A World of Warcraft player just realized Dragonflight differs from past expansions in one small, but profound way. By excluding a particularly divisive feature from recent expansions, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight broke a tradition of nearly 10 years.
The Command Table was first introduced in Warlords of Draenor as a part of the Garrison feature. It returned in some fashion in every expansion since then, with the Order Halls in Legion, the warfront in Battle for Azeroth, and the Covenants in Shadowlands. However, World of Warcraft fan and Redditor ScorpHunter pointed out that Dragonflight doesn’t have an equivalent to the Command Table.
This was no surprise to anyone, of course; the absence of a Command Table was advertised soon after Dragonflight launched. That said, with World of Warcraft Patch 10.0.5 right around the corner, players are starting to finish up many of their daily and weekly tasks in Dragonflight. This led players like ScorpHunter to realize they weren't compelled to log in every day just to check their Command Table as they have for the last four expansion packs.
The lack of a Command Table in Dragonflight is indicative of the new era of World of Warcraft. In several interviews and appearances, World of Warcraft’s development team has discussed designing evergreen systems that can be carried forward into future expansions. While the Command Table was an example of a system World of Warcraft had kept in the past, it was a divisive one among the player base.
Most World of Warcraft players are not upset to see the Command Table go. While some players enjoyed the Command Table for the first couple of expansions, even the Warlords of Draenor version had features cut before it went live. By Battle for Azeroth, the majority of players were sick of the Command Table and saw it as little more than a chore.
On the other hand, there are some players that are sad to see the Command Table go. The feature became largely optional, especially by the time of Shadowlands, and rarely took more than a few seconds to set up each day. These players reminisced about using their Command Tables to farm enough gold to pay for their monthly subscription or to fund their transmog and mount obsessions. Technically, World of Warcraft could bring back the Command Table in the future. If it does, World of Warcraft will have to design it carefully or risk bringing back bad memories from the worst parts of WoW’s history.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.