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[Column] World of Warcraft: The Power of Flight

BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565

In this Week's WoW Factor, Reza Lackey explores the good and bad things that come along with Flying in Azeroth. Read on for a good history lesson, and a trip down memory lane.

One of the most compelling aspects of MMOs is the exploration and sense of discovery as you adventure through the world. With the recent announcement of no flying mounts in the new 5.2 zones, the debate of flying mounts and their use has reheated. While flying mounts offer tremendous convenience, I would argue that they also detract from the overall fun and experience of adventuring - perhaps giving a player too much power when exploring new content.

Read the rest of Reza's The WoW Factor: The Power of Flight.

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Comments

  • CoolitCoolit Member UncommonPosts: 661

    I think if you're on a PVE server there isn’t a problem with flying mounts but they definitely have a negative impact on PVP servers. I'm all for no flying mounts until level cap in new zones also as they just trivialise the journey which is what MMO's are meant to be about. Once you’re at the cap then it’s appropriate to have them for convenience and getting about but not before.

  • Dreamo84Dreamo84 Member UncommonPosts: 3,713
    I agree flying mounts should be locked initially. But there is nothing like playing my Druid in Epic Flight Form and soaring across the world. Sometimes I get lost for literally hours just doing that. Flying high, flying low! Swooping down over a newbies head! It's exciting.

    image
  • RaysheRayshe Member UncommonPosts: 1,279

    I actually dont like Flying Mounts. It hurts the longevity of the game. Specially now that they are being brought in at launch half the time. The idea of Exploration is one of the selling features, the second you get on a flying mount you fly up look down and go "OH thats whats its like" with the flying mount you can explore the entire planet in a day.

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  • orbitxoorbitxo Member RarePosts: 1,956
    best flying experience (for me) was WoTLK exp. well worth the mounts & scenary. well done!
  • zomard100zomard100 Member Posts: 228
    Flying mounts all the way!. World of wow is so huge and  you could ride for hours in search for crafting materials.
  • OgreRaperOgreRaper Member Posts: 376
    Flying mounts killed world PvP. Not that it matters, Blizz just wants everyone to do crappy, sterile, instanced PvP anyway. Let me know when they open a world PVP only server, without flying mounts, I might return to WoW then.
  • RingsideRingside Member UncommonPosts: 249

    I have been playing this game since it was released. But sometimes for some reason i wish things would become simple like they were at launch. Less crowded areas no flying mounts and hard content. 

    Lots of improvements were made with MoP but too much rep grind and i wish they kept the cataclysm 5 man heroic formula.

    Also the theme for this expansion isnt very appealing. Flakes and heals bright, days and Pandas ....

    rather than Burning legions or an undead and dark world. I want the good old bad guys back. But still game is going foward ...

    I hope their next expansion will come out sooner just cause this expansion theme, landscape and art made a lot of my friends and guildies leave the game.

    Now comon take away those flying mounts and next xpac make us De-level  instead of leveling up. Either that or open a revamped vanilla server with rereleased remastered gradually released content

  • black_isleblack_isle Member UncommonPosts: 256

    Wow man, are we still talking about this? Very original article thank you.

     

    This is a subject that's never been discussed to death over the years and a subject that is worthy of discussion time and time again thanks to ongoing research and findings on the subject. Your article really tackles the issue in a different way and brings a fresh perspective!

     

    I mean as a boring forum thread i would understand but as an article on a big mmo site, no.

     
  • Laughing-manLaughing-man Member RarePosts: 3,654
    Originally posted by Ringside

    I have been playing this game since it was released. But sometimes for some reason i wish things would become simple like they were at launch. Less crowded areas no flying mounts and hard content. 

    Lots of improvements were made with MoP but too much rep grind and i wish they kept the cataclysm 5 man heroic formula.

    Also the theme for this expansion isnt very appealing. Flakes and heals bright, days and Pandas ....

    rather than Burning legions or an undead and dark world. I want the good old bad guys back. But still game is going foward ...

    I hope their next expansion will come out sooner just cause this expansion theme, landscape and art made a lot of my friends and guildies leave the game.

    Now comon take away those flying mounts and next xpac make us De-level  instead of leveling up. Either that or open a revamped vanilla server with rereleased remastered gradually released content

    I find this interesting, most of the people I meet really love the art direction and the graphic style that they went with.  The new zones are very beautiful.

     

  • Laughing-manLaughing-man Member RarePosts: 3,654
    Originally posted by black_isle

    Wow man, are we still talking about this? Very original article thank you.

     

    This is a subject that's never been discussed to death over the years and a subject that is worthy of discussion time time again thanks to ongoing research and findings on the subject. Your article really tackles the issue in a different way and brings a fresh perspective!

     

    I mean as a boring forum thread i would understand but as an article on a big mmo site, no.

    It was recently brought up by the developers and they made comments on it, so its news.

  • BattlerockBattlerock Member CommonPosts: 1,393
    Flying mounts an an awesome addition and all games should have them along with no fly zones period.
  • RingsideRingside Member UncommonPosts: 249

    I never said graphics were bad. Is it beautyful yes it is... But the theme is bright pandas and wisdom over bloodie wars or the dark feeling of a wotlk expansion. Just look at the numbers from 13 millions to 5 millions TOP subs. Of course ask the current subscribers and if they like it they will say yes since they are playing the game and those who didnt like it camt answer since they are gone.

