New Fiery Mechanical Mount Coming Soon, Flying in Warlords of Draenor

[Bizarre Monkey]

According to the no flying crowd, flying is a way to avoid mobs (something we've been doing since vanilla), a way to avoid wpvp (if you are on a PVE server, there's a big chance you didn't care about wpvp to begin with), a way to skip over content (I don't buy this excuse).

I used to feign death and use my pet as reaver fodder back in BC all of the time. Rogue's could vanish and run off. Isn't that the same exact thing as "avoiding mobs"? I couldn't tell you how many people STILL- after 10 years- fall for the old feign death trick.

Yeah, and most classes have a way to avoid or deal with not having to kill mobs now.
Warrior: Shockwave / Other Stuns or Disorients
Paladin: Choose a Bubble, any bubble. Stuns.
Death Knight: Army of the Dead / Minion / Howling Blast
Hunter: Camouflage
Shaman: Hex and I haven't played much Shaman but they find ways.
Rogue: Stealth
Monk: Probably something, my monk is only level 42.
Druid: Prowl, Nature's Grasp, Entangling Roots
Mage: Greater Invisibility, Dragons Breath, Blink, Ice Barrier, Polymorph
Warlock: Minion Distraction, Demonic Gates
Priest: PW Shield, Psychic Scream

Lel.

[Hotmail]

But it is factual, they want to elongate the time people play the game. They want to make people play longer, because the longer people play, the more money they make. Also the longer people play, the more invested the person gets in the game and then the player is less likely to quit.

If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you.

I'm not arguing the business-related benefits of extending the lifespan of an MMO.

My point is that there are multiple reasons and multiple persons involved in any given design decisions. If there's the slightest chance this "no flying" decision is motivated by *more* than just money (I argue that this is the case here), then one has no grounds challenging the honesty behind that decision.

In other words, while the claim may be correct, the context in which it's being used is not.

[deadman1]

I'm not arguing the business-related benefits of extending the lifespan of an MMO.

My point is that there are multiple reasons and multiple persons involved in any given design decisions. If there's the slightest chance this "no flying" decision is motivated by *more* than just money (I argue that this is the case here), then one has no grounds challenging the honesty behind that decision.

In other words, while the claim may be correct, the context in which it's being used is not.

I'm not on the "WoW is dying" bandwagon, but it is very easy to see that blizzard has had a very serious reduction in subscription revenue due to problems with player retention.

It is very likely that it has hurt them financially.

[Bizarre Monkey]

Well, the middle ground is already there, you are free to not fly, so the "content" you crave is already there..
Whats this obsession with forcing other people to do it your way? why do you get off at the idea that others get restricted in how they enjoy the game when it doesn't affect you? The ONLY people that got shafted by this where kiddy gankers on pvp servers (and those actually use flying mounts more often then not, since they shy away from fights where they dont have a significant advantage)

Your logic is both broken and accomodates idiotic bias. Kiddy gankers would want flight to stay because their ideal way of ganking is fly in, kill a nub, and fly off. Also when the choice is there yes people will fly, we aren't going to disadvantage ourselves just because some entitled shit wants wings. Only in removal will our migration to the ground be absolute. It's like telling a drug user they could simply not have the drug when they are addicted and all their friends are doing.

Vanilla wasnt that much fun though, lots of time wasted on travelling, that feeling is called "rose tinted goggles".

GROAN! Here we go again, back then flight paths were obnoxious and loopy, Blizzard have stated multiple times that such will be corrected in WoD. This recent passage included.

Like i said before, If you dont like flying when questing then just use a ground mount and let other people decide for themselves, why is it so hard to understand?

Because as i already said, that's like telling a construction worker he can use a mining pack while jackhammers are available. Also as has been stated by a previous poster Blizzard bottlenecked themselves into having to design with the flying aspect in mind. It messes up questing flow a lot. The game has never been aimed at instant gratification, WoW has always been about the grind to progression. Flying damages a fair bit of that factor, you can still choose to skip quest text and mash through everything, but you aren't getting the full intended experience.

And far more enjoyable? Thats subjective: I dont really enjoy running around and wasting my time (some people actually have a job), not everyone is a masochist.

I play WoW once or twice a week and both in Vanilla and now time management within my short periods of play has never been an issue, that's possibly the most retarded argument I've seen on the matter yet.

Again, I assume you are referring to other posters here, I dont really care about levelling boosts since the game starts at max level for me (after playing for 9+ years I dont care about levelling that much anyway).

