Might be unrelated to the change, but if your mount is fully upgraded + having the Gallop passive unlocked, Heavyweight and Feline mounts start using their running/sprinting animation while walking on PC. This makes them look like they're sliding on ice as the animation was obviously not intended for walking speed.

All the other types of mounts still use their walking animation just fine with these same upgrades.

xyphrum wrote: »

Major Gallop is now Gallop, and counts as a Minor buff instead of a Major buff

I'm just wondering why isn't it called "Minor Gallop" then?

@ZOS_Kevin

Tagging you here and quoting this because this change in nomenclature will create unintended friction, and I’m not sure if the devs see that yet.

The problem:

If Gallop counts as a Minor buff, then it must be clearly labeled as such in game. It would not be fair for people not to be able to understand how this buff works with the Major and Minor system if it does so but its name omits that (especially here alone while other things are labeled properly). The game would be saying “no, this isn’t a Major or Minor buff” while at the same time treating it as one. That would cause very understandable and foreseeable confusion, and I can guarantee bug reports would be written about it (for good reason). This isn’t just a matter of verbiage — the number of Minor buffs we have actually plays a role in combat, like with Oakfather’s Retribution. Withholding essential information from players when it impacts their in-game experience is very problematic.

I see that labeling it just Gallop would presumably help avoid confusion for those who are led to presume the existence of another version of it. (I have actually seen people ask how to get Minor Gallop, assuming from the name Major Gallop that it has a minor counterpart.) But if this buff is going to be counted as a minor - including especially in situations where that is a detriment, like with Oakfather’s - it is imperative that players be given that information in game. It would be so much easier to explain to players that there is no Major counterpart than to attempt to explain the devs’ choice to make the game say one thing but do another, especially when the omission makes people dismiss something that can hurt them.

Follow-up question:

Why is this buff even on the Major/Minor system in the first place? What’s the purpose of keeping it in this system when doing so has an (honestly to my mind) illogical downside for players? Why can’t it be its own unique buff?

If it must be kept on this system, though, its place in the system must be clear from within game. Calling it Minor Gallop would be best, for consistency with everything else. If the devs absolutely insist on removing the qualifier, a note in the tutorial would be the very least that could be done, imo (and actually I’m not really sold on that when every other major or minor buff is clearly labeled). Including the info only in one patch note on the forums (and in this thread) but nowhere in game would not be enough.