What you need to know

• World of Warcraft is among the game industry's most successful titles, entering its 20th year of profitable operation. 
• Microsoft acquired the game when it purchased Activision-Blizzard, which was finalized last year. 
• Over the summer, World of Warcraft gained its latest expansion, The War Within, and it has been largely well-received. 
• However, an influx of new players have noticed that World of Warcraft's aging levelling experience has become easier and more simplistic than ever — because you can no longer actually die. 

World of Warcraft is one of the game industry's biggest success stories. Launched almost 20 years ago, the game has gone from strength to strength, still delivering a premier MMORPG experience even during some of its worst expansion cycles. Microsoft acquired World of Warcraft when it purchased Activision-Blizzard, and it remains one of Windows' best PC games. 

The most recent one, World of Warcraft: The War Within, has vastly improved the experience for casual players and soloists, adding a new type of dungeon that solo players can enjoy, while also maintaining the usual endgame difficulty curve for those who want a real challenge. 

RELATED: World of Warcraft interview (Oct 2024) on Warbands, Delves, Hero Talents, and more

In my WoW: The War Within review, as well as my "Should you play World of Warcraft in 2024?" article, both times I've criticized the game's levelling experience. World of Warcraft's new-player experience is sub-par generally speaking, owing to overlapping timelines, outdated story content, and a insistence on speeding players to the endgame without care or consideration for storytelling or immersion. I would argue that this abandonment of WoW's levelling experience is partially responsible for the interest in WoW: Classic, which had a much, much better delivery. 

As part of The War Within, Blizzard has been updating, hotfixing, and patching the game at a breakneck pace. I wrote this past week about how the World of Warcraft's new Delve dungeon system has missed potential owing to balance issues, with some classes far better at soloing the content than others. 

World of Warcraft's difficulty curve has undergone various permutations over the years. 25-player Mythic raids offer a blisteringly tough challenge for the most skilled min-maxxers, while Mythic+ 5-man dungeons scale in difficulty based on your choices. Delves too have a tier system, going all the way up to Tier 13 complete with a special solo boss. Many of the game's endgame systems reward player skill and dedication, and gently ease players into the experience from Story mode dungeons with AI followers, to mid-core Heroic raids, all the way to Mythic difficulties that even have esports events revolving around them. 

That curated difficulty curve is exactly why I'm slightly baffled by this latest change to the game's new-player experience. It was noticed by players in my guild and, as far as I can tell, hasn't been clearly documented by Blizzard. 

In the above clip, you can see my level 47 dwarf Paladin getting whaled on by elite monsters, only to find himself fully invincible. It seems that new players cannot die in World of Warcraft anymore, which completely eliminates any and all risk from actually playing the game. 

I'm unsure what this "Obsidian Blessing" buff, which protects you from death essentially from levels 1 through to 70 aims to achieve. For new players, it creates a completely inconsistent experience between 1 to 70 and levels 71 to 80, since as far as I can tell, it isn't really explained anywhere why exactly you're unable to die in the Dragon Isles. The levelling experience for new customers directs players straight to the previous Dragonflight expansion, which offers at least some basic context for the wider World of Warcraft universe. I've argued previously that Blizzard should remake the old WoW levelling experience with a focus on small-stakes evergreen content that builds immersion and flavor, much like the old experience that made the game a huge hit in the first place. 

WoW's levelling experience was far less forgiving than today's modern experience, making you feel as though danger lurked in every corner, adding intrigue and mystique. I've tried many times to get friends and family into the game, only for them to bow out owing to the simplistic, and un-immersive gameplay that is at total odds with the current expansion experience. Now, Blizzard has taken that ease to a whole new level. Removing all the danger from World of Warcraft is akin to making it feel completely arbitrary. Why not just remove levelling all together, if Blizzard has started to think that all types of friction are the problem?

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Not all players are the same, but no player wants to be bored

I don't begrudge Blizzard's intent to make the game more accessible to players. I used to raid 5 days a week during my early 20s to chase server-first boss kills, and now I simply can't imagine ever having that kind of time. I love that Delves have made gear progression more accessible for players with less free time or less inclination to group with others. I love that World of Warcraft: The War Within also has a story mode raid experience for solo players to experience story beats typically exclusive to guilds and group players. In fact, I would argue that the story mode feature should be expanded to the entire raid, rather than just the final boss. 

What I find it hard to advocate for is making World of Warcraft boring. My level 47 protection Paladin, which is supposed to be a low-damage defensive class, already can one-hit-kill monsters with critical hits. And now, you're telling me I don't even need to actually play the game to level up? I would argue that this isn't going to have the intended impact Blizzard might want it to have — death teachers players the risks of standing in area-effect spells, or over-pulling monsters. If you teach players that there are no consequences for hitting 0% health, then you're going to teach them endgame is like that too. MMORPGs need to have depth, challenge, and risks to justify those juicy rewards. 

I'm all for improving access to the game, but Blizzard has gone way too far with this one, and should seriously reconsider, in my view. Perhaps there's a perfectly valid reason for this that I'm overlooking. Maybe it's a bug, and the Obsidian Blessing is not actually supposed to make you unkillable. Maybe they have access to data that I don't and immortality is exactly what the game needs to attract new players. I would argue that a dedicated levelling experience that comes with localized evergreen stories, complete with engaging gameplay and risk and reward paradigms is what it needs to find new players. But hey, I'm certainly no game dev, just a passionate fan. 

What you need to know

• Blizzard Entertainment has announced on social media that World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's next major update patch, Seeds of Renewal, will go live for the general public on January 16, 2024.
• The Seeds of Renewal update will contain a myriad of new features, including new quests, customization options, Dungeon Followers, and enabling Dragonriding across all of Azeroth.
• This update is the first stop on World of Warcraft's 2024 leading up to the game's tenth expansion, The War Within, launching in the Summer of 2024.

On January 2, 2024, Blizzard Entertainment announced the launch date for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's next major update patch titled 'Seeds of Renewal' (a.k.a. Patch 10.2.5). The update will leave World of Warcraft's Public Test Realm servers and go live for the general public on January 16, 2024.

The Seeds of Renewal update will contain the following gameplay features:

• New Story quests that will conclude the main storyline of the Dragon Isles region.
• The Dragonriding mechanic will be made compatible with every zone in Azeroth outside of the Dragon Isles.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's dungeons will begin implementing NPC followers to aid players if they wish to complete them solo.
• The Reclamation of Gilneas event where players will help King Greymane and his people retake the kingdom. 
• The Azerothian Archives event, which will have players embark on quests for the Azerothian Archives faction in the Dragon Isles.
• New customization options.

In addition, according to the World of Warcraft's 2024 Roadmap, the Seeds of Renewal update will feature the Outland Cup event, where players get to participate in special Dragonriding races for unique prizes. Plus, there will be an event celebrating Hearthstone's 10th Anniversary.

Worgen players, its time to finally reclaim Gilneas

Blizzard Entertainment is certainly starting 2024 with a bang for World of Warcraft. We're getting new quests that will send off the storyline of Dragonflight, NPC allies to help players tackle dungeons solo, Dragonriding will be made available worldwide so we can travel in style, and most importantly, players will finally be able to help King Greymane retake Gilneas. 

For those unaware, Gilneas was the home kingdom of the Worgen playable race. The Worgen are humans who were cursed into becoming werewolves when Scourge invaded Gilneas during the events of Warcraft 3. Then, later on, the Worgen joined the Alliance out of desperation because they were driven out of their kingdom by the Forsaken faction during the events of 2010's World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. 

Fourteen years later, Worgen players will at long last be able to reclaim their home in Seeds of Renewal update and gain closure for the long years they had to wait for this pivotal moment. 

This major update is but the first of many that will lead us to World of Warcraft: The War Within expansion in the Summer of 2024. This upcoming PC title will introduce a slew of new features to one of the best PC games in Blizzard's library, including an epic storyline exploring the depths of Azeroth, a new race to play called Earthen, Hero Talents that will offer new playstyles and abilities to classes, new raids and dungeons to conquer, and more.

What you need to know

• Blizzard Entertainment has presented new 2024 content roadmaps for World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft Classic.
• The World of Warcraft 2024 Roadmap reveals there will be three last major updates for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight before World of Warcraft: The War Within launches in the Summer of 2024. 
• World of Warcraft Classic's 2024 Roadmap reveals there will be one more update to Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Season of Discovery and Classic Hardcore mode before Cataclysm Classic launches in the Summer of 2024.
• In addition, Blizzard has announced there will be an Alpha Test for The War Within in Spring 2024, a Beta Test for Cataclysm Classic in Spring 2024, and a Beta Test for The War Within in Summer 2024.

UPDATE (January 2, 2024): Blizzard has announced that the Seeds of Renewal update with go live on January 16, 2024.

Blizzard Entertainment has just announced the much-anticipated roadmaps for World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft: Classic from the beginning of 2024 to the Autumn of 2024. These roadmaps promise immense treasure troves of content updates for both games, the release schedules for World of Warcraft: The War Within Alpha and Beta Tests, and World of Warcraft: Classic Cataclysm's Beta Test.

The first roadmap announced is for the standard retail version of World of Warcraft. In January 2024, the game will receive the Seeds of Renewal update (Patch 10.2.5) which will contain the following: 

• Epilogue quests that will wrap up World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's storyline and set up the events for The War Within.
• The Reclamation of Gilneas quest.
• Dragonriding enabled for the entire game's world outside the Dragon Isles.
• Follower Dungeons.
• The Azerothian Archives quest.
• The Outland Cup.
• Hearthstone's 10th Anniversary Event.

After the Seeds of Renewal update, there will be a new mysterious update (Patch 10.2.6) added to the game. There are currently no details about this update, except for a small hint in the form of a pirate flag shown on the roadmap. 

In Spring 2024, World of Warcraft: The War Within's Alpha Test sessions will begin. Season 4 of Dragonflight will commence during this period and will have players revisit the expansion's raids and dungeons with twists, engage in a new PVP season, a new Mythic+ Season, and hunt down new outdoor content rewards.

Between the Summer and Autumn of 2024, Dragonflight's last major content update known as Dark Heart (Patch 10.2.7) will be implemented and add the following:

• Timerunning: Pandamonium
• Harbinger Quests
• Troll & Draenai Heritage Armor Quests
• New Holiday Event

At the beginning of Summer 2024, the Beta Test for The War Within will begin and the expansion's Pre-Patch (Patch 11.0.1) will be implemented. Patch 11.0.1 will add new World Events, the Warbands feature, Dynamic Flight, and Guild Updates. 

By the end of Summer 2024, World of Warcraft: The War Within will launch. The expansion will launch with a new campaign storyline, the Delves dungeons, Hero Talents, the Earthen Allied Race, four new zones, eight new dungeons, a new Raid, and a new PVP season.

After The War Within's launch, there will be a post-launch content in Autumn 2024 that will add new storylines and quests, new content and system updates, and an event celebrating World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary.

The next roadmap announced is for World of Warcraft Classic. In January 2024, Wrath of the Lich King Classic shall have one last update with Ruby Sanctum Raid, and then shortly afterward there will be a new Season of Discovery with a raised level cap up to Lv. 40, new Runes to discover, a PVP event, and the Gnomeregan Raid added.

During the beginning of Spring 2024, the Beta Test for Cataclysm Classic will go live and Hardcore Classic will receive a new 'Self-Found' Mode. Then another Season of Discovery will commence, raising the level cap to Lv. 50, and add new Runes and a new Raid.

At the end of Spring 2024, Cataclysm Classic's Pre-Patch event will begin. It will add the Worgen & Goblin Races, improved Guild Features, account-wide Collections, and Transmog.

In Summer 2024, World of Warcraft Classic: Cataclysm will launch and contain the following:

• A new campaign storyline
• Four Raids
• Seven dungeons
• Two Heroic dungeons
• PVP Battlegrounds
• Darkmoon Island

After Cataclysm Classic's launch, it will receive its first Season of Discovery halfway through Summer 2024 with a raised level cap of Lv. 60, new Runes, and new Endgame activities. In Autumn 2024, Cataclysm Classic will receive the 'Rise of the Zandalari' update, the 'Rage of the Firelands' update, and another Season of Discovery that will introduce endgame content updates.

The future is looking bright for World of Warcraft

As you can from these roadmaps, there is a lot to look forward to in the coming months for World of Warcraft fans. From the conclusion of Dragonflight's story, finally retaking Gilneas, Heritage Armor quests finally coming for Troll and Draenai players, to the Alpha and Beta Tests for The War Within and Cataclysm Classic, suffice to say, it's an exciting time to be playing one of the best PC games out there.

Stay tuned for more updates on World of Warcraft: The War Within as we keep an eye out for this upcoming PC title's launch date as well as the official starting dates for its Alpha and Beta Tests.

What you need to know

• Just as Blizzcon comes to a close, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight fans can expect a brand-new update.
• The Guardians of the Dream will add a new outdoor zone, The Emerald Dream, along with new raids, dragonriding updates, events and more.
• The Guardians of the Dream update will launch on November 7, with Season 3 of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight starting on November 14.

