Feedback:User/Talduras/Mounts: Travel, Combat, and Extra Fun

First, I'm going to preface this recommendation by mentioning one thing. Keep the current "click-to-travel" system! This is a really useful system to have for a game with a large landmass, as evidenced by how much time it saved in games like Oblivion.

That said, mounts could be implemented in a way that wouldn't undermine the current travel system and, in the end, might be a boon to the players and Arena Net.

Main Idea:
Guild Wars 2 is being built without mounts and thus mounts could generally be seen as unnecessary. Yet there is also a demand for them from a notable amount of the fans, correct? With this in mind, mounts could be implemented as a form of vanity item--albeit, one with a minor useful effect of faster travel (a bit more useful if flying mounts are implemented).

What does this mean from the Arena Net perspective? A series of items for the online shop! Let's face it, with all that time spent creating a subsystem that is essentially frivolous it only makes sense to make it an optional micro-transaction. The sky's the limit with how to implement it too. The ability to use mounts themselves can be put on the store, with the vast majority of mounts obtainable in game. Or another option might be to have the skill and some basic mounts unlocked via a quest/event (depends on if you want it tied to the personal story or not), which might serve as a breadcrumb trail to all of the various mounts in the online store that may appeal to those seeking something that looks different.

On the player side of things, this system would be something that decreases short-range travel time required, allows them to add to their online personality a little, and even provide a little bit of fun (particularly if flight travel were implemented... I love viewing scenery from the sky). On that note, implementing some mini games or unique events specifically tailored to mounts. The most basic example would be racing. Some more complex examples might be something competitive like jousting. In any of these mount-specific events, the action bar could be replaced with actions specific to the event.

Lore and World:
With five races--and the potential for new ones to be added in any expansions that should be made--the beasts (and even machines) used for mounts would have to make sense for each race. Sensibility probably makes this the biggest downside to the ability to implement mounts. If a mount were allowed for all races, it runs the risk of making sense for one race and being absolutely ludicrous for another. An option would be to make some mounts restricted to certain races and some available to all races, but this might alienate a few players who picked one race but like some other race's mount choices.

The only real easy choice regarding aesthetics is flying mounts. Almost every race would look cool riding a giant bird, or... helicopters! Okay, maybe no helicopters, but between the Ashura and the Charr I'm sure they'll build some form of flying machine soon enough.

Restrictions:
Bear in mind that these mounts should be DISABLED from all PvP content (see “CROSSOVER ISSUES” for an alternative to this), since this speed increase would provide an unfair advantage. It's an all or nothing scenario when it comes to competitive content.

Mounted Combat (optional):
Most of this suggestion was written with passive mount controls in mind (ergo, if you’re on a mount, you have to dismount to fight). However, this particular idea might be able to fit in well with the vanity item idea if the option to provide basic mounts in-game is allowed--particularly if a player’s initial mount is a story-based choice.

So, clearly if a player is on a horse or other beast, their controls will be very different in regards to keys 1 through 5. No way to make your mount leap back instantly, after all (unless you are a REALLY good trainer!). Thus, changing some or all of the first 5 actions would be necessary. More to the point, some of these actions could be split between player and their particular mount of choice! For example, let’s say a player is riding some giant, flying bird. With the player riding this bird, one of the actions might be a sort of dash attack, while another one could be a wing buffet that knocks back some enemies or stuns.

Now, lets take our bird example further. Say that an Elementalist on the ground has set up a static field. If the player on the bird does a dash attack through this, it can deal additional electrical damage! Mounts could add a new layer to the ad hoc tactics provided by the combat system.

Crossover Issues:
One thing that might have to be handled is crossover. Since it’s important to keep PvP accessible and balanced for all people and nearly all levels, mounts that the player got through PvE play or online store would not be a good idea for PvP implementation. Aside from completely disabling mounts, there is one way to side-step this issue. There could be an item given to all players--usable only in World PvP--that would give players access to a travel mount. If flying mounts were implemented, this would provide a unique way to put ground-to-air defenses as an option in world PvP... maybe... I’ll admit I’m not too keen on this idea, but it’s something that could likely be tweaked to provide an engaging spin on combat (best idea I have: limited amount of usage for mounts, based either on an overall team resource meter [number of mounts that refreshes occasionally, or a per-player limit on mount usage).

Alternatives:
Given the prevalent design philosophy that seems to have become a part of the Guild Wars 2 development cycle, there is an alternative that might be a better fit for the game, and one I alluded to earlier. This system would essentially make mounts environment weapons: something that no player “owns,” but can use for specific events. For example, there might be a dynamic event that would require players to utilize a griffin (or other more appropriate winged beast) to take out some airborne attackers, or set explosives in a canyon to greatly reduce an incoming army’s numbers. Another event might use flying beasts to scout out a canyon for enemies that might be waiting to ambush a caravan you're protecting. Some ideas like these could make dynamic events even more dynamic.

Another alternative might be to make mounts mostly a personal story item. Acquired in personal story, useful for personal story events, made for personal story. Outside of that they could be a vanity item. Something that’s only shown off to your friends in a city (it would cut down their world PvE usefulness, but at least this way a player could have a cool trophy that says, “yeah, this was my personal story choice. Bask in it!”).