The problem is making an AI Dragon which can move like a player can without being too hard to hit or too easy to hit, without being too accurate nor too inaccurate. I haven't done a lot of Dragon versus Dragon myself, but what I've seen does not make me think that it's possible to make a good AI dragon.
Dragon spawning is a feature in the game, so why is the AI being left out from using it while people get to fight with dragons in multiplayer? I hope this is not Larian saying that comp stompers and single player skirmishers have to be left with a less complete game. Not everyone is keen on playing multiplayer games, to be honest, where even highly competitive games like Starcraft 2 found out that people actually like to have decent AI opponents which is patched in later on in the expansion.
I would like to point to games like Freelancer, Galaxy on Fire or any 3D space flight games where they have AI could drive ships in 3D space. Galaxy on Fire is developed by a small studio to begin with. Even Homeworld's AI can deal with 3D space reasonably. Sure you do not have to make the dragons flies as good as space sims, but the feature should be present in some ways to accommodate all players. The dragons doesnt have to fly in some complex patterns but it has to be functional and present as at the moment, skirmish felt incredibly underwhelming because the lack of AI dragons made it felt unfinished. No doubt I can ignore the use of dragon spawning so that i'll be on even ground but then, whats the point of playing a RTS/Flight hybrid called Dragon Commander? At the same time, I could play any other RTS that I currently own.
Also, what happens if you have a 2v2 multiplayer where there are only 3 human players? Does the person who is the only human player on the team has to be handicapped heavily because the fairly competent RTS AI couldnt use dragons? Sure, you can open a game to public, but then, what happens if it is a private game between friends who doesnt want to mess with random strangers?
I felt that the AI should use dragons at some point of the game's development, which I think it is perfectly fine if this feature is patched in after release but the main point is, some assurance that the dragons will be used by AI from the developers would be greatly appreciated.
