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WoW: Dragonflight has a couple of huge updates coming: 10.0.7 and 10.1. I recently had a chance to speak with a pair of game developers after previewing the latter major patch. Maria Hamilton (Lead Quest Designer) and Patrick Dawson (Production Director) both sat down with me to discuss both updates and how they will affect the playerbase.
This interview covered a wide variety of topics related to the 10.0.7 and 10.1 updates. Players will have access to a wide variety of content, and it’s certainly something to be excited about. From new areas, raids, and allies, WoW: Dragonflight’s 10.0.7 and 10.1 updates are going to be massive.
It’s always a pleasure to chat with Maria Hamilton and Patrick Dawson about WoW, and their insight is invaluable regarding how some of the upcoming content was created.
Maria Hamiliton and Patrick Dawson discuss WoW: Dragonflight 10.1
Q. While 10.1 is a massive update, 10.0.7 is also an important update for WoW. One thing that is on the way that, at least, I'm very excited for is the Paladin rework. How early into Dragonflight's life did you feel that change was needed for the class?
Patrick Dawson: So when it comes to class balance, it's something we monitor from the first day, the very first day. And we look at data, we look at community feedback, we look at sentiment and try to discover what we can fix through hotfixing — through tuning a bit — and then what requires something a little bit more heavy, something more that requires maybe a content update that we want to be able to put it into. And then, if we really feel like we need to do something transformative, we would likely target a season change content update for that.
So with Ret Paladin — and that's not the only class — there's a few others that are doing attention in Return to Forbidden Reach. That's an opportunity for us, as we've decided to release content more quickly, to have an opportunity to revisit something like this mid-season and make some meaningful changes to these classes that could use a little bit of help and love from what we're just seeing live right now. So it feels like a good time to do that. And it sounds like you're happy about the changes. That's great.
Jason Parker: Oh yes. [Laughs]
Patrick Dawson: Keep giving feedback, and we’ll keep looking to make things better.
Q. Are you willing to reveal what other classes are getting major changes?
Patrick Dawson: I think most of them are probably up on the PTR right now. I don't think there's anything like a large overhaul. Even Ret Paladin, like, it's definitely seen some changes, but it's not like a reimagining of the class or the specs. Yeah, it's more smaller, more reasonable changes just to make the class feel a little bit better.
Q. The Mythic+ Rotation is going to change in 10.1 as well, including some interesting dungeon choices. What went into the decision of adding the selected dungeons? (The Underrot, Vortex Pinnacle, etc)
Patrick Dawson: Yeah. I think a couple of things are important. Variety is one, you know? To go from something deep in the depths of High Mountain, like in Nelthalion’s Layer, to Vortex Pinnacle, which is extremely open and vast and in the sky, that kind of variety is nice. Same with things like Underrot and Freehold, where Underrot is a little bit more like cavernous and goopy, and Freehold is a lot more like pirate-y and whimsical and just open.
So just varying up the themes is something that's important. So, you know, people don't feel like they're running the same thing every time and then just general fun. These are all fan-favorite Mythic+ dungeons from the past other than Vortex, which is new. But yeah, the ones that have been run, people really enjoyed them. Why not go back to those and give people what they want?
Q. With the advents of 10.0.7 and class expansions, are some quests being designed for the necessary context of these additions to the race/class combo rosters? With Monks in particular, will we be able to see how the Peaks of Tranquility's Masters fared after Legion, BFA, and Shadowlands?
Patrick Dawson: I think our goal with supplying more choices is really a customization goal, not necessarily a narrative goal. So there may be some things that aren’t fully covered as a result of the change, but ultimately the idea is like, it would be cool if you could be a Goblin and a Monk; that would be kind of neat. So yeah, we're really leaning into that customization aspect and just letting you play as many of the class race combinations as you'd like.
Maria Hamilton: Yeah, totally. I totally get what you're saying there too. As we think about, you know, maybe in the future when we do certain other types of classes, we will be wanting to think about, you know, possible narrative complications. Because if you think about some of the class race combinations, they're kind of weird. I mean, they're really weird, way more weird than a Tauren rogue, right?
Jason Parker: Like Death Knights.
Maria Hamilton: Yeah. So that's an example of a thing where we might want to do more. But with what we've done thus far, like, we're really happy with just giving people this additional customization.
