What has happened with the raptor mount?

[sttevenoj.6854]

Hi all. 
I’m sorry if I have misunderstood but I’m confused.

my friend and I started gw2 over a year ago but we  had to stop playing at around level 40 due to irl problems. We  were really enjoying the game so now that we can we have started playing again.

when we were playing before we realised we loved the game and would continue to play so we both bought the full game. 
mat the time we discussed using the 80 boost just to get the first Mount , so we could go back and continue levelling with the Mount.

we decided that nether of us wanted to do this because it would take something away from the thrill of getting our first Mount.

I have always felt, in every mmo I have played, that getting the first Mount was one of the best bits of playing a new game.

I love the feeling of accomplishment when you finish the challenges required and ride proudly out on your hard earned Mount .

Even though we knew that, even if we used the 80 boost we would still ned to finis the first few quests of the expansion to get the mount so we’d still have a feeling of achievement we wanted to wait and play through all of the core gameplay on foot just to make getting that first Mount feel even more exciting. 

So we’re enjoying levelling again and looking forward to finally getting our first Mount and suddenly boom ! 
I have the Mount? 
no quest no grind no wait no explanation.

i thought it must be a mistake, apart from anything else it is completely immersion braking. 
Surly this could at least be woven in to the story? 
but no , it seem I now have the rapport mount with no build up no effort no sense of accomplishment no thrill on riding my new mount . 
please someone tell me I’ve got this wrong?

i feel so disappointed ☹️ 

[Arianth Moonlight.6453]

2 minutes ago, sttevenoj.6854 said:

no build up no effort no sense of accomplishment no thrill on riding my new mount

 ignore all mounts and go get yourself a Skyscale then 🙃

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Gw2 mounts being good is what is Gw2 I known for. 

So giving new players a taste of them from the start increases the chance they stay. 

[Hashberry.4510]

Mmo games live too long and eventually eat themselves to keep going. If you enjoy learning and mastering a complex game, late stage is disappointing.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Hashberry.4510

[Danikat.8537]

If it's any consolation unlocking the raptor never worked the way you're imagining. During the first story step in PoF you complete a heart (which has some raptor-themed tasks like collecting food for them, but otherwise is like any other heart) and at the end of it you get a pop-up announcing that you've unlocked the raptor (the same one you got when you levelled up). It gives it a bit of a story justification rather than coming out of nowhere but there's no challenge or 'grind' required beyond completing that part of the story step.

Also the story hasn't been changed so you'll still be able to do all of that as part of starting PoF.

The springer, skimmer and jackal are the same, just encountered later in PoF - you find the right location (the story sends you there for the springer and skimmer), complete the heart and buy an item from the heart vendor to unlock the mount.

The other mounts (griffon, skyscale, warclaw, roller beetle and turtle) do have more of a process to unlock them, but the raptor was always the basic mount. The only reason it took until PoF to unlock it is they didn't introduce mounts before then.

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

It has been like that since PoF's launch. You didn't grind or quest around for the Raptor, you did the first mission of PoF and bam you have the Raptor. There were no requirements, a level 2 could get carried through the first mission and get the Raptor unlocked.

The first 3 mounts are easy to get, they have been easy to get because PoF's story was built around them, the game tells you to work on your mount masteries and to get each of those mounts, otherwise it won't let you progress the story.

[TheNecrosanct.4028]

It's an incentive for player retention. Last year they made it so that when you reach level 10 you unlock the Raptor mount (provided you purchased an expansion). But you still need to be level 80 and own Path of Fire to be able to unlock the masteries. The other mounts aren't automatically unlocked. You'll get to them once you start the PoF story.

[Linken.6345]

10 minutes ago, TheNecrosanct.4028 said:

It's an incentive for player retention. Last year they made it so that when you reach level 10 you unlock the Raptor mount (provided you purchased an expansion). But you still need to be level 80 and own Path of Fire to be able to unlock the masteries. The other mounts aren't automatically unlocked. You'll get to them once you start the PoF story.

and if your over lvl 10 its 20,30,40,50,60,70 and 80 if all your characters are 80 you need to do first mission in pof, first mission in eod or buy a character and make a new one.

