Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

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My response to this would be, why do the dragonflights need leaders? Can they not be led by democracy given their populations are not particularly large and their population is fairly intelligent as is?

My main concern with that is that it offers up some Doylist annoyances—I feel like it would be a continuation of that awkward, preachy tendency that the current writers seem to have. When put up against other changes such as the new Horde Council, it would seem like a democracy wank rather than a necessary change. Taken per se, I actually think that's a perfectly fine idea, but I think that it would contribute in this setting to a trend that's already starting to grate.

I'd also say that their social order doesn't look like it would suit a democracy—their social order is built around a quasi-familial hierarchy according to Draconic broods. Wyrms maintaining massive broods seem to be at the head of their society, so it seems like they naturally defer to a certain inherent hierarchy rather than any kind of social construct. However, as I think about this, this does open up the possibility of Dragons establishing a kind of oligarchical quasi-democracy in which broods organized like noble houses vie for power.

For that matter, why do the Aspects even need to be Dragons? Is Kalecgos more deserving of being the Aspect of Magic than Khadgar? E.g. Aegwynn certainly was far more deserving than Malygos who abdicated his oath in his grief (while Aegwynn kept fighting even her own child in service of Azeroth). Thrall could be a better Aspect of the Earth than Wrathion. Malfurion has done as much if not more to guard the dream as Ysera has.

There are two issues with this—first off, as I've mentioned from time-to-time, there are certain structures that I think are better left untouched in the setting. I feel like it perturbs the setting to effectively reduce the lofty role of the Dragon Aspects to in-name-only humanoid stand-ins. Although plausible from a Watsonian perspective, especially with Thrall setting the precedent for an interim humanoid Aspect in Cataclysm, from a Doylist perspective I think that certain roles should remain fundamentally consistent to avoid turning the setting into even more of a Ship of Theseus than it already is. With all the damage done by introducing the First Ones and the like and all the fundamental structural changes some factions and characters have seen, I feel like we're already on that path and it's best not to expedite the eventual transformation of the setting into something that is effectively only Warcraft in name only.

The idea of the flights as monarchies can very well be instinct; for all we know the dragons may have pack behaviour. But it could just be the influence of Order. And while I do not thing the influence of Order is universally negative, that doesn't mean it should not be challenged. We talked about this earlier with the Kyrian were we had a narrative about challenging tradition and I'll clarify that I do not at all mind challenging tradition (as long as we have actual arguments on why the challenge is valid that are not deeply rooted in a very narrow and biased view of morality). The flights seem perfect for democracy. Heck considering how the blues chose a new Aspect, the structure for a conclave is there.

I personally think most of their hierarchy is suitable for their species and seems biological in nature. I'd be more willing to guess that the influence of Order is responsible for their social structures if they maintained a quasi-eusocial civil order like most humanoids do, but this is not the case. They actually seem generally fairly individualistic and their social order is mostly maintained by deference to familial hierarchies—there are exceptions to the latter, such as with Kalecgos, but I would figure that to be an aberration more than anything.

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It would be kinda weird to take this much time to redeem the black dragonflight, re-introduce Sabellian only to then whack part of the flight with the villain bat again.

That's my feeling, as well. I also think it would be plain annoying to have Golden or Danuser shove their favorite characters down our throats again while sidelining character which may prove more interesting.

I think having a trifecta of leading characters with Wrathion as Aspect, Ebyssian as advisor and Sabellian as someone who routinely challenges Wrathion but is ultimately loyal would work pretty well.

Not implausible, for sure. I think that would be perfectly fine.

[Nymrohd]

My main concern with that is that it offers up some Doylist annoyances—I feel like it would be a continuation of that awkward, preachy tendency that the current writers seem to have. When put up against other changes such as the new Horde Council, it would seem like a democracy wank rather than a necessary change. Taken per se, I actually think that's a perfectly fine idea, but I think that it would contribute in this setting to a trend that's already starting to grate.

I'd also say that their social order doesn't look like it would suit a democracy—their social order is built around a quasi-familial hierarchy according to Draconic broods. Wyrms maintaining massive broods seem to be at the head of their society, so it seems like they naturally defer to a certain inherent hierarchy rather than any kind of social construct. However, as I think about this, this does open up the possibility of Dragons establishing a kind of oligarchical quasi-democracy in which broods organized like noble houses vie for power.

