The Bar Brawl: Giddy up!
By The Bar Brawl ~ 28th April 2011
Best don the plate, grab a lance and a find a noble steed cos this week’s bar brawl is all about mounts. Thanks to the game-that-shall-not-be-named (amongst others), a lot of migrants to Tyria will be expecting to see pretty ponies, trikes and maybe an eagle that can be used to navigate the world quicker. And who knows, maybe ArenaNet think they may be able to generate a nice wadge of cash by charging for a sparkly horse.
Of course, this kind of thinking goes against what we already know about Guild Wars where instant map travel and an instanced world made mounts more than pointless. ArenaNet have already has confirmed Asura Gates and waypoints for Guild Wars 2 to help players navigate the world quickly and stated it is unlikely there will be player mounts at release, but there’s an ever growing argument on fansites regarding the inclusion of mounts.
So we want to know which side of the fence you’re on. Are you disappointed that the game will release without your sparkly pony of awesomeness and hopeful it will be granted to you at the first expansion? What would the norn ride into battle?! Do you find the idea of mounts in a map travel game ridiculous? Would they be something you’d pay a micro-transaction for? Let us know your opinions below.
Never had them in the first GW. Never played that other-game-that-will-not-be-named. Still have fast travel. I see no need for me to have a mount!
I did see Charr cars in the latest video from Anet… who knows.
1. Dont really care at all for it,
2. I think the Charrmobiles are part of a race mini-game event, (come-on Demo-Durby)
3. At best I could see a wee drake for defeating the dragons, but they would have set pathes so as to not cheat jump to a place you should not be.
I personally really like the idea of mounts in guild wars s if for no other reason than lore. In guild wars there were no mounts and players embarked on an epic journey on their own two feet. When writing stories set in the guild wars universe I generally assume that fast travel does not exist in the form it does in game and have often wondered what people do when they need to move about quickly. Coupled to this question of mounts is the fact that orrian undead include horsemen which begs the question did horses go extinct with orr or were they exported? I have also often wondered if Yaks could be ridden.
While is suspect that mounts as a player feature will not be a part of Guild Wars I would love to see NPCs on mounts or at least see mounts tied up somewhere. Though perhaps humans only use oxen, yaks and wagon for their travel easing needs.
Realizing that this is meant to be a bar brawl I believe that my preceding post was much to tepid. Strong opinions to follow.
I think Anet should include player mounts and those mounts should act as environmental weapons. When riding your mount your first three skills should be determined by your main hand weapon and profession. The fourth skill would be a combat skill based on your mount (example a snow beast does giant stomp, a drake breaths fire, a doylak does a knockback kick.) The final skill on the skill bar would be a toggled speed boost that is disabled when in a town or in combat. Two handed weapons would not be usable while mounted and none of the main hand skills could be movement related.
The mount itself would be an elite skill which would have three different states. The first state would activate the mount. If in combat the skill would change depending on profession allowing the player to perform a dismount jumping either towards or away from a highlighted enemy. Out of combat the player would simply hop off their mount and dismiss it.
While it may be difficult to see a Norn or Charr riding a horse there are many different creatures that would make excellent mounts in Guild Wars including the following: Certadons, Doylaks, Snow Beasts, Yaks, G.O.L.E.Ms, Drakes, Siege Turtles, Bears, Aurochs.
I don’t think that players should have all the fun either. Imagine a Norn Riding a chariot drawn by Minotaurs, or an Asura floating by on a magitech board pulled by wind riders. Mounts would not weaken the game, instead they would add depth to both game mechanics and lore
My problem with the most common argument against mounts in GW 2 is as follows:
1) Some other MMO has mounts and their purpose is for fast map travel
2) If mounts are in GW2 they will have the same function as in that other MMO
3) GW2 already has waypoints and Asura gates for fast map travel
Therefore) Mounts would be pointless in GW 2 because that function is already covered by waypoints and Asura gates.
Well, premise #2 isn’t usually stated by the person making the argument – but it is the hidden assumption required to make the above argument work.
Now I haven’t played that other MMO personally, but I find the concept of mounts interesting and not something I would rule out. What if the function was completely different? Perhaps they behave like an environmental weapon and bring up a new set of weapon skills? Who says they necessarily move faster? Sure, maybe one of the skills they bring up would be a speed boost, “Shout: Giddy up!”, but it could have a cool-down like anything else so it wouldn’t necessarily be perma speed boost. Now this is just one concept potential for mounts in GW2. The main point I make is that if mounts are added to GW2, they will have a DIFFERENT function they just ‘fast map travel’ – remember that whole thing about GW2 bringing new ideas and innovating the MMO industry?
OK, I messed up my first sentence. Was supposed to be along the lines of “My problem is that the argument against mounts usually goes as follows:”
Wow, really? Do we need mounts?
No, we don’t, we don’t need to copy off of WoW, guild wars 2 is already cool in our eyes. Adding something like mounts, were you ride some horse across the plains is good with other MMO’S. But guild wars has a solid travel system, no need to change it. If its not broken don’t fix it.
If they put a Miro transaction for pony’s flying mounts whatever, more power to the other mmo players out there to travel 3 hours to get to the char city. It’s their choice can’t stop them, but i can go around beating them in races to the next town..
Since we know that the fast travel system is in the game would adding mounts really be fixing a system or simply adding more options?
Also would including mounts be copying WOW or one the myriad of mmos that came before? Perhaps adding mounts would actually be copying the real world where riding animals has been an integral part of society for hundreds and in some places thousands of years.
