I tried flying from Moonbrook, Westfall to Eastvale Logging Camp, Elwynn Forest.
For whatever reason, it has you fly past the Logging Camp, hit Lakeshire and then turn around and go back to the Logging Camp. It even does this when you don’t have the Lakeshire flight path.
Is this deliberate?
There isn’t a direct flight from every fp to every other fp. Some FPs (often the older ones in major towns, that existed since classic) are designated as hubs and if you fly to one of the “smaller” local FPs it will route you through a hub, even if it means flying over and coming back.
It is pretty much how RL air traffic works. At least you don’t have to change planes in WoW.
I can’t remember how long ago it was. Minimum of maybe four years but I do remember them talking about how flight paths should no longer fly you past your destination and then turn around and fly you back.
Yes
https://i.imgur.com/cRWMosm.jpg
If we look at the screenshot, you can see how the black lines go through Lakeshire and into the logging camp. These black lines are the flight path you will take when you use a taxi bird.
Blizzard also made it that if you do not have a flight point, you will still go to it even if you do not have that flight point if it is used to connect the quickest path together.
Improved the logic used for connecting flight paths. Players are now able to fly through flight points that they have not discovered yet if it’ll result in a more direct flight path to a destination point.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Patch_6.1.0
Except it doesn’t give me a more direct flight path. That’s my entire point. I’m flying straight past my destination and hit another flight path just to turn around and head back to the destination that I flew right over.
That’s like flying from Moonbrook to Stormwind but need to fly past the Logging Camp first.
That sentence means “more direct than if it only went through flight paths you know”. I don’t know which paths the character in question does know, but it could have taken you via SW or Darkshore instead if you knew those, which might have been even longer.
Again, there isn’t a direct flight from everywhere to everywhere. If you fly to a remote non-city flight point, expect to be routed through the nearest town on the way, even if it means an over and back.