Out of curiosity, has Blizzard contemplated returning to a flying design like was present in TBC / WotLK where it was used as a gate to content and allowed us to unlock certain end game areas?
I know it slightly contradicts the current scaling world for level (where you get to choose how you want to level and where). However I felt that it was a good design choice, it made you feel like the world became more open to you with flying (and it did) as opposed to the current Pathfinder system where all content is developed to be done from the ground, and flying is merely a convenience that makes current content easier.
It personally seems like a lot of additional work is put into the game to keep us grounded, where as zone design could instead be designed around it.
I would certainly for one love to see an expansion of zones that float at various heights etc like floating islands, like the Outland Nagrand chunks but on a wider scale. (Imagine a waterfall cascading off one island to land on another lower one to form a river system. Glorious)
Not sure how it would interact lore wise, but I think things like that are a cool way to implement flying in a meaningful way.
I just feel the current system is a bit lack lustre, not necessarily because I want flying. But simply because it doesnât really feel like it grants anything outside of convenience anymore.
Get to the same WQs quicker? Or gain access to a new unexplored area you couldnât potentially get to before? I know which one sounds like more interesting game design to me.
Freedom of movement is a draw for people. Sometimes Iâll just fly around for no real reason, looking for arches to swoop under or corkscrewing up around a mountain. (I see complaints about it not being like real flying, with inertia and wind resistance, etc., but to that I say âYou has no imagination!â)
If Iâm on a FP chances are Iâm poking the forums or making a sammich. Too bad for that fresh 120 that is in danger of being mauled because theyâve accidentally AoEâd Some Rando Crab! But if I was whizzing by and saw that, and was under my own volition, I could whomp down and save the day! Woohoo! When someone complains about flying tanking immersion Iâd argue this; seems like flying has the potential to increase immersion over everyone AFKing on FPs.
They arenât even worth engaging when theyâre directly in our paths these days. I only kill a rare if itâs for a world quest even though i have the rep now except for the magni faction ugh i hate that one.
Yeah screw this. zandalari still not out. flying confirmed for summer most likely. Letting my sub lapse. might come back during last tier. or not. this expansion blows.
You should know that because of your treatment regarding flying - where as you have dragged it out far too long - I will never, ever ever ever, buy another WOW expansion. I have lost ALL faith that your company can treat players fairly. Flying should have been made available at the first patch of BfA. Period.
Thatâs neither relevant, nor even necessarily a useful conclusion if it were.
People donât go to ESO or Guild Wars and start complaining loudly that these games donât have flying. They know, going into it, that itâs a completely different thing and expectations they have about WoW are not applicable.
Much the same, most of us are well aware that Classic is a completely distinct gaming experience and have entirely separate expectations. One of which would be that flying doesnât exist because it didnât then. Weâd be mad if it was put in, in fact.
The frustration of it compounds expansion after expansion and, I suspect, will inevitably become the straw that breaks the camelâs back for many players.
Personally itâs a manageable frustration for me, but I recognize that a great many people are just honestly beyond tired of dealing with this.
It would serve Blizz well to reconsider their approach to flying in the next expansion.
Yeah, but the difference between Classic and now is that, you know flying is going to come in, but as for the reason to gate it behind several patches is still unknown. Then the other thing is, what, once flying is released, itâll only be gated again behind one patch with a new zone introduced that wonât have flying.
Yah world pvp can still happen just donât fly ⊠oh but if I can then I will⊠so your simply complaining for the sake of complaining by that. Anyhow maybe they could just make it so when war mode is active flight is disabled
Pathfinder was a compromise between players and developers who wanted to remove flight altogether. The reason its âgatedâ until 8.2 is whatever they want it to be. You all fight a losing war trying to get this to be released sooner. Speak with your wallets â donât post about how youâre quitting. Just quit and be done with it.
Convince 3 of your friends who play, and they convince 3 friends, and so on. But arguing on a forum about it? Players have been asking about flight since 8.0 â 7 months later, thereâs no change from the developersâ camp whatsoever. Stop asking a question for which you already know the answer, and take the only action you can â keep your money from them.
Yesterday, I realised one of my toons didnât have a certain FP in Azsuna. I could have taken the taxi ro the next closest, flown to the FP I was missing while i was doing what I needed.
Know what I did instead? Mounted up and flew there manually. Was it slower? Probably. Did I stay tabbed in, going off route when I saw something interesting? You bet I did.
These days, I do a lot of âhop a FP, tab out, forget I was playing/not feel like traversing the awkward terrain for the 400th time in 6 months, AFK outâ.
No, it wasnât. Both sides didnât get a say - only Blizzard got a say. So far, their say has been âArbitrary time gates so we can release when ever we want to while still being able to say we released it before the new expac hitâ.
Legion flight was disabled for longer than it was enabled when the new no-fly zone dropped. Unless you refused to do the new content, you still saw yourself spending an incredible amount of time on the ground after they so kindly re-enabled flight. This isnât a compromise. This is them keeping as much flight away from us as they possibly can while covering themselves with a technicality.
Not a fair compromise â most arenât. Usually the party with the power has the bigger edge, and sometimes even sets the terms.
Players didnât get a vote, but the fact that the mass exodus of players wasnât permanent, and players begrudgingly stayed through WoD and then into Legion, means players (generally) accepted the terms of the compromise. Flight returned, on Blizzardâs terms true, but players also returned / stayed.
The other option was more players to stay gone, and the gameâs future at the time wouldnât have unfolded as it has. Playersâ only true power is their wallet â staying on for love of the game, or community, or whatever the reasons they decide for themselves â still equates to monthly tithes to Blizzard, passively saying weâre okay with your terms.