"Dense, Superheated Air?" - The Explanation about No Flying in Firelands

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I've been running the Mount Hyjal storyline so I can get into the Molten Front (for a special recolored transmog belt that you can't get anywhere else), and it is mentioned several times that flying by normal means in the Firelands is impossible thanks to "dense, superheated air."

Now, I know a decent amount about science and physics, but... I do not understand how this would make flying impossible? Is it like water, where if you go deep enough, the density of the water becomes so extreme that the human body will actually begin to sink? (Except this is applying to air, which is just another a fluid like water mechanically speaking), with the heat increasing pressure (How exactly does heat make the air dense)?

[Deleted]

I think it's just a bullshit reason to explain a gameplay element. I wouldn't look too much into it.

[Arcanimus]

The skies are fire. That's the only explanation for it, really.

(Aside from Blizzard being lazy dbags who don't want to finish texturing and collision mapping an entire island.)

[Mikael123]

I would asume it actually becomes easier to "fly" when the air or liquid becomes more dense as the buoyancy of a body is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces, according to the Law of Archimedes. As the density of the air is increased your bouyancy should increase thus making it easier to "fly". Though I'm not sure this is the right way to approach this problem as I know nothing about aviation.

[Deleted]

Heat makes things less dense as a rule so superdense hot air would be very hard to do. And if the water gets denser humans will float to reach the pointed where it orders itself into density, this is why air sits on top of land. So in short it's utter bollocks

Source: Third year of a physical oceanography

[Chickat]

The skies are fire. That's the only explanation for it, really.

(Aside from Blizzard being lazy dbags who don't want to finish texturing and collision mapping an entire island.)

Since Wrath they have fully finished all zones. All zones are fly ready even if its not enabled.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Here is one of the quests that talks about it.

http://www.wowhead.com/quest=25523/f...-the-firelands

[Saft]

"You can now fly in the Firelands but only with a Pureblood Fire Hawk. To compensate, its drop rate has been lowered from 1% to 0.01%."

Happy?

[Aquamonkey]

Actually it would be harder to fly since lift and drag are directly related to density of the medium and thus superheated air which would by nature be much less dense and would generate less lift and less drag making flight significantly harder

It would be less dense and that would have those effects... except it's stated that the air is more dense.

[Toppy]

It's a fantasy game with magic.

/thread

[Aquamonkey]

it's just pseudoscientific bs in the same was 'symbiotic parasite' line from the Halls of Stone is bullshit.

The exact phrase was "parasitic, necrophotic symbiotes." Parasites is a type of symbiotes. People just commonly believe the term 'symbiotic' is limited to mutualistic symbiosis.

[Aquamonkey]

no, parasitic and symbiotic are contradictory. Parasites, by definition, do harm to their host. Symbionts are neutral. Tapeworms do not engage in symbiosis, they engage in parasitosis.

Nope. Symbiosis is a general term for organisms that live in close interaction with each other. This is sub-divided into parasitic (harmful to one), mutualistic (beneficial to both), and commensalistic (one benefits, the other is unaffected).

Saying something is a 'parasitic symbiote' (as Blizzard did) is scientifically accurate. Saying something is a 'symbiotic parasite' (as you said) is redundant.

[Reyzzz]

Heat makes things less dense as a rule so superdense hot air would be very hard to do. And if the water gets denser humans will float to reach the pointed where it orders itself into density, this is why air sits on top of land. So in short it's utter bollocks

Source: Third year of a physical oceanography

Makes no sense trying to apply logic into a fantasy.

[Aquamonkey]

no, it's not. It's specifically defined as a relationship in which both parties benefit from each other, commensal means only ONE benefits but doesn't HARM the other. Parasite does harm to the host for its benefit. Symbionts mutually benefit. Commensal one benefits and does no harm. Parasite, one benefits at the expense of the other. Now stop pretending you know things you don't.

Wrong. Dude, go pick up a biology text book. Symbiosis is a general term that covers those 3 types. What you are thinking of is mutualistic symbiosis.

[Toppy]

no, it's not. It's specifically defined as a relationship in which both parties benefit from each other, commensal means only ONE benefits but doesn't HARM the other. Parasite does harm to the host for its benefit. Symbionts mutually benefit. Commensal one benefits and does no harm. Parasite, one benefits at the expense of the other. Now stop pretending you know things you don't.

It's specifically defined as often being beneficial, but certainly not always.

Parasitic symbiosis is a thing. To be fair, the definition of symbiosis is a bit contested, but for now, it does not have to mean that someone isn't being harmed.

[purebalance]

The skies are fire. That's the only explanation for it, really.

(Aside from Blizzard being lazy dbags who don't want to finish texturing and collision mapping an entire island.)

Or because there were jumping puzzles and gated areas....

[Toppy]

Stop lawyering scientific definitions. It's not contested, it's clearly defined. Parasitic symbiosis only exists in wow. Now there are bacteria which can CHANGE their status. For example a commensal flora in the mouth can occasionally become pathogenic, that doesn't change the nature of the interaction only was the bacteria is behaving as.
This is pretty cut and dry, but it's cute to see internet 'experts' pretend they know things they don't.

- - - Updated - - -

'dude' biology text books are what I am referencing. I suggest you try it some time, since your degree in basement studies isn't really working out for you.

Dude. You're wrong. You're pretty much denying the existence of parasitism which is defined as a symbiotic relationship between two species.

noun, plural symbioses [sim-bee-oh-seez, -bahy-]
1.
Biology.
the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or parasitism.
(formerly) mutualism (def 1).
2.
Psychiatry. a relationship between two people in which each person is dependent upon and receives reinforcement, whether beneficial or detrimental, from the other.
3.
Psychoanalysis. the relationship between an infant and its mother in which the infant is dependent on the mother both physically and emotionally.
4.
any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two persons, groups, etc.

[Raugnaut]

Have you noticed that the island you are on in there floats... in the sky?

Obviously, the air is DENSER then whatever those islands are made of, and for some reason, those pockets of air are also superheated. Firehawks would probably be able to navigate their way around and avoid the dense pockets of air because they can detect the heat. As for everything else, they start flying and then SLAM/BURN into the superheated dense air.

I know that when my character died jumping off the cliffs, he would hit an invisible wall and instantly die. Sooo, yea. Superheated, dense pockets of air keeps the islands in the firelands floating. How? FUCKING MAGIC BITCHES.

[Toppy]

sym·bi·o·sis
ˌsimbīˈōsəs,ˌsimbēˈōsəs/
nounBiology
noun: symbiosis

interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

Yes? And?

The key word is typically. As in, not always.

[ellieg]

Well if the sky is too hot, you would heat up too quickly trying to flap your wings and you wouldnt be able to shed the heat.