The Champions of Azeroth and the Dragonflights will soon have a new fight on their hands in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight as the second update, patch 10.2, has been announced for November 7.  Fyrakk, the Primal Incarnate, will storm the Emerald Dream — an all-new outdoor zone coming with the patch — in an attempt to destroy the new world tree and absorb its power. 

Following the completion of regional maintenance on November 7, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight champions will find an all-new zone in the Emerald Dream, complete with new quests to explore, public objectives, new denizens and much, much more. An all-new Renown and other rewards can be earned by helping the new Dream Wardens faction: which is composed of Keepers, dryads, druids, green dragonflight, and runebears.

The Guardians of the Dream update will also bring three new public events to the game, starting with Superbloom. The Superbloom event follows Sprucecrown, an Ancient, as it spreads bloom while players fight off enemies and assist with tasks. This leads to the Emerald Frenzy, where champions are encouraged to collect items after a sapling appears to usher in the Emerald Bounty. You'll be able to test your green thumb, grow the seed to gain rewards and reap added bonuses once the seed blooms.

Dragonriders can also look forward to new racing courses, glyphs, customizations, and a new drake — a Faerie Dragon — with the update.

Dragonflight Season 3

The Guardians of the Dream update will usher in Season 3 of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight which begins on November 14. 

Fyrakk is intent on setting the new World Tree in the Emerald Dream ablaze so that he may absorb its power and use it as a conduit to send flames throughout Azeroth. Players will be faced with a new raid: Amirdrassil, The Dream's Hope where they will encounter 9 bosses, including a dragonriding encounter and Fyrakk's lieutenants and allies, before finally facing Fyrakk at the top of the World Tree, Amirdrassil.

Looking for Raid (LFR) Wing 1, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties will all be available for the raid at launch.

Season 3 will also bring eight dungeons to rotation, including some which had not previously been available before in Mythic+. The new dungeon rotation includes Dragonflight dungeons and some from previous expansions:

• Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond's Fall
• Dawn of the Infinite: Murozond's Rise
• Waycrest Manor (Battle for Azeroth)
• Atal'Dazar (Battle for Azeroth)
• Darkheart Thicket (Legion)
• Black Rook Hold (Legion)
• The Everbloom (Warlords of Draenor)
• Throne of the Tides (Cataclysm)

Of course, a new season also means new PVP cosmetic rewards, mounts, and achievements can be unlocked. A new world boss, Aurostor the Hibernating, has also been awakened. Players can join together to put him back to sleep and earn extra rewards.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is published by Blizzard, which was recently acquired by Microsoft in a record-breaking deal. Now that World of Warcraft — along with other Activision Blizzard titles — is a first party IP under the Xbox banner, there are questions about when and how they will come to Xbox Game Pass. There has been no official word at the time of writing this, though Activision did release a statement that it would be 2024 before some titles, like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo IV, are added to the subscription service. 

Blizzcon, the annual convention for all things published by Blizzard, is expected to run through November 3-4 this year.

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is an MMORPG from Blizzard Entertainment.
• Patch 10.1.5, titled Fractures in Time, will bring about plenty of new features and changes to the game.
• Players can expect the new patch to go live on July 11. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight players have plenty to look forward to as Blizzard announces update 10.1.5, titled Fractures in Time. The new patch will launch on July 11 and bring big changes like new class specializations, a brand-new Mega-Dungeon, and much-needed class balances to the game. 

According to Blizzard, players can expect to see a continued assault on the Scalecommander Sarkareth by the Champions of Azeroth in the once-secret laboratory of Aberrus in the Zaralek Cavern beneath the Dragon Isles. Fractures of Time is expected to unleash an all-new threat from the Infinite Dragonflight into the game. 

The Infinite Dragonflight has worked tirelessly to trigger the transformation of Nozdormu, The Aspect of Time, into Murozond. It is up to players to tackle the brand-new 8-boss Mythic-only mega-dungeon to travel across the timeways and stop the Infinite Dragonflight from succeeding. Their travels will also bring them face-to-face with the Iridikron for the first time.

To help with the new mega-dungeon, players can also expect an all-new class specialization. Augmentation Evoker is a brand-new damage Evoker specialization that will focus the powers of the Bronze Dragonflight and the Black Dragonflight to aid their allies by serving as a damage booster for their group with various buffs that can be sustained by dealing additional damage. The Augmentation Evoker has the special privilege of being the first "support" specialization within WoW. 

Of course, with a new class specialization and the update comes the need for class balancing and tuning. Players can expect all classes to undergo some changes. At the same time, Warlocks, in particular, will be expanded as a class for all remaining non-Dracthyr races, including Night Elves, Draenaei, Pandaren, and Tauren.  

Players will also be able to spend their time with Dragonflight carrying out new daily activities, such as the Whelp Daycare which will allow you to lend a hand at the whelpling nursery in Valdrakken. By carrying out certain tasks, including dragonriding, players will help to raise different whelps which will earn additional pets for the players' collection. Time Rifts will also appear in Thaldraszus where players will need to fight back invaders from other timelines to earn rewards, including alt catch-up gear, mounts, transmogs and more.

More information and updates to the PTR for Fractures in Time will be posted on the Blizzard in Development forums as well as the World of Warcraft website. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is published by Blizzard, part of Activision Blizzard King, which Microsoft is currently trying to purchase for a record-setting $68.7 billion. The deal is currently trapped in the US legal system due to FTC scrutiny and was completely rejected by the UK's CMA regulatory body, while other countries, including the EU and Brazil, have already given it the green light to close.

What you need to know

• Embers of Neltharion is the latest big patch for World of Warcraft as part of the 10.1 update. 
• Embers of Neltharion builds on everything introduced in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, adding a new zone called Zaralek Cavern. 
• There's also a new raid called Aberrus, The Shattered Crucible.
• Embers of Neltharion is launching today around 3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET. 

The time has finally come for the walls to come down. 

At the very least, the walls separating World of Warcraft players across the Horde and the Alliance. The launch of Embers of Neltharion for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is bringing a number of changes and additions to Blizzard Entertainment's long-running role-playing game. Chief among these changes is the launch of cross-faction guilds, meaning players will no longer be separated based on what faction they're playing as. 

Embers of Neltharion also includes a new Raid called Aberrus, The Shattered Crucible. As shared in Windows Central's preview for the 10.1 update, this raid is delving into the forgotten experiments and horrors of Neltharion's laboratory. You can check out the launch trailer for Embers of Neltharion below. 

Embers of Neltharion is launching for players on May 2, 2023, with maintenance scheduled to end roughly around 3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET. 

In our review of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, managing editor Jez Corden wrote that "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is somehow a breath of fresh air and a celebration of classic design principles in equal measure. The return to more dynamic, old-school talent trees enhances the class fantasy with a seasoning of new abilities across the board."

Windows Central's take

While I'll wait for impressions from Jez and other World of Warcraft players I know, the general consensus continues to be that Dragonflight is the best thing that's happened to the game in a very, very long time. Hopefully this update continues that trend, and it's especially impressive that, alongside the upcoming launch of Diablo 4, Blizzard Entertainment is delivering incredible work while still maintaining work from home.

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is one of the ongoing MMORPG's most well-received expansions in years.
• On Monday, Blizzard Entertainment revealed when players can expect the next major content update.
• Update 10.1, dubbed "Embers of Neltharion," is arriving on May 2 with a new zone, cross-faction guilds, and much more.
• A week later on May 9, Dragonflight Season 2 will kick off with a new raid, four new dungeons, and major changes to the Mythic+ system.

Countless players are still getting blissfully lost within the vast, diverse regions of World of Warcraft, and the Dragonflight expansion gave even more gamers plenty of reason to return to the ongoing MMORPG. Now, we know exactly when the Dragonflight expansion is enjoying its next major injection of fresh content with the 10.1 "Embers of Neltharion" update.

World of Warcraft players should set their calendars for May 2, when the Embers of Neltharion update will go live after routine server maintenance. The massive content update brings a brand-new underground area known as Zaralek Cavern, cross-faction guilds, a new renown track, and updates to the dragonriding mechanic that headlined the gargantuan World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion.

It's not ending there, though. A week later on May 9, one of the best PC games is enjoying another wave of new content catering to long-time players with World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season 2. This means a brand-new raid with nine bosses, eight new dungeons (including the four remaining Dragonflight dungeons), and major revamps to the Mythic+ system. You can read all about these new features in Windows Central's preview of the World of Warcraft "Embers of Neltharion" update.

Alongside the major features, Blizzard Entertainment is delivering the expected class tuning and balancing updates, improvements to the game's HUD and UI experience, and a plethora of gear, mounts, and pets that players will be able to earn. There's a lot contained within this content update, and now players know exactly how long to wait. Set your calendars for May 2 and May 9, 2023 for the next chapter of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

Yesterday, we were treated to an early preview of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's next big patch, dubbed Embers of Neltharion. 

Set in the Dracthyr starting zone, the Forbidden Reach, the patch is tentatively targeting March 21st for launch and follows the continuing story of the Primal Incarnates and their quest for global domination. 

We saw a new cinematic that showcases the remaining Incarnates humanoid forms (and they look absolutely badass) while also getting a preview of a brand new cave zone dubbed Zaralek Cavern. It's in here where Neltharion gradually slipped into madness and became Deathwing while performing a variety of dark experiments on the denizens of the Dragon Isles. The events of Embers of Neltharion culminate in the Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, which is Neltharion's own laboratory. 

Here's everything you need to know about this mammoth free update to World of Warcraft, which remains one of the best PC games on the market to date. 

World of Warcraft 10.1: Zaralek Cavern, and Season 2

This huge new zone is larger than Shadowlands' Zereth Mortis and is cracked open by Iridikron and his elemental brethren in an epic new cinematic that kicks off the new season. It's in here that Neltharion succumbed to the insidious corruption of the Old Gods, performing a host of twisted experiments deep in the ground. 

The new zone comprises three separate biomes, with crystalline stalagmites and sulfuric fire pits ready to greet players, with Deathwing's lab Aberrus looming in the darkness. Here, players will learn more about how Neltharion became Deathwing while continuing the various plot threads World of Warcraft: Dragonflight introduced. There will be a particular focus on the Black and Blue dragonflights while also introducing a new renown track represented by Nifflin, a new race of mole-like people. 

Nifflin aren't the only faces you'll see in the deep. Dracthyr rebels from The Sundered Flame also seek the knowledge of Neltharion's lairs, and the Djaradin aren't all too happy with the sudden influx of intruders in their elder climbs. The Drogbar subterranean race from Legion will also return, complete with a variety of new rewards for dragonriding, new cosmetics to unlock, new pets, new mounts, and more.

With the introduction of 10.1, Dragonflight will tick over to a new season. In Season 2, Blizzard will remove the M+10 Thundering affix in a bid to reduce complexity in higher keys while introducing new dungeons into the pool. The Season 2 dungeons will be Brackenhide Hollow, Halls of Infusion, Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr, Neltharus from Dragonflight, and Freehold, The Underrot, Neltharion’s Lair, and Vortex Pinnacle from past expansions. 

Season 2 will also refresh outdoor content in all zones to keep the world feeling alive. New Fyrakk Assaults will take place across the world, granting new transmog and achievement opportunities. Fyrakk is a fiery proto-drake Incarnate and seems to be less reasonable and chaotic than his remaining brother and sister. Zaralek and the existing Dragon Isles zones will gain new campaign quests while extending some of the existing ones, too. 

Perhaps the most pivotal change in this season is the advent of cross-faction guilds. For the first time in WoW's 18-year history, players from the Horde and Alliance factions will be able to join guilds together. Blizzard has noted that it still wants to maintain a strong identity for each faction, with unique quests and city hubs, but the days of open war between the Horde and Alliance seem to be at an end. 

World of Warcraft 10.1: Aberrus, and new tier sets

The new raid tier is called Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, and represents the full depravity of Deathwing. The laboratory showcases the full brunt of Neltharion's madness, as the Old Gods' whispers finally drove him to ruin in the darkness of the caverns. 

Aberrus is heavily inspired by classic WoW raids like Blackwing Lair and Blackwing Descent, where Deathwing's son Nefarian had attempted to emulate some of his father's machinations. 

The raid is comprised of nine bosses, culminating in a battle with Scalecommander Sarkareth, who leads The Sundered Flame. The Sundered Flame believe that Neltharion's artifacts are theirs to plunder, as players work towards the ultimate expansion goal of defeating the Primal Incarnates.

Blizzard teased a variety of strange creatures and failed experiments for Aberrus, including prototype Dracthyr that never made the cut, and a dragon forged of elementium, as Deathwing sought materials to construct his own exoskeleton. 

The raid, its tier sets, and its weapons are inspired by Blackwing Lair and Blackwing Descent, with an updated Ashkandi 2H sword teased alongside more classic-looking WoW tier sets. 

Blizzard is once again launching all of Aberrus' difficulty modes simultaneously, following positive feedback from Dragonflight's Season 1. 

World of Warcraft 10.1: Dev interview summary

During the presentation, there was a group interview between ourselves and various other outlets on a variety of topics. 

