World of Warcraft: Dragonflight – Blizzard verbessert Storytelling mit animierten Cutscenes

Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind the popular Massive-Multiplayer-Game World of Warcraft, is taking advantage of additional time to tell more stories in their latest expansion, Dragonflight. In an interview with Forbes, Lead Game Designer Maria Hamilton and Cinematic Narrative Director Terran Gregory discussed how the company has made special efforts to improve storytelling in their animated real-time cutscenes. The Dragonflight expansion follows a model similar to the Legion expansion, where frequent smaller updates allow for the ongoing development of side characters while the main storyline is not lost. The expansion also includes numerous smaller side stories that add depth and character development to the game. Hamilton and Gregory explained that the process has brought the storytelling and game design teams closer together, with short scenes adding an emotional touch to the quest experience. The company has experimented with providing a smoother way for players to become familiar with the story, and has made subtle changes to the way they present the story to make it less abrupt for new or returning players. The goal is to strike a balance between providing enough information for players to understand the story while keeping the gameplay engaging. Gregory and Hamilton also discussed how the company has learned from previous expansions and is applying those lessons to Dragonflight. The expansion has been made possible by increased resources after Blizzard acquired the Boston-based developer Proletariat last summer.