World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has undoubtedly been a well-received expansion among its players, but Week 2 of Dragonflight's inaugural Mythic Season experienced an even steeper drop than that of Shadowlands. With Echo seizing the World First Kill for Mythic Raszageth in Vault of the Incarnates, all eyes have now turned towards Mythic Keystone dungeons. Ever since its introduction in Legion, Mythic+ has become a permanent fixture in World of Warcraft's endgame, and the popularity of these high-difficulty dungeons has gone on to rival even the traditional raids.
When it comes to Mythic Keystones, the personal enjoyment factor for most World of Warcraft players is strongly tied towards a Mythic+ dungeon's weekly affixes. Unfortunately, the affixes Blizzard intended for Week 2 of Dragonflight Season 1 have been rather painful, to say the least. There are frequent examples of players taking three hours to complete Ruby Life Pools on higher keys, and while Mythic Keystones aren't meant to be easy given the power level of the gear they award, having over 200 deaths isn't a fun experience for anyone.
This seems to be reflected in the actual numbers, as World of Warcraft dungeon runs in Dragonflight have dropped severely going from Week 1 to Week 2. The graph was compiled and posted by Nora the Destroyer on the official World of Warcraft subreddit, and it shows that from 3.2M completed Mythic+ dungeons in Week 1, there have only been 1.8M Mythic+ dungeon runs in the following week. This drop has made Dragonflight's numbers appear lower when compared to Shadowlands Season 1. While this is certainly no cause for concern, it should nonetheless be important to examine the factors behind the drop.
If World of Warcraft fans had to choose between bashing their heads against the merciless affixes of Week 2 in overtuned dungeons such as Ruby Life Pools, versus enjoying a calm holiday week with family and friends, the vast majority would prefer the latter. One can't help but wonder if Blizzard decided to push the hardest set of affixes precisely on the one week when the lack of player engagement was justified. After all, the season is young, and there are plenty of opportunities for players to push towards Keystone Master in Dragonflight.
The numbers for Week 3 are going to hold some interesting implications for player engagement in World of Warcraft, as the combination of Fortified, Sanguine, and Volcanic should make things significantly easier for healers and Mythic+ groups overall. Whether the numbers bounce back or continue a downward trend will do little to temper Blizzard's confidence in Dragonflight, as the roadmap for World of Warcraft in 2023 promises six content patches of varying sizes. On the other hand, it may cause the developers to rethink some of more annoying affixes such as Grievous.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.