We've summarized the session below to highlight the key points and responses from dev team members Morgan Day and Steve Danuser. The below features questions from great WoW sites including MMO-Champion.com, WoWHead.com, MMORPG.com, Blizzard Watch, and more. 

• With the advent of cross-faction guilds, I asked how that might impact lore direction, particularly as pertains to PvP. Blizzard noted that the Horde and Alliance have been collaborating in pockets since Warcraft III, so it's not without precedent, but they want to maintain a strong faction identity via quests, specific flavor text, and the major faction city hubs. With regards to PvP, Blizzard agreed there was potential for new lore for PvP down the line, but there's nothing on the horizon just yet. They seemed interested in the idea of having side factions engaged in a shadow war behind the scenes to explain why some Horde and Alliance members can't let go of the past. Steve Danuser noted that in the past, the exception was that occasionally some Horde and Alliance heroes co-operated, but perhaps in the future, the exception can be that some Horde and Alliance heroes break away to continue the PvP war behind the scenes despite any peace treaties that exist. 
  
• I asked why there are barely any cosmetic glyphs being added over time. Blizzard noted that a new cosmetic glyph for Demon Hunters is coming in 10.1, which will allow them to use their own glaive model for glaive throw. They said that philosophically they find it risky to add lots of new cosmetic glyph options, as new visuals may serve to confuse players. 
  
• The new zone will enable Dragonriding immediately, complete with new races, a new dragon model, with new Dragonriding skills to unlock. One ability will allow you to boost vigor while swooping across the ground. 
  
• The new zone will sprinkle large set-piece moments in among smaller side quests following positive feedback on some of the smaller side stories in Dragonflight. 
  
• Blizzard is killing the Mythic+10 affix. Thundering is going away, and nothing is coming to replace it. Blizzard says that the rotating dungeon pool serves the purpose of making the dungeon seasons feel fresh, and they want to reduce the complexity stacking affixes can introduce. Underrot was chosen for its unique gameplay mechanics, and Neltharion's Lair was chosen for its thematic relevance to this patch. 
  
• The creation catalyst will "change" in 10.1, with information coming soon. 
  
• Ebyssian, Sabellian, and Wrathion's stories will continue in Embers of Neltharion. The Sundered Flame's rebellion will also be explored, in addition to the Blue Dragonflight.
  
• Blizzard iterates more lightly on class balance during a season, but will "take the gloves off" to make broader changes like the Ret Paladin rework at season boundaries. 
  

• Group management, raid frames, quest delivery, edit mode, personal resource bars, and various other improvements to the UI are on the way. The warlock resource bars got a particularly large focus. 
  
• Blizzard wants to ensure that the new zone won't be to the detriment of old zones. Older zones and public events will be updated and improved throughout the expansion to ensure that the whole of the Dragon Isles remains relevant and populated. 
  
• The new zone is part of the existing world, and not a separate instance. You can physically just fly in there. 
  
• Blizzard is adding new professional recipes and is paying careful attention to itemization given how powerful and "necessary" some of the new crafted items have been. Blizzard is also adding more focus to the item upgrade system, with new crests earned via M+ and raids that will allow you to upgrade items to heroic and mythic tier gear. 
  
• The story of the patch will explore how Neltharion went from being a defender of Azeroth to being its destroyer. In the raid, we will learn more about experiments that eventually informed encounters in Blackwing Lair and Blackwing Descent. The first encounter is an Elementium Dragon, forged as a prototype for Deathwing's own armor. We'll also see prototype Dracthyr creations as a boss encounter. 
  

And more!

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has been a truly impressive effort by Blizzard thus far, with a rapid content cadence to keep things fresh. The team has been peppering in smaller content additions mid-patch cycle and even offered a broad roadmap recently detailing how it plans to keep the expansion fun across the next year. 

Honestly, as a veteran player, World of Warcraft hasn't been in such a good place in years. The endgame is fun and pro-player rather than pro-engagement, and the story is refreshing and down to earth, with some impressively evocative sequences. Be sure to take a look at my full WoW: Dragonflight review if you're interested, and if you're already playing, I'll see you in the Dragon Isles. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has been out for a few weeks as of writing, and given the absolutely mammoth nature of this vast game, it has taken me this long to feel like I'd fully explored everything Dragonflight has to offer. 

Indeed, WoW is well-known at this point for its massive expansion drops, which add entire continents' worth of new content to explore. WoW has been on something of a downward trajectory in recent years, though, with an emphasis on Battle Pass-like progression mechanics and artificial time-gating borrowed from Activision's mobile games. A significant backlash and drop-off in subscribers seems to have worked to convince the suits that it was a bad idea, thankfully. As such, Dragonflight feels very much like a fan's expansion, full of design direction that people actually want, rather than shareholders — ironically growing the game in the process. 

Whoever is to blame for the previous two WoW expansions, it's all very much in the past now, figuratively and quite literally. Dragonflight is the first WoW expansion with a significant time skip for the story, which is symbolic of what feels like a new beginning for the aging MMO. Dragonflight feels full of freshness while simultaneously borrowing heavily from the tried-and-tested design principles of the past. 

The result is a beautiful return to form for Blizzard, giving this similarly aging WoW veteran more hope for the franchise's future than I've had in years. Should you play World of Warcraft in 2023? The answer is yes — with caveats. But one thing is certain: WoW has reclaimed its place among the best PC games of all time. 

WoW: Dragonflight review — Story

As mentioned, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight features something of a time skip. The game takes place three years after the events of Shadowlands, which drew widespread ridicule for its half-baked villain and plot threads that undermine some of Warcraft's established lore, dating all the way back to Warcraft 3. We still don't fully understand "The Jailer" and its motivations, nor do we understand why so-called master-tactician Sylvanas was so ready and willing to commit Night Elf genocide without having a full grasp of The Jailer's plan. In any case, it seems Blizzard was keen to draw a line under Shadowlands and move away from it as rapidly as possible. And praise the void, it has worked to tremendous effect. 

Dragonflight is set on a new Azerothian continent dubbed The Dragon Isles, rumored and prototyped since Warcraft's inception. The Dragon Isles have been fleshed out fully and represent the site where the alien Titans bestowed their magical power on primordial proto-drakes, transforming them into graceful dragons. Unbeknownst to the mortal races, The Dragon Isles were somewhat subject to a civil war, with some drakes rejecting the Titan's "gifts." Those very proto-drakes, known as the Prime Incarnates, were defeated and sealed in a magical prison for millennia. Only now, they have been unleashed. 

Dragonflight gives us a more intimate, personable tale that casts off the apocalyptic world-eating threats of the past several expansions to deal with smaller-scale conflicts. The Prime Incarnates are still a major threat, but it's a far cry from The Jailer's goal of literally rebooting reality for reasons unestablished, and it feels more grounded and immersive as a result. We know who the wonderfully-voiced and uniquely-designed Raszageth is and what her goals are. Raszageth herself sadly exits stage left before we get beyond a mere surface-level understanding of her character, but the sense of foreboding for her more powerful elder brethren, notably Iridikron, is palpable — delivered through elevated cinematics with more expressive characters. 

In expansions past, it was all voice work doing the heavy lifting in Warcraft's cinematics, but with new tech, characters like the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza are far more emotive, adding weight to character motivations and story delivery. 

Beyond the grand, main story arc, Dragonflight has delighted me with smaller story beats in side-quests and mini-events. One quest followed an aging Warcraft II Dragonmaw clan orc, recalling memories from established lore about how his clan subjugated the red dragonflight. Despite his clan's crimes, the red dragons still welcomed him to the Dragon Isles with open arms and even treated his ailments. The reds are charged with stewardship over all life on Azeroth, and there are some great insights in this very small quest into how the orc clans have evolved as a society over time. It's also the only quest in Warcraft history to make me teary-eyed. I  play WoW to get epic loot generally, but, damn it, Blizzard made me feel feelings. 

We won't know for sure if Dragonflight's story will be loved or loathed until it draws to its conclusion over the next couple of years, but this willingness to offer more delicate storytelling made me feel more invested in a single side-quest than the entirety of Shadowlands' main story arc. I am excited for where Dragonflight could go, and that's a far cry from my feelings about Shadowlands. 

Another big part of that sense of investment is the setting and the art direction, which heavily compliments the verticality of Dragonriding and becomes a character in its own right. 

WoW: Dragonflight review — Art direction

One area Blizzard almost always succeeds in is the game's world design, and Dragonflight is absolutely no exception. In fact, I'd go as far to say as Dragonflight has some of the best and most consistent environmental direction in WoW history, and it makes returning to some of the game's older, outdated areas utterly painful. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's major expansion feature is Dragonriding, which allows players to soar with more dynamic flying controls that offer a more physics-based feel. As an expansion that offers flying right from the outset, Blizzard had to bring fresh design ideas to the table, building a world that has as much physical depth as it has breadth. The towering spires of the Waking Shores offer a vision of what classic zone Thousand Needles might look like with a major update, with winding gorges buttressed by a gigantic waterfall separating it from the vast pastures of the Ohn'ahran Plains. 

While there are physically fewer zones than usual, each is absolutely vast and features multiple biomes. Thick forests of the Azure Span coalesce into stunning glaciers that evoke Winterspring, and fall into sickly decayed woods of Brackenhide Hollow, which reminisce of Felwood. 

The game has picked up some new techniques that enhance visuals too. Raytraced shadows are in, for those with a rig powerful enough for it. Blizzard has also implemented AMD FidelityFX and NVIDIA DLSS for those who like using it. WoW isn't the most graphically intensive game in the universe, however, and will run on even modest budget gaming PCs fairly well. 

Indeed, it's not lost on me how much Dragonflight seems inspired by expansions past, at least superficially. A recurring theme of Dragonflight is that of renewal. I won't spoil the story, but there are major plot threads that revolve around the Azerothian dragonflights renewing their vows to defend the mortal races and shed the corruption that has plagued some of the flights for hundreds of years in some cases. 

This theme permeates through the game's design almost in its entirety, to some degree, coalescing in what feels like a love letter to the game's fans and the legacy of World of Warcraft itself.  

WoW: Dragonflight review — Gameplay & systems

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is a marked departure from the design ethos established during Legion a few years ago. Blizzard tasked themselves with figuring out systems that would add meaningful features to classes expansion over expansion, without leading to massive ability bloat. WoW is already pretty taxing compared to some other MMOs, with some specializations needing anywhere between 10 and 20 plus key binds to play optimally. Multiply that by 18 years' worth of expansions, and that can lead to significant ability bloat. Blizzard opted for a system referred to as borrowed power, which typically revolves around expansion-only features that disappear between updates, replaced by new ones. 

The borrowed power design was fun initially, but it got stale quickly, especially knowing everything you'd earned in that expansion was essentially destined to be wiped. Somewhere along the line, Blizzard must have realized that the transitory feelings of previous expansions was unhealthy for the game because Dragonflight is all about permanent rewards and core systems. 

The biggest aspect of this, for me, is the reintroduction of talent trees. Blizzard pruned talent trees to a simplified ability-swap system that ripped the flavor out of classes and harmed the game's sense of player growth. After the success of WoW: Classic, it seems Blizzard has realized that the old way was simply better, and the flexibility afforded by the new system is as fun as it is diverse. 

You can set up and share talent builds on the fly with a text string, making it easy to set up pre-set builds for different types of content. You are given a lot of granular control over how your class plays, and can very rapidly tailor builds to maximize your effectiveness regardless of what content you're digesting. You could even go as far as to tailor builds for specific raid bosses. The talent trees were also a great excuse to bring back fan-favorite abilities and spells from previous expansions, and practically every class got something new and fun to play with.   

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Blizzard's new design philosophy is just how rapidly they're performing tweaks, fixes, and even revamps. I went literally entire expansions with interesting abilities rendered completely useless by a lack of interest from Blizzard in doing mid-expansion balance tweaks. The pace of updates has been far more palatable this time, with classes getting buffs or nerfs based on prevailing trends almost on a fortnightly basis. Retribution Paladins for example are getting almost a full overhaul to add some dynamism and additional tools to the class' playstyle and fantasy, which is great to see. Previously, Blizzard waited for entire expansions to pass before doing these kinds of revamps. 

It's perhaps fortunate that Blizzard is paying more attention to balance during the expansion this time around, given that they added an entirely new class into the mix in the form of the Dracthyr Evoker. These lithe lizard-like drakonids are the creations of Deathwing, sent into slumber for millennia. Now awoken, they've taken up their charge to defend the Dragon Isles from the Primalists, teaming up with the player to do so. The design of the Dracthyr is subject to debate, with some saying they look too weedy when compared to some of their beefier drakonid cousins. They are casters in essence, using breath attacks and dragon powers to heal friends or damage foes. I find them to be quite fun to play, with their winged mobility powers giving them a huge degree of freedom on the battlefield. I'm not a fan of their design visually, though, and the fact that they get very little armor designs to choose from is a bit of a disappointment. I suspect Blizzard will give the Dracthyr more capabilities in subsequent patches throughout this expansion, though. 

Another improvement in Blizzard's design philosophy pertains to endgame content in general. The few most recent expansions put far too much emphasis on artificial time-gating or time-sensitive mechanics, which contributed to this feeling that WoW had become a choring job.

