Holy Cheesemonger, that turns out to be quite splendid and surprising fun, even if for a short while, until novelty wanes.
The improved speed through water while mounted is definitely helpful encouragement to hit the waters of Tamriel rather than just port & go.
Anyone with the mammoth mount tried swimming, yet? If so, is it trunk up, snorkelling? Or does it just move the same as on land?
IMO the only real 'big changes' they could be talking about is cross-play... as it's desperately needed to keep the game filled, especially as more people leave, making it harder to do PvP or group content.
Some say, "NO, they mean overland difficulty"... honestly, that's not THAT big of a deal. I know a lot of people think it will, and there are some who have said they would return for increased difficulty... but I honestly doubt that. Some would return, but then get just as bored as they were before, and leave again. Depending on how they handle it, if there are no increased rewards for higher difficulty, then many people wouldn't choose it anyway. And if they don't give us the option to toggle the difficulty level- then they would lose a lot of the casual and solo players as well as new players being turned off because of the difficulty level. And yes, I have personally seen new players dying in starter zones... so making the game even more difficult would see them just walk away without even trying.