I don't recall methods of flight being all that low level or easy in Warhammer FRP, Earthdawn (unless you're a windling, a specific race), MERP... and judging from literature, casual flight is actually quite atypical in the 'I toss a spell on him sense'.
I didn't play those games (except for MERP), but Fly is level 5 in MERP and Rolemaster, lasts 1 minute per level and can be cast on others. It exists in HARP, GURPS, Fantasy Hero (right away), and probably most other games systems.
It's an FRPG staple.
But 4E balance dictates that the player of the Rogue will not have fun with his Climb (i.e Athletics) skill because the Wizard can Fly.
Sorcerous Sirocco - Level 2 - Fly for one explicit move action, must land at the end movement or fall.
Fly - Level 16 - Fly until the end of the encounter.
Can you not perceive the difference in power between a single move action with severe limitations and a continuous ability to fly, and thus remain out of the reach of particular attacks without severely impairing your own ability to perform?
Can you not perceive the difference in power and utility over the lifetime of the PC?
Sorcerous Sirocco, usable on another.
Flying for a round during every encounter (4+ rounds of flight per day) and allowing an ally to do the same for 14 levels (8+ rounds of total PC flight per day) vastly outweighs flying for an entire encounter once per day once you get to level 16 and not before.
Heads and shoulders better. Need to get over a pit with the Bard in tow, no problem. Want to fly up to the catwalk where you are safe, no problem.
Even Energetic Flight, fly 2 rounds at 6th level, for 10 levels of 2 round flight once per day where the Wizard cannot fly outweighs getting a once per day Fly for an entire encounter, especially since Fly will often not be cast in round one. It will more often be cast when the Wizard is in trouble which tends to be later in encounters.
And at 16th+ levels, more foes percentage-wise have ranged, reach, aura, and area attacks which might reach a flying Wizard. Stun the Wizard, the Wizard can no longer fly. Daze the Wizard, the Wizard has to choose between flying and casting other spells. Neither Sorcerous Sirocco nor Energetic Flight cannot be dispelled this way.
The Sorcerer wins hands down.
There's a big difference between moving once to avoid melee attacks and being able to remain out of range of melee attacks for the duration of the encounter.
Last I saw, it was situational with both.
In a 10 foot tall room, the Flying PC is still in melee range.
In a room with catwalks or bookcases or high hanging objects, the Teleporting PC can get out of melee range for the entire encounter (which has often happened in our games now that 4E terrain is more 3 dimensional then earlier versions typically were).
There are no guarantees in either case, but one can be done at level one once per encounter and the other can be done at level 16 once per day.
Get out of melee range often for many encounters for 15 levels vs. get out of melee range for most of an encounter at the level where most foes have ranged attacks. No comparison.
