Riding / Mounts early on

Couldn't find anything with the search - sorry if this has been brought up already:

Riding skill, respectively mounts. If and when? For me this isn't an option of maybe, it should be there.
Especially(!)- *early on* - is something I would like to see.
If the game world is vast, I personally find it a pain to only run everywhere. With a mount one is easier to take that detour which one otherwise might not do.
Besides, which adventurer, going far and long would do it only walking? And yes, the common feature often is to give some sort of riding skill at an advanced level, but that to me is an ancient way of time-sinking in MMOs. Especially in a single-player environment I don't see the point of having to wait long for riding. Aside from money perhaps, shouldn't be for free.

 

RG is going back to the ancient ways with this title, like not having a quest log, mini maps, quest icons, and having to "text type" to every NPC to see if they have any secret clues.
It will be like playing in the days before "modern gaming".

 

that is all fine, that has nothing to do with time-sinks. even if you could argue that has to do with allocating resources (which might or might not be available).

being able to ride is just part of an RPG for me, even as old-timer. we are using modern 3d-graphics, so it's not like say U4. there you could get around quite quickly without a mount.
so not having quest-logs and such is one thing. that you can fix by writing it down on paper.
but exploring...

 

Agreed...I like mounts in a game too. It looks like the game will be vast. Just exploring this 1 city took quite a bit of time to get from one end to the other.

It's nice when your mount has saddle bags that can help carry the load (i.e. harvesting)...

 

It may be just me, but I keep finding new things outside the walls...I even found what looked like a volcano...

 

True. Well, if we want to go into older games, UO had (has) that, or? There it's a question of your taming ability or your cash-flow. Or the generosity of another player. Not sure if this has always been like that though.

But as Atlua says, just a different running speed could make a difference.

 

Your basic mount (horse) you could buy at any stable. Also a pack horse. It was mobile storage. Ostards, Ridgebacks and Llamas were horses with different sprites.
Then you had beetles. Mobile storage on top of rideable. Took up more slots. It was had use. Could put up quite a fight if trained well. Fire beetle = beetle that was an anvil. Then swampies. If they were armored they have you a slight damage reduction in pvm. Hence why ppl use them.
Anything else was tamer skill pets cause they had combat utility.
I personally don't want to see mounts running around where they'd be completely impractical. Like going through a front door or something.

 

There is no mentioning of mounts and riding in the stretch goals. To me, it just won't be right to have no mounts in a fantasy, roleplaying game like SoTa :-( I hope they will get added as soon as possible to the game!

 

check out the overworld map... zoomed out you're traveling faster than wow on an epic flyer... my thoughts are mounts are for looks not viable travel... their system is better already.

 

I love mounts! Goats and llamas for the smelly peasants (and non backers) and a noble white steed for yours truly - My inner thighs got really chafed during the pre-alpha with all that walking in heavy armour.

 

Magic Carpet

 

I Like Mounts, But I don't think this game will really need them maybe packhorses for carrying when gathering, its not like it a big world so if you had a mount you would just see a different animation on the overland map, Then when you enter an instance its only the same area as a Town a 1 meta shard, So if you are exploring or gathering you will not need to be riding or you would be through it in minutes then back on the overland map.

 

Mounts for the purpose of travel don't make sense in this dual scale map design. This game doesn't need it in that sense as you can "fast travel" on across the entire overland map in a matter of minutes. But in a single scale world that is massive to explore, it makes it much more practical and logical.

For the purpose of RP or mules for carrying loot, sure. Within scenes / instances, travel via mounts aren't that necessary really, as I doubt the scenes will be so big that you'll require it.

 

I really do want mounts in this game but as far as I know it hasn't been announced for Episode 1 for whatever reason. Hopefully they change their mind and get at least a horse and Llama and some pack animals in the game

 

In the olden UO days, I enjoyed taming all the wild horses, nightmares and whatever else I could find. I also loved teleporting to my castle while on my mount. I also liked stabling my pets, and also the option to name them.

 

I hear you about not needing a mount for the overland map travel and needing one for the more detailed areas (cities, gathering resources, battling creatures).

They could just keep the travel speed on the overland map the same as running without a mount and increase the speed in the detailed areas if you have a mount.

 

Yeah, I too really hope they add mounts. It's nice to have a pet that has a practical function. Perhaps you could whistle to have the horse arrive when needed.

I would also like to see some mechanics in which you could invest time and resources to train the mount new skills, for instance, slightly faster running speed or increased health or inventory capacity.

You could maybe craft or buy equipment for the horse, various saddles and bridles and so on. Some of these could have game-play effects like tighter turning circles or they could simply make your horse look better.

Another thing which would be cool would be horse breeding. Offspring could partially inherit parent characteristics like speed, stamina etc. There should also be some random variation with each pairing. So players could be horse breeders and sell good mounts to other players. Good lines of breeding horses could be very valuable if the system had enough depth and variation.

Anyway, maybe getting a bit carried away...... I would happily settle for a basic horse

 

Like so many other aspects of this game, mounts don't need to be complete useful additions. They also can be stylish. Customize house, armor, clothing, weapons, face and body...why not a regal horse to ride into town on. Or one that looks like it is death walking. Or variations and animals and the like. And yup, a benefit to speed in town. I am ok with that. But they could be more specializing of you. And mounted combat or jousting or mounted guilds in siege. Fun!

But pack animals are a must in my opinion. How they will be handled or implemented I will be curious about.

 

One thing I seem to recall (don't take this as gospel) - there was debate about stretch goals, if the $4M mark was hit soon. One possibility was horses; if that happened the "plan" was to have them rideable, but not available for mounted combat - at least for episode 1.

To me that means: horses are extra work, horses in combat are a lot of extra work. If they can afford to hire an extra developer or two, they might decide and be able to squeeze in the first part for episode 1.

The comforting thought is that horses do seem to be on the agenda - if not now, then later.

 

It will be awesome if we get mounted combat in Episode II.