Well if you don't care about levelling then you're making a problem out of nothing.

This has nothing to do with instant gratification, I seldom quest after I get to max level anyway (only when the game forces me to), I prefer playing with friends instead, I still haven't seen any valid argument as to why people like me are forced to suddenly change their playstyle without there being a good reason for it, the "content" you and blizzard wish for is already there if you want to play like that, stop forcing it on the rest of us.

Why do you want a valid argument of which been given multiple? You have just responded to loads with mostly strawman excuses and I don't know why it means so fucking much to you if as you say "it has nothing to do with instant gratification".

Your playstyle simply isn't optimal, it's against the games core philosophy and generates a lot of precautions that needn't have been there to begin with, it also avoids cowardly PVP'ing and encourages World PVP. If those reasons aren't valid to you, then I could care less if you unsubscribe, because you're a self-centered single-minded idiot. But you won't unsubscribe, WoW isn't a game you just quit after 9 years, when the Expansion comes you'll predictably buy it, play it and never question it again. You're only acting upon impulses to question Blizzard's actions because you clearly have nothing better to do with your life. For one who implies he has a job you are going to a good effort of showing that arguing with people who are smarter and more logical than you is actually the only job you have outside of playing WoW.

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I'm not on the "WoW is dying" bandwagon, but it is very easy to see that blizzard has had a very serious reduction in subscription revenue due to problems with player retention.

It is very likely that it has hurt them financially.

The servers used to host WoW cost collectively about 500 dollars a week to maintain, or roughly 160 subscribers. The only way Blizzard could be hurt financially is for people in the majority (as in, more than four million from now) to stop throwing money at them, which won't conceivably happen. Then there's people who pay for mounts, pets and other stuff. The majority of Blizzard's expenses are in developing new content and paying staff.

[deadman1]

Because as i already said, that's like telling a construction worker he can use a mining pack while jackhammers are available.

Yeah, but removing flying after it was already an integral part of the game is like giving the construction worker a pick axe, and telling him hes only allowed to use the pick axe when there is a pile of functioning jackhammers on the other side of the room.

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The servers used to host WoW cost collectively about 500 dollars a week to maintain, or roughly 50 subscribers. The only way Blizzard could be hurt financially is for people in the majority (as in, more than four million from now) to stop throwing money at them, which won't conceivably happen. Then there's people who pay for mounts, pets and other stuff. The majority of Blizzard's expenses are in developing new content and paying staff.

I mis-spoke, I don't mean that they are in the red, I mean that they don't have the same quality of life anymore. They have lost income that they once had.

[Silversorrow]

"Fiery mechanical steeds are best when they can be used with friends."

Definitely a RAF mount.

[Eggwolls]

I'll be pissed if flying is never implemented in Draenor considering Blizzard gave us a FLYING mount for pre-ordering and every damn mount in the store is FLYING. I'm certain a majority of the player base doesn't see questing as some epic experience even when they design it to be that way simply because that player base just wants to get their shit done as fast as possible because they care about the end game raiding content, not the lore, quest and daily content. Questing and dailies will continue to be boring to a lot because it's tedious. There's no way around that. Take away the ability to make it as fast as possible forever? Yeah, people are going to be pissed. Ultimately, you are removing my freedom of choice. If I really want to see the content on the ground, I'll stay on the ground. I don't think there's anything wrong with how Blizz did it before. No flying till you cap. Simple, simple, simple. Don't piss off your players who just want the freedom to choose flying.

[Bizarre Monkey]

Yeah, but removing flying after it was already an integral part of the game is like giving the construction worker a pick axe, and telling him hes only allowed to use the pick axe when there is a pile of functioning jackhammers on the other side of the room.

Reverted changes have been a common factor of WoW since it's beginning, though typically much more minor than this and usually enacted much faster. If that's all your worried about then it's pretty much a non issue. Also flying was NEVER an integral part of the game, it's an extra that Blizzard built a couple things around (Netherwing Ledge, Sha'tari Skyguard etc). Flying outside of those exceptions never factors directly into gameplay.

I mis-spoke, I don't mean that they are in the red, I mean that they don't have the same quality of life anymore. They have lost income that they once had.

Fair enough, Diamond Thrones al a Ron Pardo are pretty super.

[Deleted]

So... instead of doing something about mounted combat, they announced no flying at all to distract us from their promises. Nice marketing strategy. Dick move.

