The Dragons of WoW




WoW Dragons

You didn’t think I’d let 2008 pass without making another post, did you?

This post is predestined to be a favorite of mine, simply because this is the first post that I can honestly say I  have written, “by popular demand”.

Dragons.


The conversation usually goes like this:

Player, “Are you the Cocles who runs Loregy?”


Me, “Yes.”

Player, “When are you going to talk about dragons?”

Me, “Soon?  So you enjoy my site?”

Player, “What does ‘soon’ mean?  You sound like Blizzard!”

Me, “So what’s your favorite post?”

Player, “The dragon one you haven’t written yet, doofus!”

With WotLK finally released, one of the favorite zones among players is Dragonblight.  You might think this zone is a gift to the players, but don’t fool yourself.  Blizzard’s quest writers love dragons too and have been itching for something like this for years.

I remember back around BlizzCon ’05 someone asked, “When are we going to have more dragons?!”  Turns out that while they were developing WoW, Chris Metzen actually had to pull back the reins when it came to dragons.  Every quest writer, designer, etc. wanted dragons!  And why not?  Dragons are the epitome of awesome.  Giants?  Demons?  Pfft.  Dragons!

The problem of course comes along when we acknowledge that dragons are supposed to be mysterious and rare.

That’s hard to accomplish if you have a dragon giving you a quest every five minutes.

I think Blizzard did this right.  I remember leveling up for the first time in WoW and it being a very big deal the first time someone stumbled upon that rare-elite dragon up the river in Hillsbrad Foothills.

When WoW was new, dragons were mysterious.  When we finally got a chance to see dragons en masse (in BWL) it made sense.  We were the slayers of Onyxia and Ragnaros.  We were strong enough to venture into a black dragon’s lair.

You could see where this was going.  The more epic our characters grew, the more in league we became with the dragons.  We may have still been far beneath them, but it began to make sense why they would single “us” out to help them.   We were the slayers of old gods and vanquishers of Kel’Thuzad.

At 70 we were finally able to directly assist a full dragon flight, even if it were a minor one, the Netherdrakes.

And now at 80, here we are, finally, within the audience of our favorite beasts.

Dragonblight is the zone Blizzard obviously wants everyone to experience.  A lot of us hit 80 in Sholazar Basin, meaning zones like the Storm Peaks and Ice Crown could (and would often) be skipped.  So Blizzard was smart and this zone we all stream into after the two starter zones.

And what a treat Dragonblight turned out to be.  More dragon lore than you could shake a stick at.  Real information regarding the aspects.  Several of the aspects themselves in person.  The Orc’s acknowledgement of their past attrocities towards Alexstrasza.  And finally, FINALLY, some real clues as to Nozdormu’s whereabouts.

So is that it?  Is that all I have to say about dragons?

Hardly.

Since you asked for it, you’re going to get it as my next several posts will be dedicated to the individual dragon flights.  The green, the black, the bronze, the infinite, the chromatic, the red, the blues, the nethers and protos and everything in between.  Enjoy.

There be dragons beyond those hills…

[Editor’s note:  Since this post, I have added these newer posts that I think you’ll enjoy:

Nozdormu

Deathwing

More to come.  Enjoy!]

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

1 Tracen April - 2011 at 6:30 pm

Kewl you should come up with that. Exclenelt!

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