This may be unpopular, but an easy Skyscale mount?

[frazazel.7501]

I would actually agree if we still had to go through the LWS4 unlock. I did it last summer before SotO released, and it was a long grind. The skyscale is not strictly required, but maps are being designed with the understanding that many players have a skyscale. The general rule of thumb is that things that are required shouldn't be gated harshly, but things that are mostly prestige can be gated in a really big way.

Skyscale originally released when the devs thought the game might be ending. So they made a big prestige goal with a whole lot of steps to keep players busy, and to give them a useful, prestigious reward for doing so. Every map released up to that point had been designed without the possibility of players having a skyscale, so it was considered a non-required goal.

But that hasn't entirely stayed true over time. Skyscale still is only actually required in SotO, where you get it for free whether you've unlocked it or not. But it was getting problematic to gate this strong mount behind a huge set of collection achievements in old content. It was wholly appropriate that SotO made the skyscale unlock much faster and easier. Honestly, I wouldn't have complained if they'd streamlined it even more than they did, but given that it's still mostly a QoL mount rather than a strictly required mount, I feel like they found an acceptable middle ground. I think that it is now in a place where it's more work than unlocking a general mastery, but it's still an achievable goal for all players.

[Zera.9435]

3 minutes ago, frazazel.7501 said:

Skyscale originally released when the devs thought the game might be ending.

At no point in the past 12 years have the devs thought the game might be ending. If they did, as you say, we wouldn't have gotten any content after we beat Kralk.

[Danikat.8537]

1 hour ago, Zeivu.3615 said:

I remember when the Skyscale was first released. People bitched so hard because it took way longer to get and had way more arbitrary time gating.

It's easier than ever before and you now have two options, two paths to use if you want it and more benefits if you complete both.

No. Toughen up buttercup.

Even then the time gating was only a problem if you were trying to grind it as quickly as possible.

I was deliberately pacing myself with the skyscale because I knew there was a risk of burning myself out (my immediately reaction was pretty much "OMG Dragon! Must have dragon!") and there was only once I was aware I'd hit a time gate, because all the other times I'd done a 'section' and decided to stop anyway. Even then it was only because I wanted to check what was coming next and got told I'd have to wait for her to grow up and come back later. Next time I logged in the next step was ready to go.

I'm not sure this applies to the OP but I think some people misunderstood what was meant by 'time gating' or forget how collections in this game work and were under the impression that once you'd started you had to complete it as quickly as possible or you'd somehow lose progress, which isn't the case. If you're not motivated to grind the skyscale collection (or anything else) you can take as long as you like, doing a little bit whenever you feel like it.

[SuavePuppy.2809]

On 6/5/2024 at 10:31 AM, Astewart.8415 said:

I'd like a way to get it immediately.

Y'know, jokes have been made about people just saying "gimme" when it comes to working towards things in this game, but few have actually spelled it out so clearly in plain text. Gotta respect the transparency, even if it's ridiculous.

[Manpag.6421]

2 hours ago, frazazel.7501 said:

Skyscale still is only actually required in SotO, where you get it for free whether you've unlocked it or not.

Even then, the skyscale is required for a minority of content in SotO. Intended and most convenient, sure, but outside of skyscale target practice adventures and one or two mechanics that specifically need it (dodge through things/carry astral spellbombs), there's surprisingly little absolutely locked behind it.

I think it says a lot about skyscale's role as just a convenience mount that even the expansion completely designed around skyscale doesn't actually need it for the most part. Even the achievements that say "While mounted on your sksycale...".

[Cyninja.2954]

Here is Mukluk's Video guide on acquiring the new Skyscale in SotO, he mentions the materials required early on. This is already the sped up version of acquiring this mount. If the developers wanted to just sell it, they would not have gone through the entire length of adding an alternative version to begin with.

 

I'm sorry, we are looking at around 50g worth of materials in a time where the Wizard Vault exists. This mount is more than unlock-able in 1 day or maybe around 3-4 hours. The most time unfriendly aspect might be the 12 Charged Quartz here.

It is very doubtful that the developers will make it even easier than this. Maybe they will in a few years, similar to how they are now moving to making underwater weapons available on land. You can bet on that and wait or complete the methods available to you now.

Edited June 6 by Cyninja.2954

[Astewart.8415]

42 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

Here is Mukluk's Video guide on acquiring the new Skyscale in SotO, he mentions the materials required early on. This is already the sped up version of acquiring this mount. If the developers wanted to just sell it, they would not have gone through the entire length of adding an alternative version to begin with.

