I was wondering what others feelings about this were?

I think it's great and exciting because you have to explore the zones on the ground first, and considering the new zones are 2 to 5 times larger and more dangerous, I was extremely happy at that news. You can't just fly over everything right from the get go.

And once you do unlock flying, the added perk is all of the new locations only accessible by flying. All of this really extends and deepens the exploration aspect that ARR lacked.

Seems Yoshi and the team really do strive as hard as they can to please the majority since many complained of how small zones were in ARR, and how every area had no sense of danger.

Thank you Yoshi and team for all of the work and effort you guys put into this game and actually listening to the majority of player feedback. ^_^