For this expansion, Blizzard relented on some of these artificial systems designed entirely for engagement metrics padding and focused on creating a variety of fun content backed with cosmetic or convenience rewards instead of power progression. As a result, I ironically feel more motivated to log on and "pad those engagement metrics," because there's just less pressure to log on in the first place. The new professional systems offer the kind of depth I like, and although they have a lot of room for improvement, they've become deep enough to offer additional meaningful progression beyond the gear grind. And it's that gear grind really that keeps players coming back, month after month, year after year. So how are dungeons and raids these days?

The core endgame gameplay loop remains unchanged mainly in Dragonflight, and perhaps that's a good thing since it's one of the game's strongest aspects. There are still some annoying affix combos in Mythic+ dungeons. These affixes are modifiers that add additional dimensions of difficulty to end-game 5-player dungeon runs. In higher-level M+ keys, these affixes can interact in incredibly irritating ways at times, to the point where class imbalances become more apparent. 

Blizzard has shown more willingness to tune around higher-level play, though, so that every playstyle has a chance to reach keystone master seasonal rankings or perhaps even higher. The dungeon designs are great too. A personal favorite is the excellent Nokhud Assault dungeon which takes place across the entire zone, carried by your dragonriding drakes. Veterans will remember the last time Blizzard tried something like this with the much-hated Oculus dungeon. Over a decade later, we can see how much the tech has advanced to make mounting in-dungeon feel much better. I also really enjoyed the Azure Vault dungeon, which is a forgotten library of magical apocrypha. Led by none other than an arcane simulacrum of the very dead dragon Sindragosa, this dungeon ends in a battle with a demented, crystal-wracked dragon whose piercing howls of pain are among some of Warcraft's most haunting.

However, I'm not a fan of Blizzard's decision to pull old dungeons into the current seasons. There are a bunch of new dungeons in Dragonflight that I've barely touched because Blizzard has arbitrarily removed them from the season pool. Personally speaking, I don't want to run old dungeons anymore, although that is indeed a personal preference. 

The raid is the centerpiece of any endgame season, and Dragonflight Season 1 gives us Vault of the Incarnates. It's yet another Titan facility taken over by a rogue force, namely Razsageth and her cultist lackeys. Why mortal races keep throwing in en masse with apocalyptic entities is one of World of Warcraft's biggest mysteries, but, here we are.

The design of the raid itself isn't too mystifying, but it has some fun scenery and boss battles. The opening to the big raid is ablaze with lava giants, evoking nostalgic feelings of Molten Core. Then we wind through elemental-imbued halls, doing battle with a giant frost-spider, a hulking earth elemental, and several other lava-endowed horrors. The raid is a little on the pedestrian side, I feel, culminating in a tough battle with the lightning-spewing proto-drake Razsageth. However, I can't see it being remembered as fondly as something like Ulduar or Naxxramas. I would like Blizzard to try a little harder in this regard. The mechanics are fun and unique, but a lot of the models we see in raids are reused skeletons from bosses we've killed a thousand times, and it's really starting to drag.

Another aspect of Dragonflight that I would like to see Blizzard try harder with is the new-player experience. The health of any service game has to revolve around its onboarding process for new generations of players, as veterans drop off the game due to fatigue or real-life things. I would argue that World of Warcraft has the worst new player experience of any service game in history for its size. The band-aid that is "Exiles' Reach" dumps players into a random point in the game's story lore and then spews them into Battle for Azeroth, right into dungeons with advanced mechanics. If you're a solo player, you simply have no chance, as tolerance for even the most minuscule of newcomer mistakes is absolutely minimum in this game. I've long, long argued that Blizzard needs to do another Cataclysm-style revamp of Azeroth, with low-scale threats that can exist in a lore-agnostic vacuum, to anchor players in the game RPG fantasy and its mechanics. Dragonflight offers no improvements whatsoever for the new player experience, and that's a shame. 

Overall though, and particularly for returning players, Dragonflight is the healthiest the game has been in years. The variety of endgame activities beyond simply dungoneering is really refreshing, and there's enough new content for every class and profession to keep you busy, regardless of how hardcore you want to play. I'm impressed that Blizzard was able to shed some of its ingrained design direction and learn from the past to build something new. 

WoW: Dragonflight review — Final thoughts

World of Warcraft is a legendary game, and as someone who has been playing it since launch, it's kind of wild to see how it has evolved over time. The entire video game industry has changed since the game launched, and the fact Blizzard manages to keep WoW current is a testament to the developers, artists, and its community as well. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight represents something of a new direction ethos for Blizzard, and from its first iteration, it's a breath of fresh air. The emphasis on variety and low-pressure progression fun is welcomed, as permanent new additions like boosted professions and a revamped UI system. 

World of Warcraft has a mountain of legacy content that is in desperate need of a revamp, most pressing of all being the new-player experience, which remains awful in Dragonflight. I would argue Blizzard's PvP systems also need a deeper look too, although the itemization has improved this time around. Either way, veterans will find a lot to love on the Dragon Isles, with literal mountains of new content, new stories, and new gear to discover. 

If you're a weary vet who has wondered when the right time to return to Azeroth might be, I would say now is better than ever. If you're a curious newbie wondering what all the fuss is about, I'd argue that Dragonflight still isn't a great starting point. It is a great starting point for the future of the game, though, with a new design ethos that will lead to a healthier service for fans of all types of playstyles. 

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Classic and World of Warcraft: Dragonflight are both getting new content in January.
• The former will enjoy Season 6 content, new Raids and Raid Bosses, and much more.
• The latter is getting the long-awaited Trading Post, new transmog features, and a new Primal Storm event.
• WoW players can expect this new content starting Jan. 16 for Classic and Jan. 24 for Dragonflight.

World of Warcraft fans are eating well lately with the continued evolution of World of Warcraft: Classic and the recent release of the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion. On Thursday, Blizzard Entertainment detailed some of the new content players can expect in the coming weeks for both games.

World of Warcraft: Classic is getting new content starting the week of Jan. 16, with additional Emblems and related changes, the beginning of the Argent Tournament, the start of Season 6 in the Arena, and the Titan Rune Dungeons. Starting the week of Jan. 19, players will be able to conquer Ulduar in a brand new Raid packed with Bosses. Finally, the week of Jan. 23 will see the arrival of Emalon the Storm Watcher, a new Boss, in the Vault of Archavon Raid.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's upcoming content drop isn't nearly as exciting, but it does exactly follow the recent roadmap Blizzard released for the Dragonflight expansion. The 10.0.5 patch update arrives on Jan. 24, and will bring a new Primal Storm event with "The Storm's Fury," complete with new loot like a pet or mount. Players will also be able to alter the appearance with new transmog options for White and Grey rarity gear. Finally, Feb. 1 will see the arrival of the Trading Post, where players will be able to complete activities in exchange for currency good for cosmetics like transmog gear, pets, and mounts.

World of Warcraft is better than it has been in years, and continues to get better as the old-is-new-again Classic and the modern Dragonflight versions enjoy fresh content drops over time. For hardcore MMO players, World of Warcraft is shooting for the top of our list of best PC games, whether you're pushing back the aggressive Primalists or seeking out a confrontation with the mighty Lich King.

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the latest expansion for the long-running MMORPG.
• Blizzard Entertainment has shared a 2023 roadmap, detailing the kind of updates players can expect. 
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will get six content patches over the next year.

While developers around the world are taking breaks for the holidays, Blizzard Entertainment has shared what World of Warcraft players can look forward to in the next year.

Blizzard Entertainment detailed a 2023 roadmap for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, sharing that players can look forward to six different content patches for the expansion across the next year.

"In planning out the road ahead following the release of Dragonflight, we've been mindful of the duty we owe our players to nurture this living world and, frankly, the need to do better than we have at times in the recent past," says executive producer Holly Longdale. "Our goal for Dragonflight is that there should always be something right around the corner, with a new update hitting our test realms shortly after the last one is live and in your hands."

The six updates will be "fairly evenly spaced," adding a variety of new content to the game including events, dungeons, cutscenes, and more. Two of the updates will provide larger amounts of content, while the other four will bring smaller additions to the experience.

The 10.0.5 content update was previously revealed, and is bringing the Trading Post system to World of Warcraft. After that, the 10.0.7 content update will be up next, with a new quest that's focused on the mystery of the Dracthyr while also setting up what's next for the story of Dragonflight.

Blizzard is continuing to push for the future of the Warcraft franchise, bringing back veteran Chris Metzen as an advisor for the series starting with World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft is moving in the right direction

It's been a long time since I've seen this kind of energy around World of Warcraft. Looking in, it seems like players are broadly having a good time, with the expansion bringing plenty of great experiences and a narrative people enjoy. 

If you're considering jumping in on your Windows PC, our managing editor Jez Corden has found that World of Warcraft is worth playing in 2022, noting that "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight puts the game in a better state than it has been in years."

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the latest expansion for the long-running title, is now available worldwide. 
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight adds a new race, the Dracthyr, as well as new regions for players to explore.
• Another major feature is Dragonriding, which is available for everyone.

The latest expansion for Blizzard Entertainment's long-running MMORPG is now here. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is now available worldwide, bringing a plethora of new content to the game. Players can try out the new Dracthyr class, use Dragonriding to explore the skies, explore several new regions, learn more about the Dragon Aspects, and more.

“Dragonflight goes to the heart of what players have always loved about World of Warcraft—exploration, customization, and the feeling of wonder as the world and its stories unfold,” said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “The updates to core systems, such as the new talent trees, build on the legacy of WoW for players of all types, allowing old friends and new to enjoy everything Azeroth has to offer for years to come.”

In our preview of the expansion earlier this year, managing editor Jez Corden wrote that " I'm looking forward to seeing how the profession system plays out, and feel encouraged by the soft reboot of the game's story as we move into a new saga with a small time skip."

Anyone who wants to play but hasn't played before (or at least in a long while) doesn't need a super high-end computer. Some of the best gaming laptops that are inexpensive run World of Warcraft with great performance, and are worth considering for any curious newcomers.

This comes as Activision Blizzard is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft. The deal, which is worth almost $69 billion, is undergoing regulatory review in several countries around the world, and is currently slated to be complete sometime before June 30, 2023.

World of Warcraft is an aging giant, but the creative minds at Blizzard still plugging away figuring out how to squeeze more Azerothian goodness out of this quite legendary PC game. 

Entering its 18th year in operation, World of Warcraft has defied industry trends, defied rivals, and weathered every storm internally and externally as it approaches two decades of service. The team is tasked with figuring out how to keep the game fresh for old-school players while making it attractive to lapsed and new players alike. With that in mind, the team set about building Dragonflight, the latest expansion which turns many of the PC game's existing systems upside down for a new era. Dragonflight also looks to WoW's recent successes with the revival of earlier expansions as part of its WoW: Classic initiative, which has seen players discover historic and nostalgic expansions for the first time. 

Dragonflight revives WoW's classic talent tree progression paths while injecting a massive new landmass dubbed The Dragon Isles to kick off an all-new saga. Professions have been fully revamped, the UI has been totally refreshed, and new graphics options await returning players as they gear up for a new expedition. 

To get a better understanding of Blizzard's headspace, we recently caught up with game director Ion Hazzikostas, associate game director Jeremy Feasel and lead software engineer May Flores Garcia, to learn more about the game's direction, and what fans can expect in this continuation of what is easily one of the best PC games of all time. 

Note: Some responses have been edited for clarity and brevity. Includes questions from various outlets including LaptopMag, Polygon, MMO-Champion, and Twinfinite.

World of Warcraft Dragonflight Interview summary

• Blizzard wants to include more character customization options in the future, including for Balance Druid's moonkin forms. 
• Blizzard says it hasn't shelved cosmetic glyphs, but they need to maintain a balance between customization and spell clarity. 
• Class identity will be enhanced via the new talent trees and class-specific armor sets. 
• Dragonflight's Renown system will not be tied to power as was the case in Shadowlands, but will still allow you to pursue meaningful rewards through a weekly covenant with specific factions. 
• Blizzard is always planning two expansions ahead. The game director had a meeting about the next, next expansion after Dragonflight this past week.
• Blizzard had to refactor aspects of the game's movement engine to accommodate the new physics of Dragonriding, but maintaining that signature Warcraft responsiveness was key.
• Dragonriding will boost flying speed by over 800% at its maximum level, compared to the 180% we have today.
• The Dragon Isles has some of the biggest zones in Warcraft history, in part due to the emphasis on flight.
• Blizzard may explore other classic dungeons for full-blown revamps like Uldaman.
• Blizzard says they know they have work to do to improve the new player experience, given that the best way to get into WoW is via a friend right now.
• Xbox controller support is coming in the future, and Blizzard wants to enhance accessibility in general.
• Blizzard says death is still a scary uncertainty for most of Azeroth's citizens, despite the fact players conquered the Shadowlands. Not everyone returned from the Shadowlands excursion, and we have not yet discovered all the different afterlives the Arbiter could send us to. 
• Blizzard is doubling down on creating meaningful villains that are nuanced and deep, and not necessarily simply exuding raw power. 
• World of Warcraft's storyline is encrypted in the data files to prevent spoilers and leaks this time around.
• More class combinations may be on the cards for the future, such as Undead Paladins, but it may need new lore and storylines for it to make sense.