 

I'm sorry, we are looking at around 50g worth of materials in a time where the Wizard Vault exists. This mount is more than unlock-able in 1 day or maybe around 3-4 hours. The most time unfriendly aspect might be the 12 Charged Quartz here.

It is very doubtful that the developers will make it even easier than this. Maybe they will in a few years, similar to how they are now moving to making underwater weapons available on land. You can bet on that and wait or complete the methods available to you now.

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

[Parasite.5389]

20 minutes ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading!

the first video you linked was from 2 Years ago, things have changed

[Omega.6801]

26 minutes ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

It's all relative to how much time you have to play per day of course. If you only play 15min per day and only get to play one day every two weeks then it will take you longer than someone who plays three hours a day on four days each week. This should be common sense. It's just how time works.

Edited June 6 by Omega.6801

[Danikat.8537]

13 minutes ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

There are two seperate and different ways of getting the skyscale. One of them is considerably quicker than the other. Therefore how look it took people to do it the long way is not relevant to how long it could take to do it the new, quicker way.

Also days/weeks/months is not a very helpful way of measuring how much time something in a game takes, because people have different amounts of free time. I average about 2 hours per day (and in reality it's very variable between days), whereas some people play 8+ hours a day, so something which takes me 4 days (and might take a week in total if I can't play 3 days that week) would take them 1 day.

[Randulf.7614]

3 hours ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

Not misleading, just out of date

[Turin.6921]

4 hours ago, Astewart.8415 said:

I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 

Looks at the date, see that it is years old and search for a more recent source. This is how the internet works in general.
Like did you not even know about SotO? The skyscale was everywhere as the focus of the expansion. If you just looked at the offcial wiki or the website you would know.

[Hemi.5267]

It's basically a legendary mount... those are supposed to take up some time no? 

[borisslav.9026]

So we're still complaining that skyscale is difficult to get? We're practically complaining that the game expects us to play the game... After the original way to get a skyscale was made a lot easier, and then we got an even easier way to obtain it in SotO, the only way to make it easier than that would be for Rubi to show up at your door and hand you a fully grown and traited skyscale. 

[Blazing Rathalos.1904]

15 hours ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

Those videos were old, from before SotO. That's entirely your own fault.

If you don't know enough about a subject, how about you ask people whether you understand it correctly first? Rather than immediately grandstanding your proposal.

[TheNecrosanct.4028]

22 hours ago, Astewart.8415 said:

If this is true, then those youtube videos I've been looking at are very, very misleading! Also people in this thread have said it took them weeks to get their Skyscale. I've seen people post on Reddit their Gryphon took them a month. I mean, what am I supposed to think? ... 😔😩

 

What were you supposed to think? Maybe check some other sources when acquisition times seem to radically differ per person. At the very least this would raise some questions, right? Anyway, the minimum time needed to unlock a skyscale is 3 days and 8 hours. Source: GW2 Wiki.

If people say it took them weeks it's because they didn't have the time to play and get it faster. Initially upon release of the skyscale, the timegate between steps was 24 hours instead of the 2 hours it is now. They changed that a few weeks after the story patch was released and I already had my skyscale by then. Took maybe about a week, provided you can spend some time playing every day.

[Dark Red Killian.3946]

It was a great quest when it came out, because I remember doing it. Took me 3 weeks to get it from start to finish, without any kind of guide. There were really good markers showing where to go and what to do. Back then it was time gated, so some things were only once a day. Doing it this way made it less of a grind so you would have to go play the game or do other stuff while you wait for the next day. People complained about the timegate, and they shortened the time. Now that you can rush through things, it makes it feel like such a grind because that's all you're working towards until you get it. Back then, it released as part of the finish of LW season, so pretty much EVERYONE had done all the path of fire content, had all the other mounts, etc. The skyscale was not meant to be your first mount. Call it the legendary mount, if you will. If you jump into it with the mindset this is the mount you want to get immediately, it's going to seem overwhelming. If you want the skyscale faster without much grind, unlock it through the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:28 AM, Astewart.8415 said:

...almost mandatory mounts...

There is no content you need it for that it isn't provided for.

I never bothered getting it and I don't plan to. It's not required.

[Scratchpaw.1069]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:29 PM, frazazel.7501 said:

You are complaining about things that you haven't even looked into yet. EVERYBODY gets a free skyscale within SotO, whether they've done the unlock or not. It's impossible to be on a SotO map without having access to skyscale.

