Flying as soon as a new exp pack comes out, bad/good idea?

[njorde]

The visual effect of WoWLK was stunning seeing northrend, taking the lifts in Howling Fjord and climbing up the steep hills on mounts made that place seem much larger and more like a world than a game, same goes for any other area in wow, until now Uldum was a disappointment to me, when you have 310% flying this vast desert seems like some dunes by the beach with statues here and there. When you actually take the time and get off your bird you realize how enormous places like Uldum or Mount Hyjal really are.

So is holding our flying license until certain level (like BC or LK) a good idea to get the full experience or is it just a hassle

[Conno]

well i do get your point, i really do, it'd be nice to be a purist again and see things fresh, but it'd be just totally inpractical to be walking everywhere again, unless the zones were desgined differently to how they are.

[Mckenna]

IMO its a hassle. But only because you have the option to level with just your land mount if you want to. You don't have to use the flying mount. I like being able to fly around easily from quest to quest without getting swarmed on my mount by mobs.
Now if only I could get them to let me cancel all the cinematics in Uldum I've seen 7 times already.

[Rivin]

Unless your view distance is fairly low or you insist on flying very high, you can get just as good of a look at the world from the air as you can from the ground...and you have to quest on the ground anyway, for the most part. I much prefer being able to fly right away. If I wanted to view the world from the ground outside of questing, I still could.

[Megavolt]

The cata zones were designed for flyers so it wouldnt work. Deepholme would be impossible with out flyers for example.

[Death Dealer]

i liked flying as soon as cata came out. i still fly around and try and sight see everything.

[njorde]

Yeah of course to make this work they would need to change some things about where mobs are and aggro radius, personally I think you should only get dazed off of your mount if its a player from the opposite faction not an annoying mob, I just feel like its necessary to collect ground mounts any longer or even have mounts on my action bars

And remember in WoWLK where Storm Peaks and Icecrown where is was required to have a flyer by then, same for places like deepholm.

[Mckenna]

If you do the Tol Barad dailies or the Deepholm dailies with the worms, its nice places to show off fancy ground mounts.

[Feralia]

Before everyone starts responding with a 'you don't have to use your flying mount', I would just like to say, I did prefer WoW when there was no flying at all. Yes its convenient, and you do then to take the easier way out, as I do myself lol why walk when there is a quicker way.

When we were forced to ride on land mounts, the world seemed a lot more immersing, you felt the world as a larger place, and you got to see the little details you miss when your in the air.

[njorde]

When we were forced to ride on land mounts, the world seemed a lot more immersing, you felt the world as a larger place, and you got to see the little details you miss when your in the air.

Exactly, as well I don't know of anyone who would use their ground mount when flyers are available

[TheWorgenMage]

Yeah when flying mounts were introduced in EK and Kalimdor, it made the game seem smaller because of everyone flying around instead of on the ground. That's 1 reason why ground mounts are better and another is World PvP is just stupid now because say you attack someone and they run until out of combat then they just mount up and fly away instead of you chasing him on ground, within your sight.

[yomyom]

As much as I love the view from my flier, and the convenience it represents, I think flying mounts are one of the things that have watered down the game for me. That being said I would not want to go back to a world with out them.

[Deleted]

For this expansion, I think it was needed. Hyjal, Deepholme, Twilight Highlands, and to a lesser extent, Uldum, felt like they were designed to only really be navigable with flying, at least they did to me. Vashj'ir of course does not count, as we are in essence flying there all the time.

Hopefully, in other expansions like, say, Argus or the Emerald Dream, we won't be able to fly so quickly, as to savor the scenery more. Although, that said, I must say that I did like the scenery and explore every zone by myself, though most people may not have.

[njorde]

Yeah when flying mounts were introduced in EK and Kalimdor, it made the game seem smaller because of everyone flying around instead of on the ground. That's 1 reason why ground mounts are better and another is World PvP is just stupid now because say you attack someone and they run until out of combat then they just mount up and fly away instead of you chasing him on ground, within your sight.

Same here it seems we only have world pvp "happy fun playzones", like Tol Barad.

[CynicalOtaku]

I very much like that the designers can create these zones that can only be really appreciated on flying mounts.

To me, flying through Icecrown showed me just how much power the Lich King held that he could so completely dominate an entire zone.

The cliffs of the Howling Fjord are just a wall to you on a ground mount...but on a flying mount you realize how they tower over everything.

If I had to slog through Dragonblight on a ground mount, I'd never look up and see the bone drakes flying around. I'd never really appreciate the constant fighting between the red and blue flights.

The list goes on, really. Just because you're flying through a zone doesn't mean you can't appreciate the beauty of the zone.

[Miahpants]

I actually find myself exploring zones on the ground to start with, as long as the quest flow makes sense geographically. I stayed on the ground for a huge portion of Hyjal. Vash'jir is obviously harder to do, but I tried staying on foot for some of the areas and it was very cool. Deepholm requires flying from place to place, but I stayed on foot for some sections like the Trogg/Earthen battle areas. I'm currently happy exploring Uldum mostly on foot (though I have been flying across the water near Ramkahen to save time).

I don't think I could play the way I see some people playing, flying from mob to mob or objective to objective to complete all the quests. When I do that I feel like the world is passing me by. I like to follow the old dwarven philosophy: "Keep your feet on the ground!"

I guess what I'm saying is I agree, but if you like exploring areas on foot enough nothing will stop you from doing so!

[Golden Yak]

I kept to the ground as much as possible myself. Just seeing the quests and storyline at a slower pace. My personal preference, I don't think the experience has been harmed by letting people have flying right off the bat - it certainly makes leveling alts through content a lot easier and faster.

[The Pwii]

Fair point, but to flip that around, I don't think you can really appreciate the visuals of Deepholm unless you're flying. Vashj'ir doesn't work from the ground either, even if you are not technically flying. Uldum is great to soak up from the ground though.

[Dragonwing]

When we were forced to ride on land mounts, the world seemed a lot more immersing, you felt the world as a larger place, and you got to see the little details you miss when your in the air.

Or we just AFK'd on a flight path. Just sayin'

But yes, I do believe for the first few levels of an expansion should be on ground mounts. The way northrend worked, where you got to 77, learnt flying, then as 80 could buy flying for a level 68 toon, was very good. In the current remade world, you have 60 levels before you can fly. That is plenty of ground mount travel. Outland you can fly immediately, I don't care much for outland myself but it makes sense, learning to fly at level 60 and being able to fly in places like outland. Northrend is a little less epic, but it would be so much worse if we were forced to ground travel everywhere. The world still looks amazing on a flying mount.

[Upptagen]

I just did Mount Hyjal for the second time, on my alt Warrior. I'm nearly done with it and now, after being there with two characters for a few hours each I see a thing that I loved: Like a path leading through and up to the mountains, it looks so damn cool to run there with your ground mount. So I just had to try, and really, it felt so much cooler.