8 Dragonflight Story Fails I Can't Stop Thinking About

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World of Warcraft Dragonflight is a very good expansion, but people hoave issues with the story. Whether it's that there's no WAR in Warcraft and you fret about the Disneyfication of WoW, or if you find Alexstraza bland and ineffective, or you don't like the raid endings or Wrathion's character arc or quests being locked behind renown join us as we explore 8 Dragonflight story fails we can't stop thinking about
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[@Elunayme]

The Gilneas critique is so on the money, it almost hurts more than trying to figure out how to use these damn goggles and totems for digging

[@Jarecian]

It was absolutely disappointing. A couple of kill quests, Genn's switching voice actor, Genn being completely useless so daughter dear can have her YAS QUEEN moment (I mean, we had a couple of those already, I'd have preferred more time with Genn), and in the end, you're standing in an empty city that has nothing in it except some NPCs walking and a couple traders and trainers a block away. Yay. There was potential here, but they would've needed to put more effort in it than that.

[@tnecniw]

@@Jarecian Also the Forsaken presence still feels.. off. :/

[@Jarecian]

@@tnecniw Yeah. I already erased that from my mind. I mean, they *could've* done something with that, but that woul'dve required more effort to set things up.

[@a1pha_star]

@@Jarecian Better get used to it because the new CEO is a women. 😂

[@Vandel96]

@@tnecniwmy loyalist death knight felt so out of place, he should have been aiming to take it back for his queen, not some furries.

[@Domdrok]

The Life-Binder not having inherent empathy for the dragonkin is super weird.

[@davidr5380]

The problem with the low stakes thing isn't that nobody dies. There's a substantial NPC body count ... but I don't think I can name one of them other than Sendrax (who I only remember because so many alts have run that questline). Nearly every character that dies is a nobody who is introduced for the purpose of dying. There's no attachment.

[@Eldun]

Yeah I partially agree. But it was kinda dumb wrote by them. We have a good example like Runas, the nightborne consumed by the magic hunger, he left his mark, even staying so little time with us.

[@tuckernoyes7371]

I think this is often the issue with introducing many new characters every expansion rather than reusing existing ones. Even for minor characters, I remember being a bit floored when Amber Kearnan or Baris Alexston die just because of all the time we spent questing with them over the years despite being undeveloped characters.

[@ChrisBear1989]

Runas was also turned into a meme

[@Azazel-zv4fy]

It felt like we were supposed to care deeply about Sendrax and her sacrifice, but since we only knew her for about 15 minutes it really didn't hit at all. It was really much more of an "oh, okay" reaction than an "oh no!"

[@ZergS4uc3]

Sendrax died too early, i think it would have been better if she was with us up until the south gate situation or she stay with us for the zone and then get promoted to going to the south gate and we come upon her dying and then its a quest of revenge, she'd have been more of a character and if the centaur fyrrak cooks if he had been by our side the whole time in the plains because i cant name a single fucking centaur, and vaktros or however its spelled had an actual purpose beyond go save it, we used to get 1 boss raids would of been cool if something was buried there that the dragons didnt know about. Azure span felt the most complete without being complete, the plains second, emerald dream third, zaralek forth, waking shore fifth, forbidden reach sixth, and thaldrasus i dont even remember doing 3 of the 7 zones were forgetable which is insane saying that about waking shores but not much of use happens and alexstrasza kinda proves why she should have died in one of the two fights she was in

[@kingdomheartsguy44]

The oathstones and ignoring the egg Sendrax gave her life to save are my biggest issues

[@margisama]

THIS 1000%

[@UltimateGamerCC]

the Egg was the Red Whelpling that we get at the Daycare,

[@pattychristie1713]

Agree agree agree. I came late to this expansion, and I keep wondering, are we ever even going to MENTION Sendrax's sacrifice? I hate playing through on alts, and tried to avoid this storyline altogether. It feels so Alt-righty. Forget about the health and well being of the Mother, but OMG save the baaaaaby! Trash the mom, itsok, she was a useless bag of garbage anyway. But wait, no! She had potential. I mean just before the events leading up to her death, her commander says "Sendrax will be leading her own regiment soon!" God I hated this questline. The Intro. Why did I come back?

[@UltimateGamerCC]

because you like WoW and even though it has pissed you off in the past, you want the game to get better. nobody wants to feel invalidated for wasting X years of their life on a game.@@pattychristie1713

[@Azazel-zv4fy]

@@pattychristie1713You might be getting a bit too political with it. It just feels like bad writing rather than anything near alt-right, especially in the context of the other quest elements all over Dragonflight - gay centaur marriage, lesbian centaurs/fauns, interracial (in 2 ways) lesbian Kirin Tor couple, "trans" Chromie" etc. Sendrax wasn't the mother of those eggs, just a poorly written plot device to offer a selfless sacrifice because what a tragedy. Which we saw again later with the other dragon sacrificing herself for the whelplings/eggs while Nozordormu stood around rewinding time.

[@Aestholus]

The Red Dragonflight didn't get it's own questline dealing with it's problems. Alexstrasza has no consorts left and no clear successor should something happen to her. I am a bit confused what happend since every other Flight got their own storylines after the original launch of dragonflight even netherwings and Thorignir.

[@dust8236]

It 100% hurt the taking back Gilneas story that it came out around the same time as the night elf unique stuff, but what Worgen got compared to Night Elves was...embarrassing.

[@commracA]

As a night elf who loves our furry allies, I... feel so much for u. At least u got a cool mog inspired on guilnean culture =D (cooler than heritage set imo). If I ever creat an worgen alt, he's definitely wearing it!

[@commracA]

Other than that... at least gilneas is on peace. I'm happy for u on this conquest anyways.

[@dust8236]

@@commracA mog is pained on and looks worse on worgen than all other races, not really much of a win there

[@dtulip1]

on the other hand as a worgen main there has been nothing worgen specific (I could be forgetting something?!) since I left the island 12yrs ago

[@dust8236]

@@dtulip1That's what makes it suck all the more, waiting this long only to get....this.

[@sahalachoung2703]

Tali you forgot about the Oathstones...its okay though Blizzard also forgot lol

[@rogervanbaren]

Yeah fr, what was the point of those? :(

[@UltimateGamerCC]

nothing, it was a red herring that Alex THOUGHT was the way to get their powers back, but as she stated at the end of Amirdrassil, the power was never theirs to TAKE. which means that the Titans ORDERED Azeroth to give them power, much like they order a lot of things.@@rogervanbaren

[@benjaminehren7965]

@@UltimateGamerCCthis except I think Azeroth might have given them power on her own. I think with amirdrassil blooming Azeroth is starting to wake up, thus the war within visions which were even mentioned in the afterparty. Also shows how strong Azeroth is if the first thing they do as they start waking up is restore the aspects to the full power that the titan pantheon originally bestowed.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

considering how Alex and the gang said what they were feeling was different than when they got their powers originally, this would imply that the Titans were the ones to give them said power initially, but this time Azeroth chose them as her protectors. i will say however that i think she's been awake ever since she got stabbed by Sargeras, as she was communicating with Magni and gave us the means to recollect her life force that was leaking out of her.@@benjaminehren7965

[@waltwhite8126]

@@UltimateGamerCC IIRC the titans didn't ordered azeroth to give them power, the titans ordered the proto-dragons into dragons and gave them their power.

