World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Dragonflight, was announced this week, promising a return to Earth-based Azeroth, restoration of something like the pre-Mists of Pandaria talent system, and the end of expansion-specific “borrowed power” mechanics like artifact weapons or Azerite gear. As someone who has been playing WoW since the closed beta back in 2004, I was a little surprised at how skinny the announcement was. There are some flashy features like physics-based kite riding and playable kite humans, but in many ways, it looks like Blizzard is trying to sell Dragonflight on what it’s not, rather than what it is.
I hope Dragonflight does not give up everything Blizzard tried to do in Shadowlands, but its restraint could be just what World of Warcraft needs right now, as previous expansions have tried to make a bigger splash, but fell flat in the end .
For the first time, we have had two extensions in a row that are largely seen as failures.
It’s no big secret that WoW has been navigating hard water lately. 2018’s Battle for Azeroth is one of the most disliked expansions in the MMO’s 18-year history. And while 2020’s Shadowlands got off to a strong start, problems with history and the post-launch have led to public opinion turning against it fairly quickly. Zerith Mortis, the topstone search area for the latest Patch 9.2, feels hurried, boring and visually unexciting – a peculiarity for Blizzard, which, even when fighting in other areas, usually excels at creating memorable new zones to explore.
Sylvana’s Windrunner has become even more of an ongoing joke that happens to be “good” and undermines all of her previously stated motives when she returns to Wrath of the Lich King (again) right away. Tyrant Whisperwind, who had an actually interesting turn as a ruthless agent for Moon Vengeance, suddenly decided to spare the Banshee queen for reasons. Arthas finally appeared briefly as a little blue ball, revealing that he is in fact the Super Double Dead, and is not even going to live on in Shadowlands. Garrosh committed Ghost Suicide to ruin … I’m not sure who it actually was, in a poorly executed cutscene that made me bark with laughter.
The annoying two-dimensional and inconsistent big villain, Zovaal, collected all the Infinity Stones – sorry, I mean Eternal Sigils – and was revealed to have been responsible for pretty much everything that has ever happened since Warcraft 3, in one of the most heavy-handed and frankly junk feedback throughout the franchise’s history. Oh, and apparently he did it all to stop an even greater, even more cosmic threat that we will learn about at a later date. Brilliant.
Back to the basics?
Although it sold more pre-orders than any previous expansion, my impression of Shadowland’s post-launch has largely been that it seems like something was thrown together using emergency supplies by the crew of a sinking ship. And given the development challenges posed by the pandemic, as well as the recent revelations about systemic workplace culture issues at Blizzard, it’s not exactly surprising. But for a long time, WoW expansions seemed to follow the same rule as Star Trek feature films: every other was good. But now, for the first time, we have had two expansions in a row that are largely seen as failures.
So that leaves Dragonflight in a unique position of trying to restore our faith in WoW from what may be the lowest it has ever been. Refocusing on Azeroth instead of a lot of cosmic nonsense is something I welcome, even though Battle for Azeroth proved that it is not enough alone to create a winning formula. And hey, dragons are cool. This is a high fantasy game after all, and who wouldn’t want to zoom around on Dragon Isles on a dragon?
I’m excited that the real talent trees can return as well, as I think the Mists of Pandaria talent renewal was well-meaning, but also one of the most misleading system overhauls WoW has ever inflicted on itself. Playing WoW Classic reminded me how much it just feels good to put a point in something at each level and see that the increase in power is immediately reflected, even though it’s only a two percent bonus to criticize on my paladin’s hammer throw . Of course, any hardcore raider can end up with a pretty much identical building, but the feeling of step-by-step alignment is what matters.
In defense of (parts of) Shadowlands
Despite all its flaws, I have to hold up a bit for Shadowlands and say that it put some of the best ideas on the table for what WoW could become.
The thing is, Blizzard can rework progression systems, add crazy new zones, and introduce any number of new races, classes, and cosmetic options, but none of that really talks about whether Dragonflight will sink or soar in the long run. For better or worse (in my opinion, most worse), WoW has become an experience where the “real game” only starts when you hit the max level. And having enough interesting things to do at that point is the biggest factor in whether an expansion ends up being remembered with joy or with scorn.
The story may be in ruins, and I do not think I am alone in hoping that Dragonflight more or less tries to ignore the fact that Shadowlands even happened from a story perspective. But our journey through life after death left us with some reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the future of content at the maximum level. Despite all its flaws, I have to hold up a bit for Shadowlands and say that it put some of the best ideas on the table for what WoW could become.
Firstly, Torghast is more or less exactly what I would like to see more of as someone who mostly plays solo, but who also really likes to put my championship to the ultimate test. Was the execution perfect? No, but there is plenty of room to repeat. If I could look forward to more semi-randomized, roguelite, Diablo-style solo dungeon content with meaningful rewards and no weekly cap where those rewards cut off, I would be thrilled. I know you can not keep handing out gear-based currency indefinitely in a Torghast-like mode, otherwise everyone would be forced to paint it for 100 hours a week to keep up. But to make materials? Cosmetics? Fittings? Faction representative? Let me not stop playing my favorite part of your game because I have run out of compelling rewards for this week.
Not sold yet
I would still like to see the Mythic + team more directly and aggressively tackle issues like “spring culture”.
Raiding is a pretty good place right now, and the vault has been refined into a satisfying way of gearing up that respects your time more than any of its previous equivalents. Mythic +, which allows you to gain raid-level gear from super-charged versions of five-person dungeons, is where WoW’s core systems really shine, and the fact that each M + season in Dragonflight will include a rotation of four new and four older ones dungeons, sounds great for preventing the new content from getting too old. When I hit the duty roulette in Final Fantasy 14, I could be thrown into any of dozens of dungeons from multiple expansions, and there’s no reason why Blizzard should not exploit their ability to bring even greater variety to its version.
I still want to see the Mythic + team more directly and aggressively tackle issues like “skip culture”, where each dungeon group a few weeks inside a patch only seems to be interested in walking on their toes along the cliff edges and avoiding trash cans to clear everything. the bosses as soon as possible. Maybe offer some meaningful rewards based on how many normal mobs you kill, to compensate for the extra time that adds up? I’m just kidding here.
From the initial pitch, Dragonflight seems like an introspective but unusually minimalist expansion, trying to strip WoW back to its fundamentals and refocus on what made it successful in the first place. Maybe there’s more in it that they save for later announcements. But no matter what, it’s got a tougher road ahead of it than ever before in terms of restoring player confidence and a sense of community, and a back-to-basics approach could be an effective way to tackle that. I just hope the designers will not give up on some of the really cool and innovative ideas from Shadowlands – especially solo content in the same way as Torghast – that maybe just needed a little more massage to become really great. After all, you can play it for sure. And I can not help but worry that this modest list of new zones and functions will result in an expansion of bare bones.