by SymphonieWorld of Warcraft (WoW) was seemingly on life support for a few years, but to celebrate the 20th anniversary of WoW, the developers at Blizzard Entertainment have made some drastic changes to breathe new life into the modern Role Playing Game (RPG).
Around 2022, players started to leave in droves due to the introduction of complicated power systems, lack of content, and the move towards endless grinding, rather than fun gameplay.
So, let’s take a look at what Blizzard has done since then, and what’s coming to WoW in 2024.
- Dragonflight: Blizzard’s Big Comeback?
- Keeping up the Momentum
- Heading Towards a New Direction
- What’s Coming in 2024?
- Wrapping Up
Dragonflight: Blizzard’s Big Comeback?
A lot of players moved back to the 18-year-old version and census data shows that at one point, the number of people playing WoW Classic was more than the ones playing the modern version.
The Dragonflight expansion was launched in late 2022 and proved to be WoW’s saving grave. Dragonflight was filled to the brim with things to do and new systems to try out. Blizzard aimed to correct most problems that the players had with the Shadowlands expansion.
The Dragonfight expansion is one of the best expansions that World of Warcraft has gotten. There was a huge flood of content for the game in 2023, meaning players had a reason to keep coming back to the it.
Although Dragonflight didn’t launch with new encounter types, Blizzard revamped everything in the existing game from talents to transportation. They also added the new Dracthyr Evoker class and race.
The extremely fun dragon-riding mechanic was loved by fans and the developers added it for other continents in the game in January.
Dragonflight also added new dungeons that had a lot of variety and kept things interesting. The raids were also consistent and came out at regular intervals. Not only that, Blizzard also improved them over the years.
Besides dragon riding, the new dungeons were my favorite part as I and some of my Spanish buddies played them together during some late-night Discord sessions.
Keeping up the Momentum
Most of the players that left the game started coming back after Dragonflight was released. But, the real challenge was to keep the players coming back to the game.
For WoW Classic, Blizzard saw that a lot of veteran players were using mods to add hardcore challenges. So, they introduced a new Hardcore server category which instantly became a hit among fans.
I had a lot of fun playing the Hardcore servers with my Spanish friends, one of whom had a lot of trouble joining my game for some reason. They called Optimum servicio al cliente en español who guided him through the entire process. Turns out he was using a VPN service that throttled his internet speeds.
Blizzard released patch 10.2 which brought us the third raid of Dragonflight called the Dream’s Hope. This is by far, the best raid I played since Ulduar which was released more than a decade ago. The part that I loved about this raid is that the boss mechanics didn’t rely on randomness too much.
The difficulty is also perfectly balanced. It doesn’t get too difficult but doesn’t stay easy.
Blizzard also experimented with the Season of Discovery which included warlocks, rogues and shamans who could tank, and mages that could heal. This is an incredible way to put a spin on the game without changing too much.
Heading Towards a New Direction
At the start of 2023, Blizzard promised a new direction towards managing the game. They started by posting an ambitious roadmap that promised new content for players every six weeks.
This move was welcomed by fans and Blizzard stuck to their word and hit one deadline after another. By the end of 2023, Blizzard published another roadmap for 2024 for both versions of World of Warcraft. The move was very risky for Blizzard, who are known for not being able to meet deadlines.
However, given their track record for the past year, I expect Blizzard to meet their deadlines this time as well.
Dragonflight has managed to retain the players, who keep coming back to the game, thanks to the continuous flow of new content.
What’s Coming in 2024?
At BlizzCon in November 2023, Executive Creative Director Chris Metzen announced three new retail expansions coming to WoW.
The content roadmap for 2024 details a few smaller updates to the game, which aim to polish the existing content before the release of ‘The War Within’ expansion which should be released in late summer or early fall.
We can expect to play a brand new campaign story, hero talents, four new zones, and eight new dungeons as well as a new raid.
For players playing WoW Classic, we can expect more phases of the Season of Discovery up to level 60, Cataclysm Classic’s launch as well as a few patches. We can also expect the introduction of a self-found mode for Hardcore servers where you can only access what you find or craft yourself.
Wrapping Up
This year is shaping up to be just as good as 2023 was. Blizzard executives and fans are both excited to see the future of WoW. Blizzard is also looking to expand the World of Warcraft franchise with new experiences like games, movies, and shows.
So, are you excited for what’s next for WoW? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
