The launch of WoW: Dragonflight has happened – and it was extremely bumpy. It didn’t go smoothly at all. Many were unable to play.
Those who know me and my articles know that I like to praise Blizzard when it is warranted, but I also express serious criticism when I find it appropriate. Unfortunately, the launch of WoW: Dragonflight is not something one can praise. Because personally, the release night was a bitter disappointment – one that I had not experienced with World of Warcraft for a long time.
I know. There is this old meme “Never Play On Patch Day” – and during the times of Vanilla and The Burning Crusade, it had some truth to it. But looking back, the launch days of expansions – aside from minor issues – went quite solidly:
- Warlords of Draenor had a smooth launch, but there were problems in the garrison – they were hopelessly overloaded. But the rest went smoothly.
- Legion also went damn well. I don’t remember any problems, was able to do my artifact quest, and afterwards quested seamlessly through the Broken Isles.
- Battle for Azeroth went smoothly. In one go, right at midnight, I could quest through Kul Tiras.
- And lastly, Shadowlands also went seamlessly. I believe there were a few minutes delay until everyone’s starting quest was unlocked – but by 0:05, all my friends were in the Maw and tackling the first missions.
Now, let’s get to Dragonflight.
The launch was a disaster – Blizzard had to find a workaround
At 0:00, countless players were standing on my realm at the dock in Stormwind, ready for the launch. And it came – somehow. The starting quest was activated, and the timer for the ship began to tick. In 5 minutes we would all be on the Dragon Isles. At least we hoped so.
However, the ship did not arrive. Aside from the steamer that goes to Kul Tiras, no ship stopped. Initial discontent spread, but with the full chat it was still somewhat amusing. “Perhaps climate activists glued themselves to the ship” and similar comments at least caused some chuckles.
By 0:15, Blizzard probably realized that they could not easily fix the problem with the ships. Therefore, a portal simply appeared at the dock, teleporting one directly to the Dragon Isles – a shame, because there was actually supposed to be a cutscene that was completely omitted.
At least in theory. Because the portal only worked for a fraction of the players. There were long loading times, at the end of which you read: “Instance could not be started, transport aborted.”
That the launch fails and Blizzard has to establish a “workaround” with a spontaneous portal is a bit embarrassing. If the journey to the Dragon Isles fails, it seems that something went wrong in testing. But at least: They reacted quickly. A potential fix in 15 minutes is quite solid.
This problem dragged on … for a whole hour. Here and there, a few players made it to the Dragon Isles, while others were stuck in Stormwind.
Many tricks were tried:
- Toggle war mode on and off
- As Alliance, take the Horde Zeppelin
- Log out and log back in
Nothing helped – except luck that one finally got in.
To be honest, I was quite disheartened. The release of a new WoW expansion is always a highlight for me, one that I really look forward to. A day that I plan out in advance so I am not disturbed at all and I can just “dive in hard” – once every two years, it’s one of my recurring highlights. Not being able to play frustrates me.
MeinMMO editor Anna Alberg captured the chaotic release in a video:
At 01:15, my mood changed – because the 32nd click on the portal finally got me to the Dragon Isles. Although I was still disheartened that some friends had already reached level 62 and were raving about dragon riding – at least I could now catch up.
To put it briefly: Dragonflight is really fun when it runs. The quests are fantastic, dragon riding has permanently replaced flying mounts for me, and the game world is simply beautiful. You will read more about this in the coming hours and days – because I have a lot to report that stands out and makes it clear: Dragonflight is not Shadowlands and at least in the leveling phase is already significantly better.
How did you spend the first hours? Could you go directly to the Dragon Isles? Or did your ship and the portal also strike?