Adding more options, not saying thats a bad thing but why add something that could mess up the mix? Maybe on other games where mounts are around and no fast travel its aright. but that’s all i see around people on horses, three headed turtles, flying epic mounts when playing other games. On the terms of walking to town, there’s nothing wrong with walking to get to a way point..stay on the main road no mobs would hit you.
Well i guess it would be copying ever quest..did ever-quest have mounts..I don’t know who was first with the mounts, but some people like to have there mounts others like fast travel, oblivion has both and people still play it..sometimes. I am just saying, i do not see a char who in my mind weigh like..500 pounds or more, on a horse, driving around in a steam punk car, yes. If the mounts make scene for the species then mounts would be fit in well, but they(Arena net) haven’t thought of putting in mounts. But overall i don’t think we need them, and don’t really see it happening, a norn rids into battle with his/her wolf or a asura…ok i got nothing on them.
“GW2 already has waypoints and Asura gates for fast map travel” Agreed; however not really relevant. WoW has mounts and flight paths. Waypoints/gates equate to flightpaths. IMO, mounts are for short quick travel and not for fast map travel. More of a way for everyone to have a Sprint option without adding another skill to the skill bar. Having to fight the same mobs in a persistant world just to get to where you want to go becomes tiresome. Thus mounts help to remove the repedity.
Do I want mounts. Hell no, but they may become desirable.
I could see use for a mount, traveling to a spot that you don’t have a way point too; making a trip that (hypothetically) would take 20 or so minutes to 10 or less. Even traveling in town. It could even save people money, if they are MMO penny pincher, spending 40k on a mount vs 300g (not saying that is the price) here and there on fast travailing.
I really don’t care if we have them or not. I have never played a game to the point where I could have a mount. I can see it now, a 82 page thread on GW2guru, “Quitting GW2, no mounts.”
In GW2, mounts would be a step BACKWARDS, except for the possibility of cutscenes, minigames, and possibly lore and environmental weapons, although mechanically, then it wouldn’t be a “mount.”
In The-Game-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named, mounts serve a few purposes, all of which are either better or irrelevant in GW2:
1. Assuming your destination is known, teleportation beats footed travel for speed, regardless of how many legs are involved. Speculation abounds on how often/far apart a given Asura Gate might be.
2. For pure exploration, the faster you are going, the less detail you are going to see, which goes double for aerial mounts. Not to mention, the faster you are making the server render your distances, the more of a load you’re putting on it. And in The-Other-Game, the graphics are nothing to look at; polygons so large, it might as well be lumps of clay. Even more so if you’re on the “I’m over Ten Years Old, Popularly-Considered Bad Guys” side.
3. Loot-, node-, kill-, and boss-stealing. Example given with the recent Easter Egg event. None of these exist in GW2.
4. Bragging about the shiny: Armor fulfills this need, and in a much better art style, again because of higher detail.
Brilliant…. /signed
Saved me some typing… thanx man!
I don’t want to see mounts a a main part of the game. I want to be able to do everything without them. If Anet puts them in the game in a fashionable way, that is, more of a “look” thing, rather than a functional advantage, I would be OK with that. Make it a micro transaction. Offer a few different types of animals or creatures you can choose from, and maybe add in something like a Zaishen Menagerie, where you can either buy one “mount”, which gives you access to a variety of creatures to choose from and change between what you ride. Or you can buy multiple mounts individually and change/store them there.
Overall, mounts that give a benefit, hell no!
Mounts that are for fun, so you can look fly and impress all the laddies, hell yes!
Mounts are not a must have in GW2 due to the fast travel system (duh), but that said I’d have nothing against having a mount for some exploration. In “that other game” I actually enjoyed mounting up and heading out looking for quests and new areas. That said I don’t want mounts in GW2 to be some sort of epeen enlarger that people idle on in the outposts just to show off, I agree with a previous poster that your progress (and epeen) should show through the armor you’re wearing and weapons you’re wielding. But thats my opinion.
“Do you find the idea of mounts in a map travel game ridiculous?” umm…. Yes.
Look people… there are a finite number of hours in each day… would you like the game launched while you’re still young enough to play it or not?
Not to mention the fact that we’re looking for a game optimized to be able to allow lower end systems to be able to participate in large scale encounters… how bout we settle for that being done well and not also ask for a superfluous travel system….?
As others have said, mounts would not serve the purpose of solving “get from A to B”, if the waypoints are even halfway decently placed and there are enough of them. Of course, if there are 5 on an entire map (which per ANet are of a size that it takes a good 20 minutes to run from one end to the other assuming no mobs or distractions), that’s another kettle of fish, but that would be exceedingly silly of them to do, so I don’t think that’s a valid concern.
Mounts may help one thing: the economy, specifically the crafting market. They allow an easier way of gathering large quantities of materials and makes it easier to dodge random fights along the way. Greater supply means more people readily can craft and will be inclined to pick up on that.
Yet, that argument as well depends on how closely spaced material nodes are. If you run into 1 piece of wood per 20 minutes, then you’d probably end up wishing you had a permanent speedboost of some kind. But place groups of various mats near each other and not too far from the various waypoints, and suddenly teleport-hopping around the map may be quicker, even if it puts you down a few pennies. Surely they are quickly recovered by selling some of those mats.
In The-Other-Game you also wanted quick short-distance transport because you had to get to the yellow questionmark and back to progress, often running back and forth multiple times. With events, one even is as good as another, so there is less impetus to being able to cover a lot of short runs. I think you’ll end up running around a good deal less in GW2, except when exploring of course.