[@benjaminjane93]

My personal grief list of the story of this expansion: 1. Too many made up phrases. I know this is a fantasy thing, but the amount of "This is the thing-thing, it is imporant becaue we call it the thing-thing." of this expansion was way too prevalent. 2. The majority of cutscenes and cinematics felt the same in the way they were written. How many dialogues in this expansion was like this? Character A: I am feeling insecure about this thing I have to undertake Character B: I acknowledge and validate your feelings. Let's talk about your feelings. Character A: My undertaking is racking me with guilt/insecurity/fear. I don't know if I have the strength. Character B: I acknowledge and validate your feelings. Allow me to secure you by telling you how strong and good you are. In fact, you are morally better than me because you happen to be younger than me, and me being old means that my time has passed. 3. Alexstrasza. I agree very strongly with Taliesins point that she is one of the main problems with this narrative. Thing is, if she comes in and do the "Triumphant speech" every single time we have a minor victory, none of the victories feel triumphant. She's a moron. It feels like the was one specific writers favorite character, and as such only wanted to write extremely specific dialogue that made her sound heroic, wise, and beautiful. But the writer was also isolated in a room, deprived from human interaction, and have lost the ability to imagine what human speech sounds like. 4. The writing. Too kind of tie all points together. The writing this expansion has been extremely awkward. I think the writers were too preoccupied with making the writing "Beautiful" and "Wholesome". To an extent even the bad things are usually framed in a wholesome way, or has a wholesome payoff. The Niffen getting roasted by Fyrakk stands resolute just before getting torched. No matter what evil things happens around Chromie she straight up goes "UwU I believe in my friends!" And while worldbuilding, we get many quests in the open world that other than giving XP is just there to show us how cuddly and lovely the people of the Dragonflight are. And once again the writing really failed in the third act of the expansion. I thought this expansion would've been perfect as a palette cleanser after Shadowlands. Let's sort of a domestic situation on a specific landmass. A relative low stakes expansion. There is nothing wrong with a low stakes scenario. The way you can ramp up the tension would be to make the stakes specific, and personal to people we care about. We don't need a world ending threat. But if we care about the Dragon Isles, then we will probably care about Fyrakk burning it all to the ground. But no. Fyrakk aims to burn the world to the ground through the Emerald Dream. Again we're at a world ending threat just-because. But sorry. I don't see Fyrakk as a dangerous individual. He's the Starscream to Iridikrons Megatron. A dangerous tool, but a tool nontheless. It is my firm belief that Fyrakk would be mollywhopped by Deathwing. Deathwing was a terrifying dragon. Fyrakk is a rabid dog. A rabid dog is scary if you are trapped in the same room with them. But the writers thought that was too low stakes and made Fyrakk the harbinger of the worlds doom. How are we supposed to ultimately care about the writing when the staff obviously have no faith in the story themselves?

[@ZergS4uc3]

Odd how the writers favorite female characters are all written like ass, sylvanas ass, alexstrasza ass, so glad hes supposedly gone

[@schippes24]

This! When fyrakk was made the main baddie, I was like "finally, someone brutal to actually kill some important characters" and then what? Fyrakk is like "I'm gonna kill you right here!" on quest#5 in the emerald dream, but wait, along comes random flamedruidguy and tells fyrakk "no, we can't kill them here.. For reasons.. We need to put the fight into the raid!" and that single moment changed fyrakk from a tool of destruction to a laughing stock. A tool of destruction is only good if it destroys.. And sorry, I don't care for fyrakk flying over zones casting fire that doesn't change anything.. We have phasing blizz, use it. Make it that his flames can actually even kill the camp we're all using and that he have to plant seeds, do the superbloom on at least blue-level and do elite-wqs. If we don't, do the phasing and everything burns.

[@FellishBeast]

Was I supposed to know what shadowflame was, other than a type of damage? I still don’t know what changes about the aspects with or without their “aspectral” powers.

[@benjaminjane93]

@@FellishBeast Shadowflame is a thing-thing. It’s supposedly what fueled Deathwing despite it only being employed by Nefarian? What’s important is that it’s a thing-thing. And because Alexatrasza or some other Dragonflight jerkoff says it’s important and powerful, it’s the most important and powerful source of power ever…

[@jokajata]

I usually miss the dungen story because the rest of the group is just trying to rush the dungeon and I have to follow them or they kick me :( I hope the new follower dungeon system can help for the story telling in dungeons since I will be able to do them at my own pace

[@Archimo]

Probably a Hot take, I'd much prefer if Council and Nymue Were fights where we had to assist and maybe heal them while fighting off some high profile Smolderon Lieutenants, still giving the vibe of the fights and it being well tree/green themed fights but we're on the same side of the bosses assisting them. Would also not have the horrible issues of Green on Green as it would be fire/red stuff on green.

[@synmad3638]

WoW's main story is almost always really cool when you read about it on WoWPedia and it's almost always really bad when you're actually playing through it

[@val7885]

Somehow WoW's game writing is really good at the broad strokes and having really cool individual moments, but how you get there is almost invariably either underbaked, stupid, or both.

[@kartemp]

I mean, easy solution to the Raid issue is a story mode of the raids and dungeons ( follower dungeons is a first step to this imo). We should be able to run through these things at our own pace within the context of the story when we reach it, and then have the option to go to the higher difficulties and raid with your friends for gear and such. But that requires a lot of time and R&D to make the system function and future proof it so it can't be abused which I doubt ABK would be willing to do instead of just pumping CEO pay by another couple million...

[@eternity7040]

It's not an 'easy solution' if it requires lots of time and R&D and future proofing so it can't be abused...that's the exact opposite of an 'easy solution'. The issues that Tali raises with LFR (that it occasionally groups bosses out of order and that the wings are released over the course of several weeks) are much more easily fixed by...not doing those things. Just put Gnarlroot and Igira together as wing 1, the 2 side wings as wing 2/3, then Smold - Fyrakk as Wing 4. And release them all at once. Vastly easier than what you're suggesting.

[@playlist233]

WoW and interesting plot points that go nowhere nor referenced ever again, name a more iconic duo

[@BeyondDaX]

Thrall and Jaina

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

My biggest problem is Vakthros. I've even read the book & I have absolutely no idea what its significance is or why it's all icy.

[@MorganRhysGibbons]

I'm hoping some content occurs there in 10.2.7 or something.

[@WilBgames]

It was originally supposed to be the location of the vault of the incarnates. Malygos built it at a major leyline convergence, much like the Nexus. Those energies were used to power the vault. The ice, much like the magma pools and earthen spires leading to it, is likely the result of the battles that led to the incarnates being imprisoned.

