Crown Store Mounts (Bears and Horses)

Athyrie · April 2019

Hey everyone! So I just wanted to point out something that irks the crap out of me regarding some of the Crown Store mounts! I LOVE the Crown Store, and I really, really, really love all the cool mounts we have access to. Even the reskinned ones! The only complaints I have are mostly aesthetic. I know you guys work really hard to come out with new content for us and I really appreciate everything you guys do! What I'd like to talk about, or at least, just point out are a couple of issues I have with the new bears and new horses.

Let's start with bears...

You guys recently changed up the tack (saddle/bridle) appearance for bear mounts since the release of Summerset.

We went from the Orcish-style saddle/bridle to a more Elvish saddle/bridle with the Atmoran Snow Bear and it seems ever since then, that is the style you guys are going with. Which I don't exactly mind. But the problem I do have with is that whoever was working on the new bears, like the Badger Bear and the Sweetroll Bear forgot to include one key factor: the bridle!!! You only have reins, and no bridle (with and without the riding training aesthetic). There is literally nothing connecting the reins to the bear! Nothing actually physically restraining the bear! It just looks ridiculous and I can't bring myself to ride those mounts around because of how ridiculous it looks without the bridle! Here, let me show you what I'm talking about!

Here is the Atmoran Snow Bear with the bridle (head gear, for those of you viewers who have no clue what I'm talking about.):

Here is the Badger Bear and the Sweetroll Bear with no bridle! Just the reins attached to the mouth, but literally nothing to hold it there.

Someone just forgot to include it... it's not like it's not something you guys already have access to. It would probably be an easy fix... I'd love to use these mounts but I just can't bring myself to use them when the reins are just floating there. I know, I know, it 's just a game... but still! My immersion! LOL!!!

And next, onto horses! This is really just an aesthetic preference that I have thought about mentioning before, but I don't usually write these kinds of posts. But since I'm here... Let's get into it!

I LOVE the amount of horse mounts available in ESO!!! I am on a collecting spree and I have been so sad to pass up some really cool horses that I couldn't bring myself to purchase because their tails look ridiculous (the new horse model is fine, but ya'll are having some trouble with the tails rendering smoothly into the back of the horse). I'm also not a fan of that weird jagged main. I guess it's supposed to look tousled but it looks... idk, bad.

I don't have any of my own screenshots to show you what I mean, but I'll see what I can find online. Basically ALL of the new model horses have these ugly tails and I can't bring myself to buy any of them. I passed up on the Snow-Blanket Sorrel Horse, the Winter Garland Dapple Gray, and the Masqued "Unicorn" Steed... The only one I have with this model is the Black Fredas Soot Stallion. Ones like the Shellback Warhorse, Psijic Escort Charger, Psijic Horse Exemplar, Treasure Hunter's Horse, and Dragonscale Barded War-Horse are amazing because the base of the tail is hidden by armor. I will only buy the ones with the base of the tail hidden because the rendering is so bad, and I know you guys are capable of making it look nicer because you did with the Alliance War Horse, the Dwarven War Horse, and the Imperial War Horse. That tail is AMAZING in comparison to other tails... I am looking forward to the Egg Hunter's Horse and the White Spotted Courser but I am afraid that they have the same ugly tails and they don't have any armor on them to hide the ugly. Please PLEASE would the guy or gal in charge of horses give us a better tail! I know you can do it!!!

Here is an example of the bad tail I'm talking about on the Snow-Blanket Sorrel Horse:

Snow-Blankey-Sorrel-Horse-Rear.jpg?zoom=2.625&resize=371%2C713&ssl=1

Snow-Blankey-Sorrel-Horse-Rear.jpg?zoom=2.625&resize=371%2C713&ssl=1

I would have purchased this horse if the tail had look better.

I only bought the Black Fredas horse because you can't tell the tail is ugly because it's too dark to notice:

Black-Fredas-Soot-Stallion-Rear.jpg?resize=370%2C735&ssl=1

Black-Fredas-Soot-Stallion-Rear.jpg?resize=370%2C735&ssl=1

But I prefer the horses where the base of the tail is covered by something, like these:

Treasure-Hunters-Horse-Rear.jpg?w=477&ssl=1

Silver-Dawn-Argent-Charger-Rear.jpg?resize=430%2C802&ssl=1

And lastly, this is the best looking tail on ANY of the horses!

Alliance-War-Horse-DC-Back-1.jpg?w=454&ssl=1

It's beautiful and I wish more horses had this tail!

Anyyyyway you guys are amazing and your support team has always been wonderful to interact with. I just thought I'd voice some of my own opinions on these mounts cause I would buy more of them if the tails didn't look so funky and if they weren't missing the bridles! :P Thanks for all that you do!!!

Looking forward to Elsweyr!!!