Refreshing the World of Warcraft experience

With regards to how the WoW experience has evolved in recent years, Hazzikostas discussed how World of Warcraft: Classic and Burning Crusade: Classic have both informed and shaped how the team wants to evolve the franchise. Hazzikostas went as far to admit that the restrictions Blizzard attempted to implement in Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands went too far, and have instead settled on player freedom as the driving ethos of the game while borrowing some of the depth and complexity that typified earlier World of Warcraft experiences. 

"I think we've learned a tremendous amount from Classic. The whole Classic experiment over the last few years. There's always a lot of debate on changes that have been made over the years that remove friction. In some cases, we've streamlined some things — everything from group finding tools to simplified talents to whatever else. Did we lose something by making those changes? Or is it that the community in a lot of ways is in a different place now?"

"I think some of our experiments in past recent expansions, things we didn't challenge, for example, the restrictions on changing your Azerite armour around. We were harkening back to the way Classic worked 15 to 16 years ago. It had good effect back then, where you had to pay an escalating respec cost to change your talents — decisions felt weightier. In a sense, these things did create more investment in your character, and social interdependencies and so forth. But I think what we've seen looking at players go through Classic today is that the community is just in a different place. The same systems that played out one way in 2005 and 2008, don't play out the same way today. People do metagame, people do min max people, even if respeccing is super-inconvenient, people still feel obligated to grind lots of gold so they can respec whenever they want to be optimal."

"We've tried to put the genie back in the bottle, but we were a bit misguided. We were trying to return to a place where our players feel no longer really works. I think Dragonflight is fully embracing that knowledge as we look forward. It's meeting players where they are. It's giving freedom and agency. It is the depth, and the customization of old school talent trees, dialled up to 11, while retaining the flexibility the players of today want and expect. You'll have the ability to have multiple loadouts to switch between on the fly, link one to your friend, and so on. We want to let you play the game the way you want to play it. And we'll meet you there. And that's kind of the modern ethos embodied."

I asked Ion for his thoughts on World of Warcraft's new player experience. One of the biggest barriers I find to new WoW adoption is the general messiness that is the current WoW iteration for new players. With the new Exile's Reach starting area, you're dumped into the middle of a storyline set through years of conflict build-up, addressed as a "champion" by major characters despite being a new player. I expressed that the classic racial starting areas gave players a deeper connection to the game's setting. Ion acknowledged that there's still work to do, noting that they have "a lot more" to do to improve things. 

"It's something we know we need to continue to evolve, like Exile's Reach. I do think Exiler's Reach was a big step up from what we had before where you were jumping in and playing 12-year-old content that was very disconnected. It wasn't really acknowledging the evolution of the game systems or anything along those lines. 

There are trade-offs for sure, between having a single unified experience like Exile's Reach, and the individual racial starting experiences we had back in the day, which is why we keep them available for people. But also, the game has grown so much, there's a lot of value in having a single environment where we can teach people the basics: this is how you interact. This is how you accept quests, and so on. 

After you emerge from Exile's Reach, handing players off into Battle for Azeroth, at least continues a cohesive story arc. But we think we have a lot more to do there in terms of explaining systems. Everything from the new talents, to professions to dungeons, battlegrounds, and everything else. 

Right now the best way to experience World of Warcraft for the first time is probably to have a friend introduce you to who can answer your question. But we know tons of new people check out WoW every day. And we need to continue to want to continue expanding our audience and making sure that it's welcoming for new generations."

On the topic of developmental timelines, Ion noted that Blizzard generally thinks two expansions into the future. Blizzard has been discussing revamping talents to a more "classic" style for several years, but the pipeline didn't line up until Dragonflight. 

"I can tell you right now, we had a meeting last week brainstorming the expansion that's going to come after the next one. We're thinking up to two expansions into the future. There are multiple levels to that timeline. In terms of big world building, we ask, where's the story going? We wouldn't have been able to plant the seeds for the story in Legion all the way back in Mists if we were just working in real time. We're always looking at short distance ahead. 

The talent system overhaul is something we've been talking about internally for like three or four years. We weren't happy with the lack of extensibility, and what we lost in terms of that feeling of getting a point every level, the granularity. But we looked at what an undertaking it would be to change all of it. There was no way to get that done in time for Shadowlands. So we said, "okay, that's gonna happen for Dragonflight."

There isn't like one time where all of these things begin simultaneously. It's figuring out early concept art for where we might want to go. And then a few months later, a couple of major systems or feature ideas come into place. And then building the quests, building the raids. That's that stuff usually happening in the last year and a half leading up to launch. Pre-planning is always ongoing."

Dragonriding, questing, and zone design

On the topic of Dragonriding and Blizzard's approach to zone design, Hazzikostas described the team's intent to inject a "breath of fresh" air into proceedings, emphasizing that the Dragon Isles represents some of the largest playable zones in franchise history. 

"We wanted this whole continent expansion to feel like a breath of fresh air. Returning to Azeroth, with the world laid out before you to explore. We have made, consciously, some of our largest zones ever in World of Warcraft, with the intent and the knowledge the players are going to have access to Dragonriding from very early on in that experience."

Hazzikostas described how Blizzard deliberately guns to add in wildlife and random spawns to give the world a sense of life beyond the game's cities and "functional" spaces. 

"The real world isn't simply functional spaces right next to each other. It is sometimes just soaring across open planes, centaurs galloping below you as you're heading to your destination. And our environment and world-building team just killed it. It's been awesome. I can't wait for the whole world to be able to jump in and see it for themselves."

May Flores Garcia went on to describe how the team approached Dragonriding and its momentum physics without rebuilding WoW's entire movement system. One of World of Warcraft's most signature features is the responsiveness of its movement in an online space. 

"When the movement system was first created, it was definitely not created with Dragonriding physics and math in mind. So when I first started prototyping, we asked, "can we get some kind of physics into our system?" It was clear from the beginning that the typical way of implementing these physics wouldn't work in WoW. We needed to get a little bit creative into how we were going to implement that. So

One of the strengths of our movement system is our responsiveness, and in order for us to achieve that, we need to implement the math in a very specific way. So, it was hard to figure out how to get that math with the new physics that we have in mind. In the end, we actually got a lot of this physics into play, which by the way, are actually real physics. We did have to get a few changes into our movement system here and there to be able to support it properly. We were very careful, though, about not changing the feel and cultural factors in the base movement system that would ultimately compromise the actual feeling and responsiveness overall."

The topic of story gating came up, given its controversy in Shadowlands. Throughout Shadowlands, Blizzard implemented a soft "battle pass"-like structure called Renown around content gating, artificially preventing players from progressing the story until certain periods of time had passed. Dragonflight will use a similar system, but it won't be tied to power progression as we saw in Shadowlands. Renown will be faction-based as it was in Shadowlands, except now, you'll be able to progress any faction you like on a week-by-week basis, instead of being hard-locked to a Covenant as was the case at the start of Shadowlands. 

"So there are a number of different quest lines that are going to unlock as you progress into maximum renown and I think one of the most interesting things about our particular end-game system is that everything in that world is encrypted — it hasn't even been played on the beta. We're looking forward to seeing how people react to this sort of, in-the-moment storytelling. You get to watch the next episode as it happens. 

We tried to center rewards around a weekly cadence this time, so you can sort of play how you want during the week. You can pick which one of those Renown tracks you want to increase during the week, you can progress in each one of them your own pace. And then as you progress each of those tracks, you're going to unlock progression speed-ups for your alts. You unlock things like dragon racing, and dragon-riding powers. There was a lot of learnings from the Shadowlands Covenants, making them significantly more alt friendly coming out of the gate with Dragonflight."

Story and Lore

One interviewer expressed concern that new players might find themselves a little lost in Dragonflight, given that the Dragon Aspects haven't taken center stage in the WoW storyline for quite some time. Ion emphasized that Dragonflight will have depth for lore fans but will remain accessible for newcomers. 

"Our hope is no. There's a lot of depth to the story, and players who played through Wrath through Cataclysm who know the nuances of the Aspects may appreciate the extra depth there. But at its core, this is a story that doesn't have barriers to entry. 

It's about these dragons who are guardians of Azeroth, and the Legacy cinematics we put out on YouTube will also be available in-game for added backstory and context.  The Aspects had to sacrifice their power to defeat Deathwing, the betrayer among them, and save Azeroth years ago. And so, when this ancient threat, the primal incarnates return, they no longer have the power that they once did to stand up to them. And it took everything they had to imprison and defeat the primals, previously. Without that power, they need our help. We're going to learn about the origins of the aspects, we're going to learn about what losing that power has meant, where it came from, how they've interacted with each other, all together as we journey through the Dragon Isles. We may even look to crown new Aspects in some cases to replace those that have been lost over the years."

In Shadowlands, players essentially uncover the full breadth of the laws governing life and death, complete with a full understanding of how the afterlife itself works. I asked if that potentially impacts the gravitas that plot mechanics like death could have on the story, given the fact the afterlife is now just something we can teleport into. 

"There are a couple of interesting conversations that occur around the world that you could find that elaborate on this. But I think the TL;DR there is that death to the majority of the citizens, is still a big uncertainty. Everybody didn't come into the Shadowlands with us and we haven't found every afterlife necessarily. There's still also an aspect of being judged by the Arbiter, still. And you can still be placed in a place like Revendreth, where your pride is ultimately pulled out of you. There are still other afterlives that we're not sure about. So there's still quite a bit of uncertainty there. And if I was like a random person in Goldshire, I think I would still be terrified about the idea of an unknown that some people came back from — but not everybody. So I would probably still be freaked out."

It was also asked how Blizzard could avoid "Dragon Ball Z syndrome" or power creep in the story. Given the fact the game is pushing 20 in a couple of years, players have fought against increasingly powerful entities, going from angry gnolls in Goldshire fields all the way up to cosmic Gods in literal outer space. How can Blizzard keep players invested in the more grounded storylines, that seem to be what Dragonflight wants to tell? Jeremy Feasel emphasized that the most interesting villains are not necessarily the most powerful. 

"I think the interesting villains and most interesting characters general, aren't necessarily the most powerful. A big driving force of World of Warcraft is crafting interesting villains and giving them nuance. I don't think Arthas was interesting, because he was powerful. He was interesting because he went through a really meaningful character transformation, and he became a tragic hero. Same thing with Illidan. 

The fun part about crafting future elements, crafting everything from the Tuskarr that you meet by the side of the road, to major villains, like the headlining villain of this expansion, the Primal Incarnates. We have only briefly heard of them, and you may have seen a slight wince from Alexstrasza during a cinematic when she heard their name. We're starting to build up those characters as themselves. We can have them make interesting choices, which I think can be more satisfying than a desire to straight up destroy the world. So it'll be interesting to see what the future of the dragonflights is, once all is said and done."

Endgame and PvE 

During the last raid tier of Shadowlands, there was some controversy about the difficulty tuning. The Sepulcher of the First Ones saw raid guilds burning themselves out on some of the most difficult high-end content yet, with the esports-like global race to first kill becoming notoriously grueling. Blizzard took a fair while to address some of the raid's bugs and balance problems, leading to one interviewer inquiring about whether we may see similar problems given that Dragonflight's first raid tier is dropping around Christmas. 

"It's a ton of effort that goes into creating and balancing raids. We are taking more of a step back from trying to continually one-up the increasingly skillful and organized best guilds in the world. If we keep trying to one-up them, we're going to create something that will be very hard for them, but it's now actually so hard that it's frustrating for everybody else. And that's not the right thing for the game. 

With the first two Incarnate bosses coming in December, we are releasing Mythic difficulty at the same time as Heroic, in large part because of the holiday season coming up. Players don't want to have to organize, you know, competitive cutting-edge ratings over the holidays. Also, it's nice for us to be able to spend time with our families as well and not have to worry about hotfixes on Christmas Day. But all of that said, I am hopeful that if this experiment works well, it's something we would continue. 

It's always been a little bit odd to have that first week where Mythic raid difficulty wasn't available. As a result, loot from some sources was arbitrarily gated. It didn't matter if you cleared a high-level Mythic plus, your rewards would stop increasing past a Mythic+8 or something, that kind of felt broken. If a player asked "Wait, why am I not getting rewards for doing a really hard dungeon right now?" The answer was like, "oh, because we want to be fair to the world-first raiders." That's not a satisfying answer. So I think that releasing everything simultaneously, will make for an overall more concise, more exciting, focused stretch at the very, very high end in terms of competition, and for the rest of the player base. 

So obviously, we're going to be paying close attention to how it goes. We've tested all the encounters thoroughly and gotten feedback over the course of multiple rounds on beta. One last quick point. Something else that it does from a tuning perspective: we saw the very top guilds doing lots of split runs through the first week, doing as much as they possibly can, often funneling loot, achieving item levels that exceed what regular Mythic guilds would be able to get even six weeks later. So they're not just out skilling the rest of the world, they're also out gearing the rest of the world, which makes it exceedingly hard to tune things to be interesting for them. 

