A panda beats up an orc and human

| Thursday, August 16, 2012
Epic sea battle! (so far so good)
Orc washes up on shore (seems less badass than usual)
Human makes spear (good thinking there)
Orc and human see each other and fight (so far so good)
Panda shows up and with a lot of flashy moves easily kicks both their asses.  Both look dazed and confused. (queue rest of post)

In the past, the cinematics gave some sense of the enemy to fight.  In the original we had the factions and the Burning Legion.  Burning Crusade gave us Illidan and introduced the new races, without either stealing the spotlight entirely.  Wrath of the Lich King gave us Arthas showing off his power while his father's words echoed in his head, perhaps giving us insight into the madness and evil within.  Cataclysm had Deathwing blow up the world.

And now... who is the enemy?  The panda?  He does seem to be what we fight.  And against the panda we are helpless.  Utterly helpless.  Two of the three core races (nelfs as third) are in a hopeless fight for survival in an unknown world, a world manufactured entirely for the pandas, and the pandas rule here.  There is no place for the old ones except as comic contrast to the shiny and new.

[edit] Correction: I listed belfs as third, I should have said nelfs.

9 comments:

Kring said...

Yes, I didn't get it either. The only conclusion I was able to find is that I'm now officially no longer their target customer.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit I was wondering about as well. They start out well, the Human tries to build a weapon, the Orc relies on natural strength, and off they go. Then Pandageddon. Notice that even when the Human gives the Orc a weapon the Panda still smacks them.

WoW cinematics normally leave me eager to hit the game, this one has me thinking that I should consider resubbing Rift.

Shintar said...

That's an interesting viewpoint and something that did kind of occur to me as well. My favourite cinematic WoW trailer is still the original one with its strong "this could be you in the game" vibe. Watching the MOP one, I identified with the orc and human... who then proceeded to get their butts kicked by a fuzzy bear person. Um, yeah. :S

Anonymous said...

I think the voice over is more insightful than the visuals. "What is worth fighting for? Family and balance." I think this suggests the return of Horde vs Alliance as the core conflict of MoP. I liked it....

typhoonandrew said...

I think it shows that the H and A will rush willingly together whenever they see anything they do not understand. Too many years of working together for them to not marry up again.
When the Human handed a weapon to the Orc the story went sideways. I thought in MoP we were to HATE each other. Not so much from this.

Ephemeron said...

And now... who is the enemy?

Us? We're the ones who bring war to this new world, the pillaging and burning crusaders, the wrathful mad kings, the catalysmic destroyers.

Or, alternatively...

And against the panda we are helpless.

Illidan was badass in his trailer - and then we utterly broke his spirit and killed him. Arthas was badass in his trailer - and then he died, weeping and kneeling. Deathwing was magnificient in his badassitude - and then we tore his limbs off one by one and slaughtered him.

That pandaren and his homeland, with their vaunted friends & family, peace & harmony? I wouldn't bet a single copper piece on their continued survival.

Michael said...

The BC trailer left me excited and eager to play the game. The wrath trailer actually left me feeling chilled, almost shivering, it didn't even need the whole dragon rising up, just arthas walking through the snow sold me on the game. The deathwing cinematic was kinda meh.

This cinematic makes me sad. I don't even really understand it. Is it suggesting that horde and alliance should put aside their difficulties to confront these new people who are... living peacefully? I'm all for putting aside difficulties, the whole horde vs alliance thing is utterly boring, they should just make race a cosmetic choice and get rid of factions. And what's with how that panda was moving? It was like none of his movements had any momentum or something, it was very unpleasant to watch, zero grace.

I don't know, I watched the cinematic and my main response was dismay. It's not that it failed to make me interested in the game, it's more that it is telling me that this is no longer a game for me. :(

Hyperian said...

Not sure why so many are confused as to why the human hands the Orc the spear, the point is that they want to kill each other. Than Jackie Chan shows up and smacks um around (the two supposedly dominant races) with ease, they figure the only way to get back to killing each other is to team up. Growing up my little brother and i fought all the time, only time we seemed to get along is when we were beating up our older brother.

Anonymous said...

I can't help but feel racial overtones in this one....

After a fierce navy battle, a black dude and a white guy stumbled onto an exotic and foreign land. They continued fighting and disturbed the peace thus upsetting the native Chinese.

To teach these unwanted guests a lesson, an old Chinese man confronts them. Using sheer "skill" and the art of Kung Fu, he easily defeats the White Barbarian and the Black Brute; despite their larger sizes and physical advantages. Thus demonstrating the superiority of the Chinese race.

Probably be a hit in China but I can why some Western players won't like it.

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