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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Animal husbandry and cosmetic mounts
Kionashi
Member
I just watched the latest livestream and saw the cool variations mounts will have thanks to the animal husbandry system. But it got me thinking about how this system will interact with cosmetic mounts people can buy in store... because if all the cosmetic skins wont have a variation that would render the whole system pointless for the people who bought those since people who spend real money to get a skin for their mounts will probably want to use it most of the time so they wont ever see the base mount behind the skin.And if they decided to add variations to ALL skins (which would be an insane amount of work tbh) how would that interact with breeders? I mean if I as a breeder don't have that cosmetic skin, how could I make variations of said skin? do I need to buy a skin to be able to mingle with their variations? and what would happen with no longer obtainable skins?
Also I have another question...can you put any mount skin to all mounts? I mean can you turn your basic horse into a eldrich dragon? or an fiery fox? or do I need a base version of the same animal to be able to put the skin? by example I need a in game obtainable fox mount to be able to use the fiery fox mount skin on it. I think, if that's the case it would help with the skin problem in general, since variations can be passed to the skins if there is an in game achievable base model, by example, if you buy the Crystal lizard you get it, but if people can get a regular Lizard in game as a mount, and some cosmetic changes in the husbandry system make the lizard blue, you can still make your crystal lizard blue since is the base animal...
Also I have another question...can you put any mount skin to all mounts? I mean can you turn your basic horse into a eldrich dragon? or an fiery fox? or do I need a base version of the same animal to be able to put the skin? by example I need a in game obtainable fox mount to be able to use the fiery fox mount skin on it. I think, if that's the case it would help with the skin problem in general, since variations can be passed to the skins if there is an in game achievable base model, by example, if you buy the Crystal lizard you get it, but if people can get a regular Lizard in game as a mount, and some cosmetic changes in the husbandry system make the lizard blue, you can still make your crystal lizard blue since is the base animal...
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Comments
As for the cash shop cosmetics being "worth" it... I don't see the issue here. You can pay for a shiny new look for your horse or breed one with animal husbandry. You are paying for a specific skin, which replaces the creatures base skin. I highly doubt they will allow the store-bought skin to be changed around with animal husbandry because it has nothing to do with it in the first place. It is only a skin, and should not be factored into the combinations created through this process. Looks or otherwise.
the issue is, if most people will use skins for their mounts (since they bought them for a reason). they will see no value in engaging with the animal husbandry system at all since the cosmetic changes wont be perceived by their skins
of course they will. the animal husbandry system is not just cosmetic.
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Animal_husbandry
go read this and you will understand.
There are three different tiers of mount.[5]
Ground/land mounts.[5]
Gliding/jumping mounts.[5]
Royal/flying mounts.[5]
Aquatic/swimming mounts are classified as tier A.[6][7]
Mount speeds are determined by the base mount that the skin is applied to.[8]
Aquatic mounts are faster in water and slower on land. Land mounts are faster on land and slower in water.[9]
Cosmetic skins can be applied to the appearance of mounts that were earned in game.[2][10]
Mount skins are applicable to specific classes of mounts.[11]
For example, the Ramstrider skin will only be applicable to the class of land mounts (tier 1), and the Nighthunter Gryphon skin is only applicable to the class of royal mounts (tier 3).[11]
Certain tier 2 mount skins (such as the Emberstorm Dragon) can be upgraded to tier 3 skins if they also apply to royal mounts.[5]
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Mounts
Speed, Energy, Health, and Armor... These are things that will carry value.
No sense in having a riced out skin if it can't preform.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
So you can't turn your basic horse into an elder dragon, but you can still turn it into a crystal lizard, a Giant tortoise or a Stone golem since they are all ground mounts?....can't say Im a fan of that..I think it would be better if we had tortoise skins for tortoises, horse skins for horses and so on...at least I think it makes more sense and would give us a reason to collect several mounts and not just having 1 mount per tier.
And I see the animal husbandry system wont be only about cosmetics since it will affect the stats of the mount, but we can't ignore the treat that is still rendering pointless the whole cosmetic aspect of it since I believe most players, specially in the endgame, will have at least some mount skins.
Lets be clear. Cosmetics are purely the preference of the player. Some will like the base skins, some will like the skin rewards in the game, and some will like the store bought skins. You have the freedom to choose but it sounds like you want to get rid of peoples choice believing your opinion "on which skin looks kewler" is better than theirs.
I don't think it is pointless. It is like saying that Chocobos are pointless in FFXIV. As it stands right now, Chocobos are the only mounts in the game that you can customize. You can do various things to change their colors, and you can equip them with gear sets to change the way they look.
You could say that the store mounts or earned mounts in the game make Chocobos pointless, but many people still use Chocobos because you can customize them so much. Unless there is some obscure gear I am not aware of for Chocobos in FFXIV that is from the shop. Everything about the Chocobos system is earned in game.
This is not an apples to apples comparison, but the systems are similar enough. You have an in game system that is complex and customizable, vs store bought or earned cosmetics.
I think for both games, you should see a healthy mix of people using both systems. The main difference is that in Ashes breed, mounts will be much more valuable because they have different stats, and they are not just given to the player by the game. That and in Ashes all players will need some sort of mount as their base.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.