I went into BlizzCon expecting big World of Warcraft announcements, and we certainly got a bunch of them, but I can’t rightfully say I was right about any. However, I still think Iridikron will remain an antagonist throughout the next expansion, and it won’t be until Midnight that we’ll actually deal with him for the last time. I did not expect to get three expansion announcements, and some of the features coming with The War Within were also surprising. Additionally, 10.2 went live, and I have some thoughts about how that is progressing. Let’s jump in!
Story First?
One of the many huge surprises during the announcement ceremony was not just the announcement of the three upcoming expansions and the overarching storyline but that so much time was devoted to setting things up before a feature was ever mentioned. I know there have been some complaints regarding this because some people wanted the big expansion announced with all the features first, and I get that. We’re used to that because the features are the big flashy “this is why you want to buy the expansion” type of thing.
The story in World of Warcraft has often felt as if it has lurched from one expansion to the next, with only the most tenuous threads holding everything together. There have certainly been some expansions where it felt like they came up with the idea for the setting and then took the view of “ok, how can we make the storyline fit that setting?” which is certainly one way of handling things. Focusing so much time on the storyline and choosing to show us the cinematic trailer, which featured no big battles or incredible set pieces but gave us a deep and heartfelt moment between two central characters - it was refreshing.
Also, that cinematic was incredible. The attention to detail is phenomenal, I still can’t believe they didn’t use motion capture on it. It's also one of the best visual renderings of what PTSD can feel like I have ever seen. Typically, we just see a character in obvious pain/distress, or they do wild and unpredictable things. The flashback was perfect because, in a PTSD flashback, it isn’t remembering something that happened. It’s feeling like you are back in that moment again and reliving it as if it is a current event. They did a phenomenal job of visually representing that.
I also appreciate the order in which they did the reveals because it allowed me to be in the moment and take that cinematic in without having part of my attention drawn to thinking about all the features in the expansion. Dragonflight was a good step forward in telling an engaging storyline, only slightly marred by some of the stories on the launch, which were locked behind renown. Because of this, I experienced some of the storylines out of order, which lessened the impact. Hopefully, this is something that doesn’t move forward to the next expansion.
Warbands!
A lot in the features trailer got my attention, but Warbands is the single feature I am most looking forward to. Historically, I’ve never really been one to have alts. One of my biggest blockers has always been my low tolerance for repeating content. Once I’ve done things on my main, the idea of doing them all again has never appealed to me. Dragonflight has gone a long way towards relieving this issue. I currently have four characters at max level, with a fifth closing in soon. Even so, having to go through acquiring renown on my alts has been the most significant deterrent. Warbands essentially solve all of my remaining issues with playing alts.
Although I’ve never been good at alts, I have switched mains several times. One of the significant downsides of this has been every time I change mains, I more or less start over with achievements. This isn’t the end of the world, of course, as achievement points matter not at all in World of Warcraft. They have made more and more count on the entire account, so just going full on this is a welcome change. I hope they might also include titles, though I do see an argument that some titles make more sense to be character-specific. However, I have a few on my original main that can’t be obtained anymore, and I’d like to use them.
Another huge win for Warbands is the ability to unlock transmog regardless of the character who looted the item. One of my biggest frustrations in farming old content is when I get drops for another armor type or a weapon I can’t use. It’s just a waste all around. They didn’t address this directly, but hopefully, this will also include items that are locked to a different class. Every time I loot an old tier piece for Rogue or Monk, it feels extra frustrating because it is leather, but since I’m a Druid, I’m just out of luck on it.
Lastly, during the What’s Next Panel, Morgan Day mentioned that they are moving away from building systems for one expansion. This is a huge win overall because introducing cool systems which can’t move forward with WoW, has been a huge hindrance in the past. I still miss my class hall and everything that came along with that. This also could be huge for Warbands as well. It is entirely possible this could be a jumping-off point for them to add so many cool features, perhaps even player housing. Of course, I’d expect these to be in future expansions, not The War Within.
Guardians of the Dream
Meanwhile, Dragonflight patch 10.2 has dropped, and we’ve started working our way towards the new raid. As a Druid main, I have been incredibly excited about entering into the Emerald Dream in a much more expansive way than we have ever done before. We’ve only been here for one week, and I have been having an absolute blast. As much as I have enjoyed the main storyline, our friend, the Loa of Change, is by far my favorite new character. For the record, I was fully prepared to answer all 100 questions. The ones we got were hilarious.
The superbloom is a fun new event, and the conversations between the tree and dryad are just brilliant. I have to imagine eventually, I’ll get bored of it, but not anytime soon. I do sort of wish the boss we fight at the end would have a few different options to help keep it from being quite as repetitious. It also doesn’t seem like it matters much if you do the specific tasks you are assigned during the event. Everything seems interactable all the time, and it doesn’t seem to give any extra points when I did the things I was supposed vs. other random things. On the whole, I like that I can do whatever task I feel like doing.
Aside from those pursuits, I have spent most of my time working on collecting all the new druid forms, which has been a blast. Even the one where I had to fill six different vials all around the world was a lot of fun. A quick word of advice on that one: when you go to Dragonblight, you want the vial labeled “N” for Northrend, not “D.” It's especially important for anyone who is Horde because the Sentinals at Star’s Rest will attack on sight. Some appearances are locked behind RNG off rares, and a couple come from the raid. Aside from that, I have all the new ones, and it’s been a blast the whole way.
All in all, World of Warcraft is currently in a great state, and the future looks bright. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the next expansion, or how things will go getting us from Dragonblight to The War Within. However, this is the most optimistic I have been regarding WoW in a while, so I am savoring this.
