The alpha of Dragonflight, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, has been running for a few weeks. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus tests diligently and he keeps noticing details that make his heart beat faster.
WoW has made me a bit bitter over the last few years, without really being able to explain it. Somehow the great world in Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands just lost its shine. Everything was kinda… way too serious.
Sure, there were cool Easter Eggs like the Witcher in Ardenwald and quaint scenes with the huge “Best Buddy” in Revendreth. Flynn (or Finn in German) in BfA always had a snappy saying up his sleeve.
But such completely blunt ideas as the quests from Kadghar in Legion, who needs EXACTLY 4,986 crystals, because anything above or below that would be completely absurd, didn’t stick in my mind in the last expansions.
For me, humor is in the details that make the world of Warcraft, whether it’s Easter eggs to the Lost Vikings, appearances by porn stars and Hitler himself, or just quests like, “I’LL TAKE A CANDLE!”
All of this has always made me smile over the years that I’ve been playing WoW, and Dragonflight manages to do it again. From my short test sessions alone, 3 situations have occurred to me that I like to tell as anecdotes.
Caution! I’ll tell you some details about the contents of Dragonflight here. Don’t read any further if you want to be surprised. You have been warned!
The strongest Tuskarr, defeated by supper
I had my first test session with Mary from GameStar during an event. There I spent 7 hours testing the new class, the Caller and looking at the Azure Mountains.
While questing, we encountered the “strongest Tuskarr warrior”, a rare opponent who is even marked with a star on the map. In relation to other opponents and even elite mobs, it has a decent amount of HP.
If you want to get an idea of what such a caller looks like in action, heating up enemies, here is gameplay for the new class:
3 minutes of gameplay for Rufer, the new class in WoW Dragonflight
A large weapon, a mount and a special name are a sign for any experienced WoW player that this opponent has more skills than others. So we prepared as best we could with buffs and potions. Should be a tough fight.
We thought…
In fact, we had to fight him for quite a while until he was defeated quite suddenly. But not from us, but from his little son, who came by and called dad for dinner.
The mighty Tuskarr laid down his weapons, apologized and said that we can continue at another time. We watched, a little taken aback, as he disappeared, and then had a great time laughing at the absurd scene.
In case you’re wondering what Tuskarr are doing in Dragonflight, the 14-year-old NPCs are back and you can even play them – but not as a real race. The Tuskarr are more common on the Dragon Isles and even offer boat trips:
WoW: Dragonflight has deadly boring boat ride over 60 minutes – everyone says “more of this please!”
A small note: Unfortunately, my recordings of this scene have disappeared and the area is no longer available. That’s why I can’t show you a video about it unfortunately…
Allow? Alexstrasza, Queen of Dragons. I don’t read quest texts
The second memorable scene came a little later in Alpha. There are always phases with different content for testing. On July 26, Awakening Coast was introduced as a new area, as well as Jewelcrafting and Leatherworking as a try profession.
By the way: Professions all get a major overhaul with Dragonflight and even get their own skill system. In the video we explain how the professions work in Dragonflight:
WoW: Dragonflight revised professions – All features explained under 2 minutes
What is really exciting in the new area, however, is that dragon riding is learned and developed here. The unique kites can be customized here via a kind of forge. But you have to ask for it.
And it is precisely with the quests that there is a small moment quite early on at the beginning that can confidently be described as “gross nonsense”. Exactly the blunt humor that I love so much about World of Warcraft for.
I’m supposed to sign the inn’s guest book to please a trusting dragon. Hasn’t happened for so long. So I can enter my real name: Vaszyxia. Or …
Well, let’s just say I had some far funnier options to choose from, both for my name and my reason for being there – and even the time of my arrival. And typical for Blizzard, there were hilarious possibilities.
In short: Alexstrasza, the life-binder, queen of the dragons, is now the guest of the nice innkeeper. She arrived “exactly when she intended” and the reason for her presence can well be explained to her by the innkeeper himself. Because: “I don’t read quest texts.”
Here you can see the choices for the quest
How was that again? Always add the water to the acid?
I don’t want to waste too many words on the third anecdote, after all I have already explained in a separate article how I blew myself up. Nevertheless, I want to touch on again why I find the story so remarkable.
Professions have simply not been exciting for many expansions. Dragonflight wants to change that with a mission system, profession gear, and recurring specializations. But there are also interesting and funny details.
As an alchemist, I have to do research to learn new recipes. That’s how it should be, after all I’m a pioneer of science! But experiments are not always safe, especially when unknown substances are used.
The result: After some discoveries something goes wrong and I am blown up. I almost go for it. Literally, I’m put on a life point. A death sentence in the open world. What not to do for progress…
You can see the explosive scene here:
WoW: Dragonflight – Alchemy can be dangerous
World of Warcraft has always had some kind of humor in the game that is somewhere in the world. You just have to find him. Personally, however, it seemed to me that this humor had been somewhat obscured by the damn serious stories in BfA and Shadowlands.
I mean, we have to fix the machinery of death ourselves, are losing our faction leaders (again!) and something EVEN worse is already on the horizon. There’s nothing to laugh about.
That’s why I like that Dragonflight seems to be a bit more relaxed about it. Of course I want a good story, but I also want more of those little, funny details that I love about WoW.
The fact that Dragonflight wants to “back to the roots” is evident in many areas and also in the humor. Would you like another example?
WoW Dragonflight brings a world where murlocs have won everything