Pandaren come to Azeroth, get Diablo III for free and more news from BlizzCon

Like all great things, the Pandaren started as an April Fools joke. The ancient ale-loving pandas are now playable characters in the new World of Warcraft expansion: Mists of Pandaria. Pandaren haven't exactly chose a side so you can roll a Pandaren on either the horde or the alliance. In addition to hunters, mages, priests, rogues, shaman, and warriors the Pandaren can also be the new class for the expansion, the monk.

Monks are melee combat focused and while they can use swords and staves their power can shine just using punches and kicks. There are entirely new animations for these attacks so fighting a monk should look like no other class.

Blizzard is also moving the level cap up from 85 to level 90. Scenarios are also a new addition and sound like something made for the loner, casual player like myself. They entail short instances with a full story arc and assumingly some sweet loot.

Many people have said this next new feature is basically Pokemon, and I can't disagree. All those faithful little pets you've collected throughout the years can now be put to some actual use. You can level up these little critters and fight other trainers players. I may return to the game just for this.

Blizzard is also kinda sorta giving Diablo III away for free. Assuming you are someone who pays for WoW all year that is. If you make a one-year commitment subscription to WoW you get a download copy of Diablo III for free. You also get a WoW mount, and access to the next WoW beta. Thankfully you don't have to pay all at once. You can pay $14.99 a month but you are locked in for a full 12 months. That works out to around $180. If you're some one who is paying for WoW anyway you just got yourself a free game, if not you might want to look into the economics of your play cycle before you commit. Of course there are more features and many new tid-bits of info, learn up on them all on Blizzard's expansion page.