Flying mounts, simple solution

[Smart College Boy.3249]

It's too late to completely remove flying mounts from this game, but here's a simple compromise.

Only allow flying in a zone you 100% completed.

Problem solved

** pats himself on the back **

Definitely a SmartCollegeBoy!!!

[bq pd.2148]

21 minutes ago, Smart College Boy.3249 said:

It's too late to completely remove flying mounts from this game, but here's a simple compromise.

one does not have to compromise with every idea.

now what exactly is the problem you think you have solved?

[Panda.1967]

How about… no.

First off, every zone from Soto was designed with the intent of flight being the primary form of transportation.

Secondly, flying mounts in GW2 are not actually a problem in any content. The flight system here doesn’t actually allow you to effortlessly skip all encounters, you have to really know the map to use flight to navigate everywhere with 100% safety, and even then this just simply isn’t possible on some maps.

Finally, ANet actually knows how to design maps with flight in mind. They have added arial hazards in locations where they don’t want you to fly unimpeeded, they create large open expanses in places where they want flying to be even more hazardous forcing you to land where you might not want to. And, they already locked flying mounts behind expensive and fairly grindy unlock achievements.

[Isopod.4156]

Yea I wanna have to do all the hearts to be able to fly

[Smart College Boy.3249]

16 minutes ago, Panda.1967 said:

First off, every zone from Soto was designed with the intent of flight being the primary form of transportation.

 

That's the problem. 

It adds more complications to design decisions when creating new zones. Everything has to be designed with flying in the back of the minds of developers. If flying was restricted to maps that were 100% completed, it would give the developers more freedom in designing such content. This doesn't mean every new zone has to act that way. They can still add a zone or two with flying allowed earlier. 

Edited September 6 by Smart College Boy.3249

[Parasite.5389]

just no.

this isn't WoW or XiV, rep grinds and aether currents are annoying AF

[Panda.1967]

4 minutes ago, Smart College Boy.3249 said:

That's the problem. 

It adds more complications to design decisions when creating new zones. Everything has to be designed with flying in the back of the minds of developers. If flying was restricted to maps that were 100% completed, it would give the developers more freedom in designing such content. This doesn't mean every new zone has to act that way. They can still add a zone or two with flying allowed earlier. 

That is NOT a problem at all. Arena Net has done a phenomenal job at designing new maps unhindered by the existence of flying mounts. And the “design decisions” they “have to keep in the back of their minds” are not actually design constraints. They have so many options to limit the effectiveness of flight anywhere they want that it is nearly effortless. Due to how flight works in this game, it actually takes more effort to design a map to be easy to navigate with flight.

[Zebulous.2934]

If you wanted to be able to start a turtle taxi service, you should have just said so.

I imagine a veteran could earn a fair amount in tips by carrying new players to difficult to reach destinations.  By locking flight behind map completion you substantially increase your customer base.  Even I haven't bothered to 100% most maps.

Excellent misdirection by the way, most folks don't group the turtle in with the flying mounts.  

You can still run a turtle taxi, there is no need to to be greedy and ground everyone else.

[DeanBB.4268]

That would also highly discourage alt usage and development.

Wouldn't all zones then have to be designed much simpler since it would be required to complete without access a flying mount would gain? No springer-ing up one tower to fly over to the objective?

I'm not seeing a problem here that needs solving.

[KryTiKaL.3125]

34 minutes ago, Parasite.5389 said:

just no.

this isn't WoW or XiV, rep grinds and aether currents are annoying AF

Even WoW is now just enabling Skyriding immediately, even for new expansions. It was unlocked and you can fly in the new areas right off the bat, it was also very quickly unlocked in Dragonflight as a part of the main quest series and it unlocked across your entire account.

Only thing you have to unlock in the new expansion is the old flight, a toggle, and that just requires fully revealing every new zone.

[Parasite.5389]

1 minute ago, KryTiKaL.3125 said:

Even WoW is now just enabling Skyriding immediately, even for new expansions. It was unlocked and you can fly in the new areas right off the bat, it was also very quickly unlocked in Dragonflight as a part of the main quest series and it unlocked across your entire account.