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

@@WilBgames I won't post book spoilers other than to say that's not how it went down in the book. They just played it as such a big deal when Razageth succeeded in electrifying Vakthros, like it was gonna be very important in the story. Then we never hear about it again. Obviously it was attacked during the war of the scaleborn, but neither the game nor the book tell us when or why as far as I remember.

[@willangeroc]

Agreed, Vakthros was never a major plot point in the book. Not sure it was even mentioned

[@Neomagam]

I'm really hopeful that the Follower dungeons can help relieve the problem with stories in Raids and Dungeons. The 10.1 final story chapter does a really interesting bit where we go back into the raid and get a lot of nuianced story beats without the chaos of a 10+ player raid team running around the instance. I would really like to see in the future a proper (not LFR) story-mode version of dungeons and raids where we can experience the story of these events with the npcs that make sense. For instance, what if instead of just walking through Aberrus with the black dragons, we actually played through the whole raid with a party of the player (any role), Emberthal (dps), Ebonhorn (dps/healer), Wrathion (dps), and Sabellion (dps/tank). It seems like all the tech pieces are coming together and it would fit naturally as one of the last steps in each patch's story campaign where instead of having a quest that says "kill the final boss of the raid", it would instead require completing the story-mode experience of that instance. Not saying that every dungeon would need this, but at least the important story moments could use it.

[@MSinistrari]

So far my experience with the Follower dungeons when it comes to story content's been really good. Usually when I hit a dungeon/raid part of a questline, I've got to put it on hold until I find a group or overlevel to solo it to continue on. Since they put in the Follower dungeons, it's boom knock it out smooth.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I have to ask, genuinely, why are you playing an MMOrpg if you want all the story to be single player and about your character and not just be reffered to as a "mortal" and play online with others as the genre suggest? Back when I started and stopped MoP to BfA everyone was complaining the game is turning to a single player exp and there's no reason to interact with other players and now in DF I see people championing single player mechanics and game design for further isolation, at that point why not just play single player games that are built around that then?

[@Neomagam]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay Quite the opposite, I want to have strong multiplayer experience and a strong story, but currently the gameplay is doing a disservice to nuanced storytelling. What I am suggesting is a one-time scenario that shouldn't take anything away from the multiplayer experience. I guess players that play this game exclusively for the story might not need to queue LFR, but this should not change the game for the vast majority of players.

[@MSinistrari]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay Another thing is some of us are in situations where our playtime just isn't the same as it used to be. For example, with me my job is super busy periods which are weekends, most holidays, and anytime school's not in session. All of those times are when most people are on, so frequently when I'm on, not many are so for things I'd need a group, I'm limited so having an option to solo when I am on is something I'd appreciate. Same goes for those who have small children or babies. They're on limited availability too. We just want to be able to make the most out of our playtime and progress.

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay I play WoW to enjoy the Warcraft story, as I could single-player for the first three games and all the books and comics. ] There's no rule that says story content in an MMO has to be enforced multiplayer. You're still sharing a massive world with many people while you're doing stuff on your own. That's what MMO means, not "you have to party to do stuff".

[@sabretoothau]

It was great to reclaim Gilneas, but it felt so short, and too much like a minor footnote of the patch. You're right - the effort spent on the digs being spent on Gilneas' reclamation would have felt far more epic.

[@hifgames7076]

The problem with the Wrathion Sabelian story lies in the way story is presented within a raiding scenario- The issues happen in 3 areas: 1) Someone have already entered the raid/pulled the first mob way before you enter yourself, so you're missing the whole introductory scene which makes it struggling to understand that which comes after. 2) The story scenes happen while you are fighting, and you are not able to focus on what the characters are saying, because fights have no breathing room today. (in the first 3 expansions you had time to breathe, look around and take it in during the fights, but not anymore). 3) Story scenes will happen after bosses/mobs die. The whole raid will rush onwards, and you feel like you can't "stay a while and listen", (I've been kicked before, because I lacked behind from wanting to watch the scenes), All in all. The whole experience is stressful AF. I'm not arguing they should remove story from raids - that would be really really sad. It is such epic story telling. But they need to make room for it. I miss story scenes happening in front of a closed door that only opens after the scene has finished, but blizz caters for the hardcore community who just wants to get through things as quick as possible (I'm an Ahead of the Curve raider). Honestly it also fosters toxic raiding environments by accepting and normalising that the game is "about doing things as quickly as possible", kicking "slow people", everyone leaving after a wipe etc. Remove story scenes from heroic+, make LFR and normal a good relaxed RPG experience, and not a stressful "rush through it" e-sport please. I loved the Wrathion and Sableian story in the raid, but it took me 3+ runs to experience and understand because of this reality.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I listened to the story in HC pugs, never once got kicked for being slow and never had a hard time focusing on what they say during a fight. LFR should be story mode normal and HC has already been made easier its not fun when the raids are too easy. I'm also kind of the opinion if people want single player story at their own pace, they shouldn't be playing a game built around massively multiplayer online mechanics, or at the very least not push for more mandatory single player stuff in an MMO, it's not what that game genre is meant to be.

[@hifgames7076]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay I'm a heroic raider, and I don't want them to make raids easier. I just want them to remove stress from raids (not difficulty). So we can enjoy the story moments

[@hifgames7076]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay And if you have no problem following story scenes while fighting a heroic fight, then that's awsome, but I bet you are a very rare player. But I'm really curious. Do you raid normal before going into heroic, or do you only raid heroic? As a heroic raider myself, i actually feel like heroic raid environments are less toxic, and way more mature than normal.

[@ArlaeyaExplores]

Agree on all points. Except that people rush so much in LFR they'll just complain if they were forced to wait for dialogue. So, I support the idea of scenario versions of raids. Like what we got when we returned to Aberrus after the raid so those who want to get the whole story can, at their own pace, and there won't be any shiny drops the hardcore folks will complain about. It'll be for story and story alone. This would also be great going forward if you want to revisit the story in previous expac raids before you are OP enough to solo them.

[@Wowhexx]

You two singing in the intro was really cute.

[@TheRockinDonkey]

If blizzard wants people to care about the story they have to stop putting key parts of it behind raids. They also need to take steps to ensure that the story is presented in chronological fashion.

[@cactuss33ds]

i don't really care about them putting it behind raids, that's what LFR is for, and even if you don't do that, you can just....watch the cutscene in the game. what they need to drop, right now, before it gets to be a problem that snowballs out of control, is story quests gated behind rep grinds.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I disagree, raids are part of the story and always has been, same with dungeons its the culmination where we fight the big bad and win. Raids wouldn't be fun if there wasn't major stakes or bad guys to fight we get to know about. After all casuals have LFR to AFK through to get story, and if you dont care about story and only gear then you won't give a shit about quests either. Arberrus is one of my fav raids because of wrathion and sabellians story leading up to it and continuing in it. Made it more memorable and fun to go trough.

[@camsmyth101]

I hate when its put behind a a book needed to be purchased.

