When did EQ mounts come along?

[Tehwoot]

Originally Posted by Treefall [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I really liked mounts, and the idea of them, at the time they were released.

However, looking back I think they were a horrible thing to implement in EverQuest.

The mounts gave a perma-med, fast-movement stance. It changed the game dramatically in my viewpoint, at least in terms of leveling and small groups.

They were immediately no longer a luxury but rather a requirement.

In my mind they were a small part of destroying the vastness of the world and class uniqueness. Equalizing travel was a first and easy step for SOE to make without facing too much resistance.

As changes go, however, they snowball. The fast travel of Luclin wasn't fast enough so even faster travel was added. The mount speeds of Luclin, outside of knights, weren't fast enough so even faster mounts were added. Then it was easy to step into (and it started in Luclin) no other class has this, let's give it to this.

I digress, but I feel like the implementation of mounts, and Luclin in general, really started a major shift in the core gameplay of EverQuest for the negative. If you look at the monster EQLive is today it all stems off of the changes started with Luclin. Kunark and Velious very much kept EQ true...Luclin, PoP, etc - not so much.

Just my 2 cents.

So looking back...I hate EQ mounts. With a passion. Would I be okay if only one class had them as a unique ability (say both knights), yes...everyone - no.

this

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by Treefall [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I really liked mounts, and the idea of them, at the time they were released.

However, looking back I think they were a horrible thing to implement in EverQuest.

The mounts gave a perma-med, fast-movement stance. It changed the game dramatically in my viewpoint, at least in terms of leveling and small groups.

They were immediately no longer a luxury but rather a requirement.

In my mind they were a small part of destroying the vastness of the world and class uniqueness. Equalizing travel was a first and easy step for SOE to make without facing too much resistance.

As changes go, however, they snowball. The fast travel of Luclin wasn't fast enough so even faster travel was added. The mount speeds of Luclin, outside of knights, weren't fast enough so even faster mounts were added. Then it was easy to step into (and it started in Luclin) no other class has this, let's give it to this.

I digress, but I feel like the implementation of mounts, and Luclin in general, really started a major shift in the core gameplay of EverQuest for the negative. If you look at the monster EQLive is today it all stems off of the changes started with Luclin. Kunark and Velious very much kept EQ true...Luclin, PoP, etc - not so much.

Just my 2 cents.

So looking back...I hate EQ mounts. With a passion. Would I be okay if only one class had them as a unique ability (say both knights), yes...everyone - no.

Yes, this exactly. It's why I say that people usually misunderstand how game design works. The heart of a game, any game, is what you *can't* do, not what you can do. Making things 'better', 'fixing' things, ( i.e. removing things you can't do ) very rarely, if ever improves the game.

[bomaroast]

Originally Posted by Treefall [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I digress, but I feel like the implementation of mounts, and Luclin in general, really started a major shift in the core gameplay of EverQuest for the negative. If you look at the monster EQLive is today it all stems off of the changes started with Luclin. Kunark and Velious very much kept EQ true...Luclin, PoP, etc - not so much.

The game had to be pushed forward or it would have turned into a troll's haven much like p99. Perhaps the changes introduced in luclin weren't the best, but they were still pretty dang fun. Raiding in PoP and OoW was a lot of fun and worth changes to the game.

[Andervin]

Originally Posted by nilbog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's how I made this work for my magician.

Step 1. Use old character models.
Step 2. Use Amulet of Necropotence for (luclin) skeleton model.
Step 3. For instant stop, remove Illusion: Skeleton. It would put you in old model and dismiss horse.

Very clever.

[Lagaidh]

Originally Posted by nilbog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's how I made this work for my magician.

Step 1. Use old character models.
Step 2. Use Amulet of Necropotence for (luclin) skeleton model.
Step 3. For instant stop, remove Illusion: Skeleton. It would put you in old model and dismiss horse.

When I finally DID land an AoN, I turned those luclin models right the fuck back off for male dwarves for sure! I also liked being an undead paladin =)

[Atmas]

Originally Posted by nilbog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's how I made this work for my magician.

Step 1. Use old character models.
Step 2. Use Amulet of Necropotence for (luclin) skeleton model.
Step 3. For instant stop, remove Illusion: Skeleton. It would put you in old model and dismiss horse.

Yes, this was awesome for PvP on my wiz. Had the horse from the Emperor, could come out of warp on people and start nuking.

Also... this seems to be a suspect amount of knowledge for a Luclin hater. (>_<)

[nilbog]

Originally Posted by Atmas [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes, this was awesome for PvP on my wiz. Had the horse from the Emperor, could come out of warp on people and start nuking.

Also... this seems to be a suspect amount of knowledge for a Luclin hater. (>_<)

Know your enemy.

[Nads]

Originally Posted by Atmas [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes, this was awesome for PvP on my wiz. Had the horse from the Emperor, could come out of warp on people and start nuking.

Also... this seems to be a suspect amount of knowledge for a Luclin hater. (>_<)

Nilbog is known for his hate of said expansion.

[Treefall]

Originally Posted by Nads [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Nilbog is known for his hate of said expansion.

Secretly he roleplays a Cat from the Moon on EQLive.

[uygi]

My favorite part was how in beta the FAQ included a question about mounts, and they more or less said "no fucking way". SOE did such a 180 from 989.

Tried to find the beta FAQ but it doesn't look like the wayback machine ever picked it up =(