in essence buffing one class to the detriment

As to the second point, mages are now completely overpowered for any kind of daily questing, reputation grinding, and have the most utility of any class by far outside of a raid. In essence, what you have done blizzard, is nerf to the ground the mobility of 9 classes, and in essence buffing one class to the detriment of all of those others.

For all of you hating on the so-called "qq" over portal removals, I really ask you why are you so mad that you feel the need to support what is in essence the biggest nerf in the history of wow?wow po Does forcing people to travel long distances make you happy out of a sense of nostalgia? You do realize hardly anyone is going to sit and stare at the butt of a gyphon or wind rider, or even their own flying mount if they fly long distances across azeroth?

In conclusion, removing the portals nerfs 90% of the classes in the game, significantly buffs one, and the only people that are satisfied are the old school "hardcore" people who talk about the wow equivalent of walking to and from school barefoot in 2 feet of snow up hill both ways.