World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion, dragon flight, has a few storylines and political struggles running through the story of patch 10.1, which debuted Thursday. The Embers of Neltharion patch takes players to the Zaralek Cavern and the Shadowed Crucible, an ancient laboratory where the former Neltharion – later corrupted into the mad Dragon Aspect Deathwing – tinkered with experimental lifeforms and powerful artifacts.
The patch is also full of intrigue. There is a Succession-like storyline where Deathwing’s heirs compete to become the new aspect of the Black Dragonflight. They are under pressure from a sinister trio of elemental villains – who are the most fun Warcraft has had villains in years – and tons of in-game cutscenes to help tell these tall tales. The designers spent a lot of time thinking about how to frame these cutscenes, include the player character, and capture the spirit of each hero and villain. Here’s how they handle that delicate balance.
Set the scene
dragon flight is a well-received expansion by fans so far, and it uses cinematic styles and storytelling techniques found in the previous ones Battle for Azeroth And Shadow countries extensions. Cinematics have been part of the game since they were introduced in 2008 Wrath of the Lich King; they’re one of the most repeated features in the game, evolving from a rare treat to a narrative staple. They also play an important role in storytelling dragon flightand Zaralek Cavern is no exception.
“With the rise of the incarnated beings, there is certainly some baggage [in the dragons’] history that needs to be addressed,” said Terran Gregory, lead cinematic narration director at Blizzard, in an interview with Polygon. “By going underground, we come full circle to the Black Dragonflight, which had a fraught history and very challenging paths, with all the things Nefarian and Deathwing have done and the legacy of the Dragonflight for its descendants to inherit.”
Image: Blizzard Entertainment
The events of dragon flight‘s raid sets up our main plot (for now): we’re facing the Primalistic dragons, a dirty little secret from Dragonflights’ past. These villains are much smaller than previous bosses, but they are much more fun and packed with personality every time they appear in a movie. It’s a breath of fresh air for the mysteries, cliffhangers and multi-dimensional schemes that have become staples of previous ones Warcraft extensions. dragon flightBlizzard’s straightforward roster of opponents also gives Blizzard more time to tinker with the heroes and their new allies in the Cavern.
“When we think about 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 sometimes beyond – and we talk about new villains and new allies that we’re going to bring in,” says Maria Hamilton, lead game designer. The team starts with broad outlines and then digs deeper into the details of each story.
“As we get into the details, we’re going to look at what really appealed to players, what players seemed to be interested in, what questions they’re asking,” says Hamilton.
Dragons and daddy issues
World of Warcraft has a long history in the MMO and previous real-time strategy Warcraft games, and some of that ancient history is pulled back to the forefront in dragon flight. The Black Dragonflight takes center stage and their split leadership is at the forefront. After expansions centering on characters like Anduin, Sylvanas, and Jaina, we now dive into a less explored dynamic between Ebyssian, Wrathion, and Sabellian, the leaders of the Black Dragonflight. These seeds were sown back in the Burning Crusade And Fog of Pandaria extensions.
“We had the opportunity to dive into the story of what happened to Ebyssian, for example, or some fans might not realize where Wrathion came from and why he wasn’t touched by the corruption or how young he is relatively,” says Hamilton. Things are further complicated by the addition of the Dracthyr, the new player race that harks back to Neltharion’s experiments.
“We wanted to accelerate this story over time dragon flight‘s content patches,’ added Hamilton. “We see this disagreement between Scale Commander Sarkareth and the Sundered Flame and Emberthal, desperately trying to bring people together and not fight amongst themselves. They are part of this family of black dragons.’
Image: Blizzard Entertainment
These characters have to appear human – or at least be recognizable to humans, which is no small feat since 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 props team, the animation team, the film team. Then the cinematic designers can take the art designed by all the different collaborators, put it together and make these performances with what’s in the game.
Another challenge World of Warcraftfaced by the game’s narrative team is the fact that the game is often dated, revealing twists and turns early and out of context. Sometimes these are kept secret, encrypted until players can experience them all at once. Other times, player feedback is well worth the spoilers, as developers can use it to tweak issues, fix bugs, and strengthen story weaknesses.
“All of this [test realm content] has been vital in making sure we have constant dialogue and create the best content possible, and that the players feel heard and satisfied with the game they put so much time into,” says Gregory.
Players are now digging into the new patch, which went live on Wednesday, to see the full content. dragon flight continues to rise above the standard of the past two expansions. The refined cutscenes certainly help, and as the patch progresses we’ll see how Blizzard sets up the next chapter.