Several lead Blizzard developers have referred toDragonflightas the “Third Era ofWorld of Warcraft.” Between changes to the narrative direction and vast shifts to core game philosophies inDragonflight,World of Warcraftis seeking to reinvent itself with the upcoming expansion.
Preach Gaming is a popular streamer who, disillusioned withShadowlands, stopped coveringWorld of Warcraftback in July 2021. WithDragonflighton the horizon, Preach made his prodigal return to the MMO that built his streaming career, beginning with a tour of the Blizzard campus. He recently shared his findings on Twitch.
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During the tour, Preach interviewed several leadWorld of Warcraftdevelopers, including general manager John Hight and game director Ion Hazzikostas. In the conversations, the developers spoke of how their design philosophies had changed. Recent expansions have relied heavily on mechanics that only stick around for one expansion, like Azerite, Island Explorations, and Covenants. ToWoW, it made thematic sense, as the systems were designed for specific eras of the game, but to players, it felt likeWorld of Warcraftwas fielding projects only to deem them failures and abandon them. In this new era,World of Warcraftwill be trying to avoid such things, instead building upon systems and making them evergreen.
According to Hazzikostas, this “Third Era” philosophy will extend toWorld of Warcraft’snarrative as well. Preach contrastedWorld of Warcraft’snarrative flow, which consists of expansions with self-contained stories, toFinal Fantasy 14’slong-form storytelling. WhileWorld of Warcraftcannot and will not be copyingFinal Fantasy 14’smodel, it does have plans to start telling longer story arcs that directly span across several expansions.
Presumably,World of Warcraft’s"First Era" was from Vanilla throughWrath of the Lich King, withCataclysmbeginning the second era. Assuming that is the case, players are interested to see whatWorld of Warcraftwill end up doing in its “Third Era.” The “First Era” is what made players fall in love withWorld of Warcraftin the first place,as evident withWoW Classic, but it lacked convenience and narrative direction. The “Second Era,” on the other hand, modernized the game in significant ways, such as Transmogrification, storytelling chapters, and Cross-Faction play, but occasionally lacked the charm that drew players to the game. IfWorld of Warcraftis able to take the best parts of its previous eras, the “Third Era ofWoW” may be exactly what the game needs to shine in the modern market.
