It's Pandemonium in the World of Warcraft!

The Horde and the Alliance have faced much adversity in the line of battle; from venturing to the world of Outland to take on the Burning Legion; to the frigid tundra of Northrend to contend against the Lich King; to a world devoured by fire & rage by the barbaric beast Deathwing..

But now the focus surrounds a conflict that's been churning ever since we could remember.

Blizzcon 2011 just recently ended however there was quite the news that stirred up the MMO community. Bloggers are going crazy with anticipation and a mix of excitement and disappointment with this specific announcement involving the world of Azeroth.

Yes, that's right folks, less than a year after the release of Cataclysm, Blizzard's fourth expansion pack for World of Warcraft emerges, as the next installment of the popular MMORPG has been revealed. This time around we're presented with a bit of Asian ethnology that includes monks, temples, and a new panda race that is surely either making WoW players extremely happy or the exact opposite.

I present to you (well, actually Blizzard does), World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, and before you ultimately yell aloud, "THIS MUST BE A JOKE," please let me unravel some of the details pertaining to this upcoming expansion.

Sure, many players are still messing around in the fiery domain, the Firelands as I type, however Blizzard's Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, made it known to the public during Blizzcon, that Mists of Pandaria "is no joke, and that it isn't a throw-away, silly-silly, ha ha, funny expansion set." Metzen also stated that the next expansion will be the next vital chapter in the story. Okay, real deal? No? Well, at least it sounds like it!

New Race & Class

As mentioned earlier, a new race joins to set their mark on the world of Azeroth. The cuddly, cutesy, and peaceful Pandaren, whom are an esoteric race that come from Pandaria, are humanoid pandas that are amicable beings that appreciate nature's beauty and laud creativity, for they are passionate about poetry and singing.

The monk class is the newest addition to the group, a hybrid class that specializes in bare-handed combat, spiritual healing, and tenacious tanking. Don't worry, if needed, the monk can choose to draw their weapon for their afflictive finishing move. As a writer who plays World of Warcraft, I am looking forward to rolling a Pandaren Monk.

Increased Level Cap to 90

As is usually the case with expansions, Blizzard will increase the level cap to 90, which means increased health pools, damage dealing, and healing numbers. I don't know about you, but when Cataclysm came out, and I noticed the numbers I was putting up as a Frost Death Knight, or the health pool of my Blood Tank, I was astonished by how different only five levels increased these numbers, so the increase to 90 will surely see DPS classes tossing out hundreds of thousands plus of damage regularly, as will be comparable with healing classes and their numbers. Exciting!

Beautiful New Zones

From the giant turtle peninsula, The Wandering Isle, to the tree centric thicket, The Jade Forest, to the placid Valley of the Four Winds, and the arctic peaks of the Kun-Lai Summit, Mists of Pandaria offers resplendent new territories that only aggrandizes the fact that the world of Azeroth is vast, and is getting vaster!

New Dungeons & Raids

Who says old & stale content can't be revamped and revitalized? Part of what makes World of Warcraft a great game is the replay value it presents to us, and you know that when vintage-old dungeons are invigorated, there's plenty of reason to want to keep your attention on the game, especially with the way Blizzard revamped Shadowfang Keep and the Deadmines.

The new expansion is reverting back to the way dungeons were run in Wrath of the Lich King, and while that means the dungeon difficulty is being tailored down a bit, there's reason behind why this is being done. In Cataclysm, heroic dungeons are tedious; they aren't a walk in the park for most of the players that run them, and they even take some hardcore players a decent amount of time to get through. In Mists of Pandaria, the "raid finder" feature that's scheduled to be carried out in patch 4.3, will present players the conversion over to the raid scene via the finder, which added in part will grant players much easier PUG experiences in the heroic dungeons (as mentioned before) so better gear is attainable, and at a quicker pace.

The two renovated dungeons in Mists of Pandaria are Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery. I hope Blizzard continues breathing new life into the older content because there's plenty of room to include a couple of revitalized dungeons here and there to fit the story and not affect it in a negative way.

Three new dungeons, out of the nine planned for release, include the Temple of the Jade Serpent, which is the first dungeon players will encounter on their journey to level 90. The second is the Stormstout Brewery, which reintroduces a revered character from the Warcraft III days, Chen Stormstout. Players will help Chen salvage his family heritage and the beer he is looking for. The third dungeon, the Shado-pan Monastery, which is located in the Kun-Lai Summit, will have players confronting the mysterious and dangerous Sha.

For raiders, Blizzard has added three new raids, and mentioned during Blizzcon that they are keeping the philosophy they used in Cataclysm in making the raids shorter, but with a challenge to them. One of the three raids announced is called Mogu'Shan Palace, and it is a six-boss raid that will give players the opportunity to explore the hidden secrets of the Mogu Empire.