    But the MASSIVE drop in subscription speaks for itself and my personnal taste go with the masses

  • MMOGamer71MMOGamer71 Member UncommonPosts: 1,988
    Flying mounts are the best way to ruin an MMORPG as they take players above not thru the environment.
  • FromHellFromHell Member Posts: 1,311

    Is it true that the whole world is seamless, so you could fly over it loading screen free?

    And how long would it take to go from one end to the other`?

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  • Xstatic912Xstatic912 Member Posts: 365
    No flight until level cap I support. Also in the new area in patch 5.2 there is no flight.. So that should pawn some pvp battles on some servers...
  • BattlerockBattlerock Member CommonPosts: 1,393
    Flying mounts add to wpvp , I typically am with no less than 40 people we can swoop in like batman destroy our targets and swoop right out just to hit another area in a moments notice. And we do it all day long.
  • kaliniskalinis Member Posts: 1,428
    I love my flying mounts. My favorite is the cloud serpents i have 2 of the 3 , I will get the third by question on my third 90 so i dont have to buy th em.  I just wish once u had got a character to max level and learned to fly the first time that u could fly earlier on your other characters. Like they did in lk after u have seen the zones a couple times running around on them on new alts isn't as much fun. I do it but its still a bit of an inconvienience. I don't mind haveing to wait till u hit max level in each expac to fly in that expansion. I just wish once u had a max character your alts could fly a couple levels earlier. 
  • adam_noxadam_nox Member UncommonPosts: 2,148

    Perhaps the problem is the simplicity of flying mounts.  Maybe they should have limited range, impeded by how high you fly, and getting hit should knock you off. 

     

    Increase the danger, risk, and limit the distance that can be flown without letting your mount rest and feed, and I think that flying can have it's place in new content.

  • tordurbartordurbar Member UncommonPosts: 421
    Flight is one of the reasons that I stayed with WOW so long. I would love to spend hours (well, it felt like it) in my Druid epic flight form flying over the wilds of Azeroth and Outlands. I am ok with holding off flight until the final level of a new continent and I do agree that for pvp it sucks. Flying is SO much fun but like so many other things, since it disrupts pvp "balance" few games allow it. Actually WOW is the only one that I know of - are there any other AAA titles that allow flight?
  • aSynchroaSynchro Member UncommonPosts: 194

    I think the problem isn't that much with flying mount, but the fact that you can summon them so easily.

    I mean... One click and 1 sec later: you're flying at 310% speed ! Because of that, lots of players (myself included) use them all the time, even for the smallest distance, like going from the inn to my farm, 50 meters away.

    Now imagine that you don't "summon" your mount, but "call" it. And it takes 10-20 sec to come to you. Then, you need to give it some food first. And once mounted, you may need to deal with stamina (like in Red Dead Redemption with your horse). We can also imagine flying beast that will attack you (like the eagles in Vot4W but more often).

    With this system, you'll still have the freedom to fly where you want, but with some restrictions that will "force" you to, sometimes, travel by foot instead.

     
  • jbombardjbombard Member UncommonPosts: 598
    Originally posted by aSynchro

    I think the problem isn't that much with flying mount, but the fact that you can summon them so easily.

    I mean... One click and 1 sec later: you're flying at 310% speed ! Because of that, lots of players (myself included) use them all the time, even for the smallest distance, like going from the inn to my farm, 50 meters away.

    Now imagine that you don't "summon" your mount, but "call" it. And it takes 10-20 sec to come to you. Then, you need to give it some food first. And once mounted, you may need to deal with stamina (like in Red Dead Redemption with your horse). We can also imagine flying beast that will attack you (like the eagles in Vot4W but more often).

    With this system, you'll still have the freedom to fly where you want, but with some restrictions that will "force" you to, sometimes, travel by foot instead.

     

    I agree with this.  Frankly you here the same arguments over and over again against flying mounts.  The reality is they designed the last 3 expansions with flying in mind.  There is absolutely nothing you can see on the ground that you cannot see fllying close to the ground. If you are flying so high that you are missing stuff, fly lower.  Whether or not you fly is the choice and the preference of the individual player.  I can never understand why some people want to force their preferences on the rest of the players.  

     

    That said, flying is too easy.  I especially love the idea of the skies not being a safe haven.  Player operable anti-mount weapons near all strategic towns and buildings,  mobs that patrol and attack from the sky.   The choice should be up to the player whether or not they want to fly, but that choice should be more interesting.

  • TheHavokTheHavok Member UncommonPosts: 2,423
    I really like how flying mounts are locked initially for new expansions then later released.  I enjoy being on my land mount - I like following roads and seeing all of the little groups and scattered towns.  Sure, its nice once I hit max level to get my flying mount, and it makes learning a new profession much easier then it was in the past, but I have always loved land mounts (I guess its the battleground pvper side of me).
  • IsturiIsturi Member Posts: 1,509
    I forgot how many times I took my ground mounts back in the day from Iron forge to Wetlands back in Vanilla. I remember how many times I died lol trying to get there. LOL

    image

  • MMOGamer71MMOGamer71 Member UncommonPosts: 1,988
    Originally posted by Isturi
    I forgot how many times I took my ground mounts back in the day from Iron forge to Wetlands back in Vanilla. I remember how many times I died lol trying to get there. LOL

    Remember when "carrot on a stick" was a prized trinket?

  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722
    Originally posted by zomard100
    Flying mounts all the way!. World of wow is so huge and  you could ride for hours in search for crafting materials.

    if exploration was more rewarding then i would disagree with you. But it is not :)





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