[Bizarre Monkey]

I'll be pissed if flying is never implemented in Draenor considering Blizzard gave us a FLYING mount for pre-ordering and every damn mount in the store is FLYING. I'm certain a majority of the player base doesn't see questing as some epic experience even when they design it to be that way simply because that player base just wants to get their shit done as fast as possible because they care about the end game raiding content, not the lore, quest and daily content. Questing and dailies will continue to be boring to a lot because it's tedious. There's no way around that. Take away the ability to make it as fast as possible forever? Yeah, people are going to be pissed. Ultimately, you are removing my freedom of choice. If I really want to see the content on the ground, I'll stay on the ground. I don't think there's anything wrong with how Blizz did it before. No flying till you cap. Simple, simple, simple. Don't piss off your players who just want the freedom to choose flying.

Can that dumb looking Raven even fly? I don't think the Raven Lord Reins could and it's based off that model.

Also WOD won't have dailies, spongelord.

that player base just wants to get their shit done as fast as possible because they care about the end game raiding content

Well you wouldn't have been able to fly in Draenor or anywhere PRIOR TO AN AREAS MAX LEVEL ANYWAY so I don't see what the big deal is?

Get to level 60, bam, done with Azeroth, can now fly in Azeroth. When BC came out, couldn't fly until you were level 70, same with Wrath, same with Pandaria.

You aren't being dis-serviced at all from past to present in the regard you show concern for. Besides it's those players who spam run dungeons anyway and questing is simply a way to get some additional XP during queue times which for tanks and healers isn't even a necessity.

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So... instead of doing something about mounted combat, they announced no flying at all to distract us from their promises. Nice marketing strategy. Dick move.

Wat.

When did Blizzard ever say mounted combat would be a thing?

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When people say it's costing another raid tier, it's not a joke... It's probably partially true, up to a point.

They have multiple different teams, and a single mount model that has the benefit of a reused skeleton takes at most twenty minutes of Blizzard's time. There's no mechanics to sort out nor dialogue to write or voice acting to wait on. May be one or two new SFX.

A raid tier requires balancing for current player gear level, calculations of varying degrees, several new models and rigorous testing. A mount requires a quick easy effort by some of the 3D modelling team and the rest is out of effected hands. It is a joke whether the ones saying it believe so or not. It's also not exceptionally humorous after the first time, let alone the fiftieth.

[Sodia]

That's legitimately the only decent reason to keep flying in. Maybe they'll fly while in movement and land when they stand still. The Engineering mounts are also a good example, they did different thinks on the land and in the air. I like how if you stood idle enough the engine would shut off and it'd land proper.

Hmm... perhaps there maybe a compromise of some sort, we'll have to see. I was thinking maybe flight paths use your current flight mount instead of the low-poly gryphon or chimaera models.

SHRUG!

Exacly from Vrath till now the only mount from raids I dident got was the Black Proto . I have spend hundreds of hours to got them with my guild and now they told us "F.. o.. you cant fly coz PvP babys cry" ahh it gona be fun to got ganked over and over till i say fuck why do i play a game that i dont enjoy ??

[Azrile]

For anyone who thinks this hasn´t already been decided.... it has. They are currently almost finished building the world for 6.0 to have no flying. At the earliest it will come with 6.1

But if you read his post again.. it certainly sounds like they are not going to allow it at all. He talks about no flying on Draenor, but never says anything like ´until 6.1´

Oh, and for people talking about them hurting for money. The stock is up 50% in the past year and revenues are through the roof... but even that doesn´t matter because people are just blowing smoke. Nobody is going to not buy the expansion because of this.

[Bizarre Monkey]

Exacly from Vrath till now the only mount from raids I dident got was the Black Proto . I have spend hundreds of hours to got them with my guild and now they told us "F.. o.. you cant fly coz PvP babys cry" ahh it gona be fun to got ganked over and over till i say fuck why do i play a game that i dont enjoy ??

I don't agree with that, I have over a hundred mounts but I'm more than happy to sacrifice flight for fight. Also contrary to your poor representation of Blizzard's ideology this will reduce PVP ganking because you can no longer swoop in, kill someone and then fuck off before they get mad and seek vengeance. It's not like you are being denied the mounts in totality, you can still ride around on all your alleged dope mounts, you just can't fly.

On an unrelated note, this really iconic quote comes to mind.

"You may clip our wings, but we'll never forget what it was like to fly." -Abraham Lincoln

I might have that slightly wrong, last time I saw that quote was back in 2009 on a forum somewhere.

