“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
As most of you have already figured out. 6.2 WILL NOT bring back the return of flying.
In fact, from the interview on Friday May 22nd with Polygon, Ion Hazzikostas mentions “We’re not going to be reintroducing the ability to fly in Draenor, and that’s kind of where we’re at going forward.” He also confirms that this direction includes future expansions, though he doesn’t discount the possibility of adding flight options in to specific expansion ideas or zones that would benefit from it.
As far as Twitter, Reddit and the forums are concerned. This is the end of the world. Though we may be the ones falling from the sky, it isn’t actually falling.
In my opinion bringing flying to the whole of Azeroth was a bad game design and catered too much to the lazy player. It used to be a challenge to get your flying for Outlands, it was made for it. The world had been ripped from The Nether and distorted. It was near impossible to get to some places just using your ground mount. In fact just to get your Neatherwing mounts and the rep for it you needed your flying mount.
Northrend as well worked for flying, it was designed for it, and you still felt as if Northrend was a HUGE place with flying. Storm peaks for example were massive on the ground, you had towering mountains, and deep valleys. Then you got your flying and it was still huge, at the tops of the mountains there was content, and at it’s very peak. One of the best raids ever designed. Ulduar.
When Cataclysm hit, you could get your flying in Azeroth at 60. That I think was the mistake. Every other time you got flying it was gated till you were max level or close to. In BC it was 70, WotLK it was 77 (though once you had an 80 you could buy it for your toon that was 70), MoP even got it right, by making you wait to get your flying on Pandaria.
I believe it was too easy, and given too freely. Yes I do enjoy it. Yes it makes my life easier. Will I miss it in future expansions? Nope. Because Ion is right when he said to Polygon “The world feels larger, feels more dangerous [without flying],” he says. “There’s more room for exploration, for secrets, for discovery and overall immersion in the world.”
I have had a blast in Draenor finding every little nook and cranny, trying to wiggle my way through Spires and I missed taking a flight point and going pee. Yes I could still do it when there was flying in all of Azeroth, but it was more efficient to do it the other way.
I’ve missed the days of not flying in Azeroth, and I am happy with the direction that they are taking it in. Though it shouldn’t take half of an expansion to give us the answer we already knew. That’s just bad business.
If you would however like to read the rest of the interview where Ion talks alot more about what is happening in Draenor (such as 6.2 and it not being the last big content patch of WoD) you can read it here Polygon VS Watcher Interview.
/endrant
Rykter
The Rykter Scale 