Feedback on D.R.I.V.E. in Patch 11.1 – Undermine

Community General Discussion
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Feedback on D.R.I.V.E. in Patch 11.1 – Undermine

I was really excited for the D.R.I.V.E. system, but after spending time with it, I find it more frustrating than fun. While I love the theme, aesthetic, and especially the music in Undermine, the zone itself does not complement this system well.

Here’s my detailed feedback on the key issues:

1. Undermine’s Layout Feels Too Compact for D.R.I.V.E.
Undermine is dense—too many tight alleys, sharp turns, ledges, and elevation changes make driving feel counterintuitive. It’s difficult to build up momentum, and the constant obstacles force you to slow down or take awkward paths.

I feel like there was a missed opportunity to design a Goblin highway or race track-like main road—a central thoroughfare where players could properly zoom through the city at high speeds. Right now, I find myself using regular mounts or even flight paths just to avoid the clutter and hostile mobs. I rarely use flight paths, but here, they feel like the best option.

2. Getting Stuck on Small Obstacles Ruins Momentum
The zone’s high asset density leads to constant frustration. I frequently get stuck on corners, ledges, and small terrain details, which completely kills my momentum. No matter how I customize my car, I struggle to maintain a smooth driving experience. Whenever I pick up speed, I inevitably slam into a sharp turn or get wedged between objects.

3. Turning and Drifting Feel Unresponsive
The turning feels too wide and floaty, and drifting doesn’t work the way I expect. Maybe this is a skill issue on my part, but it feels inconsistent and unnatural.

One of WoW’s strongest aspects has always been its movement system—character movement feels responsive and fluid in a way that few other games match. Unfortunately, D.R.I.V.E. completely misses the mark in this regard. I also don’t like that drifting is tied to filling the boost gauge instead of just being a flat cooldown.

4. The D.R.I.V.E. Vehicle Isn’t in the Mount Journal, Making It Awkward to Use
This feels like an unnecessary inconvenience. Vashj’ir handled this perfectly back in Cataclysm—your underwater mount was automatically summoned in the zone without needing to be in your mount journal.

While it’s disappointing that we can’t use this vehicle outside Undermine, what makes it worse is how clunky and unintuitive it feels to summon and even dismount. This just gives me another reason not to engage with the system.

5. Customization is Extremely Limited
Right now, there are only five colors and a handful of cosmetic options—which is disappointing. The base car model also feels too wide and not very visually appealing.

I was hoping for more body styles or even the ability to use different mounts within this system. Imagine if we could use the ‘Keys to the Model W’ mount or the ‘Incognitro’ motorcycle with this system—it would have been an incredible addition. Instead, customization feels barebones, which is surprising for a Goblin-engineered system.

Final Thoughts
I’m still looking forward to the raid and the season, and I hope my opinion on D.R.I.V.E. changes over time. But for now, I’m disappointed—this was a system I was really hyped for, and it just doesn’t feel polished or fully realized.

That said, I appreciate all the hard work that goes into each expansion. Keep up the excellent work!

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Yeah my feedback is get this to work before pushing to prod.

Ive done the quests and I cant use the damn thing. Good job QA

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The first point is the most important one. You can really only use the turbo boost for the five or so seconds you’re actually on a proper road before you turn off to where you’re actually going.

The roads needed to be above the ground clutter, a la azshara rocketway. Sufficient off/on-ramps would have made this easy to navigate. And it would even make thematic sense given the ground-level of undermine is a chaotic, cluttered, overcrowded mess.

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Drive would be more fun if it was about 25% slower. Just crashing and bouncing all over isn’t that much fun. The less powerful engine cuts your speed to half, but that’s a bit too much. A bit of adjustment is all that’s needed.

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I do wish D.R.I.V.E. had its own unique keymap options to allow for throttle control, controller support, and the ability to separate handbrake and jump.

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D.R.I.V.E for motorcycle

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I tried it out for a day or two…i’m back to using my normal mount. Its a gimmick and not a good one either.

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After a couple days getting used to it, I love DRIVE. After feeling like a complete goober for not getting dragonriding down very well, DRIVE is way easier to master on a keyboard and spacebar. Starting drifting last night and doing races.

I love it no notes :heart:

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I love drive. Buy the 22H wheels on the AH, makes the drift radius way smaller. I rarely hit anything anymore and it’s almost as natural as Skyriding to me, now.

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Oh that’s neat, I didn’t know you can buy DRIVE parts from the AH! Thanks!

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Forget the mouse, use wasd, you can slow it down as much as is comfortable

Racing for gold is a whole other story. It is way worse than dragonriding

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I’d rather just have flying.

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still feel this way a month in.

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I dislike it enough I use a basic ground mount barring time sensitive travel

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My feedback is, I’m not using it at all and don’t plan to unless you enable it to fly. :woman_shrugging:

Regular ground mount is better.

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D.R.I.V.E. is fun and it works tremendously well.
Undermine’s layout is compact but that’s why the drifting is important, and it is frankly a blast to do that! In regards to hitting stuff though, that’s a case of needing to practice at it to get better.

Ain’t more than that really. But I do think you are right about not enough customization options but eh, I still like the mechanics of it that we can customize as well as the horn. So still happy about that!

But yeah, I’m just gonna say that the D.R.I.V.E. is just something one needs to practice and once you do, you’ll be drifting around at high speeds and just having fun with it.

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I’m one of those individuals to say they did a great start at DRIVE, but yes they need improvements, all the while they definitely can come out in certain areas.

I would be doing donuts in TBC Netherstorm. :slight_smile:

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The most important change would probably be to remove the ability to jump. That is a nuisance with attempting a quick drift only to jump.

Meanwhile, a lot of problems people have with tight turns is not holding w. You can practice right outside the hotel and see how holding the accelerator and letting go affects your drift radius.

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I love D.R.I.V.E. I started off using the slow engine and trying to understand the system. After that, upgraded my engine, then got the one you get for Bronzing all races, then went to gold all the races and now? Zooming around Undermine like a pro.

There was a learning curve. This isn’t Forza or Gran Turismo, here. But now I think it’s a fun and fast way to zip around the city.

My complaints is that any tires that aren’t the Engineering ones are flat out garbage. The default ones are better than the scam being sold by the S.C.R.A.P. vendor, but not by much. That grip is absolutely essential for your drifts.

Also, the Heaps. Driving around in it is as fun as driving around a landfill. Points for accuracy, but not exactly great to navigate through the mess.

Overall, though, I think the system was very well done. I know everyone isn’t a fan of it, but there’s still flight paths that go to every major point in the city, and ground mounts besides.

I’m just hoping the system is implemented beyond Undermine. Zooming around on the ground at high speeds would be a blast.