Only thing you have to unlock in the new expansion is the old flight, a toggle, and that just requires fully revealing every new zone.

So even WoW realizes that locking your playerbase out of a feature they've already unlocked is a bad idea

[Drakkon.4782]

1 hour ago, Smart College Boy.3249 said:

That's the problem.

No, the problem is once flying has been added to a game, failing to take into account how players will use it to circumvent encounters they do not find engaging or fun is something the developers MUST handle themselves.  The developers just need to consider how flying mounts will interact with their quest paths, and, for the most part, they have.  From Path of Fire on, there is a clear understanding in how the zones were put together that they expected and encouraged players to have flying mounts and to use them, and provided assistance in either getting them, or getting around needing them until they could get one.  If you don't have a flying mount at this point, that's on you.  Except for time-gated sections, the rest of the collections can be done in an afternoon.

[Dean Calaway.9718]

I don't thinks anyone here understood what OP is all about.

The problem is, mounts in general just make the maps smaller.

Mount Maelstrom used to feel sizable enough, going up there to get the Vista, before coming all the way and find an entry point to make your way to the center was a bit of a journey. Today with mounts, Skyscale in particular, that whole area feels a fraction of the size, you don't need to look around for a path anymore, make your way up in a jiffy, glide down in a second, no sense of exploration.

The same is true about every other map in game, GW2 as is today just feels tiny, no longer we have to look around for paths or stop and look to see how are we gonna get down a mountain, just fly down there or brute force your way up to anything.

[Parasite.5389]

12 minutes ago, Dean Calaway.9718 said:

I don't thinks anyone here understood what OP is all about.

The problem is, mounts in general just make the maps smaller.

Mount Maelstrom used to feel sizable enough, going up there to get the Vista, before coming all the way and find an entry point to make your way to the center was a bit of a journey. Today with mounts, Skyscale in particular, that whole area feels a fraction of the size, you don't need to look around for a path anymore, make your way up in a jiffy, glide down in a second, no sense of exploration.

The same is true about every other map in game, GW2 as is today just feels tiny, no longer we have to look around for paths or stop and look to see how are we gonna get down a mountain, just fly down there or brute force your way up to anything.

while some might look at this as a Problem, locking mounts isn't a Solution, it just delays people's progress;

once people unlock their mounts again the "Problem" still exists

[babak.3654]

4 hours ago, Smart College Boy.3249 said:

Problem solved

This isn't a problem that needs to be solved.

Play how you want, let others play how they want.

[Ashen.2907]

I regret the addition of flying mounts to the game and enjoy the game less because of the addition...but the cat is out of the bag. Taking away a player's toys is a sure fire way to lose him as a paying customer.

[Nilkemia.8507]

No.

This serves no purpose other than making map completion take longer (or nigh impossible in the case of SoTO), which is not a solution to anything.

My big chungus skyscale rejects you and your bad idea. Begone bookah.

[Alaia Skyhawk.5064]

"How to solve the flying problem" (seriously though, there's no problem. if some players want to dull their own experience by flying over all the interesting stuff that's their loss)

Want people on the ground? Just incentivise using a ground mount. Honestly I think Anet have done that extremely well in JW. If I travel those 2 maps on anything but my warclaw, I am actively denying myself important resources towards the upcoming spear and backpack. Only my warclaw can unearth the caches for me, and while yes I could gather pine logs, titan ore and titan amber while using any other mount, if I'm travelling around for those then why would I not also be looking for caches?

Even when I'm not actively looking for those things, I've found myself using the warclaw most of the time (very occasionally I'll use skyscale or springer to climb something tall when I don't feel like air bouncing my way up). The other mounts just don't feel as natural in the setting and terrain. On no other mount can I do a ride-by and yoink a random enemy over onto it's backside before bouncing away laughing to myself. There's a definite joy in journeying with my Journeykin, and that has kept me planted firmly on the ground most of time outside of when I decide to do some fancy flying around buildings and stuff on my griffon.

[Danikat.8537]

2 hours ago, Dean Calaway.9718 said:

I don't thinks anyone here understood what OP is all about.