There are two issues with this—first off, as I've mentioned from time-to-time, there are certain structures that I think are better left untouched in the setting. I feel like it perturbs the setting to effectively reduce the lofty role of the Dragon Aspects to in-name-only humanoid stand-ins. Although plausible from a Watsonian perspective, especially with Thrall setting the precedent for an interim humanoid Aspect in Cataclysm, from a Doylist perspective I think that certain roles should remain fundamentally consistent to avoid turning the setting into even more of a Ship of Theseus than it already is. With all the damage done by introducing the First Ones and the like and all the fundamental structural changes some factions and characters have seen, I feel like we're already on that path and it's best not to expedite the eventual transformation of the setting into something that is effectively only Warcraft in name only.

I personally think most of their hierarchy is suitable for their species and seems biological in nature. I'd be more willing to guess that the influence of Order is responsible for their social structures if they maintained a quasi-eusocial civil order like most humanoids do, but this is not the case. They actually seem generally fairly individualistic and their social order is mostly maintained by deference to familial hierarchies—there are exceptions to the latter, such as with Kalecgos, but I would figure that to be an aberration more than anything.

I share your concern; anything I suggest is in normative terms. In pragmatic terms I would want them to keep the story surface level, focus on epic feel good moments, do call backs and let the level and quest design do some world building because that's what I think they are best at and what I think the medium allows (unless you change the nature of the game so the gameplay is just the means to the end of reaching the next cinematic). Anything more complex is just too much for this team.

Democracy and familial oligarchies is not really that distinct when dealing with relatively small populations. You'd have family blocks mostly voting together with respected (and likely older; dragons in fantasy are often gerontocratic) wyrms leading the blocks.
Then there is the issue of small numbers. Of the five flights, the only one that is numerous seems to be the bronze; the black is pretty much limited to Sabellian's salvaged brood, the blues are a few stray dragons, many greens were wiped by the Nightmare and the reds have fought the most. The Bronzes are probably heading for their own extinction event when Murozond happens and a good part of the flight turns infinite with him.

[Sondrelk]

My response to this would be, why do the dragonflights need leaders? Can they not be led by democracy given their populations are not particularly large and their population is fairly intelligent as is? For that matter, why do the Aspects even need to be Dragons? Is Kalecgos more deserving of being the Aspect of Magic than Khadgar? E.g. Aegwynn certainly was far more deserving than Malygos who abdicated his oath in his grief (while Aegwynn kept fighting even her own child in service of Azeroth). Thrall could be a better Aspect of the Earth than Wrathion. Malfurion has done as much if not more to guard the dream as Ysera has.

The idea of the flights as monarchies can very well be instinct; for all we know the dragons may have pack behaviour. But it could just be the influence of Order. And while I do not thing the influence of Order is universally negative, that doesn't mean it should not be challenged. We talked about this earlier with the Kyrian were we had a narrative about challenging tradition and I'll clarify that I do not at all mind challenging tradition (as long as we have actual arguments on why the challenge is valid that are not deeply rooted in a very narrow and biased view of morality). The flights seem perfect for democracy. Heck considering how the blues chose a new Aspect, the structure for a conclave is there.

I imagine the aspects should be dragons more because they are immortal.
Sure we have Khadgar as a possible Magic Aspect, but what about when he dies?
Making the aspects someone immortal, or at least effectively immortal makes it so there is some constancy in who leads said aspect, even if said person isn't necessarily the most powerful.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Wrathion, if only for the character development he has gone through. He's not the little dragon we first met. Yeah he's not perfect but I think he's close to becoming what....we'd want of Neltharion.

[Xilurm]

If Sabellian was going to be the leader they'd market the hell out of him. And not put Wrathion on loading screen either.

I hope they don't make people vote either. Cause you know Wrathion is going to win. Everyone knows who Wrathion is. People who don't care about the story would just instinctively choose Wrathion anyway.

Those who like the memes will choose Wrathion.

People who ship Wrathion and Anduin will choose Wrathion.

There's simply no way Sabellian wins lmao.

Something cool they could do is have Wrathion go through something during the expansion that makes him turn down the position and let Sabellian win.

[Gurahk]

If Sabellian was going to be the leader they'd market the hell out of him. And not put Wrathion on loading screen either.

I hope they don't make people vote either. Cause you know Wrathion is going to win. Everyone knows who Wrathion is. People who don't care about the story would just instinctively choose Wrathion anyway.

Those who like the memes will choose Wrathion.

People who ship Wrathion and Anduin will choose Wrathion.

There's simply no way Sabellian wins lmao.

Being on the loading screen has really no meaning anymore.
Remember Krexus in the Shadowlands? Me neither. He was featured in the CGI cinematic and got a loading screen spot.

[Sondrelk]

Being on the loading screen has really no meaning anymore.
Remember Krexus in the Shadowlands? Me neither. He was featured in the CGI cinematic and got a loading screen spot.

I still stand by that Krexus was meant to be used more, but was scrapped for whatever reason. It just seems silly to give him such a unique design only to have him usurped and removed from the story.
Way back I imagined a raid where we fought a reanimated Krexus, but really anything would have worked.