[@kiearawagner7901]

Indeed. Look at FFXIV; outside of the first raid, the Crystal Tower storyline, none of the other raids are required for MSQ progression or understanding it. Yes, they are brought up, but more of a "Hey, I thought you were busy hunting for Omega?" or "Weren't you busy trying to unravel the mysteries behind that island we kept referencing throughout 1.0, 2.0. HW, and partly SB. Why are you here?" They are referenced, but never made mandatory outside of the Crystal Tower, and that's only because of how vital a certain character from that storyline becomes.

[@Ashahalasin]

I still don't get the awakening of the dragon isles. The big DF cinematic shows how the island, sort of shut down, but yet centaurs, tuskarr and drakonids all lived and thrived normally as if the isle was never not awakened. Why did the drakonids keep Valdrakken running and in good repair, but let all the watchers barr Koranos fall apart? Why was the awakening such a big thing that seemingly didnt matter at all for any reason?

[@Archimo]

Honestly they needed both Wrathion and Sebellion to talk about how it was a faceless trying to tempt them (while clearing Sarkerath trash starts as Echo dies), most people didn't even notice that it was a faceless trying to hide as the Echo of neltharion. Would've properly framed it as it should be, while them not mentioning anything at all and just staying silent from then on is why people didn't notice what was going on. So it's for sure on blizzard for not taking it to the home stretch with Wrathion and Sebellion there.

[@CalestoBella]

You didn't pay attention then, because I never did the raid. I barely touched the zone where that story started and even I was like ok, they are both terrible choices, they come to realize it they apologize to each other and then they realize Ebyssian has been giving them all the good ideas and being the peacemaker. It was such an obvious choice.

[@RichWales]

I dont want to see Alexstrasza again after this expansion, nor many of the other dragonkind, that bit about her was spot on

[@UltimateGamerCC]

lol cant handle one about Alex, but could handle 3 about Sylvanas? that's some selective simpage.

[@tobagabonany]

​@UltimateGamerCC bad faith comment that reads a hell of a lot into not very much. Classic WoW video commenter

[@UltimateGamerCC]

classic WoW hater bandwagon bitch reply.@@tobagabonany

[@hanric100]

2 vids one day, wowzer!

[@bobmilldew]

The Abberus raid issues shows a real issue with LFR as well. I only do LFR myself and lacking the context for such a long time really caused many issues for me. Not only that it being broken up by wings made me struggle to follow it a lot. They need to be released all at once with an option for one long run with all bosses

[@deamery6207]

I really like the part about Alextrasza being oblivious to dragon kin not wanting to be dragon's slaves. It really drives it home how out of touch dragons were. They always thought they knew best, they were always ready to subjugate whoever thought otherwise

[@hilo2098]

I admit it took an embarrassingly long time to notice the vision of Neltharion was a Faceless one in Aberrus. Just having characters interact and talk about events and point things out that would seem significant to the player. Not to mention there is no reason for us to be fighting Smolderon in the Amirdrassil raid - we reinstated him as the new Firelord in the Shaman Order hall!

[@UltimateGamerCC]

i think this hints at another Firelord siding against us in the Worldsoul Saga.

[@tobagabonany]

He has a special dialogue when you first reach him as a shaman in a lockout: "You shall fall to the very weapon you placed in my hands. An honor indeed, Shaman" Unsure if legion campaign progress is required, but my shaman has done it for what it's worth. Personally, I feel like moments like this ring incredibly hollow when the logical consistency of the storylines they come from is completely non-existent, when if the writing was of a higher caliber it could have instilled a feeling of bittersweet resolve in the face of giving a former comrade an honorable death, a la General Nazgrim in Siege of Orgrimmar

[@jordanread5829]

Smolderon was tricked by the druids of the flame into invading the Emerald Dream. Making him believe that the titans and their puppets (aka us) want him locked up, caged to the Firelands. The sole purpose though was to get him out in the open where we would kill him. Allowing Fyrakk to steal the Firelords essence into Fyr'alath. It is implied Fyrakk needed this power boost to tear his way into the heart of Amirdrassil. hence why Tindral says our usefulness has ended when we begin his encounter. Although personally I feel like the fight against Smolderon should've ended when Fyrakk basically admits the truth. Only for Fyrakk to kill a weakened Smolderon instead.

[@fnordcola3226]

Do players even kill the council of dreams? Their unit frames say "unconscious" after the fight ends, though some of the other dialogue at least seems to imply that they're dead. Which seems like kind of a point against that particular bit of storytelling in itself.

[@Thromash]

Although I wanted Seb to be Aspect just because it's Seb, always knew Ebby would be Aspect. For the exact reasons he did. They even had a line between Ebonhorn & Emberthal were they talk about not getting to *HIDE* anymore. Right on the nose lol

[@myzorbos]

re: all the "toothless" accusations... i think way too many people are underestimating the fact that all of this heartwarming development can and will be used against us! each time theres another ""disneyfied"" quest i don't get angry, i get scared. DF has felt like the most mature expansion ever & part of that is laying the emotional foundations of the Worldsoul Saga.

[@MSinistrari]

While I understand the logic behind locking story behind a rep/reknown gate to pace content out at time of release, I wish they'd remove the gate after a point or at least dial it back when a next expansion's coming up. I didn't know that campaign quests were behind a reknown gate and while I don't mind some grind, I've still got a ways to go to hit the reknown to unlock the later Valdrakken and Explorer quests and at this point I'm figuring they might be phased out by the time War Within hits.

[@Azazel-zv4fy]

Agree, though for me I'm just not willing to rep grind for a few more badly-written quests, even if 1 or 2 of them happen to be okay or good. My time is worth more than that.

[@MSinistrari]

@@Azazel-zv4fy I get your point, but in the case at least with Dragonflight, you can't do the wrapup where you can get to Bel'ameth unless you've done all the campaign quests. You can cheese a way around it if you've got a nelf of level for it, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

[@BoredTodayYoutuber]

Really to me the biggest issue is what you mentioned at the beginning… I missed a few patches and wanted to get back in the game, just to get ultra confused by what I should do first… started a quest that midway told me I would miss important story elements if I continued without telling me exactly where I should start… I have unfortunately never played since.

[@WritesFantasy]

Fun fact, we don't kill Urctos, or Pip, or Awyrrn, or Nymue. If you select their portrait aft er the battle, they are just unconscious

[@mattb896]

I feel like we never capped off the Rot over in Azure Span. It all went to the dungeon and then nothing when the final boss poofed away from us

[@UltimateGamerCC]

the Gnoll that got away will no doubt be a future pain in our asses, as we need lesser evils to worry about in the Worldsoul Saga, not just Iridikron and the Void.