Q. The Professions changes that came with Dragonflight were a welcome update, but 10.1 will see further addendums. What sort of feedback have players given when it comes to this new system?
Patrick Dawson: Yeah. So a lot of positive feedback so far, you know? Being able to specialize in a craft and be that, like, the best crafter on your server has been really cool for a lot of players. I know to get certain crafts done for myself; I now know the names of people who can do those things, so that's worked really well in terms of leaning into, like, that community aspect of it.
I think that's been pretty positive. With “Embers of Neltharion” we are adding more recipes. So there's going to be some new stuff for you to craft. And crafting, it's become a fun little mini-game of trying to find those knowledge points and, you know, just really like investing in what's important to you. And that's worked out pretty well.
Q. While The Forbidden Reach is an area for max-level players, what about Zaralek Cavern? Could someone roll an alt, and once they've reached certain parts of the story, could they access the new area? Or do you recommend players go in at max level?
Maria Hamilton: So, right now, it is definitely set to max level. So, it would be very difficult. It would be very difficult. You wouldn't qualify for the quest for prerequisites. That's not to say you couldn't go there and hang out with friends, but you might be a bit squishy.
Q. The Roadmap for the WoW: Dragonflight has been a relief to many players. It's really nice to know what's coming up, and, in particular, patch 10.1 is one of the major updates to the game. Which part of it are you, as developers, the most excited for?
Patrick Dawson: Yes, all of them. [Laughs] Yeah. It's interesting. So one of the core principles of Dragonflight is to get content in players' hands more quickly than we have in the past. So we've added more updates to our normal schedule. So yeah, you've alluded to the post that we did, where we've committed to six updates in 2023.
This will be our third update. So that's where we're moving in the right direction on this. And with the roadmap, we laid out the stuff that we have pre-planned already — things that we have in the works, things that we know we're going to do. We're certain of it.
There's also plenty of other things that we learn as we take this journey where we might add some things to it. So it's not like an inclusive list of here's what's in 10.1.5, here’s what’s in 10.1.7. It's like, here's an example of some things that will be in it.
Like even in the 10.0.7 blurb, you didn't see anything about Ret Paladin rework yet. So yeah, so there's going to be opportunities for us to make updates even outside of the scope of the things we put in there. But that was just a sort of a communication and commitment to the players that, "Hey, we're in this with you, we're going to do a bunch of updates. We want you to have a great time; go sink your teeth into some really fun content."
Q. With the pending implementation of cross-faction guilds, has there been any thought of Guild vs. Guild PVP events?
Patrick Dawson: That's a pretty cool idea. We don't have any plans right now for that specific idea. I think the way I've seen it work out already is some guilds are very PvP-focused, so they'll do what you're suggesting. Join Rated Battlegrounds, and you'll see guilds, even Alliance versus Alliance; Horde versus Horde will match up in Battlegrounds. So that's sort of that guild rating system if you will, and that's a great way for guilds to PvP against each other.
Q. With the advent of the new area, Zaralek Cavern, will players be able to use their Dragonriding mounts immediately, or will there be other requirements to complete first?
Maria Hamilton: You can just fly right on in. You're going to dive down into this tunnel and fly right into the depths of the earth underneath Dragon Isles on your Dragonriding mount. We've got some new tech that allows us to do that. No load, no instance. Just zoom on down there and enjoy your mounts. Now, we may have sections of the story where you can't fly for reasons, but yeah.
Q. I love the Niffen — the new race of mole people players will befriend in 10.1. Can you tell us a bit more about what you will do with them, and perhaps some of their rewards?
Patrick Dawson: We’re working on that right now. So we have some rewards already set in stone, and others are still in development. I think you'll see it's very it's going to be very similar philosophically to the existing Renown tracks. So you'll get similar styles of rewards — cosmetics, unlocks, that kind of stuff. Maria described Niffen Sniffing and Seeking earlier. There's going to be that that will be part of that Renown track as well. So expect a very familiar feel when you get to sniff and run out.
Patch 10.0.7 of WoW: Dragonflight will launch on March 22, 2023, after daily maintenance. It boasts a new raid, fresh zones, the Monk class expansion, Zskera Vaults, and so much more.
