WoW: 9th expansion; Dragonflight

ugh. struggling to find a game to kill some time in. might play this for a little bit. maybe until Path of Exile 2 or something comes out.

I'd love to do leagues or season in this game. Three months, get to Mythics for a bit, and reset. I actually enjoy leveling in the game. Banging out dungeons and stuff.
 
The next update seems like it will be nice. Dragonriding available everywhere (y)

In Development: Seeds of Renewal
(Blizzard Entertainment, November 16, 2023)

Dragonriding Available Worldwide​

The skies of Azeroth and beyond can be yours in the saddle of your dragon. In Dragonflight: Seeds of Renewal, Dragonriding will be expanded to all old-world continents wherever flying is available.

Azerothian Archives​

Discover the history of the Dragon Isles and meet a unique cast of characters, hear stories of old, and witness the iconography of a time before. Participate in Solo and Group activities within Traitor’s Rest with a Weekly Public Event, plenty of opportunity to explore, and earn rewards like Battle Pets, Mounts, and a Transmog set.

Gilneas Reclamation​

King Greymane is ready to retake his kingdom, but Gilneas isn't as empty as expected. Help reclaim what was lost and return the kingdom to Gilnean hands.

Follower Dungeons​

Tank, heal, and DPS alongside follower NPC companions that join you on your Dungeon adventures. They will be available in all eight Normal Dragonflight Dungeons and can scale from 1–4 players. These companions will allow players to learn about Dragonflight dungeons at their own pace and provide the freedom to experiment and customize their Party makeup.

New Character Customizations​

Get creative with your characters! Trolls, it’s time to hit the salon and change things up with five new hair colors. Unique customization for Draenei, Warlock Tyrant, and Darkglare demons are on their way, and customization Achievements are coming for completionists.
 
Dragonriding available everywhere (y)

I just hope that they keep the dual-flying system. It's the way it should have been from the beginning of DF. Let people use what they want. While being able to use Dragonriding in the old world is neat i guess, I'm personally more excited about being able to use flight-form again now in the DF zones. Dragonriding is kinda cool if you want to go from Point A to Point B quickly over a long distance, but that's about it. I've already been doing a lot more questing now that I can use flight form again. In many cases I can loot objects without even having to land, and so I don't aggro mobs even if they are right next to the item. I love that I can actually look around and appreciate the world as I fly around without worrying that I'm going to lose all forward momentum because I collided with a tiny twig as I flew near a tree. I can fly straight upward to the top of a huge hill without having to use anything dumb like "vigor". I can even cast certain spells while flying, and can cast flight-form mid-air if I'm falling (including being able to jump off my dragonriding mount and cast flight-form mid-air).

I'm also sad that they decided to nerf healers AGAIN in 10.2, mainly mana regen and AoE healing cooldowns this time. In my specific case though I feel like I really dodged a bullet. The biggest Resto Druid nerf was to Flourish and related talents like Luxuriant Soil, which were key to the rejuvenation-spam play-style that has/had been the go-to healing style for most Resto Druids this expansion. I stubbornly held out and kept using Verdant Infusion instead of Flourish because I prefer that play style. So I wasn't really affected by any of the big nerfs but still benefited heavily from all the single-target healing buffs that they gave in compensation. And after playing a healer since vanilla I'm pretty good at using my mana wisely.

Looking farther forward, I think it's very strange that they announced the next 3 expansions at the same time, which is unprecedented. There are a lot of varying interpretations based on what was announced regarding what the release cadence of those expansions will be like, but it really sounds like going forward we will be paying the full expansion price for short expansions that last 1-1.5 years instead of 2-2.5 years. Getting dangerously close to the point where we're going to have to basically pay the price of a new expansion every time a new season starts / new raid comes out - which is kind of crazy for a game where you're already paying a monthly subscription fee. I'm not sure how many players are going to tolerate that. I guess we'll see.
 
They do seem to be stacking the costs of playing the game up pretty well. I can forgive them if the production quality is high.

I miss flight-form a little also since I started playing WoW again at the tail-end of Shadowlands after many years of not playing WoW. I unlocked flying for all the zones like 1-2 weeks before Dragonflight launched and was just beginning to enjoy earning mounts and stuff like that before they were all tossed out. I wish I would have had a little more time with Shadowlands since I liked the themes, but oh well. Dragonflight was fortunately a theme I enjoyed also.

I do like that they are adding "follower dungeons" because it means I can enjoy the game more as a more reclusive player and learn the dungeon stuff at my own pace before attempting to join a group.
 
I do like that they are adding "follower dungeons" because it means I can enjoy the game more as a more reclusive player and learn the dungeon stuff at my own pace before attempting to join a group.
Talking about the delve thing?

So, we can take NPCs and run dungeons? Is that what that is? If there was a different end game that I didn't have to deal with M+ on a timer and the GOGOGOGO playstyle, that'd be great. Sometimes it can work like that, fine, but some times I kind of just want to cruise along.

I'm hooked again for now. Started on a new server. Doing all healers this time. The 20% xp buff is working like mad. I got a resto druid and mistweaver to mid 60s this weekend. Not sure what I preferred more, so I started a disc priest last night. Not entirely sure what class I wanted to stick to for a bit. Definitely healer though. Figure get a crew of healers to mid 60s or 70s and start of end game and see which pans out the best for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: t1k
like this
I don't know if the details are out yet regarding the follower dungeons, but from what I've read, it will help casual/solo players learn how to run some normal dungeons with NPCs. That will be a boon for me. I've leveled a beast mastery hunter, arcane mage, and unholy death knight since last year. I'm not subbed at the moment, but I will probably resub before the update and start fresh.
 
Ah, I hope there are more end game options with the followers.

A more solo based game where I can log in and heal a dungeon without memorizing skips, pulling fifty mobs at a time, dealing with a tank that has an empty talent tree (had that last night), and no timer would be an end all game for me. Its why I enjoy leveling so much.

Queue, heal, gear, repeat. What gets me is the competing for a spot, waiting sometimes over a half hour, I'm to the wall with healing, or better yet someone leaves and bricks the key. Its usually at that point I chew it out for a few days, then just unsub to start the process all over again.
 
Ah, I hope there are more end game options with the followers.

A more solo based game where I can log in and heal a dungeon without memorizing skips, pulling fifty mobs at a time, dealing with a tank that has an empty talent tree (had that last night), and no timer would be an end all game for me. Its why I enjoy leveling so much.

Queue, heal, gear, repeat. What gets me is the competing for a spot, waiting sometimes over a half hour, I'm to the wall with healing, or better yet someone leaves and bricks the key. Its usually at that point I chew it out for a few days, then just unsub to start the process all over again.
They might go that route later, but right now it's just normal dragonflight dungeons. Maybe they will use this as a test.
 
Back
Top