World of Warcraft’s new final boss makes fans walk everywhere

The best part about a new World of Warcraft expansion is discovering all the new toys, like a fun mount, or a new ability for your class. But sometimes Blizzard Entertainment also take things away, so that the game doesn’t get too cluttered after 16 years of growth. In Shadowlands, there are two big changes that means everyone has to walk everywhere. We all have to jog uphill, surrounded by screaming souls in super hell, while a big shirtless man glares at us from afar.

Players can use their usual mounts throughout most of the Shadowlands, but the Maw is so dangerous that players can’t summon mounts, because the animal won’t respond. In addition, Blizzard removed an item called the Flight Master’s Whistle, which would teleport the player back to the nearest flight point. That means that we’ve lost a lot of mobility, and the Jailer is to blame for at least 50% of our new struggles.

It adds a sense of danger and worry to the game, as well as making the world feel bigger. Players aren’t going straight to a quest mob, killing it quickly, and then blowing on a whistle to instantly teleport to safety. These changes make sense … but players are still joking and memeing about it anyway.

For instance, the druid class doesn’t need a mount. They get to turn into their own mount, galloping away as a noble stag while the rest of us all flounder with our terrible feet and stupid slow legs.

Other players are just mourning the lost convenience, and wishing they had never taken their friend the flight whistle for granted.

It’s always possible Blizzard adds the Flight Master’s Whistle back in a future patch; it’s common for the developer to go back and make life easier as an expansion gets older. For instance, players can usually unlock the ability to fly a few months into the expansion after spending the early levels on the ground with their horse and wolf mounts.

But Shadowlands does feel more dangerous now that we have to walk around and not just teleport to and fro. The Jailer is a totally new addition to the World of Warcraft canon, and it makes him much more intimidating if he can inflict some serious consequences on us. After all, for a veteran of World of Warcraft, few things are scarier than having to spend a few extra minutes on our day-to-day grind.