Summary
World of Warcraftis not even halfway done with Dragonflight yet, but fans are still trying to speculate what the next expansion will be. Some think it could be an Emerald Dream story, others believe it is the long-awaited Pirate expansion, and some think it is something completely different altogether. There are so many potential routes Blizzard could takeWorld of Warcraftdown next, and hopefully whatever it chooses is just as refreshing as Dragonflight has been.
A newWorld of Warcraftexpansionoften means new locales and stories for players to explore. Usually, the overarching narrative puts the new locations front and center and forgets about the rest of the world. This has been a problem withWoW’s storytelling for a while as it has made Azeroth feel smaller, but the next expansion could change all of that. Blizzard needs to be willing to finally tell a story that encompasses more of Azeroth, and the game’s tenth expansion is its chance to do that.
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Azeroth Deserves to Be Explored
In recent years,World of Warcrafthas increasingly felt more like the Islands of Warcraft instead. Blizzard tends to introduce a new continent with each expansion, and then players will spend most of that expansion’s tenure stuck on that continent.Wrath of the Lich Kingtossed them onto Northrend, Mists of Pandaria took place entirely on Pandaria, the Burning Legion invasion in Legion was primarily focused on the Broken Isles, and Battle for Azeroth focused on two small islands.
While it makes sense that Blizzard would want to put the newest continents on full display, it also makes the world feel so much smaller. Some of these massive invasions and world-ending threats should not be occurring on just one continent. The entire world should be at stake, but the gameplay would have players believe that only a small subset of Azeroth is actually in danger.
This issue was most prevalent duringWorld of Warcraft’s last three expansion packs. Legion saw the Burning Legion invade the planet with a massive army, but players spent the majority of their time solely on the Broken Isles. Battle for Azeroth was supposed to bethe Fourth Great War of Azeroththat saw every faction take up arms to combat each other, but only one major patch took place in an area that was not around Kul’Tiras or Zandalar. Shadowlands threw players in another world altogether, and the story ignored the fact that the armies of the dead were roaming Azeroth during players' absence.
It feels like Blizzard is getting a bit better at involving the rest of Azeroth in Dragonflight. While the main story is stillfocused on Dragonflight’s Dragon Isles, there have been some questlines and major story beats that have taken players to other parts of the world. The studio has also introduced various new features like the Trading Post and Kalimdor Cup to bring players to the older regions. It is a welcome change of pace after players have spent so much time confined to small regions, but Blizzard needs to take it a step further with the next expansion.
WhileWorld of Warcraft’s next expansion can still focus on a new continent, its story should also involvethe rest of Azeroth. Players should be sent to previously explored regions to finish quests and combat foes in classic areas. Involving more parts of Azeroth would not only make the world feel alive again but could also lead to a unique type of story that fans may flock to.
World of Warcraftis available now on PC.
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