WoW Dragonflight one month after release – This is how the MMORPG giant is doing

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WoW: Dragonflight was released a month ago. But how is WoW actually doing?

World of Warcraft is one of the oldest MMORPGs on the market and has seen many ups and downs. The last few years in particular have been left in bad memory by the players. According to the majority opinion in the community, “Battle for Azeroth” went downhill significantly. Shadowlands has compounded the problems.

Dragonflight, the ninth expansion of World of Warcraft, was released in November. The signs point to a new beginning. But how is WoW doing a month after the release of the expansion? Is the content already exhausted? What does the future hold? We at MeinMMO take a very close look at this.

Here’s how World of Warcraft Dragonflight is after a month

Exactly one month has passed since the release of WoW: Dragonflight. Even if the launch night was a bit bumpy and problems made it difficult to play in the first few hours, the frustration quickly changed:

Dragonflight has convinced.

Initial skepticism about dragon riding became less with every hour of play. Once you got used to the “new flying” you didn’t want to go back.

The game world also knew how to convince. Although there are “only” 4 new areas, they were significantly larger and more extensive than in previous expansions. Above all, the abundance of quests was sometimes so overwhelming that Blizzard even had to increase the maximum quest log significantly so that the heroes had enough space for all tasks – and sometimes even that wasn’t enough.

There are even quite unusual hymns of praise. Because many players celebrate that they no longer “have to” log into WoW – there are simply no obligations. Instead, everything is optional and everyone can pursue exactly the goals that are important to him or her. It doesn’t matter whether it’s “grinding reputation at Furorion”, extended fishing adventures with spontaneous windfall or taking part in the big hunt – there are many small events, the usual world quests and at the same time a lot of hidden content, such as Otto the Otter.

But the “standard” content is also solid again. The 8 new dungeons are interesting, have exciting new mechanics. Likewise, the first raid with the end boss Raszageth turned out to be really cool and even kept the professional guilds on their toes on mythic difficulty for a long time. Until 23.12. the raid bosses, the professionals from Echo, Team Liquid, Method and Co. held up well.

WoW shows new cinematic: This is how the fight against Raszageth ends

The problems of World of Warcraft

Even though the times are pretty rosy in World of Warcraft, not everything is perfect. There are still a number of annoying bugs and errors that bother developers and players. At the same time, however, the fact that WoW is doing “a lot of things differently” is also a burden for some veterans. Some of the biggest “problems” are:

  • Aimlessness of the players: Not everyone can handle the fact that World of Warcraft offers few “strict goals”. If you need a clear guide or just a clear “to do” list, you might feel a bit lost in the Dragon Islands. Because in WoW a lot is currently possible, but none of it is somehow mandatory.
  • Riding a dragon requires getting used to it: WoW veterans have now gotten used to “classic” flying for almost 15 years. Therefore, not everyone gets along with kite flying, which requires significantly more action. Simply “car running and afk” is not possible with hang gliding. Anyone who is not open to new things here and at least gives the system a fair chance will feel overwhelmed.
  • Bugs and server problems: Even after weeks there are still some annoying problems. The auction houses, the servers for trade orders or the group search for PvE and PvP are affected by problems from time to time. “Flying fast” into walls or trees can also lead to a disconnect.
  • Lost Trust: In the end, for better (or worse) many don’t fully trust the developers. There is great concern that WoW will fall back into the “old pattern” in the next patch. It will take time to regain trust in the community.

    • The future of WoW Dragonflight – Here’s how it goes in 2023

    Dragonflight launched with a pretty solid wealth of content and a large game world – but that’s what WoW expansions almost always do. It will be important how the ninth addon wants to deliver more content. Blizzard promised drastic improvements there as well and brought the first patch (10.0.5) to the PTR almost immediately after the start of the expansion.

    Although this patch is quite small, it brings a number of interesting features:

  • The Forbidden Island will be a “new” area – this is the starting island of the Dracthyr, to which you will now return.
  • Orcs and humans get their heritage armor, finally continuing these quests.
  • The Trading Post is a new permanent system that allows players to unlock numerous cosmetic rewards. Some refer to this as “Battle Pass” – but that’s just a very superficial look. The feature is completely free and rewards active players.

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    But this is only the beginning. Over the course of 2023, Dragonflight plans to release a whopping 6 patches. Two of these are the usual “big chunks” that bring new zones, new raids, and a new season. The other patches are rather smaller, bring new story content and improvements. The developers want to leave plenty of room for feedback and also be able to spontaneously respond to the wishes and needs of the community.

    We have presented all information about the rather aggressive release plan for new WoW content in 2023 in our large roadmap for WoW in 2023.

    How the fate of the aspects continues, we will surely find out in 2023.

    Conclusion: WoW is stronger than it has been for a long time

    Putting all these points together, WoW: Dragonflight is pretty solid a month after release. While there have been no official player counts for years, if you look at the official forums, the subreddit, or just the in-game chat channels, the mood is more positive than it has been for years.

    Dragonflight got off to a good start and had the potential to be a game changer for World of Warcraft. If the developers take advantage of Dragonflight’s strong start and release upcoming content with a similar philosophy – and at a faster pace – then 2023 could be the best year for World of Warcraft since Legion.

    These are exciting times for all WoW fans – and even abstinent veterans should maybe take a look at their old favorite game again. It might have changed for the better.

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