It’s no secret that WoW’s Shadowlands expansion fell short of the goals of many, but production director Patrick Dawson has made it clear that WoW’s Dragonflight will remove some of the least popular of its predecessors function.
WoW’s ever-expanding universe has had some rough times, but for many in the gaming community, WoW Shadowlands is an all-time low.
Following the controversial Battle for Azeroth, the overly complicated narrative and plethora of frustrating features of the eight expansions led to a mass exodus of the likes of Final Fantasy XIV’s Eorzea or Lost Ark’s Arkesia.
While Dragonflight, the ninth chapter of the Warcraft saga, promises a return to the fundamentals that make World of Warcraft great, many approached the announcement with caution. production manager, Patrick DawsonHowever, fan concerns have been addressed, quelling fears that Dragonflight will be Shadowlands 2.0.
Blizzard Entertainment’s Alexstrasza is back, and most fans are hoping she’ll inspire a new life in Azeroth after Shadowlands.
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While Shadowlands is exactly what some fans want, unfortunately, the vast majority of the player base struggles to deal with the dark and dreary world of the afterlife. Ahead of Dragonflight’s release, Dawson emphasized that Blizzard had listened to and implemented player feedback.
“Our community is very outspoken and very engaged, and that’s the strength of this game,” he told Dexerto. “Being able to respond faster to their requests and feedback is something we’ve been adapting to and getting better at over the past year.
“We’ve been listening and trying to make the game in the player’s best interest, but there was a rather revolutionary moment that questioned some of the more fundamental assumptions about the backbone of this game that we’ve revisited since patch 9.15. So you’ve seen Our philosophy has changed significantly.
“There are things we question and change and look at that maybe we wouldn’t have done in the past and that’s continued in Dragonflight. I think you’ve seen it too, we’re back to the basics and roots of Warcraft. The community has been asking to get out of the pact and artifact systems [towards] The class fantasy of what it feels like to be a mage, what it feels like to be a priest, what it feels like to be Delacier. “
Blizzard Entertainment Shadowlands’ covenant system is one of the most divisive features in the expansion.
Dragonflight is largely an expansion from community feedback, and Dawson said that everything from the setting to the expansion’s decision to overhaul the core systems is the result of concerns from the player base.
“Players have been wanting to go back to Azeroth, and they’ve been asking questions about dragons,” he said. “The other big thing is that we’re working on the core systems of World of Warcraft — talent, professions, and UI — that’s something people have been looking for for a long time, and getting rid of more of those expansion-specific features.”
Summing up “that’s where we’re really listening to what they’re looking for and heading in the direction of Dragonflight”, it seems that unfortunately the annoying systems that define the Shadowlands experience will be banished back to Maw from where they came from.
While some may still be skeptical, it seems like Dragonflight is Blizzard’s answer to the needs of the fan base, but will it live up to expectations? We’ll have to wait and see – but Dawson really reassured us!
