If BC had never introduced flying...

[Darkguyver2020]

Flying was a huge selling feature of TBC, so much so that it had it's own short video - - - Updated - - -

Oh please. I highly doubt people bought BC solely because of flying. This is an MMO, not a flight simulator.
Besides, knowing how expensive it was to purchase back then, I can guarantee that the majority of the gaming populace didn't get to unlock the ability to fly during the expansion.

[The Flavour Cat]

The most interesting thing to think about is

Would they? If they never experienced flying, the wouldn't know what they are missing and just man up and accept it, even the lazy ones.

I guess so.

[jackofwind]

First, I don't eat anywhere near my computer. But more importantly, don't you "feel" anything while playing a game? Like taking on the persona of new life... living their experiences... having your own doubts and triumphs while playing? Fantasy allows us to live in a world where magic exist... can you think anything more beautiful? We have these magnificent creatures that accompany us on these journeys and from their natural state (airbourne) I can feel what it's like to be a bird or a dragon even if it's only for a short while. It's a great pity if you do not feel the same.

Sure, I feel things playing a game in the same way I feel things while reading a book - if it's good enough. But that's predominantly based on the storyline, not on a tacked-on feature in the book that's similar to what flight is to WoW.

I guess the difference is that I don't pretend to be flying an actual dragon when I play, but I didn't realise your argument for flight was based on RP.

OT: People bought BC for WoW, not for flying. If there was no flying people would still have bought it, becaus eit was the successor to the most successful MMO ever.

[Witchblade77]

Oh please. I highly doubt people bought BC solely because of flying. This is an MMO, not a flight simulator.
Besides, knowing how expensive it was to purchase back then, I can guarantee that the majority of the gaming populace didn't get to unlock the ability to fly during the expansion.

literally, I bought BC because it had flying. I avoided WoW in particular and MMO's in general prior to that just fine. flying was THE reason that got me into this game. so take your doubts and reevaluate them.

moreover.. basic flying wasn't THAT expensive. it was the faster speed that was harder to get. and even so - with introduction of sunwell isle dailies especially - making enough gold to get faster mount? became MUCH easier. but even before that - dailies were very much a thing. it took me a while to get my fast ground mount when I rerolled from scratch on a different server. flying mount? by the time I got to 70, there were quite a few more things i could do, to get that flying mount, that didn't involve me being an AH master.

[Lucetia]

We'd not have had BC and LK the way they were, as those two expansions required flying.

Don't forget Cataclysm as some of the zones were designed with it in mind (Deepholm, parts of Hyjal and Uldum). *To a lesser extent a couple of areas in Pandaria too.

So a lot would've changed and who knows if people would've enjoyed the game at that point.

[Aphrel]

Flying immediately kills exploration
Flying at max level doesn't

But it wasnt until i was lvl 110 that a world Q led me there. flying at 110 whouldve completly ruined the suramar experience.
Releasing flying with 7.15 whouldve been perfect imo.

[Deleted]

I think that if BC never introduced flying that it might have come in a later expansion.

I do see the complaints coming from some people (I wish I could fly from day 1) but I think that Blizzard did the right thing in regards to flying. Although perhaps in hind-sight they should've unlocked it in 7.1.5 for all of the broken isles and for the broken shore in 7.2

[Deleted]

Oh please. I highly doubt people bought BC solely because of flying. This is an MMO, not a flight simulator.
Besides, knowing how expensive it was to purchase back then, I can guarantee that the majority of the gaming populace didn't get to unlock the ability to fly during the expansion.

Somebody here said flying sold it him... Besides flying wasn't expensive only epic flying was

[Darkguyver2020]

literally, I bought BC because it had flying. I avoided WoW in particular and MMO's in general prior to that just fine. flying was THE reason that got me into this game. so take your doubts and reevaluate them.

moreover.. basic flying wasn't THAT expensive. it was the faster speed that was harder to get. and even so - with introduction of sunwell isle dailies especially - making enough gold to get faster mount? became MUCH easier. but even before that - dailies were very much a thing. it took me a while to get my fast ground mount when I rerolled from scratch on a different server. flying mount? by the time I got to 70, there were quite a few more things i could do, to get that flying mount, that didn't involve me being an AH master.

