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the scrapped spider mount


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I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

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@"Tommo Chocolate.5870" said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

It's probably in this Guild Chat: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Chat_-_Episode_53

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Mmm, well the wall clinging I suspect got reused for the skyscale. And I assume there may have been some Oakheart's Reach tech used for it. To be honest, I've never bought the arachnaphobia bit.

I think it's more likely that they just didn't think that it added the same amount of value as the other mounts do, or they decided they would "scrap it" until a future release.

I mean, just think of how many spider bosses we have in core Tyria alone. And they're adding "Lovecraftian" themed horrors in this season like the Boneskinner that should theoretically be far more terrifying, phobia or no phobia.

Or they just couldn't get the mount to work the way they wanted to and it was purely technological issues that prevented it from being fully implemented. To be honest though, I wouldn't be surprised to see it still released at some point even this season. I imagine we'll find a lot of caverns moving forward through this season in the shiverpeaks, and I wouldn't be surprised to find the introduction of a wall-crawling mount.

Outside of a wall-crawling mount, the only thing really left is an aquatic mount. But perhaps there are challenges with wall crawling, thus why the skyscale only clings and doesn't actually crawl up the wall.

I'd personally love a spider mount though. And I just really can't fathom how it would be any worse than some of the giant spiders we already have in game, or that the fear is that widespread that people in a fantasy land video game would be too sensitive to tolerate its presence. I mean, if that were the case then why do we have ranger pets that are spiders, much less giant boss spiders? I mean, a fractal whose boss is a giant creepy possessed spider. Sun's Refuge introductory phase in which you are literally carried across the room by a spider, with dozens of smaller spiders.

I'm just not buying that's the real reason, sorry.

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@Forty Keks.9620 said:

@Randulf.7614 said:Prob because that and its sister weapon Antonina are rarely seen or even noticed should anyone have it amongst the particle effects. A spider mount is much more obvious and would be easily seen everywhere.

there are spiders in the game that will try to kill you, should we delete those?

I stated the Poss reasoning, I never said I agreed with it

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Yeah no chance of ever having a spider...However we could possibly get a devourer, that is the closest thing to a spider we could have. And since Gorrik is in our team, since we are gonna have some Charr related story while knowing that in the past, Charr used giant devourer as a weapon...It would be awesome.

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@Tommo Chocolate.5870 said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

That's my understanding too.

I have arachophobia, and I know for me there's a huge difference between a spider enemy which is on screen relatively briefly and which I can usually keep at a distance and avoid looking at too closely thanks to tab targeting and a spider mount which would have to be in the centre of the screen the entire time I was using it (the way mounts work in this game not using it wouldn't be an option) and which I probably couldn't avoid watching. Not to mention spiders large enough to carry a player running around cities, popping up on top of the bank etc.

I know there's already spider pets and a couple of spider themed weapons but those are rare enough that I can move away from them and feel reasonably confident I'm not going to find another one on top of me.

(And yes I did that story step where a giant spider grabs you and Braham looking only at my skill bar, in a well lit room with my feet off the floor and out from under the desk. And then had to spend some time afterwards reassuring myself there were no spiders under the desk or otherwise around me. As a one-off I can live with that, but not every single time I play GW2.)

Having said that I doubt that was the only reason. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided it wasn't the best design for a mount. If it did work like the oakheart skill that would be a nightmare for trying to keep players from getting over/behind places they're not supposed to be. Which isn't much of a problem in the open world because you usually can't do anything, but you can break a story instance and have to start over from the beginning if you skip the invisible 'check points' which trigger steps. And in a game where some people complain about any type of challenging terrain 'forcing' jumping puzzles on everyone I doubt entire sections where there literally is no path and you're supposed to figure out how to run across the walls or hook onto a distant point and pull yourself up would be very popular. Even Draconis Mons has a straight forward (or rather helix) path if you don't want to use the oakheart skill and gliding to get there faster.

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If gw 1 had mounts in the day, and it would have spider mounts, there would be no problem. Regrettably its the age, where every minority can demand things, and take them away from the majority. If the first movie of Lord of the RIngs was released now, there would be complaining about the spider Queen probably. Oooh scary things, we cant have that.

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@Bloodstealer.5978 said:

@Tommo Chocolate.5870 said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

Well many people suffer from fear of heights.. best not get a flying mount or a glider.Ironically, for some reason flying mounts and gliders are okay. It's the ledges and narrow planks over chasms that i have trouble with (Cliffside for example can be a real pain).

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@Astralporing.1957 said:

@Tommo Chocolate.5870 said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

Well many people suffer from fear of heights.. best not get a flying mount or a glider.Ironically, for some reason flying mounts and gliders are okay. It's the ledges and narrow planks over chasms that i have trouble with (Cliffside for example can be a real pain).

Get gud or get splinters I say... but yeah no cliffs please ANET all must be flat!

