Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 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 4 of 16)
Tomatketchup Sep 27th 2010 5:32AM
I'm so pissed. I have looked at Jeremy's post for 1 and a half hour now and I still can't find any spelling mistakes. Should I give up?
dannyflorida Sep 27th 2010 5:48AM
Breaking news or not, misspelled words are inexcusable for articles on this site. WoW Insider is part of a respected gaming news organization, Joystiq, and part of a huge corporation, Aol. This is not someone's personal blog. The authors/columnists here are professional gaming journalists, and they have copy editors.
Duulket Sep 27th 2010 9:10AM
@Dannyflorida No one is perfect even you although by the tome of you comment you seem to think everyone should be.
@SnackPatrol You must be very lonely because you seem to hate everyone and keep calling all of us "stupid cowardly motherfuckers". You wrote in a previous comment about what a "decent person" would do. Please tell me what is decent about calling people names and cursing at them. A decent person would not call everyone names and curse at them behind the anonymity of the internet. We are people also. However you are a hypocrite.
Tomatketchup Sep 27th 2010 10:57AM
Alright, here's why you were downvoted: You contribute nothing to the article. Three spelling mistakes? Oh wow, I guess we must fire him and kill him in cold blood, since he's totally not a human that can do mistakes. It's not "silencing", it's facepalming. Do I even have to explain why we facepalm?
(cutaia) Sep 27th 2010 11:32AM
I remember getting downrated the other day. I cried because it's totally a big deal.
Procrastinator Sep 26th 2010 11:36PM
I like this change. All of the teleporting around, combined with the reduced hearthstone timer, has made the world feel very small. I'd be willing to bet that I can get just about anywhere within 10 minutes at this point.
Long flights are a pain, but it will be nice to have a sense of scale again.
danawhitaker Sep 26th 2010 11:50PM
If you like it so much, you always had the option of not setting your hearth in Dal and flying and boating around the long way everywhere. No one ever forced you to use the portals. The 5, 10, 15 minutes I saved off trips between and around continents by using the portals add up significantly when you consider that some people only have a few hours a day to play. This is yet another disappointing change about Cataclysm for me, especially since most of my alts will still be questing in Outland or Northrend at that point and will no longer have convenient transportation back to the auction houses.
You liking everything to take forever to get to doesn't ruin my gameplay experience, so explain to me why me liking things a little faster so I can spend more time playing and less time twiddling my thumbs on a flight ruins yours?
Myf Sep 27th 2010 12:01AM
I agree with Dana.
Spending 10 to 20 minutes to get to where you need to be IS NOT FUN.
Call me crazy, but I play games to have fun....
MisterRik Sep 27th 2010 12:19AM
Kids today! Why, back in my day, we *walked* from the Ironforge bank to the Ironforge auction house! But that just takes too long for you kids, so you have to mount up to ride across that little bridge!
And by the Light! You kids can't even get off yer darn horses to talk to a questgiver cuz that thar 1.5 seconds it takes to mount back up just takes too durned long!
Ratzenfratzen kids gots ta have that instant grattyficashun! No patience, I tell's ya! Everythin's hurry hurry hurry!
veil Sep 27th 2010 12:20AM
there was a time when people actually enjoyed taking in the scenery during the flights. and this was even before linked flight paths, a third less of the paths available, and epic mounts were a rarity. while portals are convenient and everybody's most likely wholly spoiled with them, not having them in cata is hardly disappointing. suck it up, live with it. it's a world with two major continents (not counting northrend) and a whole lot of things in between. portaling everywhere sort of defeats the purpose of that. instances, dailies, etc are all fairly short timeframe-friendly already. if those precious minutes you saved traveling are so necessitated for you to play the game, then you really should find a different type of game to spend your time with you. maybe a game that takes place in a linear hallway or something...
Angus Sep 27th 2010 12:22AM
dana is very correct.
My Paladin is an engineer. I am able to get to any zone in northrend in no time, Winterspring, and Area 52 easily. I can hearth every half hour to Dalaran and get to Tanaris, or go to Shattrath and get to the Isle of Quel'Danas. I can use the portal in Ogrimmar to get to the Dark portal and get to Hellfire. I'll have a way to portal to the Black Temple and I can get a digging machine into BRD.
I earned all that. I had to level and in those early days the world was huge. So as I got more powerful, learned more in my craft and riding the world became more accessible, smaller.
So why is it not okay for people to move around quickly from one point to another? Sorry, but the point of capital cities is lost on me. They want people seeing our awesome mounts and gear as they level so they have something to aspire to? Really? Most new players would be sad to find out half the cool mounts are no longer attainable (oh, can't get those drakes? Oh, they got rid of that tiger?) and the gear is going to be replaced by something cooler by the time they get to 85. If the people are playing alts, what do they care?
The devs can do whatever they want to the game. We just let em know they did something wrong by canceling subscriptions.
lazymangaka Sep 27th 2010 12:24AM
"[ ]...especially since most of my alts will still be questing in Outland or Northrend at that point and will no longer have convenient transportation back to the auction houses."
