The inspiration for the new WOW expansion is Kung Fu Panda????

[andrewducker]

Really???

Comments

[dalglir.livejournal.com]

I'm unimpressed. Come to LotRO. We just got Rohan and Isengard :)

[andrewducker]

I'm unimpressed too.

Currently playing Borderlands with Julie, and Batman: Arkham Asylum by myself.

MMOing may resume when Julie has her life back :->

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Wait, hold on, it ACTUALLY is? Someone said on twitter, but I assumed they were being sarcastic!

I mean, um, actually, that sounds awesome to me[1], but I can see why people used to WoW might be rather shocked.

[1] My impression of Kung Fu Panda was that the plot was nice but a bit short, everything apart from the main character (the concept, the setting, the other characters, the animation, the plot) was really great, and the main character was 50% Jack Black being pretty good and 50% being Jack Black being really annoying when he was trying to be funny. So, Kung Fu Panda without the Panda sounds very cool :)

[andrewducker]

Yup, it really is.

And I liked Kung Fu Panda (and its sequel) rather a lot. It just seems that they've based a whole chunk of WoW on a major existing property without, well, licensing it, or anything like that.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

To be fair to WoW, they had Pandaria and the Panda-people as part of the lore well before Kung Fu Panda - I believe they first appeared in Warcraft 2.

It is hilarious, though, that they are ACTUALLY doing panda people, having used them as a running joke for April Fools announcements...

(I don't play WoW, I've just been amused by my gaming bloglist imploding with WTF this evening)

[fearmeforiampink]

Pandaren have been in Warcraft for a Looooooooong time, been oriental in style, and I'm fairly sure done the martial arts thing.

They've been detailed to a reasonable degree in some of the extended stuff; the D20 RPG version, for instance.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, good point, I'd forgotten that would be a problem (I'm so used to parodies :)). Even with (apparently) a history in WoW, I'm surprised. I mean, I think they're probably on the right side of the law -- I don't think "martial art Panda people" is specific enough to directly break trademark or copyright, so if they don't "borrow" any more items of plot or character (?) it ought to be technically allowed, but most big companies are a lot, lot more cautious than that because they don't want to be sued even if they win.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Pluggity plug - I'm writing analysis and comment on the annoucements from Blizzcon as they happen over at http://www.mmomeltingpot.com .

Believe me, the Pandas aren't the most surprising bit of what they've announced. Fighting Minipet Subgame? Really?

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

My main question is how the HELL they're avoiding getting sued. Influences a tiny, tiny bit obvious :)

[fearmeforiampink]

Basically, by the fact that Pandaren were first mentioned in World of Warcraft in 2002; originally as an April Fools joke about them being a 5th playable race, then later they had a (somewhat jokey) single Pandaren Hero in the game. There's been a reference to that Pandaren hero in WoW since its release.

I don't know the specifics, but the main reason they've not been in it so far has been (as I understand it) something to do with Chinese laws meaning you can't show people beating up pandas. Indeed, they were previously (and I think in other previous references to Pandarens) more Japanese than Chinese in their cultural references, but given that China is where the Pandas come from, that didn't go down well with their Chinese audience, so they've pushed them back towards China.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, all of this is true.

However, looking at the Mists of Pandaria video - it's INCREDIBLY close to Kung Fu Panda in theme and visual style. Obviously, KFP was in turn influenced by kung fu movies and Chinese culture, but MoP is SO close to KFP in visual style that I still think they're taking a non-trivial risk. And you can't claim prior art as a defence in copyright.

I guess they might be planning to, if the makers of KFP sue, counter-sue on the basis that KFP was copying the Pandaren. Might work.

[andrewducker]

One of the racial traits is "Inner Peace", which is the major theme of KFP2!

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Ham-fisted borderline-racist mystic oriental-alikes is a fairly standard fantasy trope too, to be honest.

[andrewducker]

Yes - but the actual words "Inner Peace" are used to describe what Po is looking for - repeatedly, as the main theme.

Of course, they may both be using the same sources. But I'm sceptical...

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I was tacitly accusing both WoW and Kung Fu Panda (without having seen it, I admit) or the same treatment of certain Chinese values and ideologies to be honest.

Regardless of originality, it has mystic pandas, ha ha ha ha ha ha.

[andrewducker]

I don't find mystic pandas any stranger than werewolves in top hats, or the sexy undead models they use. Or, indeed, Orks with machine guns :->