Dragonflight’s first big patch delves into World of Warcraft mysteries

polygon.com:

World of Warcraft’s newest expansion, Dragonflight, has a few plotlines and political struggles running through the story of patch 10.1, which debuted Thursday. The Embers of Neltharion patch takes players to the Zaralek Cavern and the Shadowed Crucible, an ancient laboratory where the one-time Neltharion — later corrupted to become the mad Dragon Aspect Deathwing — tinkered with experimental lifeforms and powerful artifacts.

The patch is also full of intrigue. There’s a Succession-style storyline where Deathwing’s heirs compete to be the new Aspect of the Black Dragonflight. They’re under pressure from a sinister trio of elemental villains — who are the most fun Warcraft has had with villains in years — and tons of in-game cinematics to help tell these tall tales. The designers have had to put a lot of thought into how to frame these cinematics, include the player character, and capture the spirit of each hero and villain. Here’s how they handle that delicate balance.

Dragonflight has been a well-received expansion so far by fans, and it uses cinematic styles and storytelling techniques set up in the previous Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands expansions. Cinematics have been a part of the game since they were introduced in 2008’s Wrath of the Lich King; they are one of the most iterated upon features in the game, evolving from a rare treat to a narrative staple. They also play a significant storytelling role in Dragonflight, and Zaralek Cavern is no exception.

“With the emergence of the incarnates, there’s definitely some baggage [in the dragons’] history that needs to be addressed,” says Terran Gregory, lead cinematic narrative director at Blizzard, in an interview with Polygon. “By going into the underground, we’re