World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

 Yep! It was Dragonflight, all right!

Premise:

Interestingly, we have a sort of more optimistic and less conflict-driven opening premise for the new expansion. The Titanic watchers left to guard the Dragon Isles have finally managed to pull back the veil that kept them hidden since the War of the Ancients, and the dragons are returning to re-settle the isles and take their role once again as protectors of the world. The Dragon Isles look pretty universally gorgeous, filled with natural splendor.

One thing I find exciting is that the main Alliance and Horde forces being sent are the Explorer's League and the Reliquary, which are cooperating on a joint scientific expedition to aid the dragonflights in exploring this forgotten land. While we're sure to get some major conflict (it is Warcraft, after all,) it looks like we're starting this off with a peaceful mission, which is pretty cool.

New Race/Class:

So, we've got something a little odd: we're getting a new race and a new class, but all members of that race must be part of that class, and vice versa. The Dracthyr will be the second "neutral" race like the Pandaren, and all of them will be a hybrid Ranged Caster/Healer.

The Evoker will be a dragon-themed class, using the powers of all five flights, but mostly the Red and Blue for damage and Green and Bronze for healing. There seem to be a lot of breath-based attacks and ways to fly over foes breathing fire (or other elements) in-combat.

Dracthyr were one of Neltharion's first experiments in making draconic super-soldiers, and as a Dracthyr, you'll be able to take on a "true" draconic form or a humanoid-like form that retains some draconic elements (currently that form looks based on the Blood Elf skeleton, but we'll see if that stays that way).

Talent Revamp:

After ten years since Mists of Pandaria got rid of talent trees, we're getting them back. Details are scarce, but you'll have two trees at a time - one for your class and one for your spec. You'll still be able to change talents out in rest areas, and they'll let you save different builds that you might want for different content.

The thing they want to bring back was that sense of incremental power gain as you got to put more points in certain talents.

Zones:

We got a preview of four zones.

The Waking Shore, which seems associated with the Black Dragonflight, is going to be our first zone, where we see a lot of primordial elements at play in a lush forest.

The Oh'naran Plains will be, I think, associated with the Green Dragonflight, and has a culture of centaurs that we'll meet and befriend.

The Azure Span going to be a vast zone that has us progress from forests to tundra and icy mountain peaks, and seems affiliated with the Blue Dragonflight.

And then Thaldraszus is the sort of center of all the draconic culture on the islands, which includes an area dedicated to the Bronze Dragonflight, and also has the capital city for the expansion.

Professions:

We're getting a profession revamp. We'll have new gear slots for professional gear (I'd assume including things like miner's picks, but it looks like something they're expanding). There will also be professional specializations and more incremental increases to the quality of your wares.

Also, there's a new system for work orders, where a player can provide all or some of the materials needed for a recipe and have someone of that profession make the item for them, possibly getting a commission. This can be arranged "in person" or through the auction house, but it also means that BoP gear won't be limited to people who have the profession, and they said this will free them up to let professions make more powerful gear.

Dragonriding:

We'll be learning a skill called dragonriding, where we get a customizable dragon mount that we'll be able to use to fly around the Dragon Isles basically right after we arrive. The intention is to make flight a more dynamic and exciting feature than it is with a standard flying mount, so you'll be able to dive or do barrel rolls and such. You'll also unlock ways to give your mount all sorts of different visual features.

No Borrowed Power:

There does not look like there will be another "borrowed power" mechanic, and they'll be focusing on evergreen progression systems.

Indeed, there was a lot of talk about their shifting philosophy toward listening more to player feedback.

Honestly, I think if you looked at most players' wishlists for an expansion, this checked nearly every box. Obviously, the key is the execution, but I think they've got a really strong set of possibilities with what they presented today.