Shortly before the launch of the new expansion Dragonflight, MeinMMO met with the developers of World of Warcraft for an interview. The focus was mainly on endgame features, the story of Dragonflight, and the new UI.
Since the Pre-Patch 10.0 of WoW and the recently released Phase 2, through which the Callers are now playable, many of the new features of Dragonflight have already been made available.
After we discussed the talents and features of Dragonflight in the last interview, this time the discussion focused more on the story and content for players at max level.
Our conversation partners were Morgan Day, Associate Game Director, and Laura Sardinha, Lead UI Designer. An exciting insight from the interview: Much of what is new in Dragonflight is intended to serve all future expansions as well.
In our hub, you can find everything about Dragonflight and the new features of the expansion. We have embedded the launch cinematic of Dragonflight here for you:
Level 70 in ‘under 10 hours, I would say’
MeinMMO: Something easy to start with: How long does a new player starting fresh with Dragonflight take to reach level 70?
Morgan Day: With Shadowlands, we introduced the Isle of the Exiled, a new starter experience for players with the goal of creating a real Warcraft experience but at the same time providing a bit more consistency for exactly the question you just asked. We know exactly how long it takes you to get through the island – roughly.
After that, you are sent to Battle for Azeroth. I recently looked at some reddit threads where people explain that they reach from level 10 to 60 in about 4 hours. That is quite fast. And from there to Dragonflight, from 60 to 70, it depends on who you ask how long it takes.
I know a few people from the beta who wanted to be as fast as possible and were very quick – maybe a few hours. And then there are people who read every quest, do every side quest, want to find every treasure. It depends on the person how long it takes. It can go very quickly, under 10 hours I would say, or you just take your time, absorb everything, enjoy the new zones. […] Enjoy the journey.
The required experience for levels 10-60 has been massively reduced, by the way. In the beta, players even managed to reach level 60 in just over 3 hours.
MeinMMO: You mentioned the consistency and that players can better start into World of Warcraft. Are you planning to bring a summary of the lore so far into the game for players who are coming in now and know absolutely nothing? Like about Cataclysm, which will certainly be quite important.
Morgan Day: That is an interesting question. There is Chromie Time for players who want to choose different expansions while leveling. That is one way for them to see and play the lore that is available. World of Warcraft is over 15 years old, there is so much story.
Creating a single source for all this story would be a huge challenge and would likely not do justice to all the depth. There is nothing like: ‘Last time on World of Warcraft…’ or something, like in TV shows [laughs].
But we are always looking for ways for players to discover that in the game, and we think Chromie Time is an excellent way to do it. Now with Dragonflight, with the pre-event and the quests that lead you there, hopefully that helps provide the context and all the knowledge you need to navigate the Dragon Isles and Dragonflight.
Laura Sardinha: In Shadowlands, we introduced the campaigns and the lore book that you see in the quest log. We have plans to add stories from the old campaigns, all that epic stuff that happened there.
If a player really wants to know more about the lore in the future, it will be easier with this system to see everything your character has experienced. That will be stored. We know players love the lore and the story, so we want to provide a better UI for that in the future.
If you need tutoring: MeinMMO demon Cortyn has compiled the most important story snippets for you:
MeinMMO: About leveling itself, there were complaints in the beta that players could not reach level 70 solely through the campaign. That has changed since then. How do you decide how many experience points one gets, or how do you get people to look at side quests?
Laura Sardinha: In Dragonflight, we want players to play the campaign as in Shadowlands. In Shadowlands, the side quests were also very interesting, but players only focused on the campaign just to finish it.
But in Dragonflight, we tried to find a balance. An example from the Azure Mountains. The Tuskarr are a side quest. But there will be a small hook in the campaign that leads you to them, to the tribe and the side quests with nice rewards like toys and mounts. That is intended to encourage doing these side quests. We will see how that goes. […]
Even after the campaign, there is still a lot of content and things to do. That is something we are currently experimenting with.
What is actually included in Dragonflight?
MeinMMO: In comparison to Shadowlands, how much content is there in Dragonflight at level 70?
Laura Sardinha: We have Glory, similar to Shadowlands, but this time you don’t have to choose anyone; you can work with everyone. In the campaign, you meet the factions: we have the Dragonscale Expedition, the Tuskarr, the Centaur, Valdrakken Accord …
Whatever you want. Do you like the Tuskarr? Great. But you also like the dragons from the capital? Just work with both. Through the campaign, you will be introduced to the Glory system. There are cool rewards for that, and it will keep you busy for a long time.