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@Bloodstealer.5978 said:

@Tommo Chocolate.5870 said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

Well many people suffer from fear of heights.. best not get a flying mount or a glider.Some players have a fear of blood.... best not kill anything, better to run around chasing them butterflies insteadSome players get travel sickness .. beetles are a no no thenKnife crime is a thing... best get rid of swords, daggers, axes etc, better to suffocate them baddies with a hug.Some players just gotta whine and make excuses about anything these days .. long live the age of the snowflake, here to run ruin over the enjoyment for others whatever that may be.

Fear of XYZ tends to be a common reason not to do something. I was once told to take down a birdfeededer. Why? Not because it might attract squirrels or the like. Because some people were afraid of birds.

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@Menadena.7482 said:

@Tommo Chocolate.5870 said:I thought the reason the spider mount was scrapped was that arachnophobia is very common - which is not the same as it being too scary. Of course there are already spiders in the game as enemies, but they decided that, for an arachnophobe, controlling a spider would be worse than from fighting one. (This is all from memory though - I don't have a source.)

Personally I find Sikandar comical rather than scary, but perhaps that's just me.

Well many people suffer from fear of heights.. best not get a flying mount or a glider.Some players have a fear of blood.... best not kill anything, better to run around chasing them butterflies insteadSome players get travel sickness .. beetles are a no no thenKnife crime is a thing... best get rid of swords, daggers, axes etc, better to suffocate them baddies with a hug.Some players just gotta whine and make excuses about anything these days .. long live the age of the snowflake, here to run ruin over the enjoyment for others whatever that may be.

Fear of XYZ tends to be a common reason not to do something. I was once told to take down a birdfeededer? Why? Not because it might attract squirrels or the like. Because some people were afraid of birds.

Squirrels are Eeevil.. grease the bird feeder pole for comical revenge or buy one of those feeders that drop the ledge as soon as they climb on.. the ones in my garden have us in stitches, but they keep coming back for another performance day after day :)

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@particlepinata.9865 said:If gw 1 had mounts in the day, and it would have spider mounts, there would be no problem. Regrettably its the age, where every minority can demand things, and take them away from the majority. If the first movie of Lord of the RIngs was released now, there would be complaining about the spider Queen probably. Oooh scary things, we cant have that.

Don't forget this was a decision Anet made before PoF was even announced. It's not like they had spider mounts and there was a massive outcry or a campaign to have them removed, it was the same developers who were creating the mount system who decided, internally, not to include spiders.

If they hadn't decided to mention it as an example of how the design process works players would probably never have even thought that spider mounts might have been a possibility and no one would need to be upset that they don't exist.

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Ironically, for some reason flying mounts and gliders are okay. It's the ledges and narrow planks over chasms that i have trouble with (Cliffside for example can be a real pain).

Me too! I am glad I am not alone while also being sorry that other people deal with this. It's a game and there is no real danger but I can't stop the reaction to the ledges. I litterally get tense all over. Spiders I have zero issue with but if the reaction is at all similar to what I feel with ledges a spider mount could make this game really difficult to play for some people.

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@Danikat.8537 said:

Don't forget this was a decision Anet made before PoF was even announced. It's not like they had spider mounts and there was a massive outcry or a campaign to have them removed, it was the same developers who were creating the mount system who decided, internally, not to include spiders.

If they hadn't decided to mention it as an example of how the design process works players would probably never have even thought that spider mounts might have been a possibility and no one would need to be upset that they don't exist.Wasn't the spider mount data-mined and released on reddit? Then, there was the associated panic?

I may be mis-remembering.

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@"Forty Keks.9620" said:okay so can somebody tell me why the (fully modeled and ready) spider mount was scrapped for being "too scary" yet THIS https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sikandar is allowed to exist? this is literal nightmare fuel in weapon form.

I wish i had not clicked that link... not even sure this is SFW lolyeah... idk... granted if they said "We are adding a wasp skyscale or skimmer" i wouldn't be a fan because where i live those things are vicious monsters with up to half inch long stingers...

Its just to common for people to have a phobia of spiders

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@Super Hayes.6890 said:

Ironically, for some reason flying mounts and gliders are okay. It's the ledges and narrow planks over chasms that i have trouble with (Cliffside for example can be a real pain).

Me too! I am glad I am not alone while also being sorry that other people deal with this. It's a game and there is no real danger but I can't stop the reaction to the ledges. I litterally get tense all over. Spiders I have zero issue with but if the reaction is at all similar to what I feel with ledges a spider mount could make this game really difficult to play for some people.

Add me to the list. In addition to the flashing lights (I have epilepsy) another reason I did not get the latest mount was having to fly up a wing. I have no problem flying the mounts themselves (I tried the practice ones) because I always knew I could go down any time I wanted. It was having to be 'up' that high with clear things next to me showing how high I was. Can we all say vertigo?

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