Dragonflight’s next patch takes us to World of Warcraft’s Emerald Dream

polygon.com:

World of Warcraft players have been adventuring across the Dragon Isles of Dragonflight, and the next major content patch seems like it’s guaranteed to have them going blanky mode. Patch 10.2 is called Guardians of the Dream, and it takes players into the magical realm of the Emerald Dream. The patch includes a new zone, new world activities, a new raid, and new Dragonriding courses, glyphs, and mounts.

The Emerald Dream is a part of World of Warcraft lore that has shown up occasionally during the course of players’ adventures. It’s a realm of renewal, intrinsically linked with the world of Azeroth. The Emerald Dream is guarded by druids and the Green Dragonflight, and it’s under siege. Fyrakk, the Primal Incarnate of Fire, has teamed up with the Druids of the Flame to steal the power of Amirdrassil in the Dream itself.

Players are technically only accessing part of the Emerald Dream. “The Dream is massive; it’s theoretically the size of Azeroth,” says Katherine Bankson, an assistant lead quest designer at Blizzard, in a call with Polygon. “It’s the most of the Dream we’ve ever seen at once in its pure state.” Previous expansions have sent players into corrupted, defiled parts of the Dream; 10.2 will depict the original vision of the Dream.

This includes quests, a new world boss, and a raid, as players have grown to expect, but also a public event called the Superbloom. “[Superbloom] is an evolution of the other group events we’ve been doing in this expansion,” says Bankson. “You’ll be following an Ancient around; his name is Sprucecrown, and he needs our help to cultivate the tree.” Players will be joined by baby Moonkin, and they’ll gain some temporary powers from the Dream to help Sprucecrown on his mission.

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