As for you first point: No. You're asking the devs to sell something to take away the gameplay that they've given us. If you don't want to spend a reasonable amount of time to unlock a game feature, then I'm not sure why you're playing an MMO like GW2. Do you not enjoy earning rewards?

It’s the ‘instant gratification generation’ spoiled by youtube shorts and tiktok videos. They aren’t used to earning their reward and want everything instantly. They have the attention span of a goldfish I’m afraid…

[Skub.8240]

The only reason why the soto skyscale takes anywhere near a week is because of the charged quartz. You can hammer out the rest of the grind in like a day or two, MMOs and time gated currency go hand in hand.

I will, however, remain firm that designing soto so heavily around the skyscale was a mistake and it factors a lot into the negative reactions to those zones, even if people don't always expressly state it. Giving someone a cool convenience tool they have to earn is nice, people typically appreciate it. Then going on to make it mandatory tends to hurt gameplay and game design overall. Before soto the reward for doing your skyscale grind was being able to fly over maps and skip some platforming. After soto, your reward for doing the skyscale grind was being able to interact with with the zones as intended. It's mechanical power creep, basically and I hope future maps don't demand such heavy usage of it.

Edited June 9 by Skub.8240

[Randulf.7614]

8 minutes ago, Skub.8240 said:

The only reason why the soto skyscale takes anywhere near a week is because of the charged quartz. You can hammer out the rest of the grind in like a day or two, MMOs and time gated currency go hand in hand.

I will, however, remain firm that designing soto so heavily around the skyscale was a mistake and it factors a lot into the negative reactions to those zones, even if people don't always expressly state it. Giving someone a cool convenience tool they have to earn is nice, people typically appreciate it. Then going on to make it mandatory tends to hurt gameplay and game design overall. Before soto the reward for doing your skyscale grind was being able to fly over maps and skip some platforming. After soto, your reward for doing the skyscale grind was being able to interact with with the zones as intended. It's mechanical power creep, basically and I hope future maps don't demand such heavy usage of it.

I don't see how it's different to HoT and the gliders and HoT (these days) is regarded by many to be the best expansion in the game. Or Draconis Mons and the grappling hook - at the time one of the most well received map releases.

I don't think it really hurt map design. I find Skywatch and Amnytas to be decent maps. It's only Nayos which is rather bland and uninteresting given its potential

[Skub.8240]

1 minute ago, Randulf.7614 said:

I don't see how it's different to HoT and the gliders and HoT (these days) is regarded by many to be the best expansion in the game. Or Draconis Mons and the grappling hook - at the time one of the most well received map releases.

I don't think it really hurt map design. I find Skywatch and Amnytas to be decent maps. It's only Nayos which is rather bland and uninteresting given its potential

You can't really get around Amnytas and Skywatch on foot, that's why they have to give players a rental skyscale. The glider was a big change, and did alter how maps were designed with a lot more verticality but there aren't that many areas, and especially areas that block direct progression and exploration, where you absolutely need a glider until you start reaching very specific situations like the mouth of mordremoth fight. You can even get around most of PoF on foot, and that place has a good swathe of areas very explicitly intended for you to use a skimmer or other mount. The same can not be said for soto's areas since the entire map design is just a bunch of floating islands that, if you're lucky, have leylines or updrafts between them.

[Obnoxa.6702]

On 6/5/2024 at 10:31 AM, Astewart.8415 said:

I forgot about SoTO

You want a skyscale, took the time to watch a video and then took the time to create a whole post on the forums about how time consuming it is to get a skyscale, meanwhile you "forgot" about an entire xpak that was built around getting a skyscale in a more timely fashion?
That's... convenient.

If doing a few quests and waiting a few days is such an issue, play WoW, you can buy mounts there without hassle.

Grind... /laughs in Everquest.
 

[Darkvramp.5640]

On 6/4/2024 at 10:51 PM, Vayne.8563 said:

This is false. It gives you different masteries than the Season 4 Skyscale, but Soto skyscales can be used on any map.

What's probably causing the confusion is that before you get a skyscale, there are skyscales laying around that anyone can use on the Soto maps. The same is true on Dragonfall once you get to that step of the story.

also if you have both expansions, getting both masteries grants a small boost the skyscale to make it a little better.

[Vayne.8563]

38 minutes ago, Darkvramp.5640 said:

also if you have both expansions, getting both masteries grants a small boost the skyscale to make it a little better.

Yes, absolutely, but it's worth mentioning that in order to unlock those masteries, you have to go through the process of getting both skyscales. It's a long haul, particularly for the Season 4 skyscale..