With Dragonflight, the MMORPG World of Warcraft aims to return to its roots. How this will succeed and how it can still offer something new is revealed by the developers of Blizzard in an interview with MeinMMO..
With the next expansion of World of Warcraft, Blizzard has to make up for a lot of lost ground, which they lost with Shadowlands. The last addon did not fare well with players, although PvE fans are quite positively surprised by the current 4th season in Shadowlands.
But can the next expansion Dragonflight really offer enough? Are the Dracthyr as a new race and the Evoker as a new class, along with the feature of “Dragonriding,” really sufficient? At least the reactions in the beta are quite positive. We at MeinMMO took the opportunity of the new expansion to conduct an interview with the developers and ask some questions.
Answering our questions were Graham Berger (Senior Game Designer in the Combat Design Team) and Jake Miller (Senior Game Designer for various game systems) from Blizzard.
MeinMMO: Why did you decide that Dracthyr can choose only one class?
Graham Berger: With Dragonflight, we knew that we were going to the Dragon Isles. We will meet dragons and have adventures with dragons. So, it would be cool if you could play as a dragon – that sounds fantastic. So we looked for an answer: What is the best way to deliver this experience?
We can make them a playable race, just as we have created many before. Our artists then created these fantastic, draconic, humanoid characters. But with one race, we can only do so much, with the few racial abilities that exist. So you get a fire breath and a tail whip. That would be pretty much all we could do if we were to limit ourselves. But we wanted to do more; we want you to feel like a dragon through and through. And the best way to do that is to give you a class, a whole set of abilities that are all draconic-themed. So we wanted to create a class.
But it would be strange if a gnome performed a tail whip – that doesn’t make much sense. So, what if we do both? It’s a race and a class. And it’s the only one that can be that. This opens up many possibilities, allowing us to focus entirely on it and create some really cool things with it. The special animations for taking off into the air or the fire breath while gliding over the battlefield, pushing enemies back with your wing flap, or leaning back to charge up the big deep breath. It was a limitation, but it allows us to do so many cool things that truly make you feel like a dragon.
Will it take a long time again before we get a new class?
Graham Berger: This is something we always discuss whenever we talk early about a new expansion: “Is this the right time for a new class, is this the right setting?” This is nothing we plan strictly, like “every X expansions we will release a new class” – it’s more like: “Is the time right, do we have a great idea, are we thinking about it, do we believe that the player base is ready for a new class?” I have nothing to announce, but this is always something we keep an eye on.
The Dracthyr have a heck of a lot of customization options. When can we expect more of that for the other races?
Graham Berger: The Dracthyr – the team did a fantastic job there. One of our technicians calculated that there are approximately 600 quintillion different combinations of character customizations for the Dracthyr. We are also proud of what the team did in Shadowlands, as they added a lot for the existing races. For Dragonflight, we wanted to really focus on the Dracthyr and their “Visage” form to make it as deep and fantastic as possible. However, we have also added many options to our repertoire, which can bring customization options for other races. This is definitely something we are interested in, and there will certainly be more of it in the future.
The Dracthyr are a new race in Dragonflight that can belong to both the Horde and the Alliance. They can only play the new class Evoker, which we have introduced in detail here. Evokers are extremely mobile and can choose either DPS or healer specialization. Their customization options are also enormous, as they have more options than there are “grains of sand in the universe”.
Historically, the Dracthyr are an ancient experiment of Deathwing, which was then forgotten and only revived with the launch of Shadowlands.
With a look at balancing – How will the Evoker fit into the meta with a focus on dungeons, raids, and PvP? Do you think it will replace a class or have strong synergies with other classes?
Graham Berger: This is something we always carefully consider when introducing a new class. For the Evoker, we already knew early on that we wanted a ranged damage dealer. You are a dragon, you breathe fire and cast spells, so it makes sense that you are more of a spellcaster, and if we draw on the magic of the dragonflights in the Warcraft story: Okay, red and blue fit in there somehow. Red is more quick and explosive, while blue is more focused and overwhelming on a single target.
We then looked at the other colors that existed – green and bronze, but also black – green fits perfectly with healers and bronze with time magic is something we had previously explored as players, so it would be really cool to make a healing specialization out of that. So yes, those are the two specializations we are making.
We have never added a ranged DPS to the game and we haven’t had a new healer since Mists of Pandaria – that sounds fantastic.