You're lying. Or at least I sincerely hope you are, because no one in their right mind could be that stupid. No one buys a game for a tacked on feature that you could only get at max level. I could just imagine you seething as you slogged through 70 levels on foot until you finally unlocked the feature that you aspired for.
And even then, flying was ONLY available in Outland at the time. The Isle of Quel'Danas doesn't allow flying. Not even nowadays with it available in the entirety of Azeroth.

[guardian_titan]

If flying hadn't been added in TBC, it would have just been added later due to some other MMO adding it. And Blizzard keeps adding things from other games. The wardrobe and transmog features were from other games. Tokens for subscriptions were from other games. Those are just a few of the many features Blizzard's added from other games over the years. Look at all of the stuff Blizzard added to WoW just from D3 in Legion.

And if flying wasn't added, you realize we wouldn't have drakes, gryphons, windrunners, bats, hippogryphs, flying disks, helicopters, etc? The DD mounts would have been ground mounts. The store mounts would have been ground mounts and likely still $25. Areas that require flying would have had to of been made ground accessible, portals added to get there, or moved. Tempest Keep, Naxx, Ulduar, Throne of the Four Winds, Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, Firelands, and Mogu'shan Vaults would have all been changed in some way. Having a portal to each one down below would have reduced their epic nature. Why not just make a portal in the expansion main town if you're just going to put a portal near the summoning stone to get to the instance?

Blizzard's finding issues where there is none. Trump is a good example. He's finding issues where there really aren't any or he's blowing them out of proportion. The ONLY complaint Blizzard has is they're whining we're skipping past everything to get right to our objectives and leave. There's other ways to solve that which would include not making the trash around the objective so annoying to get by on foot. Fighting past 20 mobs to get to a box and running out gets rather boring. It's even more irritating if they're elites, normal mobs that hit like trucks, or respawn really fast. It's the case of amputating the leg when you only broke your pinky toe. Rather than look at WHY players skip past things, they chose to attempt to remove HOW players skip past things. Even if Blizzard made killing the mobs leading up to the quest target more lucrative to kill would go a long way in fixing their problem without killing flying. Blizzard could make mobs leading up to a quest objective drop 5-10g each while you're on the quest until you complete it. If all you have left to do is click a box, they could put in a hidden flag that turns off the increased gold 10 mobs killed after you finished the kill portion of the quest. If a quest requires you kill 10 mobs and click a box and each mob drops 5g, you get 50g plus the gold reward from the quest. If you putz around and kill another 10 mobs before you click the box, you might get 100g plus the quest reward instead before they return to dropping silver and maybe a gold. Blizzard needs to make it so we WANT To kill the mobs around quest objectives. They keep failing in that department.

Removing flying isn't the answer.

And people whining about how flying killed world PvP need a reality check. Did world PvP return in WoD? Has it really returned in Legion? World PvP died a long time ago. I honestly haven't seen any world PvP since TBC. WotLK saw the reduction of world PvP down to Wintergrasp and the one area in Grizzly Hills which most players skipped past. Cata saw it reduced further to Tol Barad. If anyone killed world PvP, it was Blizzard removing it from the world. Now Blizzard's trying to force it back in with Legion by having unwitting players get flagged as soon as they run near a PvP objective with no warning as well as the Underbelly. That's not a good way to return world PvP, either. All that does is piss off those who don't want to do PvP and just happen to run past an area that enables it or needed something in the Underbelly.

