My Starry Review Of Dragonflight

Community General Discussion
41

I mean I can’t speak for Billyblue, but I do agree that Dragonflight has unusually good music.

For me, one of the most important things in a game like WoW is to hear the serenity of the environment. The music cannot dominate or be otherwise melodic to the point where the rustle in the trees and the howling of the wind takes a backseat. It occupies and should occupy a space similar to that found in vanilla, or indeed like something found in Skyrim or Elden Ring and games like that. This isn’t an RTS or shooter game - it’s more of a “look around and smell the roses… and the thorns” kind of game.

So when I play Dragonflight, what I’m actually looking for is something a little more on the peaceful side, and Dragonflight delivers here like nothing else has since… well, I think we have to go back to Wrath, actually. It’s the best since Wrath. BfA also had its moments, especially in Zuldazar, and a few dungeons in Kul’Tiras, but this stuff is next level - honestly. Maybe MoP, but MoP is divisive beacuse of its Chinese influences which many think don’t fit WoW. (I disagree, but still)

I love Ramparts of Valdrakken. Azure Glades - in fact all of The Azure Span including the dungeon sounds incredible. Especially Iskaara. I could just sit there and fish for hours - I don’t even care. It’s gorgeous. I haven’t heard the likes of Giants of the Span in a video game since Far Cry 5, and of course it shares a bit in common with eastern Northrend as well, which is also famously liked.

The last boss in Azure Vaults is haunting because of its sound design. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen something like that in Warcraft, but it is so quintessentially Warcraft. That whole zone has some gorgeous music and setpieces, though I don’t think I’d like to listen to it on its own - but that’s not the point anyway! I like the lifepools music, too. There’s some good tracks in The Waking Shores, too, especially around the expedition bases.

But most of the time I don’t notice the music much - I just feel an atmosphere. This is perfect - this is just right. I do think they should’ve done more with day/night music, but overall… it’s really good.

Certainly better than Shadowland’s, no contest there. I mean Shadowland’s most powerful musical moment was the rebirth of Ysera… and the lyrics were “glory to Azshara” - a remix of Nightsong, which was like 10 years old at the time, too. I mean PLEASE. They just had no idea what they were doing.

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42

I could write a book about PvP alone, but even clumping categories together as I have it still makes for some hefty walls of texts. And there are limits to how much people on the forum will bother to read. :laughing:

But honestly, I kind of feel like PvP is the usual fare.
Blizzard usually re-designs some part of the structure, be it reward or progress, and then they throw in some new thing for good measure. A new battleground, arena map, or some feature.

The PvP class balance tends to always be in flux and it’s hard to really evaluate in general terms beyond just noting that players react and feel as they always do – which is that they’re upset. And I’m not much different in that regard.
So honestly there’s not too much new under the sun there. The PvP experience is exactly as upsetting and imbalanced and frustrating and thrilling and enjoyable and annoying and bugged and fantastic and familiar as always.
I give that two stars. :upside_down_face:

I do agree that it’s (yet another) take on a different approach to PvP that you don’t have to do a bunch of PvE grinding to be viable for PvP. But whether it’s a massive improvement to the general experience probably depends on who you are. Some people really like having gear progression and owning n00bs in BGs.
Personally I’ve probably become more ambivalent on the matter over the years. It doesn’t seem to bother me much one way or the other.
But for some it’s definitely a game-changer, I can see that.

43

Music, sound, and voice acting : 0 i stopped at the introductory zone .voice acting horrible.

Classes, talents, and features : 4/5 i like the new talent system but need improvements and simplifcation

Professions, rewards, and itemization 0 profesion BOP?craft orders? bad idea and bad impklementation. also ah bots? disgusting. jumping gathering bots? disgusting

Raids, dungeons, and PvP : 1 who puts nohkud offensive as second dungeon? it REQUIRES dragonFLYING -.- think of all the shenanigans when DF isnt current content…

Art, cinematics, and cutscenes : 0 looks like some american anime. who asked to remake the dragon aspect human forms? just update graphics yes but not remake.

Story, lore, and quests razagesh bad alexstraza good me smash 0

Tldr conclusion 1 for the talents and the pleasant timewalking leveling experience

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44

Honestly, I’m happy to admit this and even to Jito.

When I saw a 2 star review for the Music, I instantly saw Red and immediate flagged this another Troll post.

the music is honestly amazing. 6 out of 5.

And a 2 star review for Art? It’s like have you even Been to Valdrakken? It’s the most beautiful city since Silvermoon. It’s gorgeous.

I appreciate that might not be to someones taste, but to mark that as

is just upsetting.

