As more travel changes come to the World of Warcraft old and new players may have different views on their affect on the game. Recently, a few new travel options have been revealed for the next update of WoW sending the forums into a buzz with praise or disillusionment.

First of all, travel changes are nothing new to WoW. Without going back all the way, like to beta, let's start with one of the major changes not too long ago. In the beginning, mounts were to be purchased for around 90 gold at level 40. In patch 2.4.3 mounts were changed to allow a level 30 to buy one for about 40 gold. Now, in the next major content update, mounts will be available to level 20s for approximately 25 gold.

Why does this matter? Well if you don't play WoW it really doesn't. But if you do play WoW and you've been playing since vanilla you could be a little upset that the "casuals" are "winning." Making things easier for those not as dedicated might seem like a way to make quick money or even baby newcomers along.

However, I'll argue a different point. The veterans of WoW with multiple maxed out characters don't directly benefit from mount changes immediately. But what of an alt or even a newly converted friend? That alt or that friend is going to love traveling in style at level 20.

Personally, I don't have someone maxed out on WoW. I don't really like WoW since most of my time was spent fishing and I play other games. I have someone hugging 70 with a ton of characters in the 20-40 range. A mount change like that could get me to go back to playing that game. Why? Because I only played WoW for 9 months I saw so much with my main that I didn't want to back and do it again. My fear of level caps and severe alt-itus only made WoW seem repetitive and slow. Being able to get around a little faster does make the grind a little less daunting.

Mounts aren't the only form of travel changing in this MMORPG. Harbors, zeppelins, and portals are popping up all over the place. In patch 3.0.9, Stormwind Harbor was added to the Alliance city of Stormwind. The harbor not only looks really nice but it allows Allies to travel to Northrend and Darnassus by way of Auberdine. This addition was meant with little complaint except for those wanting a graphical update to their preferred capital of choice.

Horde players were slightly upset since the travel between their druid starting area and their main city of Orgrimmar remained a long, boring journey. That will change in the next major content update as well. A zeppelin will be constructed in Thunder Bluff that transports players to Orgrimmar.

Changes likes these can be viewed as a helping hand to new players but it equally benefits those already established in the game. Sure it helps their alts, but it also getting around at any level. Aside from the obvious Northrend travel the harbor and zeppelins add, they also give players more freedom. Even a level 80 can't hearth if it's in cooldown. Perhaps they've ran through a Northrend portal to their preferred city of Thunder Bluff to do some auction house work. Before they were forced to grab a flight path to Org and then take a zeppelin back to Northrend. Now they be there for free in two, short zeppelin rides!

A third thing popping up around the World of Warcraft to aid you in your travels are portals. No one can really complain about portals except for mages. The way I see it, a mage is the only one getting hurt in any way by the addition of portals but that's all about perspective. Again, in the next major content update there will be portals in new places,

These portals will transport players directly to the Stair of Destiny at the Dark Portal. Travel is just so much more convenient when it's instantaneous! Players will then find that a new connecting flight path exists at the Stair of Destiny allowing players new to Outland easy and direct access to the city of Shattrath.

Yes that's two ports to Shattrath and mages don't seem too put off by the boats that lead to Northrend. Since a mage port is instant and you don't have to be the required level to enter Shattrath or Dalaran that you do of Outland or Northrend, their port is still the easiest. It's not always the cheapest though, so perhaps these new portals are more economical if you don't have your own personal mage friend to help you out.

Finally, changes to classes' travel abilities seem to get the biggest rise out of players. With the level requirement for mounts dropping to 20, it seems natural that abilities usually granted before you get a mount would be lowered to match the lower level. A druid's Travel Form, a hunter's Aspect of the Cheetah, and a shaman's Ghost Wolf will be available at level 16. The level requirement currently is at level 20. The main disagreement with this upcoming change is the effect it will have on the Warsong Gulch 10-19 battleground. Now the classes listed above might have an advantage by using their travel abilities while in the capture the flag type battleground.

WoW is an older game so there's a lot there. Previously, I thought WoW was doing the opposite of what I though an MMO game should be doing. I thought WoW was making it to where you had to be 80 to do anything. I think MMORPGs should be about the journey not the ending. It turns out I was half-right. WoW is trying to push everyone to 80, but at least they're making it easier for those new or not as "hardcore." That, I'm sure, is neither bad nor good to everyone.

Originally posted at Examiner.com , go there for more of this.