I think we can create challenges that will challenge the top guilds during the first week, while still being appropriate for the majority of players charting their own course, without us having to go in and do a lot of heavy-handed nerfs."

One interviewer asked if World of Warcraft will ever get a commendation system similar to Overwatch, in attempts to combat toxicity across PvP and PvE. It's certainly true that as World of Warcraft has gotten easier, it has also gotten more anonymous, meaning that increasingly players don't recognize others as actual human entities. 

"It's something we spent a lot of time talking about. I think there's definitely value to commendation systems. We watched and learned from what the Overwatch team tried there with their end of match commendations. We need to be careful, whether it's penalties or rewards to make sure that we're encouraging genuine, earnestly good play and not yet another layer that's going to be metagamed. But I think carrots on a stick work. 

We've tried to have a code of conduct asking players to adapt to and acknowledge. We have improved our in-game reporting and enforcement of harassment, hate speech, harmful language, and benefiting from machine learning and other tools as well. 

We have the ability to police that toxicity. But at the end of the day, getting the person who was toxic towards you suspended, doesn't make that toxicity feel less bad. We want to do more to encourage positive cooperative play. We have nothing to announce specifically right now, but I think something like those positive commendation systems, reasons to care about other's opinions, even if you know, you're probably never going see those people again. We want to continue exploring those areas."

On the topic of bringing forward older raids and dungeons for current content and Mythic+ dungeon systems, Ion expressed an interest in doing so, referring to the recently re-imagined upgrade to Uldaman. Uldaman is one of the game's oldest dungeons, and it has just undergone another revamp to bring it up to date with the game's current story timeline. 

Dragonflight will include older dungeons in PvE seasons on a rotational basis, but there's a point where some of the game's older dungeons are simply too old.

"I think that when we get to dungeons that are from that era, we're more likely to do what we've done with dungeons like Uldaman in Dragonflight, where it's like a full reimagining. We've done similar things for Scarlet Monastery and others in the past. We've kind of internally probably drawn a line around Mists of Pandaria, when it comes to how far back we're going to look for Mythic+ rotating seasonal dungeons. In part because like, there's something a bit more modern about the about the encounter design after that point. If we look earlier than that, I think both from an art fidelity perspective, but also just the encounter designs for the dungeon, we weren't necessarily asking ourselves the same questions that we asked when making dungeons today. And so, I would say it's unlikely in their current forms, though, as always, anything is possible."

Allied races, player fantasy, and customization

When asked about adding more races to World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas emphasized that it's a tool they feel they can use when the time is right, although there are no immediate plans. 

"It's a tool that we have in our toolkit. Allied races were a central part of the story and of the Battle for Azeroth expansion. Gathering allies to fight the Great War. Shadowlands just wasn't a natural fit for new allied races for a few reasons. It was very hard to imagine any of the native inhabitants of the afterlife deciding I'm going to come back to Azeroth and join the Alliance or whatever. But it's something that we are open to doing again. We want to continue to add, not just big major new races as in Dracthyr, but also variants of existing races and the other cultures we interact with, as Azeroth continues to expand."

Another interviewer asked about World of Warcraft's attention towards player fantasy. In previous expansions like World of Warcraft: Legion, Blizzard put a large emphasis on class identity with unique stories for each and every class. That has fallen by the wayside since, making some of us wonder what, if anything, they are doing to keep up with that design goal. 

"I think I think the changes we made in Legion are ones that we've carried forward in terms of last class identity of spec identity. Of real depth and differentiation between a Fire Mage and an Arcane Mage, for example, in terms of their abilities, to the visuals involved, to just how they move around, and what tools they bring to a battle to help reinforce like, "this is who you are." 

"Your class is the lens through which you view the world. This is how you interact with everything around you. One of our goals with the new the talent system was to deepen that connection further, to give people the tools to choose what sort of Affliction Warlock you want to be, for example. Unlike the original talent system we had 15 years ago, we now have not only a class tree, but also a unique spec tree that you only have access to as an Affliction Warlock or whatever else. That helps further set you apart from other specs. We continue to evolve and invest in improving the visual effects, we want them to feel iconic and distinctive. And that's certainly front and centre and the Dracthyr Evoker. The tools they bring into an encounter are unmistakable. You'll know you're fighting alongside a dragon and that's awesome. We want it to feel awesome for them and for the people who were there with them."

With class customization in mind, I asked about World of Warcraft's glyph system for customization. Minor glyphs were a way for players to customize the visual style of their spells, but Blizzard rarely adds new ones. Ion also let us know that grey and white items are still on the list of things to come to transmog for equipment. I asked if Blizzard had changed its ethos towards player customization, given that visual glyphs are largely dead as a customization feature. 

"There are dozens of different playstyles within World of Warcraft, dozens of facets to this audience that shares their time together in Azeroth. We're always trying to balance the overall player experience, the needs of some groups versus the needs of others. Transmog is a game defining feature for millions of players. Those are all areas that we care deeply about want to continue to expand our offerings within. Improved character customization options are an example, opening up transmog options, adding all new types of cosmetics and outfits that will come from a range of end game sources. Just as a nice update, we talked about wanting to make white and grey gear transmoggable. We'd hoped to do that by Dragonflight, we realised that it was a bit more complex than expected because of the way the transmog system was built. So, there are some technical challenges to solve there, but in an upcoming patch shortly after Dragonflight comes out, you want to let all those range of white and grey items be transmoggable, which will allow for roleplayers to access a ton of new civilian looks. 

Similarly with glyphs, it's a question of where we're where we're focusing our efforts in terms of professions. This time around, we wanted to overhaul the fundamental system underpinning how all professions work. And that kind of took up all of our bandwidth. There's a pendulum that swings back and forth, we want to make sure that everyone feels heard. But we can't get to everyone simultaneously. 

Offering alternate visuals for player rotational abilities is something that I know our VFX team is excited to do. It's a challenge, given that we need to preserve some amount of readability and recognizability. Not just in PvP, but even in a dungeon in a raid. When you see abilities being used around you, you need to understand what classes are using them, and that you know what they are. The more variants we allow, the more we just kind of risk everything being just this mess of colors. That said, there's room for more customization. And I hear you loud and clear there."

I asked Ion if, in a world with an infinite budget, what one feature he'd like to get implemented. In a previous interview, Ion mentioned his idea of a pet battle auto-battler-type system, and almost every WoW interview tends to bring up player housing in one form or another. Ion emphasized that WoW's developmental pipeline always revolves around making the biggest impact on the game using the resources available, which may mean things like getting patches out more quickly, for example. 

"It's a good question, but it's a tricky one. I think the features that I feel most strongly about are things that we have already done. That's part of part of helping to prioritise. If you're truly infinite, without management constraints, then who knows.  The reality is we don't we're not looking at what we can or can't do based on a price tag or a budget. It's about the resources we have. If we had 100 more people on the team tomorrow, there would still be the question of what's the highest impact thing those 100 people can do? Is it getting patches out more frequently? Is it having more smaller updates in between our major new zone, new raid tier type patches to keep the world feeling more alive and the story moving forward? IS it pet battle improvements? Is it whatever else? 

It's really hard for me to name the one thing I think certainly like there's more we want to do with pet battles, as an example for sure. There's more we want to do with transmog. There's more we want to do with like lots of systems. Improvements to the UI, clarity around how quest presentation works. The way we put quest text in a box and ask you to read it is something that was great 20 years ago — we can do a lot better today. It's just a question of like, when are we going to pull the trigger on those things? And there is a list miles and miles long of things we'd love to do. It's guided by the feedback that we hear from all sources."

Another interviewer asked Jeremy Feasel how player identity is evolving in general as we head into Dragonflight. After all, we do now have class-specific sets returning, but there are also unique unlocks for Dragonriding mechanics and beyond. 

"The refocus on class design sets on the raid side of things, I think has been interesting. Similarly on the professional side of things, we really wanted to make you feel like you were that profession. When you are doing that profession's activities, you should be decked out in a cool helmet and a mining pick. You should feel like you're a member of that profession. 

The focus on this being an exploration-based expansion pack allows players to really carve out a unique identity for themselves. Do you want to go off and do Centaur hunts? Do you want to collect Tuskarr pieces? There are weekly bonuses for activities wrapped around all of these things, allows you to do really any of these things. You could gun to be the guy that unlocked the otter mount first, or the person who unlocked this unique dragonriding skin first, and so on."

Thanks to Blizzard for joining us! 

A big thank you to Blizzard and the other interviewers for this large Q&A session. You can jump into World of Warcraft: Dragonflight right now and play the Dracthyr Evoker class early with a pre-purchase, ahead of the game's full-blown launch on November 23. 

World of Warcraft is one of Blizzard's crowning achievements, revitalizing the MMO genre and becoming one of the most influential games of all time. The hyper-optimized game runs on virtually any of the best gaming laptops and even the most affordable gaming laptops, supporting lower-end PCs all the way up to ultra-graphics that now even include ray-traced shadows and other modern graphics profiles. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has a real chance to put the aging MMO back on the map after a couple of relatively disappointing expansion outings. 

Shadowlands will probably be remembered as one of the game's least popular expansions, with irritating time-gating and perplexing story directions that betrayed decades-old lore with character decisions that made little sense on the surface. Dragonflight features something of a time skip, moving the plot forward several years to deliver something fresh in the process. A return to classic Azerothian territory with a deeper emphasis on the game's core systems should prove to be a hit with lapsed fans and existing players alike, but only time will tell if it all pans out as planned.

What you need to know

• Blizzard will suspend several of its games in China since it cannot reach an agreement with publisher NetEase.
• Simon Zhu, the president of NetEase, took to LinkedIn to criticize Blizzard, citing (sic) "how much damage a jerk can make."
• The end of the partnership between Blizzard and NetEase does not affect Diablo Immortal, which is under a separate long-term licensing deal.

Gamers in China will soon lose access to the vast majority of Blizzard's Windows PC and mobile games. The gaming giant will suspend most of its game services in mainland China on January 23, 2023. World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch 2, Diablo III, the StarCraft series, and other titles will be affected by the move. Activision Blizzard explained the situation in a recent post.

In short, Blizzard Entertainment has had a licensing agreement with NetEase since 2008. The companies could not come to an agreement "that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees," according to Activision Blizzard. As a result, players in China will lose access to a long list of titles.

In response to the announcement, NetEase President shared his thoughts on LinkedIn:

"As a gamer who spent ten thousand hours in the world of Azeroth, starcraft and overwatch, I feel so heartbroken as I will no longer have the access to my account and memories next year. (sic)

One day, when what has happened behind the scene could be told, developers and gamers will have a whole new level understanding of how much damage a jerk can make.

Feel terrible for players who lived in those worlds."

It's not clear who Zhu believes is a "jerk" at Blizzard, as he did not specify. Some, including The Verge's Tom Warren, suspect that Zhu referred to Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in his post.

Blizzard will suspend new sales in China over the next few days. The company promised more details about the effect the suspension will have on Chinese players.

Blizzard explained that the upcoming releases of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and season 2 of Overwatch 2 will all go forward later this year in existing markets, although China will not be among them. However, the end of Blizzard and NetEase's partnership does not extend to the oft-criticized Diablo Immortal, which is under a separate long-term licensing agreement.

Our sources within Blizzard have expressed their dismay over the implementation of Diablo Immortal's monetization systems in the past — with some laying blame on NetEase for their aggressiveness and likeness to real money gambling with real money. Regardless, the end of Blizzard's services in China will be a major blow to the company's bottom line, and fans therein as well. Games like World of Warcraft are heavily censored in the country, but they remain popular despite the draconian laws around games and Western IP in general. 

Microsoft has notably cited mobile gaming and China as a big reason for its attempt to merge with Activision Blizzard, and this whole ordeal is likely going to put a wrench in the works. Despite this, Blizzard's games remain monstrously popular elsewhere throughout the world. Blizzard's next big games to launch include Diablo IV across Xbox and PC, with on-going updates to Overwatch 2, and a huge World of Warcraft expansion dubbed Dragonflight due to launch in the coming weeks. Sadly, Chinese gamers will miss out. 

What you need to know

• The second phase of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's pre-expansion has recently gone live.
• The new Dracthyr race and Evoker hero class are now playable.
• This update also includes balance changes, a new dungeon and zone to explore, and a pre-expansion event to set the stage for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the latest and ninth expansion of Blizzard Entertainment's legendary MMORPG, is a few weeks away from releasing to the public on Nov. 28, 2022. 

To help players prepare for their next adventure in the grand world of Azeroth, the second phase of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's ongoing pre-expansion event has recently gone live for Windows PCs via Battle.net. Players who pre-purchase now get access to a range of new content ahead of the expansion's full launch. 

New race & class — Dracthyr & Evoker

This update comes packed with a ton of new features that can be experienced by those who have pre-purchased World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. The biggest of these new features is that the new Dracthyr race and the Evoker hero class can now be played early.

The Dracthyr are a race of shapeshifting, humanoid dragons that have been locked in suspended animation for eons but have recently been awakened to defend their home, the Dragon Isles. The Evoker hero class is exclusive to the Dracthyr race and they call upon the power of their innate dragonflight abilities to unleash a maelstrom of magical devastation upon their foes.

