World of Warcraft has a new deep dive into one of Dragonflight’s most memorable quests, “Stay a While”.
Ever since the expansion launched, many in the WoW community have commented on this quest, talked about how it touched them, and of course, even memed about it. Yet, the reason why it got so much attention was because it was different, a moment of reflection, and stayed with you when it was over.
In the beginning, the team laid out their goals for the quest. “The intent of the quest could be described as “Explain what the Ruby Lifeshrine is and explain the various situations of the dragonflights told through the lens of an old dragon”. From there, they wanted to distinguish this quest from another that had you visit hatcheries and listen to stories from the egg tenders there, but then the quest that has stuck with so many players began really taking shape.
The team “focused on the core idea of an old red dragon feeling remorse and weariness after such a long time and then confronting those feelings and memories” and made some changes. According to the new devblog, there were a number of changes outlines and then work on the dialogue. It still took them some time to pull it together, however, finding there was too much dialogue and ideas of action to add where you had to do things.
No, they decided to slow things down completely and to focus on the mood they wanted to create in having a longer, flowing conversation with this tired NPC. “The line of thought was to represent a character that had just given up because of their experiences,” according to the devblog.
Ultimately, why this quest has stuck with so many is how it hits you unexpectedly, and with such melancholy. The team didn’t want any quick fixes, either, so that’s why there’s the possibility of hope, but nothing stronger or definitive, just an NPC with stories by the Ruby Lifeshrine that you’ll take with you as you go through Dragonflight.
