I’ve played this game for years without making a post on the forum, but this really annoyed me. For years this game has included flying as a transportation method. I was one of the bougie people who paid the extra gold for the 310% flight speed vs. 280%. I’ve always liked flying and one of my mains is a druid. I was today years old when I discovered Blizzard honestly locked the old form of flying - referred to as Steady Flying - behind the Pathfinder achievement in TWW. They are trying to sell you a pre-existing feature as a reward. No extra mount, no increase in flying speed. NOPE. Instead you earn back what should already exist. I’m not impressed. I know a lot of you are going to defend them, but this is weak. Why TF am I going to grind for something I should already possess?
I’m pro steady flight. Pathfinder for TWW is very fast. Mainstory quest and explore the new zones. That’s it. I had it done at lvl 76 unlocks when you finish it, you don’t need to be 80.
Yep, the fanboys will, but not me. Your points are valid!
Name one expansion where flying is unlocked for you on day 1…
Oner irony of steady flight is that it makes getting all the SYKRIDING glyphs so much easier. 
I know reading comprehension is hard, but being inteionally obtuse doesn’t make you look intelligent. Read the original post again if you hoesntly don’t understand what is being said. If you’re still struggling, I can’t help you.
I vastly prefer skyriding, but still thinks locking steady flight behind an achievement is asinine. Common game design theory dictates it should be the other way around, no? Start with slow flying and unlock faster flying later. The other way around makes zero sense.
WoTLK, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria.
Should we really count Cata considering it was technically revamped old zones for the most part? or underwater.
“grind” my brother in christ, pathfinder is gotten for just doing the story and fully revealing the map of each zone lmao if thats such a grind for you why are you playing an mmo?
yo I’m just happy we can fly from the beginning. You can unlock steady flying in like a single day if you wanted too.
Back in shadowlands, it was what, 6-9 months before they let us fly–and even then not in the new zones. I think I finally got flying in shadowlands, flew around the zones once, and just quit the game until SoD
In expansions past WoD, BfA, and SL (before final patch), the “grind” is nothing. It occurs as a natural part of questing through the campaign.
Talk to me about grinding out WoD, BFA and SL pathfinder (unless you came in late to SL). This is/was not “painful” at all. The only “grind” is completing Loremaster, which I also did in less than one week.
Especially considering how short TWW leveling is. The fact people can look you in the eye and say “in previous expacs all you needed to be was level cap” and think that’s less grind is silly.
TBH, it feels like all excuses for not allowing flying are out the window and the only reason I can think of that Blizz still gates TBC flying is Ion still is salty about WoD.
Skyriding is a part of gameplay, whereas steady flight is considered a luxury. I’m just happy it’s not arbitrarily timegated for the first time in like 10 years and is already available.
What might be a luxury for you, may be a necessity for another, I know some people who can’t handle dynamic flying because of various issues, which Blizz has acknowledged. And I know your response will be to just use ground mount, but why not just make everyone do that then and put the same restrictions on both forms of flying.
Again, it’s because the two aren’t viewed the same by Blizz. Skyriding is used for gameplay purposes at various points, not just for traveling from one place to another. But these gameplay uses are almost always accompanied by some mechanism to allow them to be engaged with without using skyriding, even if steady flight isn’t available. That’s the compromise being made.
Dragonflight?
TBC and wotlk too.
Probably others as well
Get rekt.
A better compromise, since Blizz acknowledged the accessibility issues of dynamic flying would be to allow TBC flying until they can make dynamic more accessible. Or how about both forms being locked the same way and those workarounds being implemented universally for everyone. I know that wouldn’t sit well with you, you would rather just handwave those players problems away and say Blizz is already compromising.
I honestly hope Blizz stops with this pettiness and gives players the choice from the start, rather than trying to control how we play.
I don’t think engaging with the discussion is really being handwavy, is it? I’m able to acknowledge that the two flight styles are viewed and handled differently. It’s not so much about ‘haves’ vs ‘have nots’ here, it’s that the two are fundamentally different from each other in terms of design.
To Blizz, I don’t think these aren’t just two different forms of travel. Steady flight can’t really be incorporated into gameplay the way skyriding can, since it’s much harder to design around. Why do you think it’s been so limited/timegated in the past? I don’t think it’s because the devs ‘hate flying’, but the limited design space it has.
As far as accessibility goes, I think Blizz has already included several accessibility options in the UI itself, alongside the aforementioned ‘skips’ for mechanics that’re included in things like quests. I think that acknowledging that the two flight styles are different and used for different things, rather than being so similar, has to come from players though rather than Blizzard.