So we now know exactly how World of Warcraft is going to handle the Dragonflight pre-patch. We’ll be getting the initial launch of systems but not Evokers or the special events on October 25th, with the actual events and the new class being brought in a little bit later. This is a rather different approach from the past, and it shakes up the game compared to existing pre-patches.
And you know what? I like it! I actually like it a lot. I think this was a really smart decision.
There are a couple of reasons this is a smart decision for Blizzard; it’s a simple change that’s going to make a big difference in how players engage with the content and the game as a whole, and it deserves praise. Sure, there are always some bad elements woven in there – every change has downsides – but I think this one works well as a net positive for the game and the community, so let’s break it down a little.
First and foremost, let’s just acknowledge the elekk in the room: Yes, this prepatch means you are once again going to need to learn how to play and spec your class again from zero, something you already knew would be the case but still isn’t less annoying as a result of it. I know, believe me. It happens over and over and here we go again. Blizzard absolutely has technology and opportunity to avoid making this happen every couple of years, but this is what the designers have opted to do repeatedly. Sorry.
However, you know what’s nice? Not feeling like there’s an obvious and looming countdown timer measured in minutes for figuring this stuff out. Therein lies the problem: If you have the pre-patch events starting too soon, people don’t feel like there’s any time to figure out how to adapt to the changes; if it takes too long, then people log in, enjoy the changes, and then clock back out until the expansion launch.
What we have set up for the split now feels like a good compromise. You’re going to get the actual pre-patch content in short order, but you feel like there’s still enough time to get your sea legs under you with the changes to your classes and the like. It strikes a good balance, in other words, and I’m happy that it’s there.
More importantly, it keeps the pre-patch event from overstaying its welcome. These events always have to strike a tight balance between being fun and feeling rewarding for characters of multiple levels without going on too long, offering just enough rewards that people want to play but not so many rewards that you feel overwhelmed by the need to get through everything at a glance. So, yes, also a good balance struck there with the event and the substance.
Of course, it’s not new to have the pre-patch roll out before the event does. But the timing here is important, and perhaps most importantly the timing is tight without being constrained. If you have one or two characters you actively play, you have plenty of time to get accustomed to how it feels to play with your new talent trees before you have new content to pursue, after all.
More important, at least to me, is the framing. This isn’t being portrayed as “here’s the pre-patch, have fun” followed by a limp reminder that there’s an event coming up and you should probably take part in it. Instead, the framing is very much that these are both contiguous parts of a larger whole, two events that are inextricably linked to one another and provide a larger framework for where the game is going.
This is a smart move. It doesn’t do too much to change the actual deployment, but it keeps players who read about the game less (or not at all) aware that this is just part one of something that will extend elsewhere. This is further driven by the launch of the animated shorts on the same day as the first part’s arrival, keeping a narrative going and keeping eyes on both the game and the lore in a hopefully captivating way.
Does this mean that Dragonflight is starting off on the right foot, at least? In broad strokes, yes. Putting more emphasis on lore and worldbuilding is a bit of a difficult road, especially as it’s an area where WoW’s writing staff has proven themselves not really up to the task rather consistently. But it does imply, at least to me, that the developers are going into this with a stronger sense of the need to keep up a throughline and keep people engaged through something other than just raw progression.
Whether or not this approach is going to work remains to be seen. But it is at least what I would consider a positive step for how the game is rolling out content.
If you’re curious about more hard advice regarding which talents to pick or the like… well, honestly, I don’t have that for you at the moment. The talent design is still in flux to a certain extent, and most of the people you could usually look to for analysis seem to be treating this as a scenario where things could radically change up until launch. I expect to see guides popping up pretty soon after the patch on Tuesday, maybe even on the same day, but most aren’t ready yet.
However, the recommendation that I would make to you right now is to play with this a little. If you don’t know exactly what the best options are, well, right now there’s no pressing need to be the best. Odds are that there will be a pretty good spectrum even once you do know what the best options are. Play around with different talent builds, see how they feel, and be willing to change if you find that something isn’t fun or doesn’t offer as much utility as you had hoped.
My time playing with the calculators has made it pretty clear to me, at least, that there are some very obvious lynchpin talents that are going to be hard not to take… and also several options that you can really take or leave without worry. Fortunately, the point distribution means that you have a fair amount of stuff you can freely put wherever. I don’t think it’ll be all that bad if you move around some of those optional talents, and I think it’s worth experimenting with before the actual expansion is out and a certain amount of reliable conformity is expected.
So don’t stress about it at this point. Play with your new talent options, test things out, and know that you’ll have more time to test them out before you even have to deal with the real weight of new stuff to do. It’s a smart change, one that I hope heralds other smart management decisions throughout Dragonflight. Although I suppose we’ll have to wait and see on that point.
War never changes, but World of Warcraft does, with a decade of history and a huge footprint in the MMORPG industry. Join Eliot Lefebvre each week for a new installment of WoW Factor as he examines the enormous MMO, how it interacts with the larger world of online gaming, and what’s new in the worlds of Azeroth and Draenor.