As for how they fit into the previously existing classes and the meta – part of that is what specializations were previously available. We haven’t had a new healer since Pandaria, it’s time for another one. We have a new ranged fighter, so let’s address that. But beyond that, it’s about creating what the class excels at and what makes sense for its fantasy, for its [abilities]. Both specializations are really good at area effects. But you would expect that from a dragon, right? You unleash a huge cone of damage or make flowers spring up from the Emerald Dream.
It just fits that there are good area effects – whether damage or healing.
The medium range was chosen because it works well with mobility. We wanted you to feel like you’re flying in a way while fighting. You can jump over the battlefield, and to balance that out, the Evoker’s range is slightly shorter than other ranged characters. So you want to be close to enemies when using your dragon breath, but you have the mobility to compensate for that.
And after that, it’s up to the players, right? We give them these tools to use with their class and to play with, but how exactly it plays out, how it works in group dynamics, or how it fits into the player versus player meta – we’ll have to wait and see and listen to the community… but we are also very excited.
Worgen and Druids have their own mounts. Why can’t Dracthyr use their wings to fly permanently?
Graham Berger: With Dragonflight, we knew from the start that we wanted to give Dracthyr a way of flying. You have wings, you are dragons, this expansion is all about dragons.
For the Dracthyr, we wanted to focus on the new form of movement, we want to showcase it as the highlight, as the coolest thing they can do, as their primary form of transportation – and they can use it anywhere in the world! They are not restricted to the Dragon Isles. We wanted to highlight their racial ability “Soar” and make that the focus instead of having it be “Here are four different types of flying, and they are all slightly different, but somehow very similar.”
We simply want “Soar” to be as cool as it can be and have kept the focus on that. We think it’s really fun.
Tell me more about dragonriding.
Jake Miller: With dragonriding, or movement in the air […] players can carve their path through the level zones, regardless of what race or class they belong to. There are four different new mount types, four different dragons of the Dragon Isles. And on these dragons, the player can dive off a cliff and find that the movement in the air is completely different than in previous expansions.
In previous expansions, players mainly ran on the ground from quest to quest, but in the Dragon Isles, they jump off the cliffs and experience that they are subjected to different forces like gravity or momentum while the dragon moves forward, relying on the player to say “Now dive down” to gain momentum and then “upward” to use that momentum and move forward. And there are also some active abilities in the air that we have never introduced in World of Warcraft before.
How does that work exactly, can I fly anywhere?
Jake Miller: For the Dracthyr and the Dragon Isles dragons, the limitation is mainly in the design of the environment and the skill of the player as they learn this new form of flying. When you see players flying for a long time – those are the players who are really skilled in things like: maintaining a good flying angle, flying proactively. Those are all skills that players will learn as they carve their way through leveling up experience and then receive more active abilities to make it easier.
If I am a skilled player, can I fly through half of Azeroth?
Jake Miller: If you find a good, high starting point and a suitable flight path – good preparation – and you memorize the level design, then that is definitely something that is currently possible.
You did a great job with the visual design of the world. What was the hardest part about making the Dragon Isles the home of the dragons and not just “Northrend 2”?
Jake Miller: With Northrend, we had a completely different kind of movement in the air. Therefore, we built these huge structures that are the seed of the culture of dragons very generously to ensure that a movement is supported that is much faster than in previous expansions, including Northrend. That also supports the various mechanics we have in Dragonflight.
For example, while players are playing through the plains of Ohn’ahra, they learn to recognize that there are whirlwinds that lift them high into the air while they are on their Dragon Isles dragon.
As a “casual player,” what would be the highlight of the Dragon Isles for me?
Graham Berger: Something on the Dragon Isles and in Dragonflight overall, which I am really looking forward to – and I believe the players you describe will too – is that it returns to the roots of World of Warcraft in a way. Back to the fantasy experience that immerses you right into the world. The stories are clear, feel good.
It’s just “there are big dragons, you fly around, the scenery is vast and beautiful” – and you can experience that. I play the beta myself, and while I look at the stories, playing a bit here and a bit there, it is so immersive and exciting. When we finish this conversation, I will continue to play the beta.
Jake Miller: For me, it’s getting a set of four dragons on the Dragon Isles that you can customize as you wish. I think that resonates with many players who want to express themselves in the game world with their looks.
If you don’t want to wait for Dragonflight, you might also find joy in WoW Classic – because Wrath of the Lich King Classic is just starting there.