And yeah, the loading screen for Dragonflight is weird. Choosing Ysera instead of Merithra especially.
One would have thought that they would go for one or the other. Either current aspects, or original aspects. Only reason I can assume they didnt is because they didnt have a good mockup of visage form Malygos at that point, which just seems silly to imagine.

[Xilurm]

Being on the loading screen has really no meaning anymore.
Remember Krexus in the Shadowlands? Me neither. He was featured in the CGI cinematic and got a loading screen spot.

That's true. Maybe they just didn't wanna spoil anyone? But then again Draka even had her short story.

[Makorus]

There is no way that Krexus wasn't more important and I am fairly sure it got changed at some point in mid-late development.

He was the only character in the Maldraxxus part of the Launch cinematic. There is no way they were making a high-fidelty cinematic model for a character that died like 10-20 quests into the zone, offscreen, and did nothing of value.

[Nightshade711]

There is no way that Krexus wasn't more important and I am fairly sure it got changed at some point in mid-late development.

He was the only character in the Maldraxxus part of the Launch cinematic. There is no way they were making a high-fidelty cinematic model for a character that died like 10-20 quests into the zone, offscreen, and did nothing of value.

I’m willing to bet he was supposed to fill Draka’s role in development.

[micwini]

I’m willing to bet he was supposed to fill Draka’s role in development.

I think he would have become the Maldraxxus leader if they went ahead with the "Primus = Jailer" thing (if that was something that they had planned)

[Alanar]

Hrm, that's fair. Although this is something of a stupid suggestion, perhaps Wrathion would make a better Aspect of Earth and Sabellian a better de-facto leader of the Black Dragonflight? Would it be possible for Sabellian to actually lead the flight whereas Wrathion actually functions as an Aspect?

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If it is just an illusion of choice, I do hope that Sabellian still gets some kind of major, long-running role. I wouldn't want him reduced to a villain since he seems like an enjoyable character already.

Ye it would suck if they choose to use sabellian for a villain role. He is one of the last named black dragons, hopefully hes character changes during the expansion to be in a supportive role atleast and not push him over the edge. Right now he seems to proud to be in the second place, so hes attitude needs to change.

[Makorus]

As much as I dislike Preach, his documentary about his Blizzard visit and the interviews with Ion are so incredibly insightful. Only thing is that you have to turn the chat off.

Preach speaking out against any type of workplace misogyny/discrimination while his chat is spouting discriminatory non-sense is a bit iffy lmao.

His chat pretending that he is being paid off by Blizzard because he is positive about Blizzard is so sad.

[Nyel]

Maybe someone can give me a quick answer: Can I directly start professions in Dragonflight on my Dracthyr or do I need to do something before to be able to gather herbs / ore on the Dragon Isles? Completely out of the loop with this topic since forever.

[Sondrelk]

Maybe someone can give me a quick answer: Can I directly start professions in Dragonflight on my Dracthyr or do I need to do something before to be able to gather herbs / ore on the Dragon Isles? Completely out of the loop with this topic since forever.

Pretty sure you have never been restricted from actually mining or gathering for years now, only requiring the actual base profession. Might not be fully efficient if there are Dragonflight gathering upgrades, but nothing to make it impossible.

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As much as I dislike Preach, his documentary about his Blizzard visit and the interviews with Ion are so incredibly insightful. Only thing is that you have to turn the chat off.

Preach speaking out against any type of workplace misogyny/discrimination while his chat is spouting discriminatory non-sense is a bit iffy lmao.

His chat pretending that he is being paid off by Blizzard because he is positive about Blizzard is so sad.

Anyone want to make a quick tl;dr: for the important bits? Or is it primarily just a Blizzard workplace documentary?

[Xilurm]

That was a really good documentary.

[Darkarath]

It was an enterteining watch. If you expect something related to future content you will be dissapointed though.

Anyway I expect it to be the first of many videos. I do not think that Preach spent three days there just for this, as much as I enjoyed it, there has to be more.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Evergreen on my mind and hearing Evergreen just being uttered is just magnifique.

Now we just need to see if there's actions.

[Xilurm]

It was an enterteining watch. If you expect something related to future content you will be dissapointed though.

Anyway I expect it to be the first of many videos. I do not think that Preach spent three days there just for this, as much as I enjoyed it, there has to be more.

There's going to be a part 2.

[Nightshade711]

So Dracthyr already have all the animations they need for normal flight, yet Blizz doesn’t just give us this as a mount.

But then again blizzard doesn’t seem to care about Dracthyr/Evoker cosmetic stuff since they haven’t even given them any glyphs.