New Fiery Mechanical Mount Coming Soon, Flying in Warlords of Draenor

[MasterHamster]

If the amount of XP required 90-100 was increased because three quarters of quests were missed due to players leveling too quickly, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If the cost of pre-raid gear (justice, valor, etc) was increased because they let players get pre-raid decked in mere hours, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If the drop chance of gear was decreased because it's now less likely to give you a duplicate, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If professions gets recipes with mats that require a fair amount of farming/effort to gather, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If mobs and bosses in dungeons and raids gets their health increased because they were dying too quickly for the level, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If the world felt scarce and more roaming mobs were added for a sense of danger, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If Garrisons aren't instantly maximized the moment you hit 100, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If the gear requirement for raids were increased slightly because of balancing itemlevels, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If the amount of nodes were decreased because they were flooding the economy, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If there isn't a flight patch every ten yards, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?
If large quest chains would make you travel across zones, not just locally, is that also "artificial prolonging of content" and a "pure business move"?

Every-fucking-thing in the game can be accused of being made purely to slow you down.
Proper design is what it is.

[Deleted]

is it just me or does that more look more "Dark Aminus losing blood as you run" than fiery?

Yeah, mount looks very Dark Animus.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I really am behind them on the no flying. The people raising hell are generally younger players. I have family, friends, and a lot of coworkers who play WoW, and every single one of them not only agree with the no flying, but love it.

I mean, to hear the same posters over the years repeating how great vanilla was and yet, when they implement something like this- no flying- into the game, these same people threaten to quit, pitch hissy fits, and cuss people out- over flying in a game. A game.

Ever since they announced this, I have been looking for the plethora of reasons why flying should be in the game- I have yet read a single pro other than it makes the game a lot easier. Easier.

So no sympathies from myself and about 22 others I know who play the game. I am not even touching on how many guildies are behind the idea.

Sure, we have a few who are having temper tantrums over it, but again- they are either younger players or players who just do not enjoy the game much as it is anyway.

When I would tend bar, I would come up with ideas to improve a drink's taste that many times would be met with "no. no. no." from my managers and some guests. Some did not like any change whatsoever. What did I do? I changed it anyway, called it something else, and the same people loved the changes I made in the drink. In their minds it was a different drink. In reality it would be the exact same drink on the menu, but with a slightly heavier amaretto and fresh lemon or lime juice as opposed to Rose's.

Give it a chance. It is going to happen. I see the benefits and the conveniences of flying. There will be times I will miss it. A few people are expressing arguments better than others. But some- Your endless outrage is like being stuck on an 8 hour flight with 10 screaming babies. Maybe that worked for you your whole life- screaming until a parent gave in and gave you a toy.

As if it brings more weight to your opinions than anyone elses to be old, but...28 years old here, heavily against them backtracking for easy solutions rather than expanding and improving. I have friends that are neutral about it, love the idea, and hate the idea. And no, they're not very young, and they ALL enjoy and love the game as it is and has been for the past 9 years. That includes all those years WITH flying. You use a lot of ad hominem and it's never clever.

[War30]

I am glad Blizzard is sticking to their philosophy for a change with no flying in WoD, instead of pleasing the whiners. Flying should never have been implemented in WoW, like good old vanilla, no one complained back then, the world felt alive and it was fun to level.

Really? Fun? You sure? Because I remember those long queue times to play. Crappy connection, being booted out to start the same nonsense over. The world was boring. No exploration, no back story, and it took forever to get a mount. So I leveled a character to 60 did all 5 mans canceled and waited until Burning Crusade where they introduced Flying mounts and I never stopped playing since. Well until I see all the details on what is going to happen in the new Expansion.

[Deleted]

...and this is what I've been paying 13 euro per month? instead of giving me (us) new content they are developing new mounts... puff

[Bender]

As an example, let us consider a quest to assassinate an enemy leader. From the ground you approach a fort with guards at the gate. You charge and are able to dispatch them and sneak in a side hallway. You methodically take out packs of roaming sentries, and some of them shout at you as they run toward you. You notice they’re in the middle of practicing dark and forbidden magics, and you take a moment to disrupt their ritual. Dashing into the main courtyard you spot your target, sneaking and fighting your way to him--and with a forceful slash--the fort’s captain is vanquished, and as guards are alerted you fight your way out, glorious and triumphant in your success.

Alternatively, from a flying mount, you fly over the gate, see some guy whose name is highlighted, land on top of him, kill him, and then fly away.