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For anyone who thinks this hasn´t already been decided.... it has. They are currently almost finished building the world for 6.0 to have no flying. At the earliest it will come with 6.1

But if you read his post again.. it certainly sounds like they are not going to allow it at all. He talks about no flying on Draenor, but never says anything like ´until 6.1´

Oh, and for people talking about them hurting for money. The stock is up 50% in the past year and revenues are through the roof... but even that doesn´t matter because people are just blowing smoke. Nobody is going to not buy the expansion because of this.

You're underestimating how much they are going to attempt to convince us otherwise anyway. I mean it's pretty futile arguing for it here because not many of the Blizzard staff read the comments on MMO champion since their own forums are toxic with stupidity enough.

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Now all the ponyfags can RP with this mount.

>Implying there wasn't ample potential before. (sparkle pony, Headless Horseman's Steed, Fiery Warhorse, Deathcharger of Acherus, Stormwind Racial mounts, Invincible's Reins, Zhevra and the list goes on.)

[Durlockozk]

No flying at max level seems like a poor design decision. We've seen this sort of long blue posts before, and its nothing more than a list of excuses for why the fluff will get shoved down our throats again faster than a MoP daily quest. The majority of the expansion looks like a lot of much needed changes, yet Blizzard always seems to find a way to screw things up with bad choices for the game. Cataclysm we got to beta test LFR while raiding constantly nerfed content for months on end. MoP we get charms of good fortune, valor point upgrades, and daily quest hubs. I've come to expect new quality of life issues to come along to counteract anything good that gets done to the game.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

FFS It's a RAF Mount. The amount of people assuming a store mount really. If you stop thinking that maybe store mounts won't be so common.

[Delete Me]

Vanilla wasnt that much fun though, lots of time wasted on travelling, that feeling is called "rose tinted goggles".

That is absolutely 100% incorrect. Modern MMO's that do NOT have flying mounts in them ARE a lot of fun, just as much as vanilla WOW, if not moreso, mainly because there are no flying mounts. FF14 is a great example, at this current time. Traveling is immersive, engrossing, and keeps the blood pressure low. The WOW you know and love today, that has fast paced flying skip over the story crap, is NOT the game Blizzard originally created. It's morphed to follow the current societal trends that you seem to enjoy, with quick action FPS and instantly gratifying games that you give you more and more in less and less time.

Blizzard is by no means perfect in trying to go back to more traditional roleplaying game roots (instant 90 says hi) but this is a step in that direction, whether you like it or not.

And the argument of "if you don't like flying, don't use" does not apply in reality when faced with human nature. Games are supposed to provide you with limitations so they can tell a certain story and guide you in a specific direction. If you don't like that direction that WOW is heading back toward, then this is no longer the game for you.

Not that I want people leaving -- I like my worlds populated. But if I had to choose between less players, more engrossing gameplay and more players, less engrossing gameplay, I pick the former.

[prwraith]

That mount, is hideous.

[Gheld]

You guys are missing the best line on the news post.

But a game is defined largely by its limitations

That's going to become their new "It will cost you a raid tier".

"I don't find this new battleground to be very immersive."

But it's a defining limitation!
No flying. Defining limitation.
My crafting profession has no income opportunities. Defining limitation.
This bug is preventing me from turning in this quest. Defining limitation.

[Joobay]

"BUT being able to lift off and fly over content compromises many of our goals in how the game world is approached, how it's played, how it's consumed, and how the content is designed to account for those factors."

By that logic, the same can be said about regular mounts. So get rid of mounts all together? Make us walk everywhere, content can be just as easily skipped on ground mounts as it can with flying mounts. If they're going by this thought pattern, there's no discernible reason to have mounts at all. They've always talked about moving forward in game design, which is why they're never going back to vanilla content with old servers, etc...and yet---disallowing flying mounts after they've been available for so long is completely backwards game design.

[Gheld]

"BUT being able to lift off and fly over content compromises many of our goals in how the game world is approached, how it's played, how it's consumed, and how the content is designed to account for those factors."

By that logic, the same can be said about regular mounts. So get rid of mounts all together? Make us walk everywhere, content can be just as easily skipped on ground mounts as it can with flying mounts. If they're going by this thought pattern, there's no discernible reason to have mounts at all. They've always talked about moving forward in game design, which is why they're never going back to vanilla content with old servers, etc...and yet---disallowing flying mounts after they've been available for so long is completely backwards game design.

Everybody but Hunters Rogues and Druids will have to fight their way to quest objectives; but that's a defining limitation.