author: Miriam Moszczynska
WoW Dragonflight With Mixed Reception; Announcement Failed to Impress
The new expansion for World of Warcraft - Dragonflight - is one of those announcements that has moved players, but in a negative sense. The criticism mainly refers to the new race called Dracthyr.
Yesterday saw the announcement of new expansion for World of Warcraft, which - without beating around the bush - was not very popular among players. The community questions almost the entire essence of Dragonflight. Some people deal with such situations by pouring a bucket of venom on the heads of the developers, while others prefer to seek escape in memes.
New race... but why would anyone want it?
Along with Dragonflight WoW will gain a new race - Dracthyr, which is dedicated to a special class called Evoker. While the idea of a playable dragon race is a good one, players definitely didn't like the way Blizzard approached the idea.
Most of the criticism comes in the form of the class design, which players say doesn't quite capture the dragon nature of the race. Dragons just aren't "dragon enough".
"I love the WoW design and art team, but I do feel like they dropped the ball pretty hard on this race. It could have been so bad ass and cool looking. Although I guess the story team probably told art team that the dragons are pencil pusher casters and should look like skinny dragon nerds to fit lore," wrote Sengura.
"I myself couldn't help but think: Why add a new race when we already have humanoid draconians that could be developed? Its a small amount of lore surrounding the rank and file below the dragonflights so I dont see why they couldn't just expand on that. Even the "Dracthyr" models couldve been revamped Drakonid models. I think it wouldve been more interesting to expand old lore, wrote Drakancore.
Admittedly, the Drakonids look much more menacing, though given that the Dracthyrs are supposed to focus on either damage or healing, the barbarian dragon design definitely doesn't suit them. Still, the new race model is far from what the fans want.
Closing the topic of Dracthyrs, it is worth mentioning that players point out similar reception that occurred with the arrival of the Pandaren, which many have called "furry bait". Well, it's impossible to please everyone.
The stone dude is awesome
Every cloud has a silver lining, though, and players have fished one positive note out of the otherwise disappointing announcement of Dragonflight - one of the Titans. The stone guardian has stolen the heart of the community, and some have decided to call him Chadysseus or Gigastonechad, etc., etc.
"It is almost as if he had a goal you understood without a single word and saw his struggles and sadness over the loss of his people and friends and was willing to sacrifice himself for the duty he needed to do.
Meanwhile, we STILL don't know why characters in Shadowlands did what they did. (We know a lot more of why Sylvanas did what she did, but it being out of the game I think it doesn't count), wrote Cadwae.
"This is chad stone watcher guy. He spoke not a single word, yet he showed a lot of emotion, care and bravery with his actions and face language. He only appeared for minutes yet i feel emotional towards him in a much more way than Zooval after the entirety of Shadowlands," wrote Xemro.
What else, besides criticism, did Dragonflight bring?
It's easy to complain, but not everything in the announced expansion is as tragic as it might seem. So, leaving the Titan titillation and Dracthyr humiliation aside for a moment, here's what's to come with the new expansion:
- A revamped talent system that will initially focus on developing the skills of the main class and only later on improving specializations.
- Changes to the HUD - users will be able to customize the look of the interface according to their preferences.
- Also the system of professions and crafting has received a few changes, such as the ability to order someone to make an item for us.
- The addition will introduce flying on dragons and customization options for the reptiles.
- Dracthyr starting location will be the so far unavailable place in Dragon Isles.
If you want to read a detailed description of Dragonflight you can do so on the official website of World of Warcraft. It's worth mentioning that the expansion's release date is not yet known (although speculation points to a release this year). On the other hand, those willing to find out whether Dragonflight is really as bad as it is painted, can sign up for the beta tests.