Ok, so yet again they operate under the false assumption that being restricted to the ground equals immersion. I guess they are trying to make an example here but seriously, how about comparing two equal situations? Comparing the same situation from two completely different point of views, where the first one is told from the perspective of someone caring about the lore and immersion while the second one doesn't give a shit about it. I could write a one page essay of how much cooler I think it is being able to do option #2 (yes, from a perspective of immersion), yet they choose to assume that the fly-guy doesn't give a crap about it and work from there.

Being efficient is great, being clever is great, and using your cleverness to be efficient is great, but how many of us have done the Tillers dailies up on the cliffside where the Hozen are, and waited for packs to pass by before setting down right where you’re supposed to, use whatever thingamabob you’re supposed to, and then lift off ASAP hoping-hoping-hoping nothing aggros? How many of us have become furious when we actually have to fight something!? Is that clever gameplay? Is that being good at playing the game, or is it using a mechanic to avoid having to play it? Is that what the game should be, and what our expectations should be as gamers playing it?

This entire paragraph is completely irrelevant to the debate because this is fucking exactly what people who want to avoid combat does when on their ground mounts.

[Wheezing]

...and this is what I've been paying 13 euro per month? instead of giving me (us) new content they are developing new mounts... puff

Did you miss the many posts over the last few months about Warlords of Draenor?

[MasterHamster]

I could write a one page essay of how much cooler I think it is being able to do option #2 (yes, from a perspective of immersion), yet they choose to assume that the fly-guy doesn't give a crap about it and work from there.

Please do, I want to know how giving people the ability to choose exactly when and how they approach all content (or rather, the final quest objective, while avoiding pretty much all danger) is as immersive as experiencing it in the way it's designed to be.

Timeless Isle would be so much fun if we were all patrolling the skies, swooping down to kill the rare that spawned on our minimaps.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Ok, so yet again they operate under the false assumption that being restricted to the ground equals immersion. I guess they are trying to make an example here but seriously, how about comparing two equal situations? Comparing the same situation from two completely different point of views, where the first one is told from the perspective of someone caring about the lore and immersion while the second one doesn't give a shit about it. I could write a one page essay of how much cooler I think it is being able to do option #2 (yes, from a perspective of immersion), yet they choose to assume that the fly-guy doesn't give a crap about it and work from there.


This entire paragraph is completely irrelevant to the debate because this is fucking exactly what people who want to avoid combat does when on their ground mounts.

Well said. Your entire post was, but that line in particular.

[Deleted]

Did you miss the many posts over the last few months about Warlords of Draenor?

can you play it now? guess not till the second half of 2014...

[Nozuka]

great another RAF mount... and i'm in a country where RAF is not available..


but i love the no flying part. totally agree with the blue post.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Please do, I want to know how giving people the ability to choose exactly when and how they approach all content (or rather, the final quest objective, while avoiding pretty much all danger) is as immersive as experiencing it in the way it's designed to be.

Timeless Isle would be so much fun if we were all patrolling the skies, swooping down to kill the rare that spawned on our minimaps.

Timeless Isle is fun? Running around and mindlessly killing mobs that whilst they can one-shot you aren't very challenging when it comes to mechanics is fun...?

The way it is designed to be can only include grounded movement...? If they are so dead set on me moving through a door rather than going down onto a rooftop and making my way inside from there then they can leave flying be and mount defenses that make it impossible to just swoop in. THEIR lack of ability to make content challenging and immersive can't be blamed on flying being available. Just look at the Landfall faction hubs, those have aerial defenses and it works pretty well.

Roof or ground, there could be mobs that stops you from taking the faster way if that's what it all comes down to.

[MasterHamster]

Well said. Your entire post was, but that line in particular.

Doesn't really matter whether or not fly or ground-guy cares about immersion.
If given the choice, both lore-guy and no-fucks-given-guy would still be compelled to fly because it'd make them far more efficient.
Denying this in an MMO is foolish.

Makes as much sense as expecting PvPers not to buy equal-to Conquest gear if sold without a rating requirement. "Well, you could have waited until 2k rating before buying it! Choice!"

THEIR lack of ability to make content challenging and immersive can't be blamed on flying being available.

And your answer is more anti-air flak cannons?

[Deleted]

I agree on their line on argumentation and I'm looking forward to see what they will be doing with that new style of questing and progressing.

