Another Shared Experience

I showed the Mists trailer to my three kids the other day.  It's become a tradition when a new trailer for WoW or another MMO we play appears; we take the time to check out what's coming.  Besides, between the TOR trailers and the Mists trailer, the production values are really incredible.  I'd like to see a full length feature with these production values.

"Oh, we've seen this," was their first reaction when the "Blizzard" logo scrawled over the screen.

I shushed them.  "No, this is the intro.  It just got released."

They watched the initial scene quietly.  Then, as soon as the Pandaren emerged, it began.

"OMG!  It's just like Kung Fu Panda!"

"Did you see that move?  It was just like Po!"

"That scene looks like right out of Kung Fu Panda!  See the flowers blowing by his face?  Just like when Master Oogway died."

I kept quiet, although their enthusiasm was catching.  I've discovered that seeing things through their eyes gives me a better perspective, and perhaps I've needed it after my skepticism on Mists.  And then it was over.

"Um...  Is that it?  I thought there'd be more."


"But where's the dragon?" my youngest wanted to know.  "I liked the dragon."

"You mean Deathwing?" I asked.  "He was the final boss in the current expansion."

"Oh."

"Did you buy it yet?"

I raised an eyebrow at my oldest.  "What, Mists of Pandaria?  It's not out yet.  Why?"

"I don't know.  It wasn't what I was expecting."

"What did you expect?"  Considering how excited they sounded about the Pandaren, I was a bit surprised.

"Well, I mean, this was cool and all, but it was like Kung Fu Panda, you know?  It wasn't WoW."

"Yeah," replied my son.  "It wasn't the same as the other trailers."

"WoW lore does have Pandaren in it, so there is a history there."

"No," my oldest said, "You know what I mean.  WoW has more to it than that."

"I guess we'll see when it's released at the end of September."

"Are you going to buy it then?"

"No, I won't need to.  I'm going to start a Rogue and level that one up as a new main.  It'll be a while before I need to buy the new expansion."

"Good.  Maybe they'll fix it by then."

I was trying to digest that little tidbit when my announcement caught up with the kids.

"You're retiring Quintalan?"

I nodded.  "He's retired and gone fishing."

"What about Adelwulf?"

"He'll be out fishing too."

"And Neve?  Tomakan?"

"The same."

My youngest smirked.  "That's going to be a big boat."