Just follow through to the X and there it is, the promised land of Pandas.
Return to Pandaria
The “return” is always a curious thing.
Returning to World of Warcraft may for many old players be an odd, mixed-feeling sensation. If you are fed up with other MMO’s and would like to try Mists of Pandaria, return to Azeroth and attempt to rekindle the old flame, well, we got some tips for you.
Partially driven by nostalgia and „great expectations“, one might be driven off in the very initial phase by something you might dislike. Those players that were around since the last 5.0.4 patch has been released have had a lot of time to get used to the ton of game changes, but the fresh ones could easily be overwhelmed. Sadly, there are quite some things in World of Warcraft now that might turn off someone who is returning to Mists of Pandaria, but mostly since an average player of this game is a beast of habit.
Let me put a few items that you need to pay attention to if you want your return to Azeroth be as satisfying experience as merely possible.
To da chopppah! Bomb the horde expedition forces as alliance toon, do the same to alliance forces as a horde member.
The winds of change
First off, the changes. There are a lot of them, some class bound, some concerning game mechanics, and there is a lot of for you, the returning player, to digest. Let us, for now, only mention the talents. All classes have had their talents reimbursed due to the complete talent tree overhaul. The good news? The new past-patch 5.0.4 talents are far more simple and actually offer you more freedom! All the sneering aside, it is true. In the golden days, there was pretty much one, single, best way to specc. I recall stories of Guild leaders kicking members from raid because they would not change a single talent point allocation. You’d be called a noob if you decided to look for some variety, but the most pressing issue would be the fact that there was truly no real alternative to a certain specc, unless you were ok with losing a fair portion of either your DPS, healing power or some other essential feature. If you wanted maximum DPS as a marksman hunter, you knew exactly what specc you needed
Talents have changed significantly in Mists of Pandaria, and now players got some fine-tuning freedom. Talents are not the „win or die“ option anymore; they are like spices, giving you the opportunity to customize your gameplay to a certain degree.
Oh, sweet child, where do we go now?
Yes, the eternal question, what server/faction to choose, whether to invest your time and efforts in a half-dead (as cruel as it may sound) guild or look for new, fresh, greener pastures?
Like pandas or not, one can’t deny the beauty of their land and architecture.
First advice to all those that are returning to World of Warcraft with this expansion is following: choose your server and guild wisely! If your old guild is in shambles, well, let it rest in peace, do not invest yourself in a guild with dozen random people hopping in and out of the game. Nothing kills an MMO as fast as the lack of friends and people to interact with. I recall now that we used to call WoW a „glorified chat box“, which reflects the nature of the game as it was before. There is a simple recipe to MMO popularity, which eludes many developers. Ok, lean closer in, going to whisper this in your ear, keep it to yourself:
Give people an entertaining activity with lot of content and things to talk about and enable them to communicate with each other easily.
And that is about it. Oh, in case you consider me a ruthless aunt right now for recommending you to ditch the dieing guilds, well, maybe I am. I just used to cling to quite a few of them during my time that I eventually gave up on this issue and decided to, from now on, simply move on whenever I feel that the things are going down the hill. Remember, folks, if you are anything like me and my fellow colleagues/authors on this site, then you got work/your studies/family/girlfriend or a boyfriend, and all these things demand attention and care. Care more for them than a guild in World of Warcraft, a short piece of advice I can give you, and life will be much easier on you.
Modding me softly
Ah, yes, one thing I could no longer live without are the mods that made this game great. Of course, as with every new patch, they turn into a broken mess, so the quest for updates and replacements is one of the first ones you will embark upon. We will be providing you with some solid suggestions for mods in the World of Warcraft State of Game blog, and are going to make some compilations that you can’t live without. Ok, you can, you could, but you wouldn’t want to, cause it wouldn’t be as half as fun anymore.
You think we really got enough booze for our lunch break? You are REALLY sure?
Weapon of choice
It would be highly recommendable to pick a class you favor(ed) the most and play with it throughout the content. If you split your time and interest among too many toons, you may hardly get anywhere, finding yourself a bit disappointed, and even though you tested about 6-7 classes you got on your account, you have just probably repeated the entry area of Pandaria for 6-7 times by now. Not even chocolate cake is that good in the long run.
Stand by me
Find a friend or two and take them back along to Azeroth. Hell, you can even take advantage of „resurrect scroll“ option, giving both you and your friend fancy bonuses for returning to Blizzards MMO of choice.
So, we think these are some decent tips, for the start at least. Good luck and enjoy re-discovering Azeroth!
PS Oh, and empty all the old, excess junk from your bags!
