Goblin Squad Member
|
I feel as tough I should make a thread regarding this subject sense its been a popular topic around me lately. Not aimed to pathfinder but other games and the real world in general.
Should different mounts have practical uses or should it just be cosmetic? Now of course pretty much every mount in the history of gaming has given a speed buff. What I am talking about is adding more abilities to it.
Lets for example take Star wars for example. On Hoth people rode Tauntaun's, because the extreme colds often froze mechanical vehicles. Like wise the Varactyl was used in the movies for its ability of climbing walls, allowing Obiwan to approach a hostile base undetected.
Now with another new patch in SWTOR you can ride both these animals, but their really just cosmetic. The tauntaun is meant to be much slower than a seeder, but can easily match any speed available in the game. And of course the Varactyl can't scale walls.
This really doesn't sit well with me. I hate when different mounts just look differently. I much preferred Age of conans approach, where horses were fast, Mammoth's were essentially tanks which could be used in combat to stomp down your enemy and the rhino was a good old mix of both. Also in one of the conan books, he use a camel to outrun his perusers, explaining that the camel, while slow will be able to go on longer than any horse could ever hope to. Slow and steady wins the race!
I think following in that spirit could add a lot to the games open feel. Perhaps sneaky little haflings will mount dogs? Not nearly as fast as a horse but can easily navigate through the untamed forest areas and make quick turns to lose perusers on horse back.
Also in one game one of my friends mounted a rustmonster. Killed in combat but it meant he had to settle for leather armour!
What say you? Are you fine with mounts doing nothing more than boosting your speed? Or would you like each kind to be added to have its own pros and cons in terms of gameplay?
In addition, what mount would you like to see in the game?
Horses have a high mortality rate in our games.
Horses have a high mortality rate in our games.I prefer to conjure mine.... less hassle and more practical.
For our games that's just practical.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I hope that mounts have multiple uses (travel, and combat) and have a pretty complex system built around them.
I want them to be killable, stealable, tradable and require upkeep and have skills that they can be taught, feats that can be earned and equipment (w/ key words) that can enhance them.
If I could replace my Destiny's Twin a mount that is very much its own character, I would. Obviously this type of mount could not be stolen but would have its own threaded slot.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Carrying capacity is an obvious skill mounts could have. Either mounts with different stats or mounts that change stats based on the flag you are using. Flagged as bandit your mount has a speed boost, traveler mounts can carry more, during a siege your mount gets a charge attack, ranger mounts obviously should get feign death...
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Here is your mount with carry capacity :D
http://www.uoguide.com/images/5/52/Pack_Llama.png
- I do like the notion of "mounts" being divided into Riding Animals and Pack Animals. I would be concerned of game balance with 'stealabiity' of a pack animal though. It would need a mechanic to simulate the 'Loot Deletion' experienced on player death, or it would become a 100% Loot Transfer and it would carry itself! Flag or not, that would be instant bandit bait.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mortal Online has in my opinion, the best mount system ever, and one which PFO would do well to base their own from.
Pets are aqquired by taming them in the wild, or breeding tamed mounts. Selective breeding yields the best pets.
Pets have a loyalty score which goes up over time if they are well cared for, and goes down if they are not cared for, or each time a command is issued to them. If it hits 0 the pet abandons the owner.
Players have pet points that go up with training in skills for handling pets. Each pet consumes points based off it's power (which raisese it's requirements), it's intelligence and the familiarity of the player with that type of animal (which both lower the requirements). If the player's pets require more points than that player has then their loyalty constantly degrades.
Pets can be placed in stables from which they can be withdrawn later.
Certain pets are mountable. They can be equipped as mounts, pack animals, or both at the same time, though it takes a strong animal to carry many goods and a rider.
Players can fight from mounts using any form of weapon, and even trample opponents with their mounts. Mounts however, don't turn as quickly as players on foot, and can't access certain areas such as bushes or steep terrain. Mounted combatants are also less accurate than their counterparts on foot, and have a chance of being dismounted upon damage or sudden stops, both knocking them down and doing damage. Riding skill, saddles, and the mount's intelligence decrease these chances.
There is also a skill for spear users intended to counter mounted charges.
For all Mortal Online did wrong this is one thing they did VERY, VERY right.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
That does sound interesting! And maybe we'll be able to see that considering this little bit from the blog update a few weeks back.
"If you want to play a half-orc rogue/ranger that specializes in breeding mounts in the deep swamp"
Now I am not sure what that fully means. But what I am hoping for is that there will be a need for horse breeders. Pair up two animals with superior stats for superior off spring. Or maybe their killable? I like the idea of both. Lets say I manage to throw a rider of his horse. If I am a scout to a larger party I'd likely stab the horse to slow the merchant down just in case I die.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
For all Mortal Online did wrong this is one thing they did VERY, VERY right.
