alt="Protodrake Mount" />

The renouncement of Warlords of Draenor,
at BlizzCon 2013, as the newest World of Warcraft has been nothing
short of controversial. One of the most touchy areas of the
announcement was the decision to have Draenor be ground-mount only and
not just until you reach max level. No, this time Blizzard wants to
take it one step further and players may not be able to take to the
air until Patch 6.1, the first scheduled patch of the expansion.

Players are outraged that they won't be
able to fly, and of course they are entitled to their opinion. I, and
many other players, see things a bit differently. In fact, we are
downright ecstatic that flying mounts will also be mostly unavailable
till end game or perhaps even longer. You might be thinking that we
are a tad bit touched, not right in the head if you will. While that
may be true, there are some very good reasons why not flying through
an expansion is a very good thing. Check out five of those reasons
below:

Seeing the World

World of Warcraft is a beautiful game.
Some may argue that it is old and outdated, but to this day some
places take my breath away, no matter how many times I have visited
them. Inside this beautiful world are unique wildlife, vegetation,
and other cool stuff, like hidden Easter eggs, that are put into the
game for the enjoyment of the players. Unfortunately, with the
introduction of flying mounts, many of these things are skipped over
or plain out missed.

While flying mounts are useful tools at
the end game, they really have caused us to forget that the world we
are playing in is full of some very fascinating things. I think it is
time we get back to stopping and smelling the roses instead of
gliding over them at 50,000 feet. Who knows what goodies you will
find at ground level.

alt="Moa'ki Harbor" />

Un-Trivialized Combat

One of Blizzard's main reasons for
nixing flying mounts in Draenor, at least for a short time, was
because flying tends to trivialize combat. I couldn't agree more. Who
remembers actually having to fight your way into a certain place and
maybe having to fight your way back out? Flying has changed all that.
Now we can glide in and out and decide to enter combat almost
at-will.

As mentioned by Blizzard poster
Bashiok, there is a reason why flying isn't allowed in dungeons,
raids, or battlegrounds. It really makes combat, the core mechanic
of the game, seem very unimportant. Combat is the life essence of
World of Warcraft, it is how we gain loot, gold, and experience and
it shouldn't be an “optional” part of the game.

More Loot!

While flying across the world may be
easier, it means that you are missing out on a ton of loot. I'm not
talking just drops from mobs either. There are chests to be had, and
if you have been paying attention to the announcements made at
BlizzCon, much, much more. In fact, Draenor will be something like
the Timeless Isle, chock full of events and treasure to be found.
Players will be rewarded for exploring and investigating every nook
and cranny in the game. Riding a flying mount will likely mean you
miss out on many of these cool features, and most of the loot.

alt="D3 Treasure Goblin" />

Guided Game Experience

While World of Warcraft is a pretty
open game experience, it is not a sandbox game. This means that while
the pushing may be gentle, there is a direction that the developers
want us to go in, a storyline that is being followed. Flying mounts
tend to hinder this gentle pushing. When you can basically go
anyplace, at anytime, following a storyline becomes a moot point. It
also prevents the developers from allowing us to see things from the
perspectives they were intended, to see a location, or charge into a
battle. Instead, players can readily avoid content, even if it is a
major part of the storyline and thus miss out on a major part of the
game.

Back to Vanilla

If you are an old school player, you
probably have lamented at least once that you wish the game would go
back to “vanilla”. This means heading back to classic World of
Warcraft, before everything was so simple and doing things in game
was actually a challenge. That idyllic time when everything was as it
should be in the game.

This is your chance. Nothing says
classic WoW like having no other option than to run through hordes of
mobs hoping to not get dismounted, exploring zones on foot, or
actually having to fight your way to the prize. This is the perfect
way to get back to that classic feel (limiting flying mounts to end
game), without going too far.

alt="Dwarf Hunter with Bear" />

Faster Expansion (Bonus)

Five reasons why no flying might not be
as bad as you originally thought not enough? As a bonus reason, we
can speculate that if flying is not added till 6.1, Blizzard may
potential get Warlords of Draenor out faster. That means new content,
sooner. Scoff all you want, but creating the landscape in a fashion
which looks good both from the ground and the air is a time consuming
process. Cutting it out could easily mean we get this newest
expansion faster, something I think we can all get on board with.

Besides these six reasons, there are plenty
more as to why flying mounts shouldn't be available until end
game. Not to mention that there will surely be a ton of flight points
and other features to make not having a flying mount a little less
painful. How do you feel about the flying mount debate? How will it
change the way you play the game? Share your thoughts with us in the
comment section below!