New zone — Forbidden Reach

A new race and class aren't the only new features in this pre-expansion update. There will be a new zone for players to explore called the Forbidden Reach, which is where players who create Dracthyr/Evoker characters will start their adventures at.

These ancient ruins are filled with deadly monsters to battle and intriguing lore where players can learn the detailed origins of the Dracthyr.

New dungeon — Uldaman: The Legacy of Tyr

There will a new dungeon for players to dive into called Uldaman: The Legacy of Tyr. This place is an old titan facility where many years ago, the Discs of Norgannon were locked away here by the courageous Keeper Tyr.

Hoping that the discs contain Tyr's memories, Queen Alexstrasza requests that players delve into Uldaman and overcome its dangerous traps to recover the Discs of Norgannon for the sake of preserving dragonkind.

Pre-Expansion Event — Tempest Unleashed

In addition to a race, class, zone, and dungeon, there will also be a pre-expansion event called "Tempest Unleashed". During this event, you will be defending Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms from deadly mages called the Primalists, who causing havoc throughout the regions by inciting the wrath of elemental lords.

Balance and system changes

Finally, there will be a ton of class balance changes for both PvE and PvP content, UI and accessibility improvements, and Covenant, item, and rewards changes. The full extensive list of patch notes can be found on the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight website.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is scheduled to be released on Nov. 28, 2022. The game's age coupled with over a decade of optimization means that it'll run on even the most affordable gaming laptops and PCs, and there's never been a better time to jump in. 

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft is getting a range of free items for watching Twitch streams to celebrate the launch of the upcoming Dragonflight expansion. 
• The Twitch Drops will be rewarded for watching specific streams for a set amount of hours, and includes a mega-rare Feldrake mount.
• The Feldrake is available only via out-of-print trading cards, which sell for as much as $3500 USD on Ebay. 
• One of the cards was sold as recently as last week. Oops. 

To celebrate the upcoming launch of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Blizzard is partnering up with Twitch to offer a range of rare toys and mounts as a reward for watching streams of the game. 

Explained on the official WoW forums, users will be able to nab the following goodies  on set days throughout the end of November and December, after WoW: Dragonflight officially launches on November 28th, 2022. If you link your Twitch account to your Battle.net for WoW, then complete the viewing hour requirements below, you'll gain access to the rewards soon after. 

• Dragonkite pet (view 4 hours): Nov 15th, 10:00 a.m. PST to Nov 17th, 11:59 p.m. PST. 
• Feldrake mount (view 4 hours): Nov 28th, 10:00 a.m. PST to Nov 30th, 11:59 p.m. PST.
• Purple Firework toy (view 2 hours): Dec 13th, 10:00 a.m. PST to Dec 28th, 11:59 p.m. PST. 
• Ichabod pet (gift 2 subs): Nov 28 at 10:00 a.m. PST to Dec 12 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Seems all fine and dandy right? Well, this may be the most controversial Twitch Drops, erm, drop, in history, since one of the rewards above is rather insanely valued at over $3000 U.S. dollars. Yes, you read that correctly. 

The hyper-rare Feldrake, even as I write this, has eBay listings running into the thousands of dollars. The only way to obtain this rare classic mount is to use a code situated on the back of out-of-print Warcraft trading cards. The Feldrake was among the most rare cards from The Burning Crusade expansion, released all the way back in 2007. Feldrakes are regular dragons inflicted with demonic fel energy, giving them that sickly green hue as seen in the picture above. 

If you have one of the Feldrake trading cards with the loot code intact and unused, you're sitting on a small goldmine. Or at least, you were sitting on a goldmine until today.

The most hardcore WoW fans out there have been willing to pay hundreds, and even thousands, to obtain some of the "loot" from the real-life trading cards. I've purchased a few of the cheaper ones myself, being the colossal nerd that I am, although I am sadly not nearly nerdy (or rich) enough to drop $3500 on a Feldrake. Thankfully, I won't have to, owing to the Twitch drops in November, although some fans are decrying the apparent devaluation of one of WoW's rarest items.

One reddit post noticed that someone purchased a Feldrake card as recently as last week. Given the fact these mounts will be far more commonplace after November's Twitch drops, the value of the physical card is likely to plummet quite aggressively in the coming days.  

Collecting rare mounts in World of Warcraft is one of the game's most popular side-activities. Mount collecting was always popular, but it seems to have ramped up in recent years. Perhaps it's partially owing to the fact prestige for actual gear has diminished since Blizzard stopped adding as many unique armor models for end-game content, coupled with the rise of transmogrification (swapping equipped armor visuals for something else). There are many common mounts that can be purchased via an in-game store, or earned through basic in-game activities. But there are incredibly rare mounts that drop from certain bosses and have drop rates below 1% per kill.

The rarity of the Feldrake and the discussion surrounding it is an interesting point of reflection in a year where debates about artificially-rare digital NFTs and metaversal property seem to have dominated headlines. 

Indeed, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sinks billions to define value in digital worlds, here's World of Warcraft, making headlines with hyper-rare digital items from almost two decades ago.

World of Warcraft is available on PC for $10 per month at Battle.net, and even the cheapest GPUs can run it!

What you need to know

• The popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft, will receive two pre-expansion patch phases to prepare players for the new, upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.
• The patch will launch in two phases: Phase One will go live on Oct. 25, 2022, and Phase Two will go live on Nov. 15, 2022.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will launch worldwide on Nov. 28, 2022.

Today, Blizzard Entertainment has announced their iconic MMORPG, World of Warcraft, will be given two pre-expansion patch phases that will prepare players for the upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

The first patch phase will go live after a regional realm maintenance on Oct. 25, 2022 and the second phase will launch on Nov. 15. The patch will include the following updates:

Patch phase 1 (Oct. 25, 2022)

• Talent System Revamp: Players will be able to experiment and set up their new talent trees. They will also be able to save different talent tree loadouts to suit their preferred playstyle.
• Heads-up Display User Interface (HUD UI) Changes: Players will be able to customize aspects of the base UI, such as the location and size of action bars, player frames, and more.
• Accessibility Features: A variety of new accessibility features will be added, including "press and hold" spellcasting, interact keys, gamepad support, and more.
• Rated Solo Shuffle: A new PVP game mode that was previously a brawl will become queueable as a new rated game mode joining 2v2, 3v3, and Rated Battlegrounds as a means to acquire elite PVP rewards.
• New class/Race Combos: Players selecting any playable race will now be able to create a rogue, priest, or mage, with more selections coming online as they become available in the future.

Patch phase 2 (Nov. 15, 2022) 

• New race/class: The Dracthyr race and Evoker class will be added.
• New zone: The Forbidden Reach, the starting zone for the new Dracthyr Evoker class will be added.
• New dungeon: The Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr dungeon will be added.
• In-game events: The Primal Storms event will take place. This in-game event will features quests where you fight off the Primalists and world events that will lead up to the launch of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is set to launch for PC on Nov. 28, 2022. This expansion is aiming to bring a slew of content and revamped content to the long-running MMORPG. Such additions include a storyline involving the Dragon Aspects of Azeroth, new zones to explore, a new playable race and class, revamps to the UI, talent trees and professions system, quality-of-life improvements, new raids to challenge, and so much more.

What you need to know

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the next big expansion for World of Warcraft. 
• This expansion takes place in the Dragon Isles and is introducing the new Dracthyr race, which have exclusive access to the Evoker class.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is now scheduled to be available on Nov. 28, 2022.

The next expansion for World of Warcraft is on the way, and we've finally got a release date for when players can start making their way through a new journey of the Dragon Isles.

Blizzard Entertainment shared on Thursday that World of Warcraft: Dragonflight now has a Nov. 28, 2022 release date. This comes after prior confirmation that the expansion was being aimed for 2022. You can check out the release date announcement trailer below:

While much of the story in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is still under wraps, we know that it involves the return of the Dragon Aspects to Azeroth. We also know that the expansion is introducing a new race called the Dracthyr. These Dracthyr also have exclusive access to a new class called the Evoker.

Previewing an alpha build of the expansion, gaming editor Jez Corden noted in his preview of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight that "The more grounded and familiar terrestrial story, with reduced stakes, with classic characters like Alexstrasza, feels almost like we're getting back to the roots of what Warcraft actually is."

This comes as Microsoft is currently working to acquire Activision Blizzard in a deal worth almost $69 billion. The deal is currently undergoing regulatory review and is slated to finalize sometime before June 30, 2023.

What you need to know

• Blizzard has announced that from now until September 5, 2022, returning World of Warcraft players can get the Shadowlands expansion and a Level 50 Character Boost for free.
• Players need to have an expansion license for a previous WoW expansion attached to their account in order to be eligible to get a free copy of Shadowlands. Players that already own the expansion aren't eligible to get another copy of it.
• If your account is eligible, you'll see a gift icon in the Battle.net Desktop App that you can click on to claim your free copy of Shadowlands and the character boost.

Blizzard Entertainment — the developer behind the legendary MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW for short) — has announced that from now until September 5, 2022, returning players can get the base edition of the Shadowlands expansion for free, along with a Level 50 Character Boost. This will make it significantly easier for returning fans to dive into WoW's current endgame experiences, and will also help players get a head start on preparing for the arrival of the Dragonflight expansion later this year.

In order for your account to be considered eligible for free access to Shadowlands and the character boost, Blizzard's announcement post confirms that you have to have an expansion license for a previous WoW expansion. Note that players that already own Shadowlands can't get a free copy of it to gift to friends.

If you're eligible to claim the gift, you can do so by opening the Battle.net Desktop App, clicking the gift icon in the top-right area of the app's window, and then by clicking the Claim button next to the Shadowlands listing under the confirmation window. Blizzard says that Shadowlands gift grants may take awhile to appear, so if you don't see the gift icon, restart the app and keep checking it periodically.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands sees players become the Maw Walker, an adventurer capable of phasing between the world of the living and the afterlife realm of the Shadowlands. Throughout the expansion, players investigate why agents of the Shadowlands have begun to kidnap and imprison leaders from the Alliance and Horde factions. In addition to its new story, the DLC features numerous new locations to explore, additional gameplay systems, a brand new raid to conquer, and more.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is set to launch by the end of the year, and it comes at something of a tumultuous time for legendary studio Blizzard. 

The company and its parent corporation, Activision, have essentially spent investor call after investor call reporting to shareholders about declining market share, faced with intense competition from free-to-play online games and innovating MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV. 

Blizzard has had a tough few years, with declining monthly active users across all of its properties. This includes World of Warcraft, which enters its 20th year of operation in 2023. Indeed, WoW marches on despite everything, with its latest massive content drop coming towards the end of this year for Windows PC. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight represents something of a soft reset in some ways for the game's story and, in some ways, its very design philosophy. After two expansions with relatively lukewarm receptions, could Dragonflight be the one to put WoW back on track?

It should be noted that everything here is subject to change, given that we're still in early alpha as of August 2022. 

Playing as the new Dracthyr Evoker

For WoW: Dragonflight, Blizzard is adding another new class, making it the first new addition to the lineup since Legion a few years ago. The new class is called the Evoker, and is exclusive to a new draconic race called the Dracthyr. I played through an early version of the Dracthyr new player experience this past week, dabbling in the class' unique toolkit, which includes a variety of new mechanics and systems exclusive to the expansion. 

The Dracthyr are a race of magically engineered draconic warriors designed and created by Neltharion, better known as Deathwing. Created thousands of years ago and then put into stasis, the story of the Dracthyr will unravel throughout the Dragonflight expansion, which revolves around a new landmass known as the Dragon Isles. 

The dragons of Azeroth were empowered by a race of god-like beings called the Titans to watch over the planet and its mortal races. Deathwing notoriously betrayed his brethren, corrupted by the Titans ancient enemies. It's unclear to me right now what Neltharion's plans were for his unique reptilian creations, but it seems that at least some of Azeroth's dragons aren't too willing to trust them just yet. 

I don't want to spoil too many plot elements for those who want to experience it first-hand, but the initial starting quests are intriguing, designed to ease players in to the new Dracthyr mechanics while also introducing the Dragon Isles to the lore. You awake after thousands of years in a deep magical slumber, only to discover that your sanctum is being attacked by Malygos loyalists, the mad blue dragon who sought to contain and hide away all forms of magic. You emerge to discover the Dragon Isles in turmoil, at the mercy of an enraged faction of elemental protodrakes, whose goals are as of yet unclear. 

The Forbidden Reach starting area of the Dragon Isles is gorgeous with an impressive scale, designed for verticality and flight. Indeed, Dracthyr have the innate ability to quite literally fly as part of their racial toolkit, making WoW's existing racial abilities feel archaic and lame by comparison. This isn't WoW's existing "swimming in the air" flying either. This is swooping, diving, gliding, ascending, powered by a system that feels like it emerged from flight-oriented games like The Falconeer. You get an entire stance bar dedicated to aerial maneuvers to help power and prolong your flight, although you have finite charges per trip. 

