Blizzard admits 'the need to do better' with World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

The Dragonflight expansion is off to a strong start, and Blizzard wants to keep it that way.

We described World of Warcraft: Dragonflight as “a promising new foundation for a very old MMO” in our recent 80% review(opens in new tab), and Blizzard seems to see it the same way. In a “Dragonflight in 2023(opens in new tab)” update laying out its plans for Dragonflight next year, the studio said that older expansions like Legion are still “remembered fondly” by fans, and acknowledged that it hasn’t lived up to that standard with more recent releases.

Blizzard intends to put out six content patches for Dragonflight over 2023, including two major updates with new zones, raids, and seasonal rewards. It also wants to ensure plenty of new content between those big updates, though, including new world events, dungeons, narrative chapters, and cinematics.

“A WoW expansion is not a single moment in time but a journey—we know that the merit of an expansion hinges on the sustained quality of its entire arc,” executive producer Holly Longdale said. “Years after its release, Legion is remembered fondly as much for the 11-week content update cadence that served as the framework for its first year as it is for artifact weapons or Khadgar’s brilliant dad jokes.

“In planning out the road ahead following the release of Dragonflight, we’ve been mindful of the duty we owe our players to nurture this living world and, frankly, the need to do better than we have at times in the recent past. Our goal for Dragonflight is that there should always be something right around the corner, with a new update hitting our test realms shortly after the last one is live and in your hands.”

An update adding the Trading Post to Dragonflight is expected to go live in early 2023, shortly after which the next update, with a new quest campaign and repeatable world content, will launch onto the PTR. That will set up the next major chapter of Dragonflight, “and by its conclusion, it should be obvious what our next destination must be.”

This is what the roadmap looks like right now:

Naturally, no longer the entirety is nailed down at this point: Longdale stated there could be content material updates inside the 2d half of 2023 to bridge among the major updates, but isn’t always committing to any specifics just yet.

“The intention is simply greater Warcraft: extra story, more content material, more rewards, more occasions, greater tech upgrades, with much less downtime between them,” Longdale said. “I do not need to spoil the whole lot, and I’m confident that there are at the least a couple of surprises coming alongside the manner that no person is looking ahead to. And a number of the information in reality aren’t decided yet, due to the fact your remarks will help shape precisely what we prioritize in those updates.”

For folks who are curious approximately Dragonflight but no longer quite equipped to devote, Blizzard also announced nowadays that a trial version of the enlargement(opens in new tab) is now to be had to all World of Warcraft gamers with both a subscription or energetic Game Time on their debts. Only for a restricted time, although: The trial model of Dragonflight will run until January 2, 2023, and then gamers will need to buy the expansion to continue gambling.