Flying is an integral part of how retail is designed. I agree. Vanilla is basically its own stand alone game if we are to be honest.
Which is why many players at the time did not like the BC expansion as it took WoW in a different direction. But overtime people grew to love the BC expansion and the new take on retail.
And yet it was one of the most requested features that a very good portion of the playerbase wanted. And guess what? They delivered it in TBC expansion. As soon as folks discovered flight paths, it was like it would be awesome, if the players could have their own personal mounts they could use while out, and about in pixelated world. Really doubt they regret adding it to the game. Because you never heard a peep out of them about flight until slowing people down became their only interest, and goal in this game after mop lol. If they regretted it so bad then they probably would of went on some massive pr campaign to make up reasons to not add it to future content after tbc.
I like Pathfinder. I like it more than unrestricted flying, and I like it more than no flying at all. It’s a happy compromise for me, and I prefer it this way more than anything else.
With Pathfinder, I feel like I have something to really work towards each expansion even if it’s technically unlocking the same ability, but the experience is always different, from expansion to expansion. It feels like a journey when you log into X.0 and finally get it in X.2.
Keep Pathfinder. It’s fantastic.
Considering it a “pointless limitation” does not make it a big deal. There are many pointless limitations that are also not big deals. I don’t care about Blizzard feeding anyone anything. I wasn’t even aware they were making additional statements on the subject.
What I do is I enjoy the game. Not flying for a single tier does not effect my ability to do that. Alternatively, if flying was enabled right away… I would enjoy the game just the same. Enjoyment is not contingent on flying.
they did leave it out … in WoD, and everyone complained so much they added pathfinding
I’ve never tried to make the point that flying isn’t awesome, or that I don’t want flying in game, i only ever said that flying is not a necessity
because its not, I do love it though, and I don’t like how pathfinder is implemented, but I don’t have a problem with the concept of pathfinder
The achievements are there anyways. You can work toward them in every expansion. Call it something else and put a mount behind it and you get the same feeling. It could also stay for account and if somebody wants to just buy flying per toon that also should be an option.
As long as flying is not available without achievements I wont buy/play retail.
I didn’t mention the fact that unrestricted flying literally ruins the game because I thought it was obvious, but apparently it needs stating.
If you can’t see how flying over 99% of objectives right off the bat is a serious issue, then there’s no reason for us to continue our discussion.
Flying doesn’t ruin the game. It adds a different dimension to the game. And right of the bat? I think most players in this thread agree that levelling doesn’t require flying. It is during this time I explore and see the new world through questing from the ground. For repetitive WQs I want flying. At that time I have seen the lay of the land and got to know the people (NPCs). Require Loremaster if you want to make sure the story was experienced.
I wont even mind a time gate. You start when the xpac comes out and when ever they release flight, I start. We both get what we want then.
Just toss it in, play some classic. Beats buying an expansion you won’t enjoy and if you want just cancel the subscription and find something better to do.
correct me if im wrong, be even before pathfinder achievement wasn’t flying in each xpac only purchasable at max level? on a per character basis? then WoD added pathfinder and made it account wide when you got it?
pretty sure thats the case, so you never skipped “99% of objectives right off the bat”
and no, its not a serious issue, why does it matter to you if other people fly over content? if you don’t want to you don’t have to
Mostly, yeah.
In TBC, you had to be max level (Druids could fly at 68). In WotLK you had to be level 77. Cataclysm let you fly right off the bat. MoP went back to needing to be max level to fly.
been too long I guess, thanks 
Cataclysm flying was available Day 1… but that is likely entirely due to it not being it’s own locations.
edit: Rankin beat me.
Pathfinder is fine if you primarily enjoy just running around doing the same quests and tedious minigames over and over again. It’s a right pain in the rear if you prefer other activities. For all the talk of player agency, keeping the current pathfinder model would be a slap in the face.
Pathfinder is actually a really good compromise to flying.
Honestly, Blizzard should finally just man up and remove flying from the game (as it trivializes content) and increase the amount rewarded when doing activities.
It doesn’t feel like a journey though. You can finish Pathfinder Part One relatively quickly, then you spend most of the next year stuck on the ground before they finally get around to putting in Part Two.
Keep Pathfinder, get rid of the timegating. Part One would unlock flight in the initial zones, then additional Pathfinders for later zones.
pathfinder does not trivialize content
it lets you get places without running into mobs you don’t want to kill
thats not even remotely what trivialize means
you can argue that it lets you skip content
it does not, however, force you to skip content
so if you don’t want to fly, don’t do it
Ah. But this is a very old, and trite, sentiment.
At this point, flying is what the game is built around and by not flying, I’d be putting myself at a serious disadvantage.
Skipping enemies you do not wish to kill is indeed trivializing content.
With flying, a map of world quests can be cleared within a half hour; without fear of pvp or pesky encounters with the local fauna.
Making for dull content indeed.
To date…
just because its trite, doesn’t mean its wrong
and the game most certainly is not built around flying, in fact just the opposite, its built around the ground mount, which is part of why they force us to stay on the ground for a year
skipping enemies is still not trivializing content, trivial is something of little value or importance, content does not become less valuable or important just because you flew there
and sure, flying allows you to go from WQ to WQ considerably quicker than you can with a ground mount, but you still need to hop on the ground and do the quest, if you don’t fear pvp because of your flying mount, you shouldn’t with a ground mount either, people can still come up behind you and attack you when you don’t see them if they are using ground mounts