WoW: Dragonflight: Despite little content, the alpha makes me very positive!
If you look at what the developers have announced for WoW Dragonflight and then compare what is now playable in the first alpha version, you could get the impression that the developers are miles behind their own schedule. We have only been allowed to play one of the areas so far, many talent trees are still missing, the professions are not yet complete, the interface is still stuck and there is nothing to see of dungeons and raids either. How are the developers supposed to do it all before the release, which is supposed to take place this year?
In the conversation, however, the developers assured us that they were right on schedule. But how does that go together? Because with the start of the alpha and a release in 2022, you have the shortest test phase in over a decade. That is absolutely correct. Nevertheless, we are very optimistic about the future and the release date – and there are two reasons for that.
It has always been like this…
If we compare the test phases of earlier extensions with the current one, then the developers now have to make do with significantly less time, that’s absolutely correct. However, the argument that so much content is still missing is invalid. Because even at the beginning of the Shadowlands alpha, only one area was playable and a few pact features were very rudimentary.
Back then we played through Bastion (which we got to play months before at BlizzCon) and done. Dungeons, raids, the other pacts and everything else came much, much later. Only one Horde and one Alliance area were playable for Battle for Azeroth – but at least two dungeons. Exactly what was playable at the start of the alpha phase varied over time, but it was never the case that the expansion was even remotely complete – even if this opinion is currently flying through the comment columns and videos.
Source: Blizzard
Source: Blizzard
In our case, this means that the starting point is roughly at the same level as in the previous test phases. Dragonflight is by no means “less far” than past expansions have been. But that would now actually suggest that the much shorter time is not enough, right?
What is there is in very good condition
WoW: Dragonflight: Despite little content, the alpha makes me very positive! (2)
Source: Blizzard
While the starting point mentioned is similar on paper to what it has been in the past, upon closer inspection Dragonflight is actually much further along. In the past, we always spoke of “work in progress” for the areas of an alpha and had to point out that many parts were not yet finished, many textures were still placeholders, quests were missing and the finishing touches in the form of animations, graphic effects and other gimmicks were still missing .
That’s not the case in Dragonflight. Visually you may or may not like the Azure Mountains, but it’s mostly complete and looks as polished, even in detail, as an area on the live servers. In our eyes even better than many of them. The only thing missing? A fitting soundtrack. Thinking back to Drustvar or Bastion, there’s no comparison. With the completion of the area alone, the developers save a lot of time that no longer has to be invested during the test phase.
And it doesn’t stop at the territory. The new class and the new people are also mostly finished. A few balancing adjustments here and there – that’s all it takes. If we think back to the demon hunter or monk, they are worlds apart again. Both were more or less grits in the first playable version and were massively adjusted. Even the big, new feature of dragon riding is not quite finished yet, but it is already in a state where the development steps should be finished. What’s missing is the talent system and a few more customization options.
Less features, less time
WoW: Dragonflight: Despite little content, the alpha makes me very positive! (7)
Source: buffed
And with all this, one mustn’t forget that there are simply far fewer features in Dragonflight that require a great deal of development effort. Shadowlands had the Covenant system, which was more or less developed during the testing phase, BfA the Azerite armor, which was changed and rebuilt several times, Legion the class quests and artifact weapons… all of that is gone now.
In Dragonflight, the missing talent trees have to be submitted later and the remaining professions have to be brought into play. In both cases, the brain power of the game designers is primarily required. Technically, this is quickly implemented and does not hold a particularly large potential for catastrophic and time-consuming errors. There are still the dungeons and the raid – which actually never existed at such an early stage.
A good way
If we are as optimistic as we are, assuming that the other four areas are not completely idle and are already in development, then everything seems to be going reasonably well. There is less time than usual, but there is also far less to be completed than usual.
That’s why it’s not as difficult for us as usual to believe the developers when they claim with a smile that the development of Dragonflight is very well on schedule and that there are no major worries about the release at the moment. Of course something can always happen and we are not clairvoyant either. But Dragonflight definitely feels a lot further now than Shadowlands did back then – which then had to be postponed.
Reference-www.buffed.de