IMHO, Pathfinder is now an outdated mechanic attempting to add value. Having instant access to both of the flying modes at the start actually adds more value to many folks rather then some arbitrary requirement to once again regain an ability we had.
You have made strides in breaking down the old fashion ideas of progression. It is time to remove pathfinder and continue to focus on building and enhancing the true feelings of accomplishment.
Agree it should come down to:
1.) New flying is faster and objectively better. Use it because it’s good
2.) Old flying is here for accessibility, easily motion sick people, other corner cases of the playerbase
If they want Pathfinder as an achievement for some reason just make it a cool mount and call it a day.
Old flight is an ersatz noclip/cheatmode, which is why they’ve tried to move away from it and are much happier with dragonriding, which still engages with actual in-world physics.
Regardless, you don’t need it, and it’s gracious of Blizzard that it’s continued to be implemented in the game at all. That they’re even implementing it as early as the end of the initial campaign is way more generous than they’ve been about it in many expansions. Take the W, play through the campaign as they intend, and then enjoy the disengaged easymode version of the open world game that is apparently all you can stand to play.
It does not, it has its own set of rules.
Old flying is way more convenient.
Can we just stop with these threads? Everyone with common sense is tired of hearing it, especially on a beta forum that could be used for actual constructive criticism about things like class design, endgame content design, or quest bugs etc.
You are being disingenuous, and you know it.
Convenience is a common characteristic of cheat modes and other mods in games.
This was a game feature though, not a cheat mode, even if it’s just air swimming with a unique appearance attached to it.
I wouldn’t mind Skyriding much if:
1 - I could still hover with it.
2 - It wasn’t so damn annoying/upkeep-y at the start.
We should be able to just get to the desired top altitude without having to jump through 6-7 presses at correct angles.
And the no-hover means I’ll just be unable to AFK safely whenever RL requires me to.
Logging out means I have lost 20s + 2min to relog., when I can be done with most intermissions (answering the door/phone, important messages etc.) in under a minute.
Old flying, with its fine control, will still be my preferred means of travel.
In fact, Skyriding only has the top/cruise speed and races going for it.
You can also land your mount, log out and “be safe” whenever RL requires you to step away.
This is the whole point of Blizzard trying to move away from this mode of flight in the game. It ludicrously undermined gameplay in all of the Cataclysm zones when it was implemented from launch.
Obviously, this milk has been spilled, and the uproar over their attempt not to implement it again in WoD has meant that they will continue to include it going forward. They clearly do believe that the convenience it adds takes something away from the gameplay as they wish players to experience it first. Surely you can acknowledge that intent, however much you don’t care about it, right?
Try reading the whole post.
I don’t care about their intent. It’s not above my convenience.
If the game becomes annoying enough, players leave.
I see why adding flight like it was done in the first place was a mistake, but you can’t put the cat back in the bag now, 18 years later.
If they keep adding unneeded friction to the game, they will lose even more people from this ever dwindling player base.
Dragonflight was the first expansion where you got any form of flying so quickly, so, I don’t know why you think the player base would all of a sudden leave over something like this. As a personal anecdote, I did not enjoy getting Dragonriding so quickly. I have not felt so disconnected from the open world as I did with Dragonflight. I enjoy experiencing the world on a ground mount and engaging with the challenges of navigating a new land, finding treasures, rares, etc. This is all ruined with a flying mount, the challenge is removed, and all you are left with is what you describe as “convenience”, boring.
Maybe log out to char select instead of afk in a dangerous spot?
Guess that’s hard.
It’s not THAT annoying.
Or you could just accept the risk you’ll die. Death in this game means next to nothing.
I do that all the time (I care for a disabled man at home, afking randomly is very, very often and unpredictable).
To be fair, the 20 second logout timer while not in a resting area is also outdated, and serves to mostly be annoying.
Original flying is superior for herb farming.
That is bullcrap and you know it. If it would be a cheat, people using it would be cheaters and banned. Does static flight feel more like helicopter flying than the other one? Yes
Is dynamic flight for most of the people more convenient than static flight and therefore static flight ineferior? Also yes
Is static flight a perfect tool to make the game more accessible for those with permanent or temporary impairments hindering them to use dynamic flight? Absolutely yes.
Who are you, that you thank, you could unilaterally decide what another person needs and what not? Newsflash: you can’t.
They’re not implementing it at all. They did implement it back in BC, made it faster later, first with specific mounts, later with all and they reduced the cost. All they do here is disable it until you finish a series of achievements which lead to the TWW Pathfinder meta achievement.
To be honest: I feel the pathfinder achievement is worth nothing anymore, when all I get for it is access to the inferior flight mode. I want a real reward for it.
At the same time blizz would gain a lot by removing the gating for static flight here.
Oh and I’d love the faces of those who talk so strong against static flight, if blizz would say “To be fair to our less fortunate players which can’t use dynamic flight, we’re also gating dynamic flight with the pathfinder achievement.”
Would be a pretty big cryout and I bet Einherja would be one of the first to go get pitchforks and torches to storm blizz HQ.
To be honest, with some practice in dynamic flight, it’s still a difference, but not by much at all. But that’s beside the point. Also, since you can unlock static flight pretty easy, when you’re able to use dynamic flight, it’s not a biggy for those who just wanna use it for convenience. Those who really lose here are those with accessibility issues.
skill issues
Since you didn’t really tell who or what you exactly you mean: I sincerely hope you didn’t mean permanent and/or temporary impairements are “skill issues” or something along those lines.
I always thought having flying added to things rather than detract from things but blizzard people (most of who just play in instances) disagrees
Interestingly enough, we used to call W.o.W. the “World of Walking”.
I like all flying. Each one has its purpose. The part of the mount system that needs to be altered is not being able to fly at all in lower levels. It makes leveling alts (not in MoP Remix) a real snore.