All the smart people talking about "business decision" seem to forget that with what they're doing right now, they risk alienating more of their customers as they could potentially bind to the game through it, if they wanted. Imho. It's the same was with D3's auction house in my view. So calm down, wait until you can actually see what they did and judge afterwards.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Doesn't really matter whether or not fly or ground-guy cares about immersion.
If given the choice, both lore-guy and no-fucks-given-guy would still be compelled to fly because it'd make them far more efficient.
Denying this in an MMO is foolish.

Makes as much sense as expecting PvPers not to buy equal-to Conquest gear if sold without a rating requirement. "Well, you could have waited until 2k rating before buying it! Choice!"

And the no-fucks-given-guy will keep doing his best to skip as much as possible of gameplay in order to get to his objective and back even whilst grounded, and he'll STILL not care about anything that others call story or "immersing yourself".

It's a cheap solution to a problem that WON'T be fixed no matter what they do, but it's sure easier than making changes to how mobs work and adding more danger above the ground.

[Ærion]

I don't care about loop-de-loop or "efficient" flight points.
I don't care about "alternate" means of transportation.
I don't care about dungeons past the first completion.
I'll never do any pvp without being forced to
I've stopped caring about raiding a while ago.
I don't care to be grounded when I just want to spend a few hours farming some mats, or *gasp* doing archaeology (NEVER ON GROUND MOUNTS, NEVER EVER EVER) while listening to a book and just shutting down my mind for a while.
I don't care about any quest past the leveling experience, have they learned fucking nothing from the first patch of MoP and the daily mindfuck?
I absolutely hate the islands and everything they stand for.
I don't have fun in wow past the initial leveling experience of a new expansion, when everything is new and interesting for a few days.
I don't log in to wow because I enjoy it, I log in to wow because the sheer amount of resources I've dumped into it over the years, and abandoning it feels akin to hitting an old dog.
I don't give one single fuck about their design decisions or how they intend people to play the game. I understand their reasoning, but I don't fucking care.

I just can't understand why the fuck they insist on polarizing their players this way when it's not a clear-cut majority that wants to be grounded, it's split pretty equally.

Again and again they've dodged actually answering the question on if they intend to block flying from here on out in all future content. A simple yes or no on 6.1 would have silenced most of these threads/posts, but no, they just "don't know".

Well that fucking does it. I've been suckered (baited really) into buying the expansion, because of a goddamn flying mount of all things. I'll play it till cap with one character, then I'm done with wow.

The most polished nostalgia trip ever kept me going because of the shallow illusion of freedom it had for a while. If I want a generic fantasy mmo that's strictly ground-based, I have so many options it's not even funny. I don't feel like paying €13 each month for something that spits in my face.

/rant over

why the fuck couldn't those old devs just stay the hell away from it...

[Deleted]

So how many new store/RaF mounts is that since the last content patch? what an absolute joke. The time between patches is going to be longer than ever, SoO is already old news and WoD hadn't even entered beta yet, it's a complete shambles.

[Magemaer]

I strongly support no flying mounts.

[MasterHamster]

And the no-fucks-given-guy will keep doing his best to skip as much as possible of gameplay in order to get to his objective and back even whilst grounded, and he'll STILL not care about anything that others call story or "immersing yourself".

Essentially you're saying that since some people want to skip content, they should be able to skip content.
That this has a very substantial effect on people who would like to experience the new content "properly" is of no concern.

You say choice, I say reality. Allow people to skip quests, they will. Whether or not it'd compromise their experience.
Reaper of Souls for Diablo 3, "Yeah we unlocked all pre-boss Waypoints for those who don't want to experience Westmarch."

You think people would still be compelled to wade through hundreds of enemies to get there? Who cares about the areas when there are boss lewt to be earned.

It's a cheap solution to a problem that WON'T be fixed no matter what they do, but it's sure easier than making changes to how mobs work and adding more danger above the ground.

Problem is that players will skip content if allowed to. Flying gives them too much power to do so.
Much more so than stealth or avoiding mob paths. Hey, atleast both of those will make you notice the dangers around you.
Getting some shitty "OOPS YOU'RE TARGETED" debuff and dismounted with a parachute while getting angry is hardly better, is it.

[Deleted]

The post on flying pretty much confirms my thoughts on why it was being restricted - which is to say there will be max level content out in the open world. They've almost always restricted flying in content relevant to your level, so really this is no different than restricting flying whilst levelling up on Northrend or Pandaria. The only difference is that the levelling zones will continue to be relevant after the level cap. There's been no change in Blizzard's philosophy just how the game is being designed.

Frankly I'm thrilled that the questing experience will continue past max level in WoD. At the moment I'm finding the level cap rather dull with not much to do aside from dailies which are only fun the first couple days.