[The system] also helps you with professions. And Morgan can certainly tell you more about equipment and such.
Morgan Day: Not only is there this faction system that Laura talked about, but you also unlock new chapters of the story campaign through Glory. I can’t go into too much detail, but this is most of the content that players haven’t seen in the beta yet. […]
But aside from that stuff in the open world, we have our usual selection of Mythic+ dungeons, where we are doing things a little differently than usual. There are not only Dragonflight dungeons but also favorites from previous expansions that we’ve updated […]
There is the Vault of the Incarnate, our new raid with 8 bosses, where players will face Razagath, the Storm Eater, one of the “Incarnates,” about whom you will learn more while leveling.
And lastly, the overhaul of professions. We haven’t completely revamped them in a while. There was never an opportunity to build an identity that relates to the chosen profession.
If you are, for example, a dwarf, but don’t want to be a warrior – even though that’s your class – but actually want to define yourself by blacksmithing. Then be a dwarf blacksmith. Now there’s plenty of stuff you can do for that: progress, talents… become a blacksmith and specialize in armor, then you can forge better chest armors than any other player on the server. […]
The choice makes it exciting. We want players to have many options and be able to choose what they want to explore. Do you want to be more of a dungeon crawler, experience quests and story, or try your hand at PvP?
In the video, you can find all the information about Dragonflight in 3 minutes:
Glory is less annoying than you think: ‘Nothing is exclusive’
MeinMMO: Regarding the Glory system, which was quite unpopular in Shadowlands. Why did you keep it and how have you improved it?
Laura Sardinha: The UI will be very similar. It was also quite useful to see your progress and everything. But it relied heavily on the covenant; you had to use it, switching was difficult… We’re not doing that anymore. It will be more organic.
Work with the major factions, check your Glory and see right through the interface on the minimap where you are, what you want to get. Let’s say the Tuskarr have a mount that you want. Then go [to the menu] and check your Glory. You don’t have to talk to any NPC or anything. […] See a preview of the mount and then plan your day so you can farm the Glory.
It is meant to be very flexible, and from there we want to see where it develops, listen to feedback. We hope it will be received more positively this time.
MeinMMO: Is it necessary to farm Glory like in Shadowlands, where actual power was locked behind it, or is it more of a reputation system?
Laura Sardinha: It’s like reputation, yes.
Morgan Day: The word ‘Glory’ is the same, but the systems behind it and what you have to do to interact with it is very different. In Shadowlands, each covenant had its Glory and you had to choose one, could only earn Glory there.
In Dragonflight, you can work on all major factions at the same time. That is a really big difference between a made choice and options that are available. […]
We learned something important in Shadowlands. Let’s say you are the kind of player who just logs in for raids, hangs out with friends and then disappears. The classic raid logger. In Shadowlands, there were many things that felt like you had to do them to be able to raid.
If you put ‘exclusive power’ into such things so that you can only get it there – a Legendary, for example – we improved that. In the world [of Dragonflight], you can get quite strong stuff, at the end of the Glory levels, for example. Or you can use a crafting reagent to bring an item’s item level to heroic level.
But those are just options. Those are ways to get items, and there are a bunch of other ways to get there. Players should realize: ‘Yes, this is how I get upgrades if I want.’ Or maybe you are a player for whom this is the only way to get heroic items at all.
Those are cool options, but none of it is exclusive. Those are just different paths to the same goal.
By the way, I had exactly the feeling described by Morgan Day that there was too much to do:
‘Every dragonflock will play a role’
MeinMMO: A little more about the lore. The aspects claim to have lost most of their power after Cataclysm. But they have actually continued as if nothing happened: time travel, bringing life back to land… How weak are the aspects really?
Morgan Day: That is a great question for Steve Danuser [laughs] Not exactly my expertise. But that is one of the important stories you can discover as you travel through the Dragon Isles. And that is something I personally really love.
Each zone has its associated dragonflock and you learn a little more about what has happened to the aspects there. Whether it’s the black dragonflock in the first zone or, my personal favorite, the plains of Ohn’ahra, where you learn all sorts of things about the green dragonflock.
There is a ton of lore for the respective dragonflocks, and much is revealed while we experience the story and rebuild the strength of the aspects. That is the red thread we want to explore.
