Activision Blizzard is currently under investigation following accusations of harassment, discrimination, and fostering a hostile work environment. You can read more about the investigation here.
World of Warcraft‘s Dragonflight expansion looks to restore a little lost glory to the most successful MMORPG series ever. While it remains to be seen if the expansion will live up to the hype, you won’t be able to start your own Dragonflight adventure until the expansion is properly released.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is scheduled to be released on November 28th. While parts of the expansion have already been released via pre-patch updates, you won’t be able to access Dragonflight‘s full suite of features. Even then, some features (like certain raid tiers) won’t be released until a later date. Welcome to the sometimes confusing world of Warcraft!
As is recent WoW tradition, Dragonflight will adhere to a global release schedule. Unlike some other recent major releases, that means that everyone will be able to start playing Dragonflight at roughly the same time (despite natural differences in time zones between regions). In other words, don’t try changing your location to play the game early. It won’t work in this case.
For further reference, here are some of Dragonflight‘s currently scheduled global release times:
Americas (PST)
3:00 p.m. (November 28)
Europe (CET)
12:00 a.m. (November 29)
Taiwan (CST)
7:00 a.m. (November 29)
Korea (KST)
8:00 a.m. (November 29)
ANZ (AEDT)
10:00 a.m. (November 29)
UTC
11:00 p.m. (November 28)
In case you need it, here’s a map version of Dragonflight‘s currently scheduled global release times (which includes information about additional regions). Just keep in mind that these release dates are subject to change whether they’re officially altered or are delayed due to unforeseen technical difficulties.
As noted above, the current version of World of Warcraft does allow you to access some Dragonflight features. Specifically, you’ll be able to create a Dracthyr (the game’s new race), explore the Forbidden Reach (the Dracthyr’s starting zone), play with the expansion’s revamped skill tree system, and more. Once the expansion is properly released, though, you’ll be able to hit the expansion’s new level cap (Level 70), try out some of the game’s new skills, explore all the new dungeons/bosses/areas, and generally partake in all of the content you’d expect to see in a WoW expansion.
While Dragonflight‘s headline features have stolen the show so far, it’s actually some of the game’s smaller QoL updates that have longtime fans most excited. Said updates include the long-awaited ability to fully customize the game’s UI without mods and the ability to play as a Mage, Priest, or Rogue of any race. Of course, the promise of Dragonflight‘s expanded flying system already has some fans dreaming of recreating a time when the simple act of exploring Azeroth felt more substantial than it has in recent years.
Ultimately, that’s what makes Dragonflight such an exciting expansion. It features this compelling combination of big ideas and necessary updates that already feels a little more cohesive than previous expansions have. Whereas some recent WoW expansions crumbled under the weight of their own ambitions, Dragonflight seems more interested in rethinking and tweaking fundamental concepts that have long needed a refresh.
There’s a very good chance that Dragonflight‘s successes and failures could very well help reshape the game over the short and long term. At the very least, it will offer WoW fans that glorious fix of new content that they have come to crave as much as a tank who knows where to stand during a raid.