Last Tuesday took place the official presentation by Blizzard de Dragonflight, the new extension of World of Warcraft. Since the release of the basic game in 2004, this kind of presentation has been an essential event for fans of the universe, but also for those who do not know much about the world of Warcraft. It is thanks to the introductory cutscenes made by Blizzard, that many players and players marvel at each extension ad. That of Dragonflight is no exception to the rule since it brings many new features that you can be explained in five points.

• Warcraft and its world, a phenomenon
• Dragons, an important entity finally at the center of attention
• DRACTYRS evocatives, the new class
• Minor adjustments that can change everything

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The following text is a transcription of the video above

Warcraft and its world, a phenomenon

Before attacking the presentation of this new extension, it would be good to plant the decor, and to return to what Warcraft is in its entirety. Warcraft is first of all a real -time strategy game, inspired by dungeons and dragons and Warhammer. He takes place in the world of Azeroth, a fantastic world populated by orcs, humans and filled with magic and elementary energies. Three major episodes were released between 1994 and 2003. To realize the success that the franchise has had, it is enough to see the sales of the time. Warcraft III: Reforged , the last game in the trilogy, is the best -selling PC game of all time (in its time). A colossal triumph, which Blizzard owes two license forces: the density of the Lore and the quality of the writing. But Blizzard is not based on his laurels and wants to export this fantastic world in a new way. WithWorld of Warcraft in 2004, the studio is attacking the MMORPG, or massively multiplayer role play. For neophytes, MMORPG are games where a large number of players can connect at the same time and interact with each other. The player is represented by an avatar he designed beforehand and can decide on his own adventure with his character, but always within the limits set by the game.

As part of World of Warcraft, Each player chooses a starting breed between those offered, like humans or the living dead, then he chooses a class that will define his way of playing. The mages can launch Ice or fire spells at a distance to inflict damage, while warriors can take large wounds or count on their martial skills. Minimal personalization, but which is more than enough for what Blizzard wants to do at the time: plunge the player into Azeroth and give him the feeling of being the real hero of his own adventure. If Blizzard succeeds as well, it is thanks to the immensity of the world to go (which is almost unequaled in 2004) but also by the social experience provided to each player. At the time, if we wanted to make dungeons for several or a little more arduous quests, we were forced to chat with the other players we met in order to strengthen our team. In short, the game is a hit and that’s without counting on The Burning Crusade, the first extension of the game.

It appeared in 2007 and it’s madness! The latter adds an entire region to explore, a new level limit, new playable breeds, but also a new story that brings back legendary characters from Warcraft games. And like the original game, this first extension leaves like hotcakes: 2.4 million copies are sold on the day of its marketing. This record, as crazy as it is for the time, is crushed a year and a half later by the second extension of World of Warcraft which is considered today by many players as the best of all: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. That’s good, since his return was announced last Tuesday by Blizzard, Wow Classic. In summary, if World of Warcraft displays an impressive longevity, it is thanks to its community, but also to the formula found by Blizzard: renewing the content of the game thanks to a major extension to the rhythm of one every two years. The problem is that in 18 years old people have time to get bored. A boredom shared by players since World of Warcraft: Shadowlands , the most recent extension to date. And yet, the figures say the opposite: when it was released on November 24, it has sold 3.7 million copies. Again, this is a sales record for a PC game on the day of its release… even if it will be quickly exceeded by Cyberpunk 2077 two weeks later. Despite everything, it is clear that for the start of an extension, the enthusiasm of the players is still present and should perpetuate itself for Dragonflight, the extension announced by Blizzard last Tuesday.

Dragons, an important entity finally at the center of attention

We will probably pass for devil’s lawyers, but the presentation trailer is quite exciting. However, the big bad guy, who is very often staged in these introductory cutscenes, is missing the call for Dragonflight. This is ultimately, one of the main reproaches that can be made to this trailer: difficult to access. Unless you have read the books or at least having plunged into detail in the world of Warcraft, it is complicated to grasp all the subtleties of this introductory cutscene. A problem which, in the end, is not really one for the simple reason that it has already been the case for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria , the fourth extension of WoW. In addition to a fight between a panda, a human and an Orc, few interesting things stand out from this trailer. In the end, MOP earned the glance for the many stories she had to tell.

And stories, the trailer for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight tells full. But to fully understand the ins and outs of it, we will recall some bases of the Warcraft universe for the less initiated. Ten thousand years before the events that take place in Dragonflight, a gigantic war is declared between the demonic entities of the Ardent Legion and the inhabitants of Azeroth. This conflict will end, but not in the happiest way That is: the well of eternity, an inexhaustible source of magic that regulates elementary energies, explodes. This explosion will cut Azeroth in several continents. This is called the great fracture. What is the relationship with the dragons? In fact, dragons are species of descendants of elementary beings: some handle fire, others the sand, or even the ice. Depending on their elementary affinities, they can be classified within a specific draconic flight: red flight, green flight, blue flight, black flight or bronze flight. in order to prosper together, they build a Kingdom on a land rich in elementary energy. And inevitably, when one of the biggest sources of magic in their world explodes is not the species, but the whole kingdom that feels it and decides to… literally pass into standby mode. To solve the problem, dragons have no choice but to go see what is on the other side of the ocean and get out of their cocoon.

