During the Dragonflight Developer Roundtable on Twitter, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas clarified that full-fledged flying is planned for a future Dragonflight patch!
Game Director Ion HazzikostasAt launch, in the first or second zone, you'll gain the trust of a Dragon companion and you'll be able to call it in the Dragon Isles. It's not too experienced in flying at the start and has limited Stamina, but as your Bond grows will allow you to loosen those restrictions. Long term, flying with your regular mounts is still the plan. It should feel good from the start, and should only get better from there. How you'll upgrade your Dragon is to be decided.Dragonriding is a major feature coming with the expansion, in which players will use momentum and gravity to dive and sore at breakneck speeds across the sky. Described as faster and more engaging than traditional flying, it's meant to play an integral role in navigating the wide open spaces and vertical heights of the Dragon Isles — unlocked very early in the campaign and helping you navigate from the sea level Waking Shore all the way up to the high altitude mountains of Thaldraszus. In order to dragonride, players will need dragons! Obtained very early in the expansion, these are Warcraft's first fully customizable mounts, with a wealth of options to make each one truly unique. Although this more active system sounds like it could be a lot of fun, many fans have been skeptical of it replacing flying outright and restricting players from the freedom of exploration that traditional flying allows. With this announcement however, it appears that full-fledged flying will unlock in a later patch similar to previous expansions, while Dragonriding will remain an important feature
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