[Witchblade77]

You're lying. Or at least I sincerely hope you are, because no one in their right mind could be that stupid. No one buys a game for a tacked on feature that you could only get at max level. I could just imagine you seething as you slogged through 70 levels on foot until you finally unlocked the feature that you aspired for.
And even then, flying was ONLY available in Outland at the time. The Isle of Quel'Danas doesn't allow flying. Not even nowadays with it available in the entirety of Azeroth.

but flying existed, it wasn't the only reason I was interested in WoW. but it WAS what finally sold me on WoW. and btw? prior to Cataclysm zone design was as annoying to slog through, because zones were not deliberately turned into ridiculous mazes designed that one for one reason and one reason only... artificially extend your playtime. i play other games. WoW is the only one that has flying in it. well.. guild wars 2 sorta has flying but not a fan of their glider implementation, so I haven't been playing it much lately. but none of the games that i DO play.. has such a ridiculously illogically designed ground terrain where you can climb an 80 degree hill, yet cannot traverse a 30 degree one, where a giant opening in a shrubbery is actualy an invisible wall you cannot get past, meanwhile a tiny barely noticeable gap is your actual way in. and you cannot tell at a glance whether you will be able to get through somewhere or not. (the only BC area that I actively hated and avoided prior to getting to 70 and flying was blade edge mountains. everything else was fine)

also. getting to flying was worth it to me. I don't mind having to do an achievement to get flying, to do the work. provided its reasonable. I actualy like it that I can do the thing on a single toon and then all my alts get to level in style. i MIND the time gate.

[Lucetia]

But it wasnt until i was lvl 110 that a world Q led me there. flying at 110 whouldve completly ruined the suramar experience.
Releasing flying with 7.15 whouldve been perfect imo.

And that could've been fixed by either making Suramar a no flight zone till X patch or make it no flight and you unlock it at say Revered or Exalted with a 10g tome or quest and it rewards flight in the zone account wide.

[markos82]

The map and entire design of the game ragarding outdoor world would be different

[Eliseus]

Oh please. I highly doubt people bought BC solely because of flying. This is an MMO, not a flight simulator.
Besides, knowing how expensive it was to purchase back then, I can guarantee that the majority of the gaming populace didn't get to unlock the ability to fly during the expansion.

A selling feature doesn't have to be limited to one aspect. Flying being a huge selling feature could of just been the icing on the cake for some.

[Wewlad]

The game would be a lot better off. Flying has essentially become an entrenched tumor that cannot be removed after so long. The most use it ever has is the equivalent of a laser pointer for cats but the detriments outweigh that measly benefit.

[jackofwind]

The game would be a lot better off. Flying has essentially become an entrenched tumor that cannot be removed after so long. The most use it ever has is the equivalent of a laser pointer for cats but the detriments outweigh that measly benefit.

You're right in that it can absolutely never be excised from the game now. People have simply gotten too used to skipping over all the content they don't want to deal with in the world by flying over it.

They'd probably have an aneurysm if they ever had to play a MMO like Tibia.

[kamuimac]

So I see a lot of these flying threads about and I was wondering, what if they had never introduced flying in BC? What if when they were developing it, it was an idea that they had discussed but ultimately for one reason or another had decided against. Lets be honest, it seems like Blizzard thought it was a mistake to introduce flying being as they now gate it behind patches and achievements, but would wow have been as successful if they hadn't? Is it something people would still ask for?

then the game would be as miserable as any mmo that doesnt have flying and never as popualr as it has became - for shittion of people flying is not about doin quest quickly its about whole fantasy of being abel to fly through different lands above tress in the sky .

[Wewlad]

You're right in that it can absolutely never be excised from the game now. People have simply gotten too used to skipping over all the content they don't want to deal with in the world by flying over it.

They'd probably have an aneurysm if they ever had to play a MMO like Tibia.

Well in this age where a huge chunk of the population might as well be diagnosed with ADD, it isn't surprising that they cannot grasp why inconvenience isn't always negative.

[rda]

So I see a lot of these flying threads about and I was wondering, what if they had never introduced flying in BC? What if when they were developing it, it was an idea that they had discussed but ultimately for one reason or another had decided against. Lets be honest, it seems like Blizzard thought it was a mistake to introduce flying being as they now gate it behind patches and achievements, but would wow have been as successful if they hadn't? Is it something people would still ask for?

Yes, flying is something people would ask for.

[Quincey]

... the game would be a whole lot better.

I almost wish they had just kept flying in from the start of wod now. Reminiscing on how good the game was before it and fantasizing about how much better the game is without it just makes me sad they have caved in.

Just for a moment I tasted the warcraft I loved all those years ago again.