[@ZergS4uc3]

Caves are underground, war within is underground, what if the gnoll poofed into war within, or is in northrend usurping power with undead minions whos to say really, lets just hope its not like throne of tides and the never finishing that shit off

[@jordanread5829]

@@UltimateGamerCC Not to mention that Mon'ark, the gnoll from a side quest in Azure Span says that Wratheye would no doubt try and spread rot to Amirdrassil.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

sounds like we'll be facing the Monarch in the Dark Heart patch, wouldnt make sense to be out and about in Azeroth then suddenly have to return to Amirdrassil.@@jordanread5829

[@Jarecian]

"Weird and useless and dumb." Kinda summarized the story of DF for me. I mean, I came late to the party, but boy was this unengaging. Compared to that, the BFA storylines (The war, Jaina, Saurfang) were excellent. The DF story I played through once, which was super frustrating because I had to look up what went in which order and spoil myself in the process (Ugh! >..

[@GustavoNoronha]

19:10 very much agree. I do take issue with everyone being nice and friendly, but that ship has sailed a long time ago. For a very recent problem, Shandris is portrayed as a teenage girl who is unsure of her abilities when Tyrande and Malfurion imply she will lead the night elves. It's freaking Shandris Feathermoon we are talking about here, she is a veteran of the third war in which she lead her people - that would have been enough, but she is also a veteran of the War of the Ancients. Portraying Shandris as a scared teenager is a terrible idea - it helps lower the stakes and makes the story seem less impactful. That happened to almost everything in the game, almost all of it seems to have been kind of homogenized in terms of personality and relationships. The Forsaken lost their interesting background and personality very early, the dragons used to be mysterious and dangerous, allies, for sure, but allies you need to be careful when dealing with them. That also changed quite early on, and all of this contributes I believe to this impression that the stakes aren't high, that the world is a lot more like a theme park than a complex and interesting place. I did enjoy the questline leading to the Armidrasil raid a lot, but it would have been a lot better with characters that were deeper and less homogenized. I am very sure it would have been a much more engaging story if we were following war veteran Shandris rather than scared teenager Shandris.

[@mg8565]

"I had not considered this." LMAO

[@dtulip1]

I did particularly enjoy Lillian and Tess's chats 🤣

[@Kurthimself]

By the time I got into Dragonflight, soon as I hit 70 I was so overwhelmed and confused on where to go and what quests to do in what order I just kind of gave up

[@samuelsimpson7452]

One thing that bugged me throughout the expansion... the important dragon characters act like they're mortals who sometimes rarely turn into dragons, instead of, you know, actual dragons. They didn't even try to make the major characters relatable to us in their true forms.

[@ArkhianKellaxus]

I agree that the Gilneas storyline was good but short, I believe you are right with the skirmishes and battles leading up to the siege and reclaiming of Gilneas itself. As for the rest of the expansion story, I'm one of those that didn't know that Wrathion and Sabellion were hearing the whispers like Neltharion did, I played through Zaralek, thought they were both being childish and arrogant and was shocked when they decided to step down (especially after having us side with one or both of them to earn renown and rewards), and then doing Aberrus in LFR and only doing Sarkareth. I believe this is partially (if not wholly why Metzen returned), he saw what they were doing and how many lose ends they were leaving open (What Sword?) and then not focusing on.

[@elobitoxo]

The whole plot and lesson at the end of Abberus with the black dragonflight, how people missed the message, I think that's exactly why they spelled it out so blatantly at the end of Amirdrasil. I think people will always find critiques and complaints no matter what Blizz does.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

Me too, and I dont get why everything needs to be shoved in the face of the players so they don't miss anything. Like what happened to exploring the world and instances? finding obscure quests? trying to find mysteries? How boring it all would become if everything was just put infront of everyone without any work. No rep quests, no raid quests or story, no dungeon story or quests, just: do this linear quest and watch these cinematics, just so no one misses anything. IMO players should know there's story in raids and dungeons and weird cool things to find, if they wanna know it, go find it, play it, grind it. I got the entire story of arberrus on normal/hc pugs, it's literally voiced? Turn on the sound ffs 😂

[@ItsAVolcano]

My headcanon is that Dragonflight is where Alextrasza's ptsd from her capture by the Horde hit her the hardest. This would explain her bizarre behavior, such as her obsession with reuniting with her old "friends" and even why she seems so helpless whenever she gets ambushed.

[@JonasFunk89]

I felt that all story beats of the retaking of Gilneas were quite well done -- it just felt like I was playing the abdridged version.

[@margisama]

Another plot beat that's been ignored since it was introduced....speaking of Sendrax, what about red dragon egg that was infused with elemental energies by the primalists that she gave her life to save? We give it to Alexstrasza at the Ruby Life Pools and she talks about trying to save it.....and we've never heard anything else about it. Wouldn't Vyranoth be interested in an ordered dragon whelp that was infused with elemental powers? Heck given how in the book War of the Scaleborn her envy about not having children anymore and feeling lonely (a large part of which is what made her accept Raszageth's friendship and ultimately join the Incarnates in the first place) would've been a perfect story beat for her to either save the egg herself or help it hatch safely (and sanely) and maybe even give her an adopted son/daughter to raise and that dragon could provide a bridge between the primal dragons and ordered dragons from birth due to his/her in-between nature.

[@camsmyth101]

The pupilsh triangle quest marker for the Gilneas storyline should be used for each colour dragon flight quest line so you know what one ur one or actually doing when they all are available to one character.

[@HalikBun]

I always wondered how Ysera and Malfurion swapped since I had thought there was just cool cosmetics and profession stuff behind renown and didn't bother doing any more than I felt like doing, which didn't include any of these story quests. lol Yeah, I really hope there is some drastic changes to how WoW tells its story for this coming trilogy because this kind of stuff has pushed me to just watch disjointed cinematics as they release on wowhead and feel far less of an emotional connection to anything in game due to that. Heck, I almost have more emotional connection to the whelplings from the dragon daycare because I knew nothing of it, just did it and man, do those little egg hatch scenes do such a good job of showing the whelps personalities. lol The blue dragon flight was the only questline (outside of the silly dragon daycare mentioned above) where I did not look up anything about ahead of time because of the praise you gave it, and played through it myself. Actually pretty cool when you get the full context of something without spoilers, but the game goes so far out of its way to make most main story stuff confusing where you had to have done a lot of little side things to actually understand the main story. As much as I know WoW can't lock leveling behind an MSQ, there's a reason FFxiv has a very nice and coherent story because it contains everything you need to know to appreciate the story within it, while making it literally impossible to miss or be confused about what to do next to keep things in order.

