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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCataclysm beta removes portals from Dalaran and Shattrath
by Brian Wood 
Sep 26th 2010 at 11:27PM
This is not a terribly surprising move. With the Cataclysm expansion focusing on the old world, the Blizzard developers no doubt want the old Azeroth to feel lived-in. As long as Dalaran (or Shattrath) has convenient portals to every old-world destination, players would continue to set their hearthstones there for ease of transportation.
However, transportation around the old world is not as limited as it was back in vanilla days. Some of the new zones like Deepholm have portals back to Stormwind and Orgrimmar; those capital cities themselves have portals to Deepholm and others that are not yet active. We've also seen signs of new portals being constructed in the Twilight Highlands.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 16 of 16)
Bob Sep 28th 2010 9:52PM
I think none of us really know the designers intent and can only guess. But if they are trying to keep people in the 'old country' the best possible thing would be to add portals in Stormwind and other major cities. Perhaps only accessible to higher level players. Stormwind has always had a special place in my heart and I'd rather be hanging out there than in Dal.
Removing portals entirely would be a major mistake in my opinion. While I love flying around and seeing the sites (I've done plenty of that in the Cata Beta), at some point travel becomes a barrier to getting things done. I will be spending my entire life frying around from one spot to another helping guildies level their toons in different zones. So the net result is I will have even less face time around major cities because I will be wasting all my time getting from point A to point B.
Oberon Oct 5th 2010 2:43PM
My little alts that I play with various servers always get to Shatt or Dalaran just to use the portals.
I have several blood elves, so I run out of that zone to another starter zone to get the quests/reputation. Under Level 20 and pretty wow-aware, it's nice to use the portals to the other areas to play with friends.
Why, or why, would you force us all to one city?
I remember the days when Shatt was lag-intensive... now it's a dead zone. And will be even more of a ghost town without the portals.
lith Oct 25th 2010 7:29PM
*sigh*
The world has been broken... a new age has begun!! the alliance and horde can only cling to hope!!!!!
LAGFORGE HAS RETURNED!!!!!!!
Corvak Nov 13th 2010 7:39PM
Personally, I don't like this change. I now have to try and speed level my alts to get them out of old world before I can't use my fast travel to easily complete quests.
Desdinova Nov 23rd 2010 1:50PM
I just dinged 72 on my frost specced mage, and got Dalaran as a teleport site. I've had cold weather flying since 68, and have practically every Horde flight path in the game. I can go from Outland to Northrend in less time than it takes to tell about it.
The odd part is that now that I can get anywhere I want to go practically as fast as possible, I've taken to using conventional transportation MORE. Zeppelin from Orgrimmar to Thunder Bluff? I do it to sightsee. One of the reasons I broke down and got an alliance toon was to see the ships, and ride the tram from Stormwind to IF. There's a whole lot of talented people who did some serious work to make the game look as good as it does, and now with the recent patches, it looks even BETTER. I want to slowly savor it all. Two weeks ago, I flew across Northrend on my flying mount, from WSH to Vengeance Landing. Took about eleven minutes or so, not counting stopping to pick herbs. Why'd I do it? Because I COULD. I had a great time. Sometimes a person's just gotta slow down, so as not to miss everything on the road from here to there.