It's fantastic then, that you can instantaneously send items between characters these days, and there's about a billion mailboxes across the world. There's no reason to be running characters to the auction house at all if you don't want to be. That's what bank alts are for. Everyone's got them, and they're super-easy to park outside of an AH, bank, or mailbox.
Oh, and in b4 "I can't afford the 30c for postage".
Phoenixblight Sep 27th 2010 12:33AM
@Dana
Thats why you have a mule or an alt that stays near the auction house. SO you can just send stuff via mail to auction off. I have been doing that since BC even with the all the portal it makes it even faster then flying to Dalaran and then running to the Auction house.
danawhitaker Sep 27th 2010 12:40AM
Actually, I prefer to keep my gold separate on all my characters so I don't spend all my funds on stuff for one of them. That's no stranger than liking to have 10-15 minute flights to look at the scenery. Believe me, between my main and six alts, I have enough gold already to afford epic, cold weather, and 310% flying for *all* of them. I fully realize that from an efficiency standpoint, a bank alt would definitely be a bonus, but that's an area I'm willing to sacrifice efficiency because I enjoy keeping my characters somewhat segmented. Them taking away the portals to me would be like them taking away the ability to mail items to alts for you. That's a huge convenience factor, moreso than portals I suspect.
To the person who said I should find a different game - why? Because I have a kid, not a ton of time to play each day, and enjoy a few of the conveniences Blizzard offers players to get around and get to doing something constructive in the game more quickly? This issue seems very dangerously like a casual vs. hardcore argument. I fall somewhere in the middle of that. I just don't like wasting my time flying when I've seen everything before. I call BS on anyone that says they sit and stare in awe at the amazing flight from Darnassus to Tanaris every single time they take it.
Kylenne Sep 27th 2010 12:43AM
"Sorry, but the point of capital cities is lost on me."
Because WoW, at last check, is still an MMO*RPG*. It has frell all to do with showing off gear/mounts/your e-peen. It has everything to do with immersion, and the fact that this is a simulated world, something that has been really lost in the era of people /afking in Dalaran and hopping in and out of the Dungeon Finder all day long. The devs have stated over and over again that they want people back in the capital cities, especially when they're doing this massive revamp of the old world. Keeping Dal/Shat full of portals makes no damned sense in light of this, because people will just continue to keep their hearths set there and use them as hubs. In an expansion where all the action is happening in the old world. Jigga what?
Honestly, if having to use one of the 18 billion flight paths that are now available or waiting a few minutes for a zepp is really that anathema to you, and ruins your playing experience so badly, roll a mage. Otherwise, stop crying about a change that will ultimately mean nothing. Having portal hubs in outdated content when we'll a) have even more convenient flight paths in the old world and b) will be able to fly at 310% in the old world anyway is just silly and bad design.
Mattimus Sep 27th 2010 12:55AM
Honestly, with Old Weather Flying, the world is more accessible than ever. It's actually not that big a deal!
lazymangaka Sep 27th 2010 1:01AM
@Dana:
You speak about shunning efficiency by spreading out your wealth over multiple characters, but then lament the end of efficiency with the death of one-stop portal rooms. I understand that this does inconvenience you, but it's likely to be a fair small one in the grand scheme of things. I personally am more than willing to give up the efficiency of portal rooms because I've embraced the concept of a bank alt.
I feel with you, as I feel for any player, when a portion of their own game gets nerfed. But so is the way of things in WoW. I can guarantee that something will take the place of the portal rooms to increase transportation efficiency once Blizzard deems that an adequate amount of the population has experienced the content. Then you'll be back to 30-second trips from one side of the universe to the other.
c0mt3k Sep 27th 2010 1:37AM
walk 10 miles in my shoes and you wont be struttin that ass lol
Dreadheart Sep 27th 2010 1:44AM
I actually agree with Veil. The sense of scale of the world our characters inhabit has been lost a bit. I think the LFD port tool is the main cuplrit of this rather than the handful of portals found in Shat and Dal.
In all honesty, if exploring a vast fantasy world isn't fun to you then maybe you are in the wrong game here. Instead of calling out for changes to be made to accommodate you it would be easier on everyone if you found a game that currently aligns more with your expectations - a console game perhaps, rather than an online fantasy mmo.
WastedFire Sep 27th 2010 2:00AM
Funny thing I don't see mentioned from the, glad the portals are gone crowd, is the fact that Blizzard then steps over themselves by adding portals to the 80-85 zones.
If immersion and feeling part of the world is such an important issue that they feel the need to stop quick travel to cities we have all seen since the game came out and with the exception of Orgrimmar have basically changed very little. Then why have short cuts to get to Uldum/Twilight Highlands or Vash'jr. I mean all those zones are brand new content, they shouldn't even be allowing flight there like they didn't in Northrend so you can live and experience the zones the right way instead of flying over them and missing out on it.
I just smells hypocritical to claim to want a more connected world with 15m flight times to every zone. Then using fast teleports to new zones, and not raising any objection to them.