Dragonflight,World of Warcraft’snewest expansion, brings players back to Azeroth to explore the mysterious Dragon Isles. Referred to as the Broodlands, these isles were once the ancestral home of dragonkind until they were hidden away 10,000 years ago. Now,World of Warcraftplayers will return to this ancient land to help the dragons rebuild their strength, discover ancient wonders, and face off against the Primal Incarnate Raszageth and her followers.
Game Rant spoke withWorld of Warcraftnarrative director Steve Danuser and lead quest designer Maria Hamilton about the balance of storytelling in Dragonflight. The upcoming expansion carries a tone of wonderment, exploration, and discovery. Yet, as a combat-focused RPG,World of Warcraftneeds bad guys to fight. Danuser and Hamilton shared howWorld of Warcraftseeks to balance these different narrative beats, while also discussing the different perspectives needed to tell a consistent story.
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Balancing High- and Low-Stakes Adventures in Dragonflight
One look at thepromotional material forWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflightshows its focus on exploration and optimism. Cinematics show dragons soaring through idyllic scenes, and soundtracks lilt with optimistic chords that inspire hope and adventure compared to the otherworldly dirges ofShadowlands.
However,World of Warcraft: Dragonflightstill has a major antagonist in Raszageth. The Primalist leader is freed during the dracthyr starting experience, and acts as the final boss of Dragonflight’s first raid. Raszageth is featured prominently in the launch cinematic, and has been the focal point for the firstin-game cutscenes fromDragonflight’spre-patch.
“The story definitely needs to build to big moments of showdowns between heroes and epic villains,” Danuser said. “That’s part of theWarcraftDNA.” Raszageth’s emergence acts as the catalyst toget players to the Dragon Islesso they can uncover its mysteries and help the dragon Aspects regain their power. “It puts a challenge in front of us, and sets the stage for an expansion that is about discovery, trying to help the dragons in different ways as you are adventuring through this land.” The threat Raszageth represents adds stakes to the expansion that would otherwise be absent, while still allowing the expansion to focus on its optimistic tone.
“It strikes the balance of having a threat that’s out there, but keeping the large part of the story focused on exploring the land, helping our allies, and building up our strength so we can face off against that adversary when the time comes.”
Many fans believe Shadowlands’focus on propping up the Jailer harmed its worldbuilding. “We are mindful about how stories have been built up in the past, and we want to take all that knowledge, all that learning, and apply it going forward,” Danuser said. By trying to integrate the threat of the Primalists more naturally with existinglore and characters inWorld of Warcraft, it hopes to maintain the balance and harmony between tones that might otherwise be unable to mix.
Differing Perspectives in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
More than ever,World of Warcraftis seeking to tell the story of Dragonflightthrough differing perspectives. Players will discover lore and history from various peoples, be it from dragon Aspects like Alexstrasza or Neltharion, Titan Keepers like Tyr, or even the Primalists . “Ideally, we want to put in different perspectives from those same events,” Danuser said. Like in the Chronicle lore books, Dragonflight seeks to play with bias and unreliable narrators.
“Through the accumulation and the different ways you’ll encounter that information as you play, you may piece together your own perspective on that story… Maybe none of them are right and you want to form your own opinion on these things.”
One perspective unique to Dragonflight is that of the dracthyr - thenew race available toWorld of Warcraftplayers. These draconic beings were created by Neltharion in ancient times, but only recently awoke from a 20,000-year slumber. As the dracthyr missed out on quite a lot, their curiosity makes a great proxy to ask questions on behalf of the player.
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However, Dragonflightbeta players noticed the dracthyr did not show up as much as expected, especially considering ScalecommanderEmberthal’s prominence in the DragonflightLegacies shorts. While dracthyr are abundant in side quests - and even have some unique quests and dialogue hidden across the Dragon Isles, they seemed not to play a major role in the main campaign. According to Danuser, Emberthal and the dracthyr will play greater roles in subsequent Dragonflight patches, becoming one of the “pivotal story legs of this expansion.”
How Dragonflight Seeks to Tell a More Consistent Story
In the past,World of Warcrafthas had a habit of showcasing pivotal lore events in auxiliary media. World-ending threats, life-changing events, and even major character deaths have happened in books and short stories. ThoughWorld of Warcrafthas gotten better at not hiding such pivotal events, players still discovered important lore tucked away from the public eye, like the lore books in the Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr dungeon and excerpts fromthe DragonflightEpic Edition Collector’s Setartbook.
These snippets are parts of a greater canvasWorld of Warcraftis painting. “One of the things we’ve really tried to do is to… make sure [the lore is] presented in a variety of different ways,” Danuser said. Though crucial details may sometimes appear hidden,World of Warcraftclaims it won’t be the only place players can find it. Hamilton went on to emphasize its commitment to keeping pivotal stories withinWorld of Warcraft.
“We do consider and look at when we are planning our questing to verify we are telling those big moments in gameplay, and not in a book or something like that. We try very hard to make sure that core thing is in gameplay."
Part of the reason these aspects of the story may be hidden is becauseWorld of Warcraftis trying to hold back more of its storyduring the testing phase. Much ofWorld of Warcraft’sstory has historically been revealed on the Public Test Realm, but it has started to hide more beats since patch 9.2.5, Danuser said. He and Hamilton confirmed several important questlines and parts of the story were kept out of the beta, including one that delves deeper into the history of Titan Keeper Tyr.
Though some players have had access to the beta for months, it seems there will be more to discover in Dragonflight after its launch. “Dragonflight represents what we think of as a new book in theWarcraftsaga,” Danuser said. “There is a sense of hopeful optimism about the world… Hopefully that represents a feeling players will have as they return to the game.” TheWorld of Warcraftdevelopment team is excited forplayers to jump into Dragonflightand start the next chapter soon.
World of Warcraftis available on PC. Dragonflight launches on November 28.
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