45

I feel like I get a lot of Northrend vibes in that zone. Too much actually.
I like when Blizzard takes something they’ve previously made and then amps it up, like a Protoss track become Night Elf forest ambience, which gets amped up and turned into Nightsong and Night Warrior. Familiar, but new and different.
The Azure Glades just feels like Blizzard are trying to remind me of Grizzly Hills and how this is like Grizzly Hills. I know some people appreciate when they can recognize something they heard before and they like those nods to the past, but I wouldn’t say I’m one of them.

I do wholeheartedly agree with that though. I also commented on the exceptional voice acting of whoever does Saragosa. Her voice is perfect in that dungeon. Mixed with the music it makes for a wonderful experience that’s sad and melancholic at the same time. Quite special in a dungeon.

Maybe here we differ most in our tastes. My favorite music moments in WoW is when it’s heard front and center and tries to chill me to the bone. Big epic choir with a huge echo and full orchestra, that’s WoW music at its best to me.
…Which is the complete opposite of tranquil Elwynn Forest music (which I do also appreciate!).

46

You see, this is the only voice acting I don’t like. I find it too monotone. Whilst I realise she is supposed to be a Hologram/shade/whatever of Sindrigosa, I find the rhythm of the speech to be repetitive. And I still haven’t worked out where to find the Growth of Extra Appendages.

47

Get off your high horse. Just because it’s great to you doesn’t mean it is for everyone.

I played the trial, got to 63.
Dragonflight receives a big fat 0
First expansion I haven’t bought.

Want to correct that one?

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48

Great so why are you prowling the games forums moaning about it, when you could be doing something you actually enjoy doing? You’ll feel alot better about it, and you’ll soon forget about this big 0 expansion (assuming this is Hinklink).

49

Sorry, but why is “raids, dungeons and pvp” in one category? You seem to know as much about wow as I know about material science optimization for toilet paper on an atomic level :grin:

50

I can voice my own opinion and thoughts, I don’t know who hinklink is.

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51

If I made it two or three categories and posted a wall of text for each, then the entire post would get so long that no one would bother to read any of it.
I compromise where it is needed.

Besides that, then dungeons, raids, and PvP are “bread & butter” activities of an expansion’s box product. It’s the stuff that Blizzard includes in every expansion in roughly the same volume with generally the same production effort. So it’s fairly easy to clump it together and say that it’s like usual – because it is. It’s not very different from the dungeons, raid, and PvP package you got in any of the other expansions.
And any minor deviations and differences in design doesn’t change from the general score. It’s still very familiar to be overly different.
When Blizzard throws in multiple battlegrounds in a new expansion I’ll consider giving PvP its own category. But when the gameplay activities are copy/paste from the past expansion, then it’s hardly needed I think.

52

Also, the statistics knowledge a bit lacking aswell, since you didn’t even put any importance weight on the different categories. Pls, next time, when you spread negative vibes, do it properly at least. Peace out.

53

I really hope you did not flag the post because that is unwarranted.

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54

Just imagine being in a room with your friends having a great time really enjoying what you’re doing, and some guy walks into the room and shouts “OMG I hate this!”. Imagine how that small event changes the mood in the room.

Is it not just best to allow people to enjoy themselves, and just go off and find something that you enjoy? Or is it best just to ruin it for everyone else?

Apologise if it’s not you. Just another guy who likes to let people know that he gave up at level 63.

55

If you don’t like my posts feel free to put me on ignore. Dragonflight ruined Warcraft for me more than Shadowlands did.

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56

But we’re having a debate.

So why are you here on the forums? Genuinely interested in that.

57

I like constructive criticism, but the criticism in this post is definitely not constructive. Saying “ah the old stuff, pvp again, raiding again, dungeoning again, bah same activities” is not productive. It just means you don’t like the fundamental core of the game, if that’s your opinion

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58

Because I’m bitter about the game I invested my time in for over a decade to turn into this garbage. I still play Classic, but retail is nearly death to me.

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59

You’re taking it too seriously for a late-at-night forum post on the internet by a random stranger. :kissing_smiling_eyes:

The categories are just the way they are because it’s a way for me to structure my thoughts without going off on a giant rant. The stars are only there to make it easier to summarize the sentiment of my opinions, so it’s easier to comprehend the walls of text.
It makes the post a bit more inviting to the eye. It’s presentation and flair, that is all.

It’s not an attempt at trying to scientifically prove that Dragonflight is a crap expansion. It’s just a personal subjective opinion that some things are great about Dragonflight (Dragonriding), some things are meh (music), and certain things are bad (story), and that overall it makes for a typical WoW expansion to me. Add a few thousand words of blabbering and some fancy emoticons and that’s all it is. :slight_smile:

No need to take it overly serious.

Plus, I’m generally known as quite the fanboy and whiteknight around here, so I think I’ve earned the right (not that I need it) to point out a thing or two I dislike about WoW every once in two decades of forum posting. If you don’t mind. :upside_down_face:

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60

I feel like everyone is having a normal conversation.
The only one whos a party breaker is you Billyblue
Over and out

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