Story of the Week: "Two" Close to Choose

Two powerhouse games flexed their virtual muscles this week. First out the gate came the new kid on the block, Star Wars: The Old Republic with its partial lifting of the NDA and new information revealed about the ongoing closed beta.

Later in the week, venerable and current MMO champion, World of Warcraft, made big headlines with the announcement of the Mists of Pandaria expansion. Pandaria is poised to bring some new and innovative gameplay elements into the game.

Both are worthy candidates for our Story of the Week.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic

Thursday saw Bioware partially lift the NDA for press members who have been playing in the closed beta. Nowhere on the 'Net was this huge event celebrated better than right here at MMORPG.com. We covered Smugglers, Jedi Knights, Consulars and even gave a full beta preview that is, to quote Managing Editor Bill Murphy, "darned near a beta review". It just doesn't get better than that.

In case you were in Tierra del Fuego, here's a rundown on all of our coverage:

• Coyote's Howling: The NDA Goes Alderaan
• Jedi Consular Beta Impressions
• Jedi Knight Beta Impressions
• Smuggler Beta Impressions
• Full Beta Preview

World of Warcraft Meets Kung Fu Panda

Blizzcon kicked off on Friday morning with a bang. Not only were we treated to a 15 year retrospective of the Diablo franchise, but eager World of Warcraft fans finally got the expansion news they've been waiting to hear. Called Mists of Pandaria, the expansion is set to take the grand old dame of the MMO world in new directions, complete with a new class and playable race.

Here's what we know:

• Name: Mists of Pandaria
• Race: New playable Pandaren race
• Class: Monk, not limited to just Pandarian race
• Pet battle system
• PvE scenarios
• Overhauled talent system
• New continent
• Level cap increase to 90
• Challenge mode dungeons
• Brand new raids and dungeons with six housed on Pandara
• Overhauled dungeons making a comeback with an epic facelift and a Heroic mode
• Skills, spells and talents reworked and reimagined
• PvE battlegrounds and scenarios