Entitled Seeds of Renewal, Patch 10.2.5. is set to release on the live servers for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight on January 16, but one of the significant new features will be capped at launch.
The major content update is introducing many new activities, rewards and storylines into the game. Dragonriding will be possible across each continent, Azerothian Archives are bringing a new hourly public event, and players will finally be able to help Genn Greymane reclaim Gilneas.
Aside from the above, the most significant and exciting addition comes in the form of follower dungeons. In news that will delight solo or more inexperienced players, it will now be possible to participate in dungeons with 1-4 AI-controlled party members. This should, in theory, allow players to level or practice new roles using the Follower Dungeon system.
Only a few days before release, Blizzard has confirmed that players can only run 10 Follower Dungeons per day when the system launches on January 16.
Blizzard introducing a cap for Follower Dungeons on launch
In a Blue Post on the official WoW forums, the developer confirmed that the number of Follower Dungeons players will be able to run is initially limited to ten.
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There are a few things to note about the specifics of the measures. Firstly, this will not affect how normal 5-player dungeons function, and it will still be possible to queue for those near-indefinitely. Additionally, the dungeon will only be considered part of the limit of ten once players enter the instance.
Though Blizzard haven’t specified the reasons for this move, it’s likely a move to combat specific phenomena within the MMO. Describing them as “precautionary measures”, the main aim will be to exclude abuse of the system by bots and gold farmers in the first instance.
It may also relate to technology behind the new offering, as the game will likely have to launch more simultaneous instances than ever before. With fewer players locked into those instances, the spread will be fairly unprecedented and likely place a significant load on the server.
With the Seeds of Renewal patch set to release on January 16 as part of an extensive roadmap, players won’t have long to wait before they can jump into a dungeon with their bot companions. Whether it will be a successful experience when they do is another thing entirely.
