Swimming mounts:Thank you ZOS for not giving in to trends!

moderatelyfatman · August 19

Every MMO these days seems to have either flying mounts, leaping mounts or even underwater mounts.
Thank you ZOS for recognising that flying mounts would break immersion in a way that a glowing horse with four arms carrying swords would not.

Gabriel_H · August 19

Flying mounts wouldn't be possible due to zones being seperate instances. It's not a conscious choice, it's a design limitation.

SilverIce58 · August 19

On a side note, does anyone have a video of that 4-armed horse being ridden in water?

Renato90085 · August 19

It doesn't make sense,if you can fly,you will see map out is nothing,maybe have some quest npc stand on unmade flat ground and...some house inside with pull door portal...

moderatelyfatman · August 19

Gabriel_H wrote: »

Flying mounts wouldn't be possible due to zones being seperate instances. It's not a conscious choice, it's a design limitation.

Not sure what you mean there: I thought all zones were separate instances.

The other issue is that flying wasn't an original thing in most of the older MMOs but the rebuild a lot of the older zones to accomodate flying mounts in their new expansions.

We've also seen flying in instanced events such as Lucent Citadel. I think if they had the skill and the desire, they would be able to do it.

Gabriel_H · August 19

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

Flying mounts wouldn't be possible due to zones being seperate instances. It's not a conscious choice, it's a design limitation.

Not sure what you mean there: I thought all zones were separate instances.

The other issue is that flying wasn't an original thing in most of the older MMOs but the rebuild a lot of the older zones to accomodate flying mounts in their new expansions.

We've also seen flying in instanced events such as Lucent Citadel. I think if they had the skill and the desire, they would be able to do it.

Yes, that's the point. A flying mount would mean you'd have to see over the barriers ZOS have put between zones - mountains, walls, gates etc. So on a flying mount they'd have to add part of the adjacent zone for you to see, and if you were flying over a gate they'd have to contend with then loading the instance while you were flying - which could be at multiple points not a single entrance.

So it's not that ZOS won't do flying mounts, it's that they can't without a fundamental re-design and addition to each zone to show all of that. It's a design limitation.

Maitsukas · August 19

Renato90085 wrote: »

It doesn't make sense,if you can fly,you will see map out is nothing,maybe have some quest npc stand on unmade flat ground and...some house inside with pull door portal...

Don't forget the checkerboard terrain:

Mai_Selph · August 19

As a former WoW player, I do remember a lot of whining about how zones feel empty because everyone is using flying mounts. Sure, flying is very convenient, but we've got wayshrines for fast travel, and that does work okay.

Lysorris · August 19

Guild Wars 2 has amazing mounts - but the flying one (Skyscale) basically killed purpose of all other and killed map design.
I generally dislike flying mounts because it has no "drawbacks", like you can just "skip" all the design that was put into creation of the map and just fly over it. Ground mounts are enough fast and make you interact with the way the map was build. I rather have just ground mounts, flying mounts in most of the games are just gimmic.

LadyGP · August 19

Gabriel_H wrote: »

Flying mounts wouldn't be possible due to zones being seperate instances. It's not a conscious choice, it's a design limitation.

Bingo. ZoS would have done it if they could have.

Heren · August 19

Mai_Selph wrote: »

As a former WoW player, I do remember a lot of whining about how zones feel empty because everyone is using flying mounts. Sure, flying is very convenient, but we've got wayshrines for fast travel, and that does work okay.

Yes, wayshrines in ESO is just the flying mount of other games.

Also, strong doubt about the 'it's not implemented because it would break immersion'.

tomofhyrule · August 19

The big thing with flying (or swimming over slaughterfish) is the zone design. This game is designed with partitioned zones and natural barriers, and that means the intention is that you shouldn’t be able to fly over it. Even the major cities since Greymoor are their own worldspace from the rest of the zone (which is why the quest markers point to the city gate until you get outside)

I know that one of the main reasons people want flying is to bypass terrain. But if they ever did give flying mounts, be prepared for a bunch of invisible walls, because the point is to not bypass the terrain.

Not to mention the potential issues in PvP of flying into keeps, or flying up to IC bases, or being able to cross terrain without being funnelled through bridges or milegates.

Soarora · August 19

Mount swimming is just swimming but you don’t get kicked off your mount. Mount flying means building something new and adding invisible walls. I do want a real gryphon mount though, that flies when sprinting. But it can do so across the ground.

Elsonso · August 19

Gabriel_H wrote: »

Flying mounts wouldn't be possible due to zones being seperate instances. It's not a conscious choice, it's a design limitation.

I would suggest it is both.