World of Warcraft: Dragonflight represents the "third era of Warcraft"

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is so significant that Blizzard devs are calling it the "third era" of the massive franchise.

Ahead of World of Warcraft's latest and greatest expansion, Dragonflight, releasing on November 28, folks have obviously been left wondering just how much of a shift the new expansion will mean for the long-running MMO from Blizzard. Apparently, it's bigger than previously imagined even, as several developers have reportedly referred to the release of Dragonflight marking a new "third era of Warcraft."

As highlight by Wowhead, gaming content creator Mike 'Preach' Lamb recently visited Blizzard HQ to talk all things Dragonflight with folks like game director Ion Hazzikostas, executive producer Holly Longdale, general manager John Hight, and many more. While those interviews have not been released as of yet, Lamb did go into some broad thoughts about the visit as part of a lengthy Twitch stream.

According to Lamb's stream, a big part of this is a move away from "mandatory content" in Dragonflight and beyond.

"They're changing a lot of stuff," Lamb says in the stream. "And if you've played Dragonflight or you've looked at the beta, you'll realize there's a lot different, and it's going to be a weird transition for a lot of people, [...] the core gameplay has changed a lot."

"There is no Torghast, there is no required dailies," Lamb continues. "All that stuff is kind of going away or has gone away."

Broadly speaking, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is currently still available to pre-order starting at $49.99. Another pre-patch is expected to release on November 15 and will add the Dracthyr, a new race, among other changes ahead of the expansion's full release.

If World of Warcraft isn't your cup of tea, perhaps one of the other best MMORPG games around will satisfy.

Rollin Bishop
US Managing Editor

Rollin is the US Managing Editor at GamesRadar+. With over 16 years of online journalism experience, Rollin has helped provide coverage of gaming and entertainment for brands like IGN, Inverse, ComicBook.com, and more. While he has approximate knowledge of many things, his work often has a focus on RPGs and animation in addition to franchises like Pokemon and Dragon Age. In his spare time, Rollin likes to import Valkyria Chronicles merch and watch anime.