Dragonflight is the next World of Warcraft expansion after Shadowlands, and is scheduled to be released later this year. Maybe it’s due to my lack of interest at the end of Shadowlands or burnout, but this time the expansion announcement seems underwhelming to me. This expansion will bring a new hero class, Evoker, a new humanoid dragonkin-ish race, Dracthyr, and a return to Azeroth. From what I’ve seen so far, it will also include newly worked talent trees and many quality of life updates such as a UI overhaul. Dragonflight brings with it the introduction of possibly the best WoW character ever: Stony Danza – you can watch Blizzard’s announcement cinematic trailer and read my thoughts on Stony and other things from the cinematic here. So, why do I feel underwhelmed?
Maybe, just maybe, seventeen years is a long time to play one game. Especially if that one game is an MMO which is constantly evolving and where the current “endgame” is obsolete by the next content patch. I’ve experienced it almost from the beginning, through the good and the bad. Even with the promise of returning to Azeroth after the otherworldly expansion of Shadowlands, and playable dragons, it’s just more of the same. That’s not to say I’m not interested at all, I love a good WoW story involving dragons and Titan lore. I’m looking forward to raiding with my team, as I do every year, but Dragonflight has yet to pull me in. Even with Stony Danza. I haven’t played the beta or PTR, so maybe I’m missing out on a lot of interesting features. Dragonflight to me seems like a return to the basics of WoW: story focused on Azeroth, dragons, Titan structures and lore. I think that it will be a good break from the complexity and uniqueness of Shadowland’s story.
If I get invited to the beta test at some point, I will probably play it and try to pique my interest. Maybe I’m reading into all this too much, and I really just need a break before jumping back in. Taking the time to work on other projects, play other games… Nonetheless, WoW will always be a special game to me. Moving forward, I might choose to enjoy it with more moderation in order to preserve the magic. Now I’m wondering why this post feels like I’m trying to rekindle the fire in a fizzled out relationship?