And some of you understood this, Dragons Island fell asleep for 10,000 years. Fire spitting lizards are back and in good company since it is the player who is by their side. This time, we will have to help them recover their lost powers. And yes, in 10,000 years, a lot of things happened. In addition to the very ancient gods, physical manifestations of the vacuum inspired by Lovecraft’s works, which wanted to corrupt the entire cosmos, it turns out that a dragon has slightly fucked up panic. Aile-de-Mort, the big villain of the extension of Cataclysm, decided to burn the continents of Azeroth. He is the former chief of the black draconic flight, recognized for his strength. Because of the influence of a very old God, he became extremely powerful, to the point that the other flight leaders had to sacrifice their power to seal him. We can be almost sure that part of the plot will revolve around the recovery of the powers of the dragons, even if you suspect, additional diapers will be added to this main intrigue. One can think of internal conflicts between the different draconic flights, while imagining learning more about the decisive role they played before the arrival of humans. Furthermore, an old enemy should surface, according to Blizzard. At first glance, there is no real source of concern to have for the Dragonmn script: the dragons have always been in the foreground of World of Warcraft and alone represent a sacred piece of the Lore of the Universe.

Dragons Island, the new region

This new extension is accompanied by a completely unprecedented area to explore. This is obviously the Dragons Island. As every time, this new region will be divided into five distinct zones with very different biomes. For example, the shores of awakening are perennial and tumultuous land which will be the point of arrival of the players on the Isle. But there are also the plains of Ohn’ahra, the Azur span or Thaldraszus. Each of these areas will be led by a particular draconic flight. But what you need to know is that there are not only dragons on the island: Gnolls, Centaurs… Several species house on the Dragons Island, so we will certainly serve as a mediator to facilitate cohabitation.

On the artistic direction side, this is the same recipe that Blizzard sold its last years: distinct biomes, strong colors which often allow strong immersion in the story they tell. And it is precisely in terms of exploration that Dragonflight seems to make an effort to make it more interesting with the flight of dragons. And yeah, we will be able to ride dragons! on this side, Blizzard seems to have put the package. Different from classic flight, the art of Dragon’s back flight will be considered a skill apart that players will have to develop and master if they want to learn new maneuvers. It allows you to hope for a world larger than its predecessors while symbolizing the promise of a refreshing exploration.

DRACTYRS evocatives, the new class

So it’s fine to have a new scriptwriting framework, a beautiful unprecedented region as a decor and dragons flying in all directions, but if it is to offer a gameplay identical to the previous extensions, many players are likely to complain. But it looks like Blizzard has thought of everything since for the first time in six years, World of Warcraft will receive a thirteenth playable class which will be called the evocatives. This class is a great first in the World of Warcraft game since It is the first to be directly linked to its race and vice versa. In other words, Players wishing to play evocative will necessarily have to create a Drityr, a breed of dragons having grown up on the island. They bring with them additional narrative elements, but also a gameplay mechanics that are clean with reinforced techniques. By maintaining the pimples linked to them, certain draconic capacities can be reinforced and benefit from additional damage or effects. Well, it must be recognized that it is not super exciting. It is not sure that pressing a button three seconds will improve the immersion. Another negative point concerning the class is its specializations. Dractying evocatives can choose to treat via the “preservation” tree, but as they are dragons that spit fire, they also do damage. The gameplay put aside, Blizzard also indicated that a very advanced personalization of these Draconids will be available.

Minor adjustments that can change everything

Since we are talking about personalization, we approach the different adjustments promised by Blizzard. We are going to start with the overhaul of the talented tree. The player defines his style of play first starting with his class as a mage or warrior and then decides to specialize. To take over the example mage, he has three specializations: the magic of fire, that of frost and that of the mysteries. Once he has chosen one, he can invest talent points to improve spells for this specialization. What you need to know is that the talented tree has been present since the beginnings of Wow, 2004. Except that it has been the subject of two major modifications, including a great simplification in 2012. With Dragonflight, this talented tree is redesigned to offer more personalization options by dividing it in half. Concretely, the first concerns class specializations like Mage Fire or Frost, Warrior Protection or Fury etc. The second offers more general utility options, but which respect the identity of the class chosen by the player. We will finish with the interface overhaul, which is quite surprising, because since the start of WoW, it has never been modified. Honestly, it should be a relief for experienced players like neophytes since a publishing button will appear.

In summary, Blizzard delivered a dense presentation requiring only a deepening so that we can make a final opinion on the issue, but we are still waiting for an outing period. We can always console ourselves through the beta.

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Ryuki

Mp

16 minutes ago

Compared to the trailers of the old extensions, it seems well below artistically speaking.
Would they be short of idea?

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