After months of rampant speculation,World of Warcrafthas announced its ninth expansion. TitledDragonflight,World of Warcraftis bringing players to the storied Dragon Isles and adding a slew of new game features.
The Dragon Isles are the ancestral capital of the dragons. Shrouded by titan technology for millennia, thislocation ofWorld of Warcraftlegendhas reawakened, calling dragons from across Azeroth back home.
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Beyond five new draconic zones full of dungeons and raids to explore,Dragonflightis adding a new race/class combo–the Dracthyr Evoker. These winged draconic humanoids channel the power of the five dragonflights to damage foes or heal allies as the Evoker–a Dracthyr-exclusive hero class, and the only one available to the new race.World of Warcraftis also revamping its talentand profession systems once again, as well as its user interface. Lastly, a new flying system called Dragonriding is coming, which allows players to customize a draconic steed to take to the skies with special maneuvers and physics.
TheDragonflightannouncement may not come as a surprise to allWorld of Warcraftfans. There have been rumors and leaks of an impending dragon-themed expansion inWoWfor months now. A few weeks ago, thekey art forDragonflightcirculated the internet, spurring further speculation.World of Warcraft’sofficial announcement confirmed many of those rumors were true, though plenty others remain unconfirmed or disproved.
Many fans are thrilled by what they saw in theDragonflightannouncement. TheHow To Train Your Dragon-esque vibe of the expansion is a refreshing, grounded break from the high concepts ofShadowlands, and manyWoWfans cannot wait to experience a truly Azerothian story once again. The dragons ofWarcraftare one of its most popular aspects, so an expansion focusing upon the winged leviathansis exactly what many fans were hoping for.
That said, plenty ofWorld of Warcraftfans are holding their applause for now.World of Warcrafthas lost a lot of its good faith over the last couple of years between the unpopularShadowlandsexpansion and the sexual assault and discrimination allegations levied against Blizzard. It is fair to note, however, that the company has begun to take strides to fix this, betweenhiring a new DE&I lead at Blizzard, and by featuring a diverse set of developers during its announcement stream. Fans and critics alike will be watchingWorld of Warcraftclosely as more information onDragonflightsurfaces, where they will see how much Blizzard has learned from the mistakes of its past.