[@icecatti]

I'm always intrigued by these videos because it reminds me that you are not in fact blind to WoW flaws :) The actual delivery of the WoW story is its biggest issue. You are so right in pointing out that a fresh max level character is bombarded with incoherent story stuff, and there is no linear through line. I think the guys (and it is all guys) who are disconnected from the story not "feeling" like Warcraft are not vibing with the game on a strictly aesthetic level. It's super colorful, the character models look really childish, the voiced dialogue is hackneyed in its delivery. I loved the Wrathion and Sabellian story in Dragonflight, it tied back beautifully to the themes of family throughout the expansion. But I can't blame players at all for not picking up on it because, on some level, they have been trained to not care by the game's mechanics.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

They hate bright colors but love vanilla/BC.... hot pink armorset anyone? 🤔

[@alimoaveni2465]

U just didnt mention the most important , vyrnoth stiol being the most interesting character have her change of heart so quick if it was up to me her change should have been throw a boss fight at least , her interaction with fyrak should have been more

[@Nihillus]

I wonder when will the dailies and events and whatnot end and we’ll finally reclaim and clean up Gnomeregan 😢

[@melissa3920]

You do realized that Vyranoth won, don't you? The Apects did not get their powers from the Titans this time. Vyanoth is an Aspect that defies all the Titans rules on what an Apect is and what they are supposed to be for. She put Odyn in his place, or rather froze him in place even before being empoewered by Azeroth. She is in a position to wipe the Titan stain from Azeroth without going to war with her "family". Yes, Vyranoth won, or at the very least is in a position to attian her initial goals. Was that story badly told by Blizz, or were we just so upset with the end of raid cut scence that we didn't care to notice? I'd say a little of both.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I'd say it's a little more to the side of people screaming "DISNEY FUCKING STIPID FAMILY AAAAUUURRRGH WAR??? NO??? HATE YOU BLIZZ" and lacking critical thinking and also skipping story cus it weren't forced infront of them

[@primal4887]

Something interesting about killing Nymue is either Merithra or Ysera mention that she was in charge of Ordering the Dream. Meaning we've kicked the titan influence of out it.. at least to some extent. Falls back to that titan conspiracy thing Metzen mentioned.

[@patrickboyle1135]

The Aberrus Black Dragon stuff carrying on from the zone seemed pretty clear, I'm not sure how much more clearly they could have done it without being really blatant about it.

[@nasferon3520]

I think this pretty much nails my issues with the game and the expansion overall. I unsubbed right after 10.1.5 because I just had no desire to grind rep simply to be allowed the privilege of experiencing the story of the game. I'm a filthy casual and I am honestly just there for the story these days when it comes to games. I know they do things like this for pacing reasons, but it kind of paces some people out of the game completely. Not everyone feels that way, and hey - that's totally fine! But, as some of us have gotten older we've developed the mindset that "If it feels like work, it's not fun anymore." It's good to see that there's someone else that sees a potential flaw with this type of narrative delivery.

[@AlmightyCow1]

I had NO idea about questlines being hidden in the renowned trees until recently. I saw cosmetics and pets just like Tali said and didn't spend my time grinding them. I was very confused about where Ysera came from and why Iridikron disappeared. Hopefully, next expansion, Blizzard will realize that not everyone reads Wowhead...

[@DTredecim]

Thank you guys for singing the Dragonflight theme song in your intro.

[@gnhonho]

I like playing many alts and it pisses me off that reputation isn't account wide. I don't really want to farm all that a dozen times, for all I care, all quest lines should have the skip option after one of your player has completed it.

[@MonClow]

Nymue is an ordered being created by the Titans to keep the Dream ''Ordered'', nothing has changed in the Dream since her arrival, this is why the dryad we first meet in the Dream turned evil to the Flame, because thats the ONLY thing that changed in probably FOREVER, after we killed Nymue Amirdrassil bloomed OUT of the Dream, something that had not happened before. Nymue = not friendly Nymue = Ordered being by Titans Nymue locked the Dream in an Ordered/Dormant state It's AFTER Nymue's death, AND Amirdrassil blooming into Reality that people start hearing Azeroth whisper(s)

[@kindasa]

I am still rip sendrax :(

[@schippes24]

@11:30 there's a quite easy solution to this whole topic, tbh.. Just have sebellian and wrathion tell it to the tauren guy.. Do a little flashback to a prerecorded raid-scene that shows little bits of how they fought neltharion avatar that goes like 10-15seconds and shows how it turns out to be a faceless one. This way people that aren't raiding know that bit as well without going on wowhead and maybe you could also use such flashbackbits to get people into raiding "look how awesome that fight looks"

[@ValensBellator]

The one thing I loved from BFA was how they handled Saurfang, grounding what was happening through his eyes. I don’t get why they blew it with both Bolvar and Alexstrasza since then.

[@hypnotic13371337]

Just gonna call it here. Iridikron is being manipulated by Xalatath the same way wrathion and sabe were with the faceless one and deathwing with the whispers. Cause he is a primal earth dragon. Thats literally it

[@jackster006]

8:16 They really need to figure this out. I miss a TON of story in Dragonflight because there is not a clear path to know how to do it.

[@paso7943]

I don´t do any digging either. but I would have loved to do Gilneas daily. I would loved to see more life in that city.

[@kylekopsi7039]

Every time we spare some major villain I chuckle inside remembering all the other villains and innocent people we’ve killed along the way. Like how Burning Crusade was a whole expansion of us basically screwing over the guy planning to save our planet with minimal sacrifices. But thank god we cut down that tree

[@brandonsinner6545]

Totally agreed with your take on Gilneas.

[@iansummers6681]

Such a good point on the Gilneas storyline. Firelands was one of my favorite patches and it was because of the buildup through dailies that led to a culminated experience.

[@jordanread5829]

My main one is that the disc we used to revive Tyr ultimately had nothing to do with the Aspects regaining their powers. Even though the sole reason we tried to get said disc back in Ulduman was for that very reason. Along with the fact that Deios stole it from us supports the theory Alexstrasza had. So what was the point then? Tyr gets revived post raid but before the big feast celebration, since he shows up afterwards.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

I hadn't gotten around to watching the Iridikron vs. Jailer video yet, so I thought this video WAS that video, just renamed, lol. I'll watch this one first, anyway.

[@dcrauswell]

I did think Vyranoth joining the Aspects was way too quick and easy, like she completely forgot her animosity towards the Titans and why the Aspects sided with them. And as we have seen in lore numerous times to this point (anyone remember Alganon the Observer?) she has plenty of reason to mistrust them. Maybe that will get addressed in the World Soul trilogy, but still it does not explain how easily she switched sides without more protest on her part.

[@quaga]

I think the inherent issue of making the reclamation of Gilneas an event hub is that it makes Gilneas functionally unusable as a city, especially if they have any plans for it in the Worldsoul Saga

[@benjaminehren7965]

The nymue fight makes some sense given that nymue is probably a titan plant (hah) who has a very mechanical priority list, where maintaining the weave of the dream was more important than anything, even the world tree, which very much ties into the ‘titans are shady’ side of things which this expansion has going. The council though makes basically no sense besides “we need at least 2 fights that aren’t just red and orange”.

[@chrismason3283]

I’m glad you voiced the thoughts on Alexstrasza, I thought it was alone in that! A Gilneas zone would have been ace too

[@Kermits_vengeance]

Here's one lore idea I think would be cool. A quest where either a group of assassins or mercenaries are hired by some random enemy faction, is trying to sabotage relations between the horde/alliance, your job is to try and stop this from happening and prevent yet another war starting. Either succeeding or failing causing the horde and alliance to do battle yet again. While a shadowy group of (Whoever the hell started this) uses this distraction to assist in completing there objective, while you alone are forced to track them down and put an end to this. While your allies are fighting amongst each other.

