After a few months break, Bear and I were back in WoW to continue exploring the mysterious land of Pandaria. Other than the addition to the previously mentioned Pet taming and battle systems, Bear and I've discovered a few more fun surprises to the game. =)

One addition to the game's design is special quests that aren't added to your quest log, kinda reminiscent of how quests used to be like when the only thing WoW would give you to complete a quest was a vague direction on where to walk and search. I'm kinda doubting there very many of these though. Upon defeating a certain rare crustacean monster, it dropped an item that told of more crustaceans with special names littered across the land and it said if we collected all of the shells they dropped, the holder will get something special. =D We never finished the quest, but it was a fun change having a quest without all the blanks already filled in.

Though WoW has some really amazing and beautiful zones, it didn't seem to be a game in which free roaming exploration had very much prominence. If you found an interesting land mark or a cave, you can expect that if you followed the quest line of the zone, you'll eventually be asked to go there by a quest npc. In Pandaria however, it seems Blizzard added little hidey holes across the land with hidden chests containing rewards and achievements. XD It's not a whole lot, but it definitely adds to the fun of being an adventurer and explorer! =D

Another fun little addition to the game is having fun non-consumable non-wearable items that activate a visual effect. Before, once in a while you'd get a piece of gear or a consumable that would do something fun, like make it snow, create fireworks, or damage enemies by firing a rainbow at them, but as I mentioned, you usually had a limited stock of it or the piece of gear had to be equipped to activate the effect. This sometimes made it impractical to play with in dungeons because you don't want be caught off-guard, having to fight a really tough mob without the gear you really need.

We haven't played for that long and have already gotten a spittoon cup for players to spit into, a large golden banana that shakes the earth after it is thrown, and our favorite, a little marmot wearing a helmet who you can punt very far distances! It might not sound too impressive, but depending on the how the ground is where you place the marmot, he can get some serious air time! XD It's strangely often rewarding to see him flying off cliffs and into the distance! =D He has a ten minute cool down, but we keep our eyes on his timer so he will always have his time to shine! =D