immediately lock-in as "FUN" during Beta.  I also refuse to roll a new class after the rollercoaster that was the Death Knight nerf cycle.  I expect many 'adjustments' to the class over the next year or two that don't make me want to give it a try.

[Hawkbit]

The biggest issue I have right now is like other classes, I have nearly two hotbars of abilities but I only have time in my cycle for about 3-4 abilities.  It's silly, really.  I will hit cap and have another two hotbars of abilities that I will never have touched.

[Paelos]

The main town in the Vale of Eternal Blossom, has a semi circle of dudes that are representatives of each faction (or at least they are  in Horde town) , right out front, that will direct you to go speak to various commanders in the quest hubs, after that you just have to remember where the hubs are at and go there daily.

Obviously Shado-Pan and August Celestial aren't unlocked at the start and as I still haven't unlocked them I'm not sure how that goes.

Ok thanks. I'm guessing much flying will be involved.

[Jayce]

The Revered character earns double reputation as he or she works toward Exalted

I don't get why they didn't just halve the number of rep points from Revered to Exalted. I guess it looks more epic this way.

[Paelos]

It's perception, yes. Buffing rep gain gets more love than nerfing the total.

[Sheepherder]

There's more to it than that.

It preserves the granularity with which they can tweak shit at a later date.
It's less messy looking in the UI than having different goals for each faction.
The change is not retroactive, so people halfway through the grind still see a massive buff, even though by the time they're done they will have done equivalent to 75% of the original grind anyways.
They don't have to do bounds checking in order to implement it this way.

[Simond]

And WoW is, what, eight years old now and reputation is probably still using vanilla code? Nobody is going to want to touch that if they can help it.

Also: 5.1 on PTR "soon"

While Mists of Pandaria already comes packed full of some of the most diverse and expansive World of Warcraft content to date, we’re staying true to our goal of delivering new content faster. With that in mind, we’re pleased to share that the first major Mists of Pandaria content update, Patch 5.1, is well underway.
In fact, our plan is to release a build of patch 5.1 on the Public Test Realms soon so you can experience it for yourself! Initially, the PTR build won’t include all of the 5.1 patch content, but here’s a glimpse of the major features that are already in the pipeline.

Patch 5.1 Features

Pandaria and the War of Conquest
While members of the Horde and the Alliance have been busy exploring the exotic continent of Pandaria, Garrosh and Varian have been gathering their forces in preparation for the struggle to exert the influence of the Horde and the Alliance over these long-lost lands. Players who have quested through Pandaria will see forces of both factions arrive in force on the shores of the unspoiled continent, bringing the tensions between the Horde and the Alliance into sharp focus. New daily quest hubs and faction reputations will be available to adventurers eager to do their part in the brewing conflict.

Brawler’s Guild
Underground fighting rings have sprung up in Stormwind and Orgrimmar that will give brawlers a chance to earn bragging rights by testing their solo PvE mettle against some of the toughest creatures found in World of Warcraft. The first rule of brawls is you don’t talk about brawls. The second rule…

Pet Battles Improvements
Several UI and other improvements will be added to the Pet Battles system, including a way to upgrade the rarity of pets that you’ve captured.

Item Upgrades
You will be able to spend Valor Points to improve the item level and quality of gear you already own.

The Quest Continues
Wrathion is keenly interested in the conflict exploding between the factions on Pandaria’s southern shore. He’s sure to have additional tasks for players to complete as they continue their quest for Legendary gear.

Keep in mind this is only a taste of what’s to come, and that there’s even more in store. Stay tuned for additional details as we prepare release Patch 5.1 for testing!

[Mithas]

I am really enjoying the non-linear zones. It is nice to be able to pick and choose what zones/quests you do. For whatever reason Karasang Wilds' scenery didn't do it for me, so I skipped it. It might make alts bearable again.

[Simond]

One conclusion I've come to while levelling through Pandaria - Blizzard needs to give up on the EPIC, WORLD-SHATTERING EVENTS and just keep making 'normal' quests.
(Also the music is gorgeous).

[Mithas]

One conclusion I've come to while levelling through Pandaria - Blizzard needs to give up on the EPIC, WORLD-SHATTERING EVENTS and just keep making 'normal' quests.
(Also the music is gorgeous).

Agreed. I think the storytelling is nice in these quests. In Kun-lai, you have a final battle against a yaungol warlord. The music kicked up as it started and I actually cared what happened during the quest. It was pretty cool.

[Fabricated]

Word is the raids are tuned pretty hard on normal, which I guess is the new thing since the progressive nerf system is going to be in from now on along with LFR. I think I can kinda deal with that. If it's not doable in heroic gear, hit LFR and gear up a bit there. Or just unsub for a month or two and then come back when it starts getting whacked with the nerfbat. I'm sure the hardcore crowd will baw their eyes out but they won't unsub ever, like usual.

Also I played a bit; the questing seems a lot more focused in a good way. Just a bit less hand-holdy/cutscene heavy than Cata which is fine by me. Also wow, they really still know how to stretch these art assets. The music and art really do a good job of keeping WoW looking good.

[Tannhauser]

Haven't bought MoP, but did the Pandaren newbie zone.  Gorgeous environment, especially the Pei-Wan(?) forest.  Music is incredible and like the above poster said, I actually CARED about the zone climax. 

But I haven't bought MoP because, after GW2, WoW's gameplay is old and busted.