The problem is, mounts in general just make the maps smaller.

Mount Maelstrom used to feel sizable enough, going up there to get the Vista, before coming all the way and find an entry point to make your way to the center was a bit of a journey. Today with mounts, Skyscale in particular, that whole area feels a fraction of the size, you don't need to look around for a path anymore, make your way up in a jiffy, glide down in a second, no sense of exploration.

The same is true about every other map in game, GW2 as is today just feels tiny, no longer we have to look around for paths or stop and look to see how are we gonna get down a mountain, just fly down there or brute force your way up to anything.

If you know (or suspect) something can be done without mounts it's up to you whether you use them or not.

I've been doing that in Janthir Wilds. I'm not strictly avoiding mounts but I'm following paths between areas and trying to avoid jumping/flying over obstacles. (Yes it's slower, but I was away for a week just after it launched so I was already behind everyone else, and I'm not in any rush.) I actually got stuck for a bit trying to get down to Autumn's Vale to unlock the homestead because I couldn't find the right path. It would have taken 2 seconds on the skyscale or griffon, or even gliding, but I was sure there would be a path and wanted to find it because I was enjoying the process. I did have to use the springer to get across a chasm with a broken bridge, and I'm pretty sure all the springers hanging out on the rocks nearby were a hint to do exactly that (and possibly let you 'rent' one if you don't have it unlocked yet).

I like that it's my choice to use mounts or find my way on foot. If I'm exploring I can go overland and see what I find along the way, if I'm in a hurry to get back to somewhere I've been before I can hop on a mount to get there faster.

[jokke.6239]

Mounts introduced a lot of pro's ... And cons ...

No doubt about that

For me the pro's outweighs the cons

 

I wouldn't count on them restricting mounts

They are actually going the opposite direction

Mount in combat

+20% endurance etc

[Cameirus.8407]

9 hours ago, Smart College Boy.3249 said:

It's too late to completely remove flying mounts from this game, but here's a simple compromise.

Only allow flying in a zone you 100% completed.

Problem solved

** pats himself on the back **

Definitely a SmartCollegeBoy!!!

go back to wow.

[kharmin.7683]

15 hours ago, Dean Calaway.9718 said:

I don't thinks anyone here understood what OP is all about.

The problem is, mounts in general just make the maps smaller.

Mount Maelstrom used to feel sizable enough, going up there to get the Vista, before coming all the way and find an entry point to make your way to the center was a bit of a journey. Today with mounts, Skyscale in particular, that whole area feels a fraction of the size, you don't need to look around for a path anymore, make your way up in a jiffy, glide down in a second, no sense of exploration.

The same is true about every other map in game, GW2 as is today just feels tiny, no longer we have to look around for paths or stop and look to see how are we gonna get down a mountain, just fly down there or brute force your way up to anything.

Maps are not smaller.  They are the same size as they've always been.  There's nothing preventing any player from choosing to not use mounts on those maps.

[Dean Calaway.9718]

17 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Maps are not smaller.  They are the same size as they've always been.  There's nothing preventing any player from choosing to not use mounts on those maps.

If you can move faster and jump higher, maps are smaller relative to your mobility. That assertion is echoed in statements like "we live in a smaller world thanks to affordable air travel" that outta be a simple concept to grasp, but I'm not surprised it's beyond some.

[Smart College Boy.3249]

14 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

I regret the addition of flying mounts to the game and enjoy the game less because of the addition...but the cat is out of the bag. Taking away a player's toys is a sure fire way to lose him as a paying customer.

Again, I never said to remove flying mounts from the game. Complete the map 100% without flying and receive it as a bonus to travel across the lands you already explored easier.

Makes perfect sense. It's not a massively time consuming task to complete a map 100% without flying.

And stop comparing it to WoW pathfinder where you previously needed to grind all sorts of reputation. In GW2 this would not be a grind because you are finishing new content for the 100% map completion.

I think it's a fair compromise.

And I also think your alts should get flying automatically in areas your main toon already completed the map.

 

I 

[yoni.7015]

You found a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. 
You don’t want to use flying mounts? Great, don’t use them.