Suggestion [remove Aether Currents as a catch up mechanic]

[van_arn]

Aether Currents don't take much effort at all. Press the aether compass while on the way to each quest task and it will tell you if one is nearby. Pickup all blue quests that you see and do them when the main story takes you near to their objective. Once you finish the story events in that area, you will then be able to fly.

It's only tedious if you decide to be lazy and not pick them up while questing, because then you have to go back and get the aether currents for 18 areas and of course it's tedious doing it all in one go.

They absolutely do get tedious if you're doing the unlock quest chains as you try to do the MSQ. The Ruby Sea, for example, has an *awful* quest chain for one aether current that stalls the MSQ for a good hour and a half, and it's not even an entertaining or plot relevant diversion.

A failsafe at the end of the (non-current) expansion that would unlock the same progress the player would unlock if they'd just skipped to the current expansion isn't a bad idea, especially if people are wanting to encourage players not to just skip to the current expansion.

[bass9020]

They absolutely do get tedious if you're doing the unlock quest chains as you try to do the MSQ. The Ruby Sea, for example, has an *awful* quest chain for one aether current that stalls the MSQ for a good hour and a half, and it's not even an entertaining or plot relevant diversion.

Changing them to be strictly MSQ and exploration I think would be best, remove the side quest chains since side quests arent needed other than padding/alt leveling.

[Ayuhra]

Trust me to the WoW players coming over the Aether Current system for unlocking flight is a breeze.

Unlocking flight over there is a nightmare if you wanna talk momentum blocking.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Trust me to the WoW players coming over the Aether Current system for unlocking flight is a breeze.

Unlocking flight over there is a nightmare if you wanna talk momentum blocking.

At least, from Warlords of Draenor onward. Before that, it was just....get to the right level and spend some gold. Not even a terribly huge amount of gold, either; I think Northrend flying was 1,000, which at the time was a fair amount but doable without too much effort.

[Ayuhra]

At least, from Warlords of Draenor onward. Before that, it was just....get to the right level and spend some gold. Not even a terribly huge amount of gold, either; I think Northrend flying was 1,000, which at the time was a fair amount but doable without too much effort.

I honestly will never understand why they decided flight was anti-design instead of making zones designed for flight. Like they used to. Icecrown, Netherstorm, parts of Nagrand and Storm Peaks, even parts of Jade Forest. It's wild.

[Kes13a]

I honestly will never understand why they decided flight was anti-design instead of making zones designed for flight. Like they used to. Icecrown, Netherstorm, parts of Nagrand and Storm Peaks, even parts of Jade Forest. It's wild.

mostly because 3/4 of the time they never intended to allow flight, I think thats part of the reason even getting flight was so horrendous, and tightly locked until essentially max level. they wanted players to explore, on foot essentially, all of the zones

and if people complained.. they could just say "well.. you WANTED flight, so you got it..."

[AnotherPerson]

They absolutely do get tedious if you're doing the unlock quest chains as you try to do the MSQ. The Ruby Sea, for example, has an *awful* quest chain for one aether current that stalls the MSQ for a good hour and a half, and it's not even an entertaining or plot relevant diversion.

A failsafe at the end of the (non-current) expansion that would unlock the same progress the player would unlock if they'd just skipped to the current expansion isn't a bad idea, especially if people are wanting to encourage players not to just skip to the current expansion.

Not really? The Aethercurrent quests are all streamlined to be in same direction & progress of your MSQ the moment they are available. Aethercurrent quests may have some sidestory in them, but it's not required to do them after unlocking the initial aethercurrent quest. That's up to you whether you want to continue after starting the initial quest chain. If you do them regardless, it means you got hooked into the plot, that means the game's doing its job well.

As you progress through the MSQ, most aether currents are also in the same area as your MSQ requirement or in the direction of another aether current sidequest, so they're usually linked together.

It's only feels tedious if you actively try to hunt for aethercurrents before / after completing all your MSQ in the zone because you're essentially doubling or tripling the amount of time it takes for you to retrace your steps and grab those aethercurrents.