Originally Posted by
Zardi
Longer cast time (say, something like 3-5 sec, as opposed to the 1.5 all mounts have atm) sounds good. I'm also quite fond of the "limited flight time" idea, which in my opinion could be expanded to say what you actually mean.
I'd envision it like this, with Flying mounts having some sort of "Energy" bar. Energy bar is shared between all mounts (tied to your character), and therefore also applying to Druid Flying Form. When the bar is depleted, mount is fatigued and stops flying immediately (crashing down if on the air). However, as soon as some energy is regained, it can fly again - no need to wait for the bar to refill to full, a cooldown, or anything like that.
For some rough figures, let's say you have 500 Energy.
- Flying: High energy consumption. 2 Energy per sec - 250 seconds, little over 4 minutes of uninterrupted flight
- Stationary on the air: Low energy drain. 0.8 Energy per sec - 625 seconds, bit over 10 minutes of AFK in the air.
- On ground, riding: No energy drain.
- On ground, stationary; or on foot: Regains energy. 5 Energy per sec - 100 seconds to recharge from 0 to full.
Reallistically, Flying would remain useful for flying short or medium distances. Even while farming, it'd take a long time to deplete the bar (since you keep dismounting to gather resources, refilling the bar in the process).
Now, something like this would require flight paths to be improved; both in terms of speed and flexibility.