[@0hvist]

Hell, we really should have gotten more out of the Reclamation of Gilneas with zonewide rewards comparable to the Warfronts content from BfA: with Rarespawns and secrets beyond just fishing up Godfreys' glasses, like being able to find Liam Greymanes' prized steed that he had in the Gilnean Starting Zone Scenario that runs around the Zone or using the Ogre Suits from Dire Maul in order to become an "Ally" to Koroth the Hillbreaker where we could use him to do some Dailies to get the Palomino in-order for Blizzard to reuse the unavailable Horse Mounts once again. Maybe even do some Dailies involving the retaking of the various villages from not only Scarlet Crusade Holdouts but also from various creatures that have moved in during the 13 Years we've been away from the Zone like The Twilight Hammer Cultists we were fighting during the Rogues' Legendary Daggers Quests in Cataclysm or maybe some Sylvannas Loyalists from BfA that don't see Calia Menethil as someone worthy to lead The Forsaken... At the end of it all, we get a Meta-Achievement that lets us purchase a Gilnean Carriage Taxi Mount capable of holding 10 People and using a Rostrum System letting your other Taxi Mount NPCs be able to ride in it.

[@wolfshanze5980]

I never noticed the Echo of Neltharion was a Faceless One till watching this video... you know... too busy looting and trying to get gear and run to the next boss!

[@Rolandais]

I basically stopped playing after the first patch, because when I came back in 10.2 there was so many quests and I was so overwhelmed, I just logged out and have never come back

[@Bigboxlittlebox471]

ditto! And I was so undergeared that i couldn't kill any mobs in the place it sent me lol

[@DasGangle]

So I'm a player that came back to the game a couple months ago and have now finished the entire dragonflight story... Or so I thought. There is so much story that is effectively hidden from the player, through renown locks, secondary quests or otherwise. I followed a website guide to do the story in chronological order since there is no way to know in-game. And yet, there is so much I still have apparently missed. I had no idea Gerithus was captured and tortured by Fyrakk until this video. I've done the Amirdrassil raid (normal) and I didn't even clock his capture from that. I'm a somewhat casual story-focused player so I'm sure I have tried to follow it a lot more than many other returning players, and even then it's near impossible to follow and get the whole story. Comparing the way it is delivered versus how FFXIV delivers its story is just night and day.

[@rockomax4284]

Pretty sure Gilneas should have been an epic months long event, but I think they forgot to actually develop it and halfway during the X-mas holidays, some intern found the memo of it being released for 10.2.5 and hastily put something together.

[@Lerker2000]

As a casual heroic raid logger... I would love to get high enough renown before the end of dragonflight to be able to see any of the stories. I'm still at like 5-10 with all of them.

[@NoEnvyNoFear1]

Thank you for bringing up the LFR thing. I mostly raid for story and getting it chopped up over a month is already confusing. I usually watch Nobels "Story of the raid" videos just to find out why the hell I'm killing all of these people.

[@Seriousbizness]

What are the aspect powers? They all seem to be able to do what they were doing before they lost there powers in Cata.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

it was a magnification of their power, i believe.

[@LittleMissSmallPaw]

primarily glowy eyes.

[@there_is_nothing_here]

Tally is not wrong. The Reclaiming Gilneas Questline was fun but ultimately a huge let down. I mean the city is pointless. Area is lifeless. They had an opportunity and didn't seize it. I really hope they go back to the drawing board on this one. I specifically made a brand new Worgen just for this area

[@afishynado6812]

The raids in Dragonflight seems to contradict the War of the Scaleborn novel.

[@elvfrem]

Calia and Fail goes hand in hand since her inception.

[@ded1020]

Great points about Alexstraza and great idea for how retaking Gilneas should have gone. Would have loved that. Totally right about Vyranoth. If it wasn't for Raz she'd still be imprisoned! But we know there's a big Titan shake up coming so allegiances will be shifting soon. Some of my ideas/thoughts on DF's story: Would have loved to have seen time catch up to Alex and Noz. They've been without their aspect powers for awhile now (at least a decade) and they've got to be among the most senior of all dragons alive at this point. (As it stands I can't tell the difference between them with their old powers, new powers, or no powers.) Juxtapose that with the Incarnates and their own strength being fresh as the day they were imprisoned. Dragons having to step up for their Aspects and their declining abilities to fill the void feels right. DF feels like it's about passing the torch. Someone in-game should've pointed out the irony of Noz once denying the NE's their immortality, and now its their actions that are giving him back his. I didn't like the Moruzond tease in DoTI, but I have hope we'll be coming back to it in the future to go with option A and stop Iridikron that way. Def would have loved a big epic moment for all the Aspects. Something to make their restored powers at the end feel more earned. And yeah, Ysera came back just to say good bye. Not a bad idea, but very light on the execution. You can tell wow's budget for anything that doesn't print more money is thin.

[@CalestoBella]

I haven't done the raid, and I paid enough attention to realize that Wrathion and Sabellion were definitely not fit to lead the Black Dragon flight.

[@scurryfox7452]

As a worgen main, the whole Gilneas thing fell completely flat. I was so very excited, and then... That was it? We could have done that YEARS AGO.

[@GilleGill]

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring about raid stories, especially when it comes to Aberrus. I think a lot of the story gets lost because Blizzard has a tendency to chose poor timing to tell it. Voice dialog over text dialog, reveals of plot beats as the boss dies and everyone goes to loot it. You want to tell the story at key moments when players will be listening, not while reading stats, not while reading / listening to dialog ( as in at the same time ) It's very difficult to focus on two things entirely at the same time. At the same time, people want to get through the raid so do you make players stop and listen? It's very difficult, but I think spending more time to space out the story beats and gameplay beats would help a LOT. As someone who's guild died before dragonflight and someone who arrived late to the party, I've had to play the raids through raidfinder trying to catch up. And it's all been pretty damn awful to be honest

[@willienaess8215]

Smolderon and a never-before-seen Seer of the Flame Tindral being the antepenultimate and penultimate boss respectively without any lead up to the raid is a little jarring. I think that raid story beat would have benefitted from a 10.2 dungeon where the players assault the Druids of the Flame in the Firelands and we are introduced to and see these two characters' motivations a little more. I don't think the new system of 8 dungeons at launch and 1 mega dungeon in the next major patch is a good system if we miss information on characters like this.

[@jordanread5829]

You do see Tindral before the raid. He was the druid of the flame that gets turned into the owl in the cinematic where the Prophet was calling Tyrande a traitor for allowing a 'death tree' to exist. You can tell it is Tindral because they wear the same outfit and Tindral uses that owl form in the raid.