[sttevenoj.6854]

Wow , so many great responses so fast! and none of them toxic! I love this game.

i feel a little bit better about the mount now,

I still wonder if there could be some way to integrate the mount into the game storey, even if it was just making it available to buy from a vendor? 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

If you want story-unlocking of Raptor, visit Path of Fire or End of Dragons.  Otherwise, it will likely stay as is.

[QueenKeriti.5176]

They had to do it to stop (especially new/returning) players from going straight to the first PoF mission in the first 5 seconds of owning their account and thereby spoiling literally the entire first 5 years of story for the sake of one of the best QoL items we've had added to the game. 🫠

[Elden Arnaas.4870]

   If it bothers you to use it, you totally don't have to.  Don't bind a key.  Don't click on the button.  Until you complete the first chapter of Path Of Fire.  They haven't made it a requirement to have anywhere you didn't need it before.  It's still optional until you get to PoF.

It's a wonderful convenience, which many players sought to get early.(so they made a better way) But it isn't required anywhere it wasn't required before.  You have no need to use it until you get to PoF.  You can ignore it until then.

  Or you could get creative and make up your own quests, where each of your characters earns one independently.  At whatever point you think is appropriate.  It could be your own addition to each of your characters' personal story.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Elden Arnaas.4870
clarification

[sttevenoj.6854]

Thanks guys for all the constructive comments.

don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand why it’s a good idea to introduce a mount earlier in the game

I understand why this change was concerned necessary. I can see that it will be good for player retention , and will stop people jumping straight to pof. to get the mount ( something I considered doing) the only reason I decided not to jump forward was because I wanted to experience the proper flow of the game. 
I would have been very happy for the mount to be available earlier I just would have liked it to be part of the story somehow.

I can see that as a retrospective way of bringing the mount into the early game this I the quickest and easiest way to do it. It’s obviously not how the mount would have been introduced if it was part of the original game design.

I did read that there may be a  rework of the new player experience planned in the near future? I don’t even know if this is accurate. 
If so maybe this will be changed a little by making the Mount available at level 10 as a purchase from a vendor something or something like that. 
I did think about your situation Elden of just not using the mount until I reached the appropriate point in the game , but I don’t have nearly enough self control! It is a very impressive mount and I’m really enjoying using it. 
Anyway thank you all for your comments I’ll stop grumbling and get on with enjoying the game ( and my new mount) 

I look forward to working on getting all the rest of the mounts and maybe bumping into some of you at endgame.

 

 

 

[Lucy.3728]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:42 PM, sttevenoj.6854 said:

we decided that nether of us wanted to do this because it would take something away from the thrill of getting our first Mount.

Since you get your first mount automatically after the first mission in Path of Fire, there is no feeling of accomplishment because it is no challenge, no effort. It just gets unlocked after the mission and done. The mount with effort is the Skyscale. The SotO way less than the classic way, but still effort.

Also when you still play the core story or areas there would be a long way till the Path of Fire areas unless you start skipping stuff after all. Like the entirety of Heart of Thorns and all in-between seasons.

[Linken.6345]

5 hours ago, sttevenoj.6854 said:

Thanks guys for all the constructive comments.

don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand why it’s a good idea to introduce a mount earlier in the game

I understand why this change was concerned necessary. I can see that it will be good for player retention , and will stop people jumping straight to pof. to get the mount ( something I considered doing) the only reason I decided not to jump forward was because I wanted to experience the proper flow of the game. 
I would have been very happy for the mount to be available earlier I just would have liked it to be part of the story somehow.

I can see that as a retrospective way of bringing the mount into the early game this I the quickest and easiest way to do it. It’s obviously not how the mount would have been introduced if it was part of the original game design.

I did read that there may be a  rework of the new player experience planned in the near future? I don’t even know if this is accurate. 
If so maybe this will be changed a little by making the Mount available at level 10 as a purchase from a vendor something or something like that. 
I did think about your situation Elden of just not using the mount until I reached the appropriate point in the game , but I don’t have nearly enough self control! It is a very impressive mount and I’m really enjoying using it. 
Anyway thank you all for your comments I’ll stop grumbling and get on with enjoying the game ( and my new mount) 

I look forward to working on getting all the rest of the mounts and maybe bumping into some of you at endgame.

 

 

 

Were did you read that they may do a rework of the new player experience?

In my opinion each reowork have made it worse.