Dragonflight pre-order unsettles fans – Far too expensive and too early

Dragonflight unsettles fans of World of Warcraft and big streamers. Does it have to be so expensive? And isn’t it too soon?

The next expansion of World of Warcraft has a rough start date and already got a price tag. In the current year 2022 it should go to the Dragon Islands – at least if you pay the quite high price of the expansion. Some streamers also make fun of it or report their concerns.

Arguably the biggest criticism is the concern that Dragonflight will be released in an unfinished state. Because the fact that Blizzard is now promising to release the expansion in 2022 also means that there can be a maximum beta period of 6 months – and only if the beta starts in the next few days. After all, 2022 is almost half over.

Many fear that Blizzard is running into the next catastrophe and that the fans will be presented with another “unfinished” expansion, which then has to be made playable with several patches.

Has WoW become more expensive? This is how the price has changed

If you compare the amount of euros that players have to shell out for the Dragonflight experience, then there is definitely a significant increase in price, especially in relation to the last addon, Shadowlands. The cheapest versions, i.e. the “Base Edition” of the last extensions cost:

Compared to Battle for Azeroth, the price for the cheapest entry has increased by €5, compared to Shadowlands by a whopping €10. It’s important to note that the Battle for Azeroth Base Edition came with a character boost, something that both the Shadowlands and Dragonflight Base Editions lacked. In a direct comparison to Shadowlands, the price has increased by a whopping 25%.

Heroic Edition is 33% more expensive

The price has developed similarly for the other versions. If you compare the next version, the “Heroic Edition”, there are the following prices. It’s important to note that Battle for Azeroth didn’t have a “Heroic” or “Epic” version, just a “Digital Deluxe” variant.

The Heroic Edition has also become significantly more expensive. The increase from Shadowlands to Dragonflight is a whopping 33%. That said, the Shadowlands transmog set was available even to players who didn’t purchase the special versions.

Epic Edition is another €15 more expensive

Finally, a look at the most expensive digital variant, the Epic Edition. Here, too, it is important that Battle for Azeroth did not yet exist, which is why the Digital Deluxe is listed here again for comparison.

The price difference for the most expensive version is clear. In contrast to the Digital Deluxe from Battle for Azeroth, you leaf through a proud 50% more on the table – that is 30 €. The comparison of Shadowlands to Dragonflight is a bit milder, here you “only” pay €15 more, i.e. around 17%.

So it’s not surprising that there is a lot of criticism of the new prices for World of Warcraft. Large streamers in particular, such as Asmongold, make fun of the proud price – which, by the way, is identical in euros and dollars.

Of course, Asmongold also includes his criticism of Diablo Immortal. Because when he talks about “that looks like 800% additional value”, it’s obvious that he doesn’t like this pricing policy that Blizzard has been showing in the last few months.

Is Dragonflight too soon?

The second major point of criticism is the targeted release date of Dragonflight. Although there is no specific date yet, Blizzard has already given itself the ultimatum “until December 31, 2022” with the advance sale.

This means that Dragonflight will only have a relatively short beta phase of a maximum of 6 months and then has to be ready.

Many people immediately think of horror scenarios from unfinished features and would have liked Blizzard to take their time. Many are concerned about setting such an early date.

As a counter-argument, it is often said that Dragonflight probably does not need such a long beta phase – because the extension has significantly fewer “new features” that first have to be tested extensively. The biggest projects here should still be the transformation of the talent system and kite flying. There will be no other features that otherwise took a lot of development time (such as pacts, war fronts, islands, Azerite armor).

The fact that Blizzard showed almost no gameplay when Dragonflight was first presented is also of little help. Apart from a few animations of the Dracthyr, there were mainly landscapes to admire. Even if Blizzard says that the development has made good progress, as a player you have seen very little of it so far.

A real reassurance can probably only bring the start of the beta, when you can see for yourself how good Dragonflight really looks so far – or how terrible. Until then, the wisest thing to do would be to take Dragonflight with a healthy dose of skepticism and think twice about pre-ordering.

What is your opinion?