Dungeon Challenge Modes

As I just talked about before, dungeons are being tailored down in difficulty in Mists of Pandaria, however that doesn't mean players can't test their challenge limit, and that's thanks to a new system devised by Blizzard that will reward players for completing dungeons in record amounts of time. Blizzard will award players with the best times with either a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal, and there's even more to the awesomeness of this distinctive system - an equalized gear structure that levels the playing field for all players, so those that are at the top of the leaderboard are there because of the skill they put into getting there. And of course, let's not forget, there will be gear awarded to those that perform well in these dungeon challenge modes; unique transmogrification items that will further distinguish players from looking the same... And well, let's not forget Valor Points!

New Talent System

As if Blizzard didn't already provide a bit of a face-lift to the talent system in Cataclysm, they've decided to totally transform the setup into a more confined system, by initiating the philosophy that the quality of the choice is more intriguing than the quantity of the choice. What does this mean? Well with this system, players will automatically have most of the talents they already have in Cataclysm in Mists of Pandaria, and will choose between three sumptuous talent abilities every 15 levels. Blizzard's development team feels this will mitigate cookie cutter builds, which, to this day, continues to dominate the game's current talent system.

Scenarios

Another interesting option for players that enjoy traveling the world of Azeroth, which is really one of the main themes of this expansion, as Blizzard wants players to understand that there are other places in the world other than Stormwind or Orgrimmar is the scenario system that has been implemented in Mists of Pandaria, and Mr. Tom Chilton explained it in fine detail at Blizzcon 2011.

With this system, players can either expect to engage in staged instances, which allow a group of a few players (doesn't matter what role the players in the group are) to complete world scenarios to gain Valor Points for character progression, or enjoy PvE battlegrounds, which are similar to their PvP counterparts, only without the player vs. player competition, but will still provide that "PvP" experience by allowing players to take out the opposing faction's NPCs, tear down enemy buildings, etc. Hint: There is a world war between the Horde and the Alliance, so the PvE battlegrounds really play in part with this theme.

More Content for PvP Lovers

Now on to the PvPers… Blizzard most definitely didn't forget about those of you that love the intensity of the PvP environment, as three new battlegrounds have been added, as well as a brand new arena where players can rank up their characters to earn bragging rights.

The three new battlegrounds are, Stranglethorn Diamond Mines, which is a payload-styled game environment. Basically, in a nutshell, players must try and escort the "payload," which will be mine cars, through multiple checkpoints (depots) to the multiple locations on the map to rack up points. The first team to rack up the most points would win.

The second battleground is the Valley of Power, which embraces a rugby-styled game environment, or the term Blizzard uses, "murderball," which requires players to hold an object (the orb), which is placed in the center of the arena, where players would need to keep it for as long as they can to gain points. The longer players hold the orb, the more damage they take, so healers will be needed to help. This seems like it would be incredibly fun with the way arenas work in World of Warcraft!

The third battleground is a DotA-styled arena known as Azshara Crater, which as just mentioned, will implement similar gameplay to that of the "Defense of the Ancients" scenario that can be found in Warcraft III, as well as League of Legends. The style requires players to destroy the enemy "ancients," or their guarded structures, which are typically found at the opposite side of the map. All of this goes on while players are beating the heck out of each other of course. If you've ever played DotA before, you'll know how fun and addictive it is, and I hope Blizzard keeps this arena the way it is.

The new arena in Mists of Pandaria is the Tol'vir Proving Grounds, which is basically the "Ring of Trials;" also known as Nagrand Arena, which is arguably the most popular arena in the game, and will provide players with the sense & feel of the environment in which the arena is located. The Tol'vir Proving Grounds will be located in Uldum.

Pet Battle System

Pokemon here we come! If the characters weren't from World of Warcraft, you'd literally think it was Nintendo's popular media franchise, Pokemon. Blizzard has decided to give players the opportunity to use their pets for things other than simply gesturing with them. In Mists of Pandaria, players will be able to battle their pets against the pets of other players and NPCs, and almost all pets will have the ability to battle. The system is designed around the turn-based strategy gameplay style. Pets will also be tradable & sellable, so expect this to be yet another money maker for Azeroth's businessmen and women!

Mists of Pandaria looks to presumptively take World of Warcraft in a direction that would add massive shelf life to the title, and here's why. For the first time in a long time, there is no central villain! There's no Lich King tormenting Azeroth; no Deathwing threatening the world; no cardinal miscreant to focus on. This time around, the focus is a war between the Horde and the Alliance, and common sense would lead anyone with, well common sense to believe Blizzard is interested in affixing a respectable amount of time to the future of the game.

I have been playing the World of Warcraft since Vanilla, and well, I am in it for the long haul! I am a proud supporter of the game, Blizzard, and can't wait until Mists of Pandaria is released to the world!