World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the next expansion pack for Blizzard's massively multiplayer online experience that took the world by storm 17 years ago. After the cosmic scale of Shadowlands, Dragonflight represents a return to the old and the familiar – not just in terms of setting, but in terms of its design philosophy as well. One can't help but wonder what this means for new systems that have come to define modern World of Warcraft in ways that Mythic Keystone dungeons have.
As the third expansion to feature Mythic Keystone dungeons, Shadowlands shed light on the limitations of the system, as well as means on how to push those limits further, and expand upon the system in meaningful ways that still kept the format that has captured the hearts of so many World of Warcraft players. Reintroducing Legion Mythic Keystone dungeons into Shadowlands was but the first step in this journey, and Blizzard Entertainment seems ready to take the next, logical step.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will be launching with four leveling zones, and eight dungeons from the get-go. However, unlike its predecessor, Dragonflight will feature a mixed selection for its Keystone seasons. The first season will feature one half of Dragonflight's dungeons, and four other reworked dungeons from older expansions – with the second half of Dragonflight's dungeons arriving with the second Keystone season at a latter date.
On paper, this opens up many new possibilities and serves to prolong the longevity of the Mythic dungeon scene on an expansion level. Whereas Shadowlands Season 4 decided to shake things up by offering players eight dungeons from the past four expansions of World of Warcraft, the JudgeHype interview with Ion Hazzikostas seems to imply that Dragonflight will not only continue that system – but that it will very much be the baseline going forward.
While it is too early to tell the exact selection of returning dungeons for Dragonflight, it is reasonable to hope that players might see the return of old classics such as Mists of Pandaria's Scholomance or Cataclysm's Zul'Aman redone as Mythic Keystone dungeons.
With the return of talent trees, and a lack of borrowed player power that has plagued the design of recent World of Warcraft expansions, Blizzard's message to the playerbase is crystal clear: Dragonflight wants to bridge the disparity between old and new, taking the best of both worlds. The jury's out on how successful this approach will end up being.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.
Source: JudgeHype