Dracthyr cannot fly indefinitely, with each turn hindering your momentum until you eventually run out of steam, but you can cover vast distances extremely quickly, or leap up to a ledge far above your character without having to whip out a full-blown mount. It's also on a fairly strict 5-minute cooldown to prevent it from making other racial abilities look too bad ... but even still my Undead's racial abilities are looking hilariously terrible when put up side by side with the Dracthyr's. 

There are some downsides to being a Dracthyr though, depending on your playstyle preferences. For one, they barely get any armor appearances to wear, restricted to a subset of designs due to their unique model requirements. Also, they don't get to display a weapon either, which is quite a departure for a game that revolves almost entirely around loot. Feral druids will feel at home, though. The other downside is how scrawny they look, although I admit that's a bit subjective — and I'll frame it as feedback. Even with a body type set to maximum, it's difficult to make Dracthyr look truly draconic. They instead appear more like winged lizards, with spindly limbs and serpentine necks. I couldn't help but stand next to some of the amazing new drakonid models and feel a twinge of jealousy, and those guys can even hold weapons too. 

On the upside, dracthyr do get mountains of customization. From colors, to scale textures, and even jewelry. You also get to pick their innate base armor appearance, as well as a secondary "visage" form, which allows them to appear in more human-like forms similar to other dragons in the game. Blizzard missed an opportunity to give Horde access to the human male model, though, giving us yet another variant of the blood elf male, sadly. At least these blood elves have real beards, though. 

Perhaps it is fitting that these dragons are a bit on the petite side. They are technically mages, after all, attacking with magical powers and breath attacks rather than brute strength. It's pretty clear that their gameplay design is well and truly a work in progress as of writing, but the promise is quite clear. 

Dracthyr borrow their energies from all of the existing dragonflights. Red fire for destruction and cauterizing wounds, green energies for renewal and healing, arcane blue magic for direct damage, and potent black magic for devastating earth attacks. Unfortunately, they only have two talent trees to pick from, with one focusing on ranged damage and the other on healing. As of writing, I found the dracthyr damage dealing gameplay to be bit awkward — but it is very early days, and Blizzard is still gathering feedback. I felt like I was just playing whack-a-mole with the different abilities as they came off cooldown, with minimal need for reactivity. I suspect this will change between now and launch, though. 

Indeed, I said earlier that it holds promise, because the attacks look incredibly cool, and have some brand new mechanics baked in as well. The Onyxia-inspired deep breath attack sends your dracthyr gliding in a wide 40-yard arc, destroying the ground with earthern spikes for huge damage with stun potential too if talented. Dracthyr also come with some potent party buffs, giving players shorter cooldowns on movement abilities, while also boosting the raid's defense against area attacks. There's even a new empowered spell system, allowing you to prolong your casts for higher damage or to hit additional targets. I do wonder how latency may affect optimal casts of the empowered abilities, though, given that you can overcast them, but we'll have to wait and see how it plays out in retail.

It will be interesting to see how (or if) Blizzard responds to feedback from the alpha and beta programs with regards to Dracthyr. I do get the sense there are a lot of things they can tweak to make the rotations feel a little more satisfying, because when isolated, the new mechanics are absolutely top-notch. I do lament for a melee-oriented spec that riffs on Final Fantasy's dragoon, but hey, we can't get everything we want in life (such as more glyphs for Inscription ...). 

The Dragon Isles and new old features

While I'm feeling a little mixed on the design and gameplay of the dracthyr, one thing I'm certainly not feeling mixed about is the Dragon Isles itself, which so far looks absolutely stunning. If there's one thing about World of Warcraft that has remained true for the past near-20 years, it's in the game's art style, which continues to impress and enthrall in Dragonflight. 

In this current iteration, Blizzard is testing out the new Thaldraszus zone, which houses the Dragonflight's seat of power. The large cityscape is represented by towering magical spires reminiscent of Wyrmrest Temple from Dragonblight, albeit on dragon soul-infused steroids. This massive city was nowhere near finished in this version I saw with various placeholders and other markers signifying a work-in-progress, but even at this stage, it was a compelling locale after spending the past couple of years confined to the drab symmetry of Oribos of Shadowlands. It also exemplified the verticality of this new world, which gave me nostalgic feelings of the first time I stepped foot into the Stormpeaks in Wrath of the Lich King. This is a continent that is designed around flight, with large amounts of verticality and wide open spaces beset with cliffs and huge mountains. 

One of Dragonflight's headline features is its dragon riding system, which vastly improved WoW's archaic flight mechanics. In the alpha, you're given a small menagerie of example beasts to choose from, each of which comes with a large array of customization and progression systems that will form the basis of some of Dragonflight's endgame play. 

Dragons obtained with dragon riding grow more powerful over time, able to sustain themselves in the air for longer periods or ascend more times without getting tired. Dragons have three stamina charges initially for using different flight abilities, such as ascension and speed boosts. Momentum can be gained by diving, which also recharges your stamina bar enabling you to use more abilities. I was surprised at how much room there was here for skillful play, given the absolute gargantuan size of the maps I've explored thus far. Traversing across Thaldraszus with the alpha dragon was quite difficult without fully depleting stamina. Upward ascent can cause you to lose momentum and thus descend, so maintaining velocity and speed becomes a careful balancing act to do well. Dragon mounts will gain more power and prowess throughout the expansion, though, making them essentially your personal companion for the duration. Professions will be able to craft customization accessories for them too, from armors to trinkets, which can be applied in a barbershop-like interface in the Valdrakken main city. 

Speaking of professions, that's one aspect of WoW that is also getting a bit of an overhaul this expansion. Indeed, a common thread for Dragonflight is a focus on core systems within the game. Flying is getting revamped and expanded with dragon riding, and a points-based talent tree system is also returning to the game, following their popularity in WoW Classic. Blizzard is also fully revamping the user interface to make it more modern and accessible without having to rely on piles of community-crafted addons. It's oddly the profession system that I find myself most intrigued by, and I got a taste of it in Dragonflight. 

When dabbling in Final Fantasy XIV, I couldn't help but envy its rich profession systems, which not only had entire quest chains attached to them, but also had gear progression and puzzle game-like mechanics. Professions in WoW have long been neglected, with crafting lacking all semblance of flavor. Dragonflight aims to shake this up a bit, and give professions a true place among WoW's endgame systems, with the biggest overhaul in complexity and depth since the game launched almost 20 years ago. 

Clearly borrowing from FFXIV, WoW's new crafting materials and products will also come with quality ratings, which boost their values based on your skill and investment. You'll also be able to get equipment that enhances your crafting speed, and reduce required reagents, essentially creating a new economy for gear tailored for crafters. The new system stops short of Final Fantasy XIV's oddly satisfying mini-games, but it does add some much-needed depth in the form of granular profession specializations. You could become your server's most renowned plate pauldron crafter, for example, if you invest your profession talent points into that specific specialization. You could craft the server's most powerful axes or swords, or most potent potions and flasks, and charge a premium as a result. Hopefully, these systems will also improve player interactions, which have become anemic in WoW's post-matchmaking world, which has damaged the game's sense of community.  

Ironically, it does seem like WoW Classic has had an influence on Blizzard's design philosophy with Dragonflight, and that fills me with optimism. 

Tentatively optimistic

Fans were so desperate to get a taste of what WoW used to be like that they began running pirate servers in order to avoid the retail experience, which has been quite awful for new and returning players in general. Whether it's time-gated content,  gameplay design that reduces the need for players to actually co-operate, or half-baked story beats — it's only encouraging that Dragonflight's central themes and design direction seem to lean heavily into WoW's storied past. 

Dragonflight's emphasis on elevating and enhancing existing systems should enrich the core of the game. It should prove a far better investment than Blizzard's more recent strategy of creating transitory gameplay systems that are designed to be removed at the expansion's end. The more grounded and familiar terrestrial story, with reduced stakes, with classic characters like Alexstrasza, feels almost like we're getting back to the roots of what Warcraft actually is. 

Players have drawn comparisons between Dragonflight and Mists of Pandaria, given that Mists has a neutral race with the Pandaren, and a similarly themed new class with the monk. For me, however, it reminds me more of Legion. A re-focus on class fantasy with the talent tree revamps, alongside major new core mechanics that will remain in the game in perpetuity, like Legion's Mythic+ addition. I'm not quite sure why Blizzard pulled back from working on the game's core, but it seems as though they're re-evaluating this design ethos. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is very much in alpha right now, with missing cutscenes, half-finished systems, and armies of placeholder NPCs. This early preview is meant to just give you a taste of what to expect as we move deeper through alpha into beta. I'm framing this article primarily as feedback as such, with a plan to return to Dragonflight at retail to do a full review, once the systems and features have reached completion.

One thing is for sure, though, I for one am optimistic! Dracthyr lore is interesting, and their spell effects are incredible, even if they do need a little more time in the oven rotationally. Taking to the skies with the new flight mechanics also feels incredible, and I can only hope the dragon riding system will replace the mount system for the entire game in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing how the profession system plays out, and feel encouraged by the soft reboot of the game's story as we move into a new saga with a small time skip.

Like anyone who has been playing WoW as long as I have, I want to be hopeful that the game can grab the investment from Activision it needs to find its footing again. As far as WoW has fallen in recent years, it's still the best MMO in my view, with the most responsive combat systems, with the most compelling and challenging raids and boss battles, atop a universe with peerless lore and depth. The most exciting thing about Dragonflight so far is the apparent change in design ethos, which should do wonders for the game's health in the near and long term future. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is targeting a December 2022 launch date on Windows PC. 

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the next major expansion for the aging MMORPG from Blizzard, set in an all-new continent called The Dragon Isles. 

Dragonflight was rumored for several months ahead of its reveal a few weeks ago, which is now known to include a new draconic race called the Drak'thyr, who also have access to a new special dragon-themed class called an Invoker. 

With Dragonflight, Blizzard is aiming to incorporate some of its learnings from WoW: Classic into the modern version of the game, revamping all existing talent specs for each class down to something more similar to WoW's classic points-based talent trees. Additionally, Dragonflight explores updating and improving the game's core systems, adding depth to things like professions while also revamping the UI for modern times. 

As is tradition for World of Warcraft, Blizzard will begin inviting players into public alpha and beta tests in the run-up to launch, which is expected by the end of the year. Per sources familiar with Blizzard's plans, we've heard the first wave of WoW: Dragonflight alpha invites will begin going out on July 14, 2022, this upcoming Thursday. 

You can opt-in to test World of Warcraft: Dragonflight using this link, with a signed-in battle.net account. 

Typically, Blizzard invites players in waves as it gradually grows the test server population to ensure stability and the like, taking player feedback on class balance, leveling flow, dungeon mechanics, and more. Blizzard has been criticized for discounting player feedback in previous alpha tests, so it will be interesting to see if any major changes occur as a result of this year's testing phase. 

Dragonflight tells a more terrestrial WoW story set on the planet Azeroth, as players grow increasingly fatigued with the cosmic world-ending high-stakes stories Blizzard has opted for in recent years. The dragon flights of Azeroth were once charged with stewardship over the mortal races, but sacrificed their power to defeat their corrupted brethren Deathwing. In Dragonflight, it seems that the dragon aspects want to reclaim their role as guardians of Azeroth, while battling new threats that have arisen on the mysterious Dragon Isles. 

World of Warcraft has seen a bit of a decline in recent years, with recent expansion Shadowlands likely to end up high on lists of least popular content drops for the game. Renewed focus on improving the core of what WoW is could help prepare the game for its future, and I recently wrote about how I'm optimistic for WoW: Dragonflight, despite all the controversy. 

Microsoft and Xbox are attempting to acquire Activision-Blizzard for an eye-watering $72 billion dollars, with the deal expected to close sometime in 2023. Hopefully, that will bring further investment to the WoW franchise it desperately needs to reclaim its place at the top of the MMO pile. 

What you need to know

• Preorders for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight are now open. 
• There's multiple editions of the game, including an Epic Edition with extra game time and a variety of digital bonuses. 
• According to Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is slated to arrive at some point later in 2022.

The next big chapter for World of Warcraft is on the way, and it's now coming later this year. 

Blizzard Entertainment shared on Tuesday that World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is slated to arrive at some point in 2022, though there's no exact release date right now. Blizzard also shared that preorders for the expansion are now open, detailing the bonuses included in a variety of different editions. 

The base edition is available for $50, and if preordered includes the Drakks pet. There's also a $70 Heroic edition that includes a level 60 character boost, Murkastrasza pet, and Tangled Dreamweaver mount. Finally, there's the $90 Epic edition, which bundles in the Timewalker's Hearthstone Effect, Diadem of the Spell-Keeper Head-slot Transmog, Wings of Awakening Back-slot Transmog (in 5 Color Variants), and 30 days of game time.

Blizzard Entertainment has been under fire over the past year, with lawsuits alleging that the company allowed systemic sexist workplace practices and abusive behavior to go unpunished.

All of this comes as Blizzard Entertainment's parent company, Activision Blizzard, is currently being acquired by Microsoft for almost $69 billion. The deal is undergoing regulatory approval and is slated to be finished at some point in Microsoft's fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. 

Microsoft has notably agreed to work with a unionized unit of QA workers at Activision Blizzard-owned Raven Software, making a labor neutrality agreement that will take effect 60 days after the acquisition goes through.