Why bother with BfA pathfinding?

[Ihsan997]

I unlocked flying for WoD. The story for that xpac wasn’t so strong, but as a game, I loved playing it; I barely even left alternate Draenor with my toons during WoD.

I didn’t unlock flying for Legion. The story for that xpac was objectively better than WoD, one of the better xpacs in terms of storytelling, but I didn’t have as much fun playing the actual game. I didn’t put in the time which would have been needed for flying.

And you know what? That didn’t bother me. I barely played, and when I did play, I often played elsewhere. In fact, I ended up leveling most of my toons well beyond 100 on WoD achievements, ignoring Legion in the process. Not gaining Legion flying didn’t bother me none, and it saved me a ton of time.

BfA is fun, but you know what? A lot of the content isn’t even on Zandalar/Kul Tiras. I’m also looking at the requirements for BfA pathfinding and just thinking...why? I get it: the Blizzard devs are adamantly against what most of the fan base wants. Yes, some people here on the forums might agree with keeping flying behind a gate, but I’m not dissing their opinions here - I’m just stating the obvious fact that, right or wrong, those people are indisputably a minority among fans. The good majority of the fan base would prefer flying from the get-go, or at most, to be unlocked with a few token requirements. The devs have made clear, time and time again, that they don’t accept this, just like they were adamant years ago that warlocks shouldn’t be able to name their pets because demons are disposable minions who hate their masters. So flying will have requirements to be unlocked, and that seems final.

But why is it such a time sink? Why do the criteria to unlock the achievement have to be such a grinding time sink? Many people have answered that: it’s marketing. Force people to play for longer, make them play for more hours, etc. Ok. Business is business. I get that. But I don’t like it.

So should I even bother? Will my experience be dented if my fifth or sixth toon has to ride on the ground to grind to 120? Or am I better off doing what I did in Legion and skipping the achievement grind to just do things I actually like in the game?

[SkagenRora]

Why bother? so you can fly in BFA.

[Dakhath]

It saves a lot of time if you're playing the game. I can save at least 5 minutes per emissary with flying, and over the period of a year or more, that ends up saving me a lot of time for stuff I did by playing the game in the first place.

[Lucetia]

For me personally flying makes some activities more bearable. For instance mining/herbing are a lot better when I can zone out and fly rather than run through mobs.
Then there's leveling where flying is a lot faster when leveling an alt because you aren't having to fight so many mobs on an undergeared toon.

[m4xc4v413r4]

Weak excuses but whatever, you do you man.

[Doffen]

Why bother? so you can fly in BFA.

100% truth!

[Starter]

Same reason they locked races behind reputation... Excruciating grinds to make those with the time feel special

[DranightKM]

Same reason they locked races behind reputation... Excruciating grinds to make those with the time feel special

'nuff said

[tmamass]

But why is it such a time sink?

It aint if you actually PLAY the game. If you play one week unsub and come back 6 month or more later that is YOUR FLAW, not the game ones.

[Lochton]

Why bother playing the game... Though, for Pathfinder, flight is a good reward. You can finally take your shortcut and skip what you rather not worry about on alts.

[Laqweeta]

It aint if you actually PLAY the game. If you play one week unsub and come back 6 month or more later that is YOUR FLAW, not the game ones.

By the time you unlock flying, you've done everything that would've been made easier with flying.

Pathfinder exists for the sole purpose of increasing time played metrics.

[Starter]

It aint if you actually PLAY the game. If you play one week unsub and come back 6 month or more later that is YOUR FLAW, not the game ones.

But why punish players who take a break with such crucial gameplay elements like allied races or flying. Why not gate keep transmogs or mounts...

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

Its not something you "bother" with.
If you play the game even remotely seriously you will want to get the essences and other rewards from these two reps.
If you play the game in a way where you wouldn't already be considering getting these reps done, then not sure what content you are even doing in the game, but it wont help to have flying for it, that's for sure.

[Starter]

Its not something you "bother" with.
If you play the game even remotely seriously you will want to get the essences and other rewards from these two reps.
If you play the game in a way where you wouldn't already be considering getting these reps done, then not sure what content you are even doing in the game, but it wont help to have flying for it, that's for sure.

Elitism is not cool. It is stupid too because they have to where you can buy gold. Why not implement money for flying or allied race unlocks?

[Lucetia]

It aint if you actually PLAY the game. If you play one week unsub and come back 6 month or more later that is YOUR FLAW, not the game ones.

Even then you can finish flying in Legion and BFA in about a week or two. So even then time isn't much of a factor. It's just laziness for most people.

[unbound]

So should I even bother? Will my experience be dented if my fifth or sixth toon has to ride on the ground to grind to 120? Or am I better off doing what I did in Legion and skipping the achievement grind to just do things I actually like in the game?

Since you are bothering playing BfA anyways, why wouldn't you? If you've played as heavily as your post implies, you're almost certainly more than 90% of the way there...just finish it. You are, at most, a few hours away from the achievement...and likely not even that much.

Better off? How are you better off? It would take a trivial amount of effort to get this capability. Even if you get the achievement, nothing says you have to use a flying mount if that is how you want to roll. But it will at least be available if you change your mind.

[Ashenhoof]

Elitism is not cool. It is stupid too because they have to where you can buy gold. Why not implement money for flying or allied race unlocks?

How the fuck is this elitism?

If you don't play the game, don't cry if you don't have certain rewards.

The way Blizzard implemented Allied races and flying is a good way, where you actually have to play the game.

But instead of doing that a portion of the community, that apparently doesn't even fucking care playing the game is just crying about it.

[thilicen]

Well, you do it so you can fly. If you don't care about flying, it's not for you. Or you could just do it for giggles. Mystery solved.

[Gloriandus]

"Excruciating"?

Flying is unlocked by doing normal game activities. This is bizarre, and nothing more than self-affirmation.

[Starter]

How the fuck is this elitism?

If you don't play the game, don't cry if you don't have certain rewards.

The way Blizzard implemented Allied races and flying is a good way, where you actually have to play the game.

But instead of doing that a portion of the community, that apparently doesn't even fucking care playing the game is just crying about it.

Not everyone has time to grind World Quests for months. Many of us are LFR veterans or like to pvp.