No one is forcing anybody to fly, if you think the world is more interesting from the ground, then great, stay there and enjoy it. Let other people be happy in the air, don't force them down with you.
I don't bother with ganking. I just prefer the scope that is more easily conveyed when people are restricted to the ground. Flying also detaches players from the zones they level in - which is why few people really cared for the 80 - 85 zones aside from Vash'jir hate.
So according to guys like you, the game has been ruined since 2007. Why don't you play on vanilla servers? There are a couple out there! I hope you're greatful for this message after the 7 tedious years you've spent playing a ruined game, not knowing that there's an alternative without the terrible flying
It still amazes me how worked up people can get over words about things that haven't come to pass and are hardly guaranteed to pass in the extreme scenarios they themselves portray. Beyond the fact that if they were making the xpac based around not flying, you can bet that the relative experience will likely be the same, just without pushing your space bar as much. As much as people hate, or seem to at least, so many things blizzard says, they aren't stupid enough to shoot themselves in the foot by making a world based around flying without giving you flying, because they can probably estimate fairly well (based off threads like this) how people would react to such a thing.
I'm very interested in the method they would use to "see the reactions of players" to this change. As far as I see it, without direct feedback - which the overwhelming majority of players will never give - they cannot measure satisfaction with this change. How the fuck do you tell if that person enjoys being permanently grounded, when he's just trying to get the by despite the inconvenience?
Anyway, the day this company starts removing QoL items from their game because of the never-ending stream of loud mouth-breathers, or sacrifice fun for "vision" (fuck you Afrasiabi, just fuck you), then it's time to move on.
I play this game for it's freedom of movement first and foremost; it's gameplay, aesthetics, and community are largely irrelevant to me. Remove that, and I have no reason to care.
If people quit because of no flying what else will they do? Play TESO which is even more about the no fly zone theme? Idiots?