Zorrin · April 2019

Are... Are you me? Lol, I can't stand the missing bear bridles and the weird glued-on looking horse tails either

Also, what is with this trend of horse manes and tails looking horribly choppy and messy like on the Snow Blanket Sorrel?

StormChaser3000 · April 2019

Badger and sweetroll bears have metal piece in their mouths (make them roar and you'll see it), so if they are "smart species", no additional gear is needed to point them in the right direction.

And wolf mounts have telepathic abilities

AlienSlof · April 2019

Agreed on all those points - and one more: what's with straps around legs? They have no actual fuction that I can see, and if they were real, they'd just slide down the legs and come off. I passed on the horse with scale armour because of the silly straps on his hind legs. Why are they even there? What is the point to them?

No horse I have ever ridden has had straps on its legs. Bandages for protection if they have a short back and risk scraping the front legs with their hind hooves, yes, but straps? No.

Athyrie · April 2019

Zorrin wrote: »

Are... Are you me? Lol, I can't stand the missing bear bridles and the weird glued-on looking horse tails either Also, what is with this trend of horse manes and tails looking horribly choppy and messy like on the Snow Blanket Sorrel?

I am so glad I am not alone in this thinking!!! The choppy "messy" main and tail looks awful. Like, I get that it's incredibly difficult to really get a good mane and tail, but I know they can do so much better than what they are currently using. It's terrible and I just wanted to say something about it before they keep reskinning it. To be completely honest, I would prefer the OLD draft horse model over the new model any day for the fact that the mane and tail is at least tolerable.

I get what they were trying to achieve, but the choppy mane makes the horses look sickly, like they are losing hair. >.>;

I REALLY love horses in this game and I collect them when they hit the Crown Store, but man, I have had to pass up some horses that could have otherwise been really cute. Like the Snow-Blanket Sorrel Horse.

StormChaser3000 wrote: »

Badger and sweetroll bears have metal piece in their mouths (make them roar and you'll see it), so if they are "smart species", no additional gear is needed to point them in the right direction.

And wolf mounts have telepathic abilities

LOL That metal piece is called a 'bit' and it requires the rest of the 'halter' to actually function. XD You stick a bit in ANY animal's mouth and see if they won't just spit it out! Trust me, it's unrealistic not to have the rest of the halter to keep the bit secure. Realistically, if that bear roars, the bit is going to fall right out of it's mouth. I feel like it was just an oversight by the devs who worked on it because they DO have the rest of the halter available to put on the bears.

AlienSlof wrote: »

Agreed on all those points - and one more: what's with straps around legs? They have no actual fuction that I can see, and if they were real, they'd just slide down the legs and come off. I passed on the horse with scale armour because of the silly straps on his hind legs. Why are they even there? What is the point to them?

No horse I have ever ridden has had straps on its legs. Bandages for protection if they have a short back and risk scraping the front legs with their hind hooves, yes, but straps? No.

Yeah I get what you're saying! That doesn't irk me as much as the other stuff, but I agree that the straps serve no purpose except for aesthetic. They had to have -some- aesthetic for leveling up your riding training. I like the head armor and the saddlebags for the other two, and I can tolerate the leg straps because they're -supposed- to simulate leg wraps or sport boots that people use on their horses IRL.

Athyrie · April 2019

Also, I am going to be incredibly sad if the Baandari Pedlar mounts force you to hold that glowing orb (similar to the Halloween mounts where you are holding a pumpkin).

If you're forced to be holding that stupid orb, I am not going to be buy any of the crates. But if it is somehow optional or not forced (you're sitting normally with nothing in your hands), then I intend to buy enough crates until I get all of the Baandari Pedlar mounts because I absolutely love-love-love how creative they were with the saddles!!!

StormChaser3000 · April 2019

Athyrie wrote: »

LOL That metal piece is called a 'bit' and it requires the rest of the 'halter' to actually function. XD You stick a bit in ANY animal's mouth and see if they won't just spit it out! Trust me, it's unrealistic not to have the rest of the halter to keep the bit secure. Realistically, if that bear roars, the bit is going to fall right out of it's mouth. I feel like it was just an oversight by the devs who worked on it because they DO have the rest of the halter available to put on the bears.

@Athyrie
Ok, then it's magical. The Mages Guild enchanted it and now it stays in place by itself. xD

P.S. To be honest I prefer ingame mounts to have as less junk on them as possible, especially on their muzzles (because of aesthetics). And since the game has "magical elements", an excuse can be found in almost any case.

ghastley · April 2019

I still want to ride my bear bare-back (just with a bridle).

Myrkgrav · April 2019

Finally, a quality thread. Also yes to all of this. I also wouldn't mind seeing the older style horses remodeled. The overtly toony looking ones are just... dear god.

