Flying mounts have been a traditional part of “World of Warcraft”, and many players actually see them as one of their favorite features about the game. And yet, the expansion “Warlords of Draenor” will end up not including any flying mounts – not just new ones, as the expansion is missing flying mounts completely – while there are also rumors that Blizzard will be phasing out the feature for future expansions as well.
According to Blizzard, this was done entirely on purpose as they wanted to introduce a sense of real danger to the game and make players feel more on edge. The studio seems to believe that the game’s players have become accustomed to its gameplay style and have therefore stopped feeling like they are ever in danger, which could end up taking away from the game’s fun.
With this expansion, the company is experimenting to see if the removal of flying mounts could bring back an element of danger into the game, and if they like the results of this test they might end up removing flying mounts from the game’s future expansions as well. While it would be far-fetched to believe that flying mounts will eventually be removed from the game completely, we never know what direction Blizzard might want to decide to take the title in.
It’s certainly impressive that they’ve managed to keep “World of Warcraft” alive and well for so long in the first place, as the game has been going for many years already and is still going strong with countless players logging in each day. It’s clear that Blizzard know what they’re doing, and they know what their fan base wants to see in the title – but at the same time, one experiment gone wrong is all it would take to kill the game’s popularity. Hopefully, this won’t be the case with “World of Warcraft”.
On a positive note, the removal of mounts does seem to have impacted the game in the way that the developers intended – the expansion reportedly feels wider and more open than any content featured in the game before, and it does a great job at creating the impression of a vast world with a lot to explore.
And there are indeed lots of secrets spread around the world of “Warlords of Draenor” for observant players, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the game’s community. The removal of flying mounts has forced players to take a more careful look at what’s on the ground around them.