[@willienaess8215]

@@jordanread5829 my point is that he's essentially random. Ashendir would have made more sense but we killed him at the end of the campaign and even then there was no "Tindral, finish my work" line to give us a formal introduction. I just feel like we would have benefited from seeing more of him than those 2 seconds in a cutscene that could've been any druid of the flame to then whispering in the ears of the Firelord and being Fyrakk's majordomo

[@lostdrewid]

As a writer, I can never stop thinking of storytelling fails in Warcraft, and I've got enough notes to fill out a novel on how Dragonflight could have or should have gone. You think Alex was weak and boring this expansion, and you want her to have done something cool? I think the coolest thing she could have done is *die*. I have yet to find the perfect spot in the story for it to happen, but I think her wounds from Raszy should be a factor. I've considered having Rasz herself land the killing blow, and I've also considered Fyrakk. {I'm currently leaning Fyrakk as part of the introduction story to season 2. Have us *chase her killer* into the caverns, instead of letting the whole patch feel (wrongly) like a side-quest. The cavern would always have felt important if Fyrakk had killed her and we're trying to hunt him down.} Here's the thing. Most of the Aspects have been replaced. Dragonflight should have had the bold idea to *finish the damn job*. The Dragon Queen had to die to show how powerful and dangerous these Incarnates were, and Nozdormu could have surrendered the last of his power to halt the rise of Moruzond. Create new Aspects in their place. In fact it really felt like both of them had worthy successors already baked into the Dragonflight story. At the start of the expansion we're introduced to Veritistrasz. If you've forgotten him by now, I don't blame you, because his story was abandoned so early on; but I know quite a few people who were moved to tears by his backstory of having to kill a beloved companion, a Black Dragon who went mad along with the rest of her flight. He is haunted by this still millennia later, but with the help of your character you effectively get the elder dragon *therapy*. And he takes under his wing another Black Dragon, one who is young but hungry for the truth of his Flight's past. What is Alex's biggest flaw this expansion? Frankly, she has a lot, but the way she talks to Wrathion highlights how much she still fucking hates the Black Flight. Who better to replace her than Veritistrasz, who is so willing to build bridges between the Red and Black Flights? Now, I want to quickly make it clear that I do not think Veri would accept the mantle of Dragon King, nor that there should be a King at all. No, it's time for the Red to step down from the leadership of the Dragonflights and focus on their Flight's unique station as egg tenders and shepherds of the future generations of dragonkind. They *have* to be on good terms with all Flights to do this job well, and Veri would be so perfect for this role. {I also think that there could have been an incredibly touching scene between Vyranoth and Veristrasz at Alexstrasza's grave, leading to the same change in sides from Vyra that we had in the existing story. But that's a whole other story.} So who then should lead Dragonkind? Well, we're missing only one Aspect at this point and I think the logical choice for his successor would also make a good leader. Chronormu could have taken on the mantle of Bronze Aspect and been named the Dragon Queen. She is the only one with the vision - literally - to bring the Dragons forward in the future war with Iridikron. I think she also would have had the foresight to bring in more dragonflights formally. Instead of an awkward sixth Aspect 🎵one of these is not like the other ones 🎶 we could have had several new Aspects to make Vyranoth's inclusion not feel so tacked on. Be bold, make the Storm and Nether Flights official with Aspects of their own, and even include one more Aspect from the Proto-drakes. One Proto-drake Aspect is weird, an immediate Other who doesn't fit. Two balances things out better. {Sadly I don't have any candidates for this role in the existing story, we would have had to write someone in whole cloth, a lieutenant of Fyrakk or Iridikron or even of Raszageth who like Vyra decided that their side lost their way.} From five to nine. A Dragon Council, with the Dragon Queen as a first among equals, would have been (no pun intended) infinitely better than what we got.

[@lostdrewid]

Incidentally I also think this would have lead to a *superb* story in the Worldsoul Saga. Alexstrasza is the Aspect of Life, so where do you think she would have gone when she died? Nowhere in the Shadowlands, not even Ardenweald. So her sister could have been like "no she didn't show up here when she died, we have no idea where her soul is" leaving the mystery for the next expansion... where you find out she's been sent to Elune. Ysera going to serve the Winter Queen and her sister going to serve the Winter Queen's sister. It would have been poetic, and it would have given the character a future she deserved more than this boring ass bullshit we got from her this expansion. Tutelage under the only known "Life Titan" would have let her level up in interesting ways. And maybe they could have let her talk normally after spending time in the life-afterlife. (Seriously someone please save us from the Warcraft voice director.)

[@Marsonis2ya]

Bigger fail is the fact that we STILL haven't taken back Gnomeregan for the Gnomes. We have returned basically all the homelands to the other races but them.

[@feetnoodles8659]

“But the eggs alexstraza” took me out

[@geminiblade]

The tyr quest line was the worst offender for me. Whole expansion long gated quest that amounted to nothing. DF just didn’t stick the landing in any regard.

[@JasonReimink]

Lol, you hit the nail on the head with renown locking story. I've gotten Valdrakken Accord up to 20 on one charge, dream wardens to 10, and no more words of a worthy ally at all because grinding it up was a miserably boring idea to me.

[@DrMAngelo]

I killed mythic sark before learning about the malfurion storyline being locked behind renown. I never bothered to do any renown because I didnt care about rep stuff, and after I found out there was story I felt so behind in the rep I just watched the summary videos on KZbin. To this day I still only have renown 12 for the dragon scale expedition and maruuk centaurs on my main. The only renown I maxed was the newest one for the infinite augment rune.

[@kimdeuel]

100% agree on the Gineas. I took my Worgen first because it's her city. I thought there would be extra dialog because she is there defending HER CITY! Nope. Nothing. Kill stuff, and have a nice day. Oh and here is an outfit you will never wear cause your heritage set is 10 times better. If Alexstraza has the ability to turn death into life, why did she turn Bolvar into a hot mess? That one still confuses me. And why did she leave him there like that?

[@darthraider7935]

I definitely agree with the Gilneas fail though... I was expecting it to be something like the Isle of Thunder patch with a bit of Suramar mixed it. That's the only one that's been a fail for me in Dragonflight!

[@UltimateGamerCC]

yup, the Story has it's HIGHS and it's LOWS, but generally i am thoroughly satisfied with our Vacation expansion, Dragonflight. i look forward to seeing the Worldsoul Saga and hoping that there are far more HIGHS than LOWS Storywise, or this may be a flop of an experiment.

[@kakalukio]

The storytelling in DF was essentially just as bad as it was in SL (and significant chunks of BFA). There's some individual quest(lines) that are pretty decent, good even. But the overarching story is the same disconnected, unexplained mess with inconsistent characters we've been dealing with for ages now. Take the whole "infusing dragons with order magic is bad" plotpoint. How have we gone the entire expansion (not to mention every single expansion before this...) without a single example of how that is bad? Seriously, what exactly is the problem with being infused with order? Can't they give us at least a single concrete example of it being bad?

[@Aerisot]

Everytime I see Iridikron looking into the voidsoul thing, it just reminds me of the Protoss from the first Starcraft box art.