Jayne_Doe · April 2019

Athyrie wrote: »

Also, I am going to be incredibly sad if the Baandari Pedlar mounts force you to hold that glowing orb (similar to the Halloween mounts where you are holding a pumpkin).

If you're forced to be holding that stupid orb, I am not going to be buy any of the crates. But if it is somehow optional or not forced (you're sitting normally with nothing in your hands), then I intend to buy enough crates until I get all of the Baandari Pedlar mounts because I absolutely love-love-love how creative they were with the saddles!!!

But with the Hollowjack mounts, you're holding a pumpkin because your head is missing. I lucked out on getting the horse mount from a free crate, and I loved using it during the Witches Festival. But, to each his/her/their/its own.

Zorrin · April 2019

So as feared the Egg Hunter's Horse does have the icky tail base and messy mane/tail, but goodness what a gorgeous coat

props to the artist for this beauty. Now we just need a version with better hair and no egg basket to hold, please!

Athyrie · April 2019

Zorrin wrote: »

So as feared the Egg Hunter's Horse does have the icky tail base and messy mane/tail, but goodness what a gorgeous coat props to the artist for this beauty. Now we just need a version with better hair and no egg basket to hold, please!

EXACTLY!!! I'm so sad about the stupid basket. I could even tolerate the mane and tail just because the coat is so pretty!!! But with that egg basket, it's completely useless to me from an RP perspective.

Athyrie · April 2019

Jayne_Doe wrote: »

Athyrie wrote: »

Also, I am going to be incredibly sad if the Baandari Pedlar mounts force you to hold that glowing orb (similar to the Halloween mounts where you are holding a pumpkin).

If you're forced to be holding that stupid orb, I am not going to be buy any of the crates. But if it is somehow optional or not forced (you're sitting normally with nothing in your hands), then I intend to buy enough crates until I get all of the Baandari Pedlar mounts because I absolutely love-love-love how creative they were with the saddles!!!

But with the Hollowjack mounts, you're holding a pumpkin because your head is missing. I lucked out on getting the horse mount from a free crate, and I loved using it during the Witches Festival. But, to each his/her/their/its own.

I know, but I just wish there was some way that the aesthetic of holding items was optional or toggle-able. As a roleplayer, the Hollowjack mounts are useless to me. And if the Baandari mounts force you to hold the orbs, then those will be useless to me (and every other roleplayer in the ESO community because we can't justify using anything with that extra aesthetic because it doesn't make in-character sense for our characters). I can tell you right now, if the Baandari mounts don't force you to hold the orbs, or if somehow the orb was something you could toggle on/off, then I would buy so many crates until I had every single Baandari mount just because of how great they look! But if the orb comes with the territory then I have no interest in getting a single one of them...

Athyrie · April 2019

Myrkgrav wrote: »

Finally, a quality thread. Also yes to all of this. I also wouldn't mind seeing the older style horses remodeled. The overtly toony looking ones are just... dear god.

Thanks! I feel really passionate about this topic. ESO Mounts are my favorite and I'd buy even more of them if there weren't these little quirks that drive me insane. I really do like the older model horses. I know ZOS has caught heck for the anatomy of their horse mounts for years, but to be honest, I can tolerate the old model. I like the newer model, too, but I still think their people are capable of making something even better. The old horse model reminds me of a draftier horse. I would loooove them to remodel them and give us some real Draft horses!!! I know they can do it! I have faith in their abilities. I just don't think there is really enough demand for this stuff, which is why I finally decided to make a thread. xD

Athyrie · April 2019

StormChaser3000 wrote: »

Athyrie wrote: »

LOL That metal piece is called a 'bit' and it requires the rest of the 'halter' to actually function. XD You stick a bit in ANY animal's mouth and see if they won't just spit it out! Trust me, it's unrealistic not to have the rest of the halter to keep the bit secure. Realistically, if that bear roars, the bit is going to fall right out of it's mouth. I feel like it was just an oversight by the devs who worked on it because they DO have the rest of the halter available to put on the bears.

@Athyrie
Ok, then it's magical. The Mages Guild enchanted it and now it stays in place by itself. xD

P.S. To be honest I prefer ingame mounts to have as less junk on them as possible, especially on their muzzles (because of aesthetics). And since the game has "magical elements", an excuse can be found in almost any case.

I mean, I don't disagree but... If that's the case, then remove the whole thing. Don't just have PART of the bridle. The bit and reins are attached to the bridle. It makes no sense to have one and not the other. If anything, it makes more sense to have the halter and no bit/reins haha My point is, I think this was an overnight on the bears. I think it was overlooked that part of the bridle was never attached to those mounts. I don't think it was MEANT to be that way.

N0TPLAYER2 · April 2019

That’s a lot of horse butt