This is the first time Ive heard of this system but it looks very compelling and engaging. Id love to see something like this in PFO! *starts thinking of the possibilities in crossbreeding a chimera with a unicorn*
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
For all Mortal Online did wrong this is one thing they did VERY, VERY right.This is the first time Ive heard of this system but it looks very compelling and engaging. Id love to see something like this in PFO! *starts thinking of the possibilities in crossbreeding a chimera with a unicorn*
My 3.5 Woodelf Paladin had a Unicorn mount. By level 15 when Paladins could cast a version of fly on their mount she (you have to be female to ride a unicorn, its just wrong otherwise) was doing 500-600 damage on a flying full-power-attack smiting lance-crit shock-trooper ride-by-attack.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
One of the drawbacks to mounts is they make a big world smaller. As PFO will take a while to actually become big, I am hoping they push mounts off into the far future. If we never see mounts, I'm okay with that. They are not that much different than portals imho, as they are world shrinkers. Yes, you still have to traverse land, but at a much higher rate. I'd even hope to never see fast travel, per se. A purchased coach ride, maybe, but never something that takes you out of the game and puts you into a travel bubble.
That said, I hope to see some form of animal taming and breeding earlier on so by the time any sort of mounts are coded in there is a group of players that can facilitate that feature. Draft horses, oxen, other creatures unique to PFO as farm labor, pack animals, resource haulers, etc...those would all be good to see in game.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Fully agree with you at the start of the game Hardin, but eventually, this is a fantasy world, and fantasy world have mounts.
Mounts are not part of minimum viable product, and they are not something we need to see until we have a map that will take a minimum of one hour to cross after their implementation.
At the point they are implemented, they need to be implemented with a breeding system and mounted combat system. Mounts, breeding mounts, and fighting while mounted, need to all be implemented at the same time.
One thing I will say, if this is one years, two years, maybe even three years after the start of EE... I'm fine with that.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Personally I'd hope both, as I'd like to see mounted combat be viable (and I also like having a good selection of mounts available in different styles and colours).
... llamas, camels, elephants ...
... and flying mounts :D ... Hey dude cast fly on my Rhino animal companion ... thanx ...
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Personally I'd hope both, as I'd like to see mounted combat be viable (and I also like having a good selection of mounts available in different styles and colours).... llamas, camels, elephants ...
... and flying mounts :D ... Hey dude cast fly on my Rhino animal companion ... thanx ...
Then while riding your flying rhino, cast prismatic spray behind you .... Nyan Cat .. err Rhino lives again!
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
While it is a nice concept. I sincerely hope they never add flying mounts. It takes so much of the wonder away from the world in my view. I wouldn't mind something close to it like levitation, slow fall or even limited forms of flight through short distances. Either that or they make flying mounts near mythical in their rarity and that it would not only be a pain to acquire one but a commitment.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Are the pets in Mortal Online permanent once fully trained? Or are they lost forever after death?
Can they be stolen? Can they be taken by the victor if the owner gets in a fight and dies?
Is there a summon-unsummon feature or does the mount stay in the world when you dismount?
If there is a summon feature, does it work like an ability (like the MMORPG standard) or do you summon from a token item in the inventory?
If there is no summon feature, does the mount run back to the stable last used if left alone in the wild for a long time?
Can you injure and kill a mount currently carrying a rider, causing the rider to fall off? Can you kill a mounted rider without killing the mount in the process?
What should the case be in PFO?
My preferences:
- mounts can be lost permanently. No way to ensure that you never lose a mount (unless you keep it stabled always)
- a mount left alone on its own can be stolen
- if the rider is killed the mount can be taken
- summon/unsummon is possible through an inventory item (horsewhistle?), this takes a long time but allows for unsummoning before entering a dungeon etc. (convenience). Possibly only allow unsummoning (=return to stables) and skip the token item.
- it is possible to do separate damage to the mount and the rider in combat, causing the one to die before the other
- if left alone in the wild for a long time, the mount will return to the stables last used unless claimed by another player first
Abilities above are to be influenced by character skills where applicable.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I only played MO for a few hours before leaving it. The combination of poor performance (even with a good PC that usually deals with High Graphics without problems), and a truly awful twitch combat system were enough for me to wave it goodbye.
However, pets can be killed (my rabbit died very quickly). You can, however, go get another one, with more useful creatures being more difficult to tame and train. They follow you about on screen, I have no idea whether or not you can 'unsummon' them but I suspect not.
I dare say that they could be stolen, but you would probably have to go through the process of taming and training again, and the owner might get suspicious!
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
An infinite supply of MTX-purchased mounts should not have any meaningful effect on a battle for territory. If it does, we'll put a stop to it.
This quote implies that mounts aren't going to be of the 'buy once, use forever' variety (as in WoW for example) but that they can possibly be lost, killed or stolen.
This brings with it the benefits that new mounts will have to be constantly produced which could make breeding or taming viable routes to go down. It also might mean that deciding to bring a mount or not for an out-of-town activity will be a meaningful choice between the utility a mount brings and the risk of losing the mount.Sounds good to me.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
An infinite supply of MTX-purchased mounts should not have any meaningful effect on a battle for territory. If it does, we'll put a stop to it.This quote implies that mounts aren't going to be of the 'buy once, use forever' variety (as in WoW for example) but that they can possibly be lost, killed or stolen.
This brings with it the benefits that new mounts will have to be constantly produced which could make breeding or taming viable routes to go down. It also might mean that deciding to bring a mount or not for an out-of-town activity will be a meaningful choice between the utility a mount brings and the risk of losing the mount.
Sounds good to me.
Really? I simply implied that mounts will not substantially change combat advantage. Not sure there was enough information about whether they are able to be lost, killed, or stolen. If they can be, it kind of negates the reasons you might buy an MTX mount.