WoW’s big new Dragonflight patch is packed with political intrigue

World of Warcraft’s newest expansion, DragonflightPatch 10.1 was released on Thursday and features several plotlines as well as political battles. The Embers of Neltharion patch takes players to the Zaralek Cavern and the Shadowed Crucible, an ancient laboratory where the one-time Neltharion — later corrupted to become the mad Dragon Aspect Deathwing — tinkered with experimental lifeforms and powerful artifacts.

There’s a lot of mystery in the patch. There’s a Succession-style storyline where Deathwing’s heirs compete to be the new Aspect of the Black Dragonflight. They’re under pressure from a sinister trio of elemental villains — who are the most fun Warcraft has had with villains in years — and tons of in-game cinematics to help tell these tall tales. These designers had to think carefully about the cinematics they created, how to include the players character and what spirit each hero or villain represents. Here’s how they handle that delicate balance.

The scene

DragonflightThis expansion was well received by the fans and uses storytelling and cinematic techniques from previous games. Battle for AzerothThe following are some examples of how to get started: Shadowlands expansions. Cinematics have been a part of the game since they were introduced in 2008’s The Lich-King’s WrathThey have evolved from being a special treat into a story staple. The sprites also have a major role to play in the storyline of DragonflightZaralek Cave is not an exception.

“With the emergence of the incarnates, there’s definitely some baggage [in the dragons’] history that needs to be addressed,” says Terran Gregory, lead cinematic narrative director at Blizzard, in an interview with Polygon. “By going into the underground, we’re coming full circle to the Black Dragonflight, which had a fraught history and very challenging paths, with all of the things that Nefarian and Deathwing have done and the legacy of the Dragonflight that his descendants have to inherit.”

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

What happened in the year? Dragonflight’s raid sets up our main plot (for now): We’re facing the Primalist dragons, a dirty little secret from the Dragonflights past. These villains are much smaller in scope than past bosses, but they’re far more fun, and they’re packed full of personality every time they show up in a cinematic. It’s a relief to be spared the mysteries, cliffhangers, and multi-dimensional plans that have become staples of previous Warcraft expansions. Dragonflight’s straightforward set of antagonists also gives Blizzard more time to tinker with the heroes and their new allies in the Cavern.

“When we figure out what we’re going to do in an expansion, we talk a lot about who the main characters are going to be and how they’re going to span the expansion — and beyond, sometimes — and we talk about new villains and new allies we’re going to bring in,” says Maria Hamilton, lead game designer. Team members begin with broad strokes before focusing on specifics.

“As we get down to the details, we start looking into what really resonated with players, what players seemed interested in pursuing, what questions they’re asking,” says Hamilton.

Dragons and father issues

World of WarcraftThe MMO, as well as the real-time Warcraft series that preceded it, has a rich history. Some of this old history comes to light in Dragonflight. Black Dragonflight takes center stage and split leadership is in the spotlight. After expansions in which characters like Anduin, Sylvanas, and Jaina take center stage, we’re now diving into a less explored dynamic between Ebyssian, Wrathion, and Sabellian, the leadership of the Black Dragonflight. The seeds for this were planted in the Burning CrusadeThe following are some examples of how to get started: Mists Of Pandaria expansions.

“We had the opportunity to dive into the story of what happened with Ebyssian, for example, or some fans may not realize where Wrathion came from and why he wasn’t touched by the corruption or how young he is, relatively speaking,” says Hamilton. Things are further complicated by the addition of the Dracthyr, the new player race who harkens back to Neltharion’s experiments.

“We wanted to pace out this story across the span of Dragonflight’s content patches,” Hamilton adds. “We’re seeing this disagreement between Scalecommander Sarkareth and the Sundered Flame and Emberthal, who’s trying to desperately bring people together and not fight amongst themselves. They’re part of this family of Black dragons.”

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

These characters have to come across as human — or relatable to humans at least, which is no mean feat, because most of them are dragons. “The expression of characterization within World of Warcraft is a big team effort,” says Gregory, who describes the MMO as a “handcrafted experience.” He adds, “That’s a confluence of many, many teams from the concept art, the character art team, the prop team, the animation team, the cinematic team. Then the cinematic designers can leverage the art designed by all the different collaborators, cludge it together, and create these performances using what’s in the game.”

One more challenge World of Warcraft’s narrative team faces is the fact that the game is often datamined, with twists and turns being revealed early and out of context. Sometimes these secrets are hidden, encoded until all players get to see them at the same time. Sometimes, player feedback can be worth spoilers because developers use it as a way to fix issues, correct errors and strengthen weak spots in stories.

“All of this [test realm content] has been vital to making sure we’re having a constant dialogue and creating the best content we can, and the players feel heard and are happy with the game they invest so much of their time into,” says Gregory.

To see all the content, players are digging deep into the patch that went live Wednesday. DragonflightContinues to exceed the previous expansion’s standard. The refined cinematics certainly help, and as the patch continues, we’ll see how Blizzard sets up the next chapter.