And the team has really done a great job of incorporating ways to learn more in the zones. There are tons of conversation options with NPCs that you don’t even need for quests, but tell more about the Dragon Isles or the flocks. […]
MeinMMO: To go a little deeper: in the intro cinematic you gave us a first look at the first raid boss instead of the big bad guy of the expansion, as is usually the case. Where is the story going? Will we meet more Primal Incarnates?
Morgan Day: That drives us at the beginning of the expansion. Who are these Incarnates? Razagath was freed, and she is not the only one; she has brothers and sisters who are just as powerful or more powerful than she is.
That brings a lot of depth. What happens with these Incarnates? Back in the days of Galakrond, they rejected the gift of the Titans, turned away from them. The aspects we know, however, followed the path of the Titans.
There are many nuances as to why the two factions go different ways, and that is one of the main elements we want to explore. Not only with the Incarnates themselves, their plans and why they defy the Titans. It is very easy to spoil here. But that is one of the driving forces.
There is already a lot of speculation around the story:
MeinMMO: So we will also learn a little more about the Titans, I guess?
Morgan Day: Yes, one of the main quests at max level takes place in Tyrhold, a place in Thaldraszus. There is a facility of the Titans there, and through the story there we will be able to learn more.
MeinMMO: In one of the new cinematics, Alexstrasza flinched when Nozdormu mentioned “Iridikron’s Hunger.” What is that, does that relate to Galakrond’s cannibalism?
Morgan Day: That’s a very good question and very deep in the spoiler area. [laughs] But I’m glad you noticed that. A lot of time and effort goes into those little details. Maybe there’s a small foreshadowing there, but I don’t want to reveal anything yet.
Here you can see the corresponding cinematic:
MeinMMO: Do you have plans to utilize the Caverns of Time again? After all, we are already working with the bronze dragonflock.
Morgan Day: As you may have noticed, there is a pretty large bronze shrine in Thaldraszus. There are a few quests there, and there are some opportunities for us to explore that place further. What is behind these big doors? […]
Or with all the awakening and what is happening on the Dragon Isles, what happens in the Caverns of Time? Every dragonflock will play a role in the expansion and the upcoming story. But I can’t go into detail, but I like the idea.
New features are ‘for new players, for casuals, for everyone simply’
MeinMMO: A little more about the UI, because I struggled with it myself. What was the biggest challenge when creating the new UI?
Laura Sardinha: We were very glad that we now had the opportunity to overhaul the entire UI. We wanted to update our tools, how we build that in the background and such. This will also be good for addon creators. It will be easier and much better to create addons.
Our goal is not to remove addons. We just want to ensure that the standard UI is good for new players, for casuals, for everyone simply. […] We should have an editing mode; that’s kind of ‘normal’ these days. That’s why we wanted that for new players. It should feel modern, comfortable, and easy to use.
But it should also cater to players who have been around for a long time and are used to something like this through addons. We want to make sure everyone can enjoy [the new UI], and the challenge was to make it easy to use as well.
There aren’t many really complex menus and options, but we want to build more after this. We are collecting feedback from the community, want to know what they are missing from all perspectives. […]
There is still a lot to do, and we are working on it.
MeinMMO: I have received feedback from my guild and from myself that there are a few things that just drive you crazy – for example, that certain elements cannot be moved. Why have you not introduced some functions or hidden them behind scripts?
Laura Sardinha: That was more a matter of time. We will certainly bring all of this in the next update; you’ll then be able to move your experience bar, bags, and certain buttons.
We will bring more options later for the size of the minimap, and we have received feedback that icons are too small. Some people cannot see the numbers. We want to make sure there are options for that.
We are already paying attention to that. But it was a matter of time that we could finish everything and publish it without bugs in the pre-patch. But more updates are coming with all the adjustments.
Morgan Day: This also applies to all content. The UI, talents, crafting – we are still at the beginning. We wanted a solid foundation from which we could expand and grow in Dragonflight and future expansions.
These features will improve the future of WoW forever, not just for Dragonflight.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the answers!
Dragonflight will be released on November 29, 2022. From then on, you can travel the Dragon Isles and learn about the dragons, the aspects, and the new enemies we can meet. I’ve played a bit in the beta already, and the pre-patch excites me:
For 12 years, WoW has been dying, but now Blizzard is doing (almost) everything right again
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