The hunt for the perfect grinding spots in Mists of Pandaria: Remix show us just how incompatible the event's silly fun is with WoW's grindset culture

GamesMMOWorld of WarcraftThe hunt for the perfect grinding spots in Mists of Pandaria: Remix show us just how incompatible the event’s silly fun is with WoW’s grindset cultureWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

An image of a Pandaren holding jade lightning in Mists of Pandaria: Remix.

It’s intended to be a fun romp and a nice fresh way to level up alts—though launch-day nerfs to said cloak have been controversial, stopping several of its benefits from being account-wide as they were on the PTR.

That’s not what we’re going to focus on here. We’re gonna be talking about frogs and anxiety.

We’ve already done afull rundownof that sitch, but in essence, a “hyperspawning” farm spot where players could obliterate a billion frogs and ramp up their cloak’s power was, understandably, fixed. As a result, MoP: Remix suddenly has class (as in, social castes, not playable classes) disparity. There’s those who got in early, and there’s those who missed out on frog gate. This has led to absolutely absurd DPS numbers like this:

Yes, you’re looking at that right. That’s 228 million DPS.

This tier of power is something MoP: Remix seems to want most players to be able to achieveeventually,but the fact some time-runners are therenowhas plenty of knickers in a twist, and I’m of two minds about the situation.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Panda mail grindset

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Big frog

On the one hand—yes, it is kind of deflating to know that there’s an entire caste of elites who made frog paste early, buffed their Cloak of Infinite potential to absurd heights, and are thus more infinitely potential-ed than you. Especially since there’s no real catch-up mechanics to be had, unless said players simply quit MoP: Remix for the rest of the event.

On the other hand, the phenomenon at play here is kinda fascinating because… it doesn’t actually matter, right? All of this progress goes away in around three months—though you do get to keep your character, sans the busted cloak, as a normal WoW alt. Not to mention, the only thing that happens if you’ve got one of these uber-elites in your raid finder group is that, well, it goes faster. But then there’s jealousy—which I’ve heard has been turning saints into the sea.

It doesn’t actually matter, right? All of this progress goes away in around three months.

Being a silly event where you’re meant to feel stupid powerful invariably means that Blizzard hasn’t gone through MoP with a fine comb, finding areas where the Remix systems can be ‘exploited’. But its players sure will do just that, because WoW cannot escape its past.

Folding Ideas' video"Why It’s Rude to Suck at Warcraft"encapsulates the grindset culture that’s formed out of WoW: Classic (and Retail) far better over the course of its 1 hour, 20 minute runtime than I could in this article. The hellscape it outlines is one of “instrumental play”, referring toKristine Ask’s articleThe Value of Calculations: The Coproduction of Theorycraft and Player Practices.

Don’t PuG me, I’m scared

(Image credit: Blizzard)

A Pandaren from World of Warcraft wearing blue and purple armor

“Crudely put,” Ask writes while citingT.L Taylor, “in instrumental play the point of playing is not just to reach the end but to find thebestway of getting there.” WoW: Classic, or as Folding Ideas puts it, “a hellscape of instrumental practices”, is tough at endgame specifically because of this social pressure cooker.

MoP: Remix is afascinatingcontrast to Classic, though, because it feels like all the anxiety built around years of following these practices—‘I’m not grinding hard enough, I’m not strong enough, people are going to make fun of my gear’—have been occurring in an environment where the consequences for not following said practices are basically zero.

The only thing that players who missed the frog goldrush are missing out on is, essentially, a feeling of power—and, admittedly, a shorter grind for the transmogs they want. But even then, new grinds are (and will continue to) emerge. Sra’vess seems to beone such contender for the new hotness, even if its bronze per minute is far slower.

I, for one, don’t really care about damage metres outside of idle curiosity. I keep one tucked in the corner of my screen just to see how I’m doing, but being middle-of-the-pack isn’t a problem for me. It is, however, an issue for a lot of people, and I think it’s a genuine pressure point for players that releases their old anxieties—of being booted from groups for ‘trash DPS’ or stonewalled off from PUGs for not having item levels far beyond the actual requirements for the raid.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Garrosh brawls with several timerunners in World of Warcraft’s Mists of Pandaria: Remix.

I think there are some genuine wrinkles in MoP: Remix, for sure. I’d like to see the shared XP buff thing return, for example—but the frog farming is only a problem if you view the event as a competitive experience, which it isn’t designed to be. But that doesn’t matter—it always will be one because the players made it that way—despite many changes over the course of Dragonflight to create a less hyper-competitive, grind-every day WoW, the game just can’t escape its own culture.

It’s not even a WoW-specific thing, necessarily. In most games, MMOs included, even the simplest, most straightforward things will become optimised to death—and I’m not even ragging on those people. Some people find optimization fun, and that’s absolutely fine. WoW just… has a lot of those kinds of people, and MoP: Remix is the water to their oil.

That being said—if some uber elite frog-killing haxxor rocks up into your LFR group and does 200 million damage, and that upsets you, just remember: their power is temporary, butthe time they spent murdering frogs for hours on end? That’s gone forever. Comparison, as always, is the death of joy.

TOPICSBlizzard Entertainment

TOPICS

More about world of warcraftDragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga runWoW’s finally upgrading its dreaded swirlies so players can actually tell where it’s safe to standLatestMarvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSee more latest►

More about world of warcraft

Dragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga runWoW’s finally upgrading its dreaded swirlies so players can actually tell where it’s safe to stand

World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots

Dragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga run

World of Warcraft

WoW’s finally upgrading its dreaded swirlies so players can actually tell where it’s safe to stand

LatestMarvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSee more latest►

Latest

Marvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene

Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine

Marvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene

See more latest►

Most Popular

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)

I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games

6 games that could be bigger hits than you’re expecting in 2025

What are your 2025 gaming resolutions?

The FBI put a $5 million bounty on the ‘Cryptoqueen’ last year but still hasn’t found her, so take your pick: Russia, South Africa, or murdered on a yacht in 2018

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Panda mail grindset#

Don’t PuG me, I’m scared#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Panda mail grindset

Don’t PuG me, I’m scared