WoW’s game director breaks down why Dragonflight feels unique

There’s no denying that Dragonflight breathed new life into World of Warcraft as players feel there’s a little piece of the Dragon Isles just for them. WoW’s game director, Ion Hazzikostas, pinpointed what exactly feels different about Dragonflight and outlined Blizzard Entertainment’s new design philosophy.

In an interview on March 21 with WoW content creator and streamer HazelNutty, Ion Hazzikostas explained that “the philosophical underpinnings of Dragonflight are rooted in player agency, empowering everyone to seek out the activities they enjoy and play the game they want to play it.”

“We’re trying to avoid making it feel like there’s only one right way to play World of Warcraft and Dragonflight,” the game director added. Normally, Blizzard’s main focus during an expansion was to entice players, in one way or the other, to play through the content. But, according to Ion Hazzikostas, players are still interested in exploring new major features and completing the content if they are not forced to do it and will even “have more fun.”

Essentially, the entire philosophy behind Dragonflight can be boiled down to one simple idea—“what do I want to do today, and not what do I have to do today.” This new philosophy will continue in the upcoming patches of Dragonflight and, hopefully, in future WoW expansions. 

So far, Dragonflight has been a joyous ride for the WoW community, and if Blizzard sticks to its word, it has the potential to become one of the best expansions in the history of the game.