In a lot of MMO's, I feel like there is a lot of missed potential concerning mounts, a lot of more modern and traditional MMO's simply treat mounts as a glorified speed buff, but they have the potential to be so much more to the player!
Alright, so first let's talk about; What is a mount?
Mount is a term used to describe getting on top of something, in this case we're talking about beasts of burden such as Horses, Camels, Pack Llamas and Ox. They're living breathing creatures that people grow emotionally attached to, man and beast forming a symbiotic relationship, meaning that they both benefit from one another.
So? Why is this important for an MMO?
The best games are ones that we care about, it's the ones that get us emotional, when something bad happens, we get angry or sad, but when something good happens, we feel it even more too! I guarantee people will not get angry or overjoyed about things they do not care about, it's this sort of investment in the game from players that makes it special to them.
And? What exactly are you suggesting?
Well, I have a few ideas of how we can make mounts better, the first thing that I will suggest is the ability to name mounts, naming your mount will make it stand out and start an attachment, instead of brown horse 9999 it's Henry, Henry is your horse.
The Second thing I would suggest is a bit of interaction with your mount, sure, you can tap spacebar in most games and your horse rears and neighs, but we can do better, it may sound silly, but let us pat our mounts, brush them this even goes into my next suggestion
Let the mounts get spooked by hostile mobs, you'd have to calm it, instead of mobs hitting you until your mount disappears, let it buck you off and run away when it gets too scared, maybe even proximity to hostiles triggers this unless it's some type of war mount, which goes into my next point.
Different mounts are better at different things, I like the direction which Intrepid is taking with mounts already in this regard, so great job.
Thanks for reading, I am getting tired so I will wrap the post up, but I will probably add more to this thread later. Have a wonderful day everyone!
