After a contentious year with Shadowlands, World of Warcraft fans are returning to Azeroth in a big way. After almost two decades of hints, World of Warcraft is finally bringing its players to the storied Dragon Isles in Dragonflight, its ninth expansion pack. The ancestral home of the dragons, first hinted at as far back as Burning Crusade, holds forgotten chapters of lore for both dragon and titan, and players will be able to explore its mysteries from dragonback — or as the draconic drakthyr race. What’s more, the Alliance and Horde have set aside their differences, joining forces to reawaken the ancient draconic capital.
Game Rant spoke with lead game designer Jeremy Feasel and senior game designer Graham Berger about some content coming in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. They shed light on the narrative focus of Dragonflight, and teased the draconic politics players would be involved in, as well as some secrets they might uncover on their journey. The developers also spoke on the role the Alliance and Horde would take in the expansion as members of a joint expedition, rather than as opposing forces.
Exploring the History of World of Warcraft’s Dragons
For years, World of Warcraft lore hounds have known about the connection between the dragons and titans, as it has been explored in books and quests for almost as long as the MMO has existed. That said, some of their lore has been deliberately vague, and there are huge gaps in their histories which have never been properly explored. According to Feasel, Dragonflight will change that.
“We haven’t heard a huge amount about their lore, but they are a huge part of Azeroth history. What happened when they made their oaths to the Titans? Where did these oaths take place? Those stories exist in our history, but we’ve never been able to show them within World of Warcraft until now.”
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will be a deeper dive into draconic lore than any previous content in WoW. Feasel teased several mysteries that may be uncovered during the story, including the origin of the Emerald Dream and the nature of the timeways of the bronze dragonflight. He also hinted that, in addition to learning about the origin of the new playable drakthyr race, players could expect to learn more about other draconic creatures, like dragonspawn and drakonids.
All is not peaceful on the Dragon Isles. Malevolent forces and dangerous elementals are awakening with the Dragon Isles in Dragonflight, which players will have to contend with. One of these forces is the djaradin. These fire-resistant half giants were described by Feasel as the “perfect dragon killers,” and have hunted the leviathans for sport since ancient history. One of the expansion’s dungeons will revolve around these magma-wielding warriors.
Some of Dragonflight’s antagonists will be found among the dragons themselves. Beyond some holdouts of forces still loyal to Deathwing, players will also encounter the Primalists. This group of ancient proto dragons opposed the ordering of the dragonflights under the Titans. These purist dragons believe that, as children of Galakrond, dragons are the apex of creation who should be served by mortals, rather than the other way around. According to Feasel, the politics surrounding the Primalists will be one of the core conflicts in Dragonflight, and will be the subject of its raid; an ancient prison of the mysterious Primal Incarnates.
“These ancient Primalists have their own leaders we’re going to be meeting over the course of this expansion pack. They are their versions of the aspects that are directly antagonists to dragonkind.”
The draconic politics will extend beyond just the five dragonflights and the Primalists, however. Feasel made mention of the other types of dragons players have encountered over the years, such as the twilight dragonflight, the stone drakes of Deepholm, and the storm drakes of the Broken Isles, and that some of these groups may hold resentment over not being included in the main dragonflights. Players should expect these flights–and perhaps others, like the netherwing dragonflight from Burning Crusade — to be involved in the drama of the Dragon Isles as well.
No More Faction War in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
The history of Warcraft began with the conflict between humans and orcs, which later evolved into the Alliance and Horde. Though the two factions have set aside their animosity several times throughout their histories, World of Warcraft has always found a way to shatter the peace and spark conflict once again.
However, World of Warcraft is moving into a new era; one of a tenuous, but lasting peace between the two factions. This is more evident than ever in Dragonflight, where for the first time in World of Warcraft’s history, the Alliance and Horde are setting aside their differences from the start to embark on a joint expedition in the Dragon Isles.
Rather than sending armies to survey and colonize as in Mists of Pandaria, or to battle a greater evil in an uneasy truce like in Wrath of the Lich King or Legion, the Alliance and Horde are sending teams of explorers and researchers to the Dragon Isles. The Explorers’ League and Reliquary represent their respective factions on the expedition, and though these two rival organizations may still hold animosity between one another, Feasel explained they will be putting their grievances aside to work together in ways that would be impossible for military forces to do at this stage of the ceasefire.
“[The Reliquary and the Explorers’ League] are actually going to form a coalition called the Dragonscale Expedition early on in your adventures, and will be one group the Alliance and Horde work together with. It was a great opportunity for us to not only get some of those interactions [between the two groups], but also for Alliance and Horde players to be in the same space and interacting with each other in a positive way outside of cross-faction dungeons. Except in War Mode!”
With the faction war of World of Warcraft over, Dragonflight has the opportunity to tell a joint story that features representatives of both factions as they explore the mysteries of the Dragon Isles side by side, without forcing a reason for the factions to fight one another. With cross-faction play coming in WoW Patch 9.2.5, World of Warcraft players will have the opportunity to experience the game without being pit against the other half of WoW’s population.
World of Warcraft is going where no human, orc, or elf has gone before. The Dragon Isles are a refreshing break from the polarizing, high-concept stories Shadowlands, and seem to be a return to what made World of Warcraft fans fall in love with the franchise in the first place. Though it is still in the early stages of development, fans are optimistic with what they have seen from Dragonflight, and hope the expansion is the start of a triumphant comeback for the venerable MMORPG.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.