I get what you’re trying to say but… that’s not what Blizzard did. They didn’t say they “we going to add Drakonid”, but develop completely new visuals. As far as I know, Dracthyr aren’t intended to be a replacement for Drakonids, and considering the lore additions added to Drakonids in Dragonflight, it seems like there’s a much better foundation for Drakonids possibly becoming an allied race in the future.
I am one of the people who like Dracthyr, and I have been playing WoW since 2004. I don’t feel like Dracthyr are a replacement for Drakonids, and I agree Dracthyr would be a poor substitute if they were intended to be. But ultimately I like Dracthyr for what they are. If Blizzard wants to add Drakonids as an allied race, or simply add a Drakonid body option to Dracthyr, I have no objections.
But it’s not specifically about Drakonids though. It was about dragons in context with the models players have been seeing since Vanilla.
There are the 4-leg variants and a couple 2-leg ones. All of which were contextual to the requests.
That’s important…the context. Also the subtext.
For what they are?
They can’t fly, only sort of power-glide in a similar way to dragonriding. If they had the same vigor mechanic at least, but no. Dragons that can’t fly…just…
They flounce or waddle. Two utterly indefensible stereotype-esque traits for the subtext of the expansion. Whether you agree or disagree or don’t care about the subtext…this point is still there.
Visages. The entire story is full of characters who can be any race as a visage. Even the lore/story and dialogue on visages of NPC dracthyr say they can be any race. But characters are stuck with some weird lizard-human hybrid with some of the worst parts of both.
Mechanics (related to flying sort of). You can literally fly over a group of enemies, but still take damage from ground or cleave effects.
Transmog. You really can’t. And the utterly bonkers restriction to item sets to, unbelievable weird one WoD set, but BFA forward-only.
Inability to stay in the form you like/tolerate. You can switch, but it doesn’t stick.
Lack of classes beyond Evoker. Sure, based on what we know, it wouldn’t have been much more until after contact with the other races, but still more than just the 1.
People like them as-is. Some would like small improvements. Some would like larger improvements. Some want to just toss them along with Pandaren and Vulpera.
It’s also opportunity cost and loss.
Some people wouldn’t harp if it wasn’t perceived as needing a whole expansion development effort to get…what it is…over something pre-existing, requiring less effort and time per se, that would have netted players better things in other places.
I don’t hate them. I don’t like them as-is either. I like the class. Not a fan of the press/hold skills. Real mixed bag for me.
I’m not really a fan of them either. They look too much like female Worgen, but with scales and a very tiny head. I think they even share the same sitting animation. So for me that race is rather boring and just not nice to look at. It’s like an allied race that is marketed as a new race.
They would be at least a bit more interesting, if we had free choice of all playable races for visage. But of course it had to be elves again… and female human. I dunno… I made one, but I don’t play that character.
Really well said. I really don’t understand the need for “Dracthyr”, when based on what we got with the Evoker’s gameplay, a “player-sized dragon” honestly seems like the most obvious solution. Something larger than a whelp, but obviously not the size of a fully-grown dragon.
To me, the “lore” seemed super obviously, as well. They were a clutch of eggs from Deathwing’s earliest experiments, they never hatched so he considered them a failure and moved onto other experiments. After his death 10,000 years later, when we see the Aspects’ power take the form of the “Heart of the Aspects” (golden dragon) that flies off into the distance – it flies off, sensing the “unborn” clutch of eggs that never hatched.
It finds them, and pours its essence into them, breathing life into the unhatched eggs and awakening them with the power of all five flights. Thus fulfilling much the same storyline, where they are a progeny (of sorts) of Neltharion, but also different. A “Prismatic Dragonflight”, discovering the world around for the first time, and also seeking to find their place in it.
That’s not some super creative idea or anything. It honestly just feels like the easiest, most logical explanation for how you could do “playable dragons”. I don’t understand why Blizzard didn’t just do that. Why bother with a super convoluted story of them “being the perfect soldiers, but they needed to be subdued, and then put to sleep, and then sometimes they’re considered dragons, but then sometimes aren’t, and why are they not considered dragonkin, and what even are dragonkin, and which ones are servants and which aren’t…”
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. Personally, I really like my Dracthyr. Sure, I wish I could have a gnome visage like Chromie, but I love just about everything else. 25-yard range really isn’t that bad once you get used to it. I think it’s really unfair to psycho-analyze those of us who like our Dracthyr just fair. It’s a big game. Not everything has to be your cup of tea.
Long neck skinny body caster dragons legit feels like a corrupt-a-wish
I wish we could get developer insight on who came up with this and why
It took their original design getting roasted for the revision we have now and it still seems off
“Genetically engineered super soliders” with no melee capability whatsoever. Oddly enough, their cinematics show them with melee weapons constantly. Was a potential melee spec axed to rush DF out the door?
This is a problem that gets fixed near-on whole cloth with two fixes:
Blizzard needs to expand Dracthyr class selection and get rid of the dumb notion of one-race classes.
Blizzard needs to be willing to commit to the promise of BTs and expand them for every single race.
These two fixes alone would address a massive amount of the problems of the Dracthyr; they’ll be able to tank, they won’t be pigeonholed into a singular playstyle, and they’ll have enough variety in shape and size to appeal to those interested in a variety of dragon fantasies.
As someone who rerolled Drac from Beta until just about a month ago to finish 2.5k, I couldn’t STAND to look at it any longer so I’m back on this little chubster dwarf.
I’m laughing so hard right now because you’re absolutely right.
Someone on a thread around here just said they belong in a furry convention, which also is an accurate depiction. Nothing against the furries, but I really wanted a DRAGON!
1000% agreed with the OP. Dracthyr are cursed abominations and every time i see one, i cringe. What are they turning this game into? We went from somewhat believable medieval fantasy setting to some sort of furry-scaly heaven. This is not even a matter of opinion or taste. There’s nothing good about them and they dont fit in visually at all.
Completely unrelated to anything i’ve said. Playing a human is nothing unique and at no point i claimed to be. But at least they do not look like choked out lizard-chickens with laughable disproportionate heads. And being unique for the sake of it is not an accomplishment, either, nor a good thing.
There’s nothing wrong with Dracthyr heads at all you clearly just don’t love fantasy that much which which is unsurprising since your playing the most non fantasy race in existence.
Like lemme guess you’re one of those people who think WoW is Medieval and therefore everyone should be Bigots right cause you don’t know the difference between a real life era and fantasy.
