Why aren't gemstore mount skins used for mobs more often?

[andreiblue.8231]

Feels like wasted potential that the mount skins aren't used more often. I mean we could, for example, have had in Janthir Lowlands a POI full of honey flowers and some friendly hummingbirds nearby (skimmer skin), or in the mountains some of the goat skins from gem shop as mobs (warclaw skin). Seeing the skins as mobs in the wild or even as some boss of an event would even make players want more to buy the skins to "tame" those creatures. What do you think?

Edited September 15 by andreiblue.8231

[EDOTDOT.9265]

I'm not particularly a fan of being sold content that's already in use elsewhere in the game as it comes off feeling a bit lazy.  I prefer cosmetics that are truly unique, especially when considering the price of said cosmetics.

[Danikat.8537]

They do this occasionally. Two examples I remember are Astral Ward members talking about how their skyscales changed based on what kind of magic they were eating (one is the Incarnate Flame skin, and one's the Dark Monarch skin). There's also the Olmakhan charr in Sandswept Isles who ride the River Moth Wing and Dajkah Lantern skimmers. (I think I've seen an Oceanic Ray skimmer there too.)

I don't know why they don't do it more often. I agree it would help the gem store skins seem less out of place and more like part of Tyria. Same with outfits, like updating the various servants in Divity's Reach and some of the human storylines to wear the maid and butler outfits, at least during formal events like the story step where you have to infiltrate a party.

[Kalavier.1097]

On 9/15/2024 at 5:10 AM, Danikat.8537 said:

They do this occasionally. Two examples I remember are Astral Ward members talking about how their skyscales changed based on what kind of magic they were eating (one is the Incarnate Flame skin, and one's the Dark Monarch skin). There's also the Olmakhan charr in Sandswept Isles who ride the River Moth Wing and Dajkah Lantern skimmers. (I think I've seen an Oceanic Ray skimmer there too.)

I don't know why they don't do it more often. I agree it would help the gem store skins seem less out of place and more like part of Tyria. Same with outfits, like updating the various servants in Divity's Reach and some of the human storylines to wear the maid and butler outfits, at least during formal events like the story step where you have to infiltrate a party.

They did make a number of Sentinels use the related outfit after it was released, so there is precident.

[Timey.6853]

Imo it'd be neat to see some variants of mobs that are close to the alternative gem shop skins, but not exactly the same. Heck, what I'd actually love to see would be the other way around, more skins like the sand lion or mordrem alpha that are based on in-game creatures but still use their own unique designs. For example I really, really hope that some of the future 'goat' skins wind up being more like minotaurs, since they already have some similarities (the paws in front instead of hooves, for one) that make them seem related.

That said, I don't think I'd necessarily want them to be the exact same assets unless it's for a one-shot cameo (like the skyscales mentioned above) since that'd start feeling a bit cheap after a time. More just something anatomically similar enough that you can tell they're the same species, but are still distinct from the mounts you ride around.

[kiroho.4738]

On 9/15/2024 at 4:06 AM, andreiblue.8231 said:

I mean we could, for example, have had in Janthir Lowlands a POI full of honey flowers and some friendly hummingbirds nearby (skimmer skin), or in the mountains some of the goat skins from gem shop as mobs (warclaw skin).

Not sure if that's the reason, but in general environment animals, NPCs and such often have a lower quality than player character and the stuff players use.
That's simply for performance reasons. The more high quality models and textures you see, the more performance you need. For default NPCs, animals and stuff that you either only see every once in a while or that can be found all over a map it's better to use a lower (but still good) quality.

Now, gemstore mounts are very detailed and have a high quality. In addition many of them have particle effects. If you give all warclaws on the first JW map this skin for example, the whole map probably would be more laggy.

When you look at skins like the Sand Lion Warclaw one, you can see that they are more detailed than the NPC/Ranger pet one and has an a sandy particle effect.

 

[Randulf.7614]

I think I'd be worried if I saw a raptor running around on fire or a see through turtle made of cosmic dust chomping at the Seitung grasses

However, the very idea a pegacorn could be a wild animal, running around with the ability to breed could give me nightmares for a month 

[Dean Calaway.9718]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:10 AM, Danikat.8537 said:

I remember are Astral Ward members talking about how their skyscales changed based on what kind of magic they were eating

I'm just going to assume all those glowing and particle effects on mounts come from them eating tubs of glitter now.

But how do we justify the glowing owners 🤔

[kiroho.4738]

15 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

I think I'd be worried if I saw a raptor running around on fire or a see through turtle made of cosmic dust chomping at the Seitung grasses

But what if the skins fit? There are a lot of simple mount skins without flames, cosmit dust or other particle effects.

Having Canthan Cuckoo Springers in Cantha wouldn't be off. Same for having the Kourna Jackrabbit or Savannah Stripetail in Elona.

 

As mentioned in my previous comment taking the exact skins probably would lead to performance issues, but in general I don't see a problem with having lower quality versions (like sand lion vs sand lion warclaw skin) of certain gemstore mounts in the game. Except the point that Anet had te recreate their models, which means work.

[Randulf.7614]

1 hour ago, kiroho.4738 said:

But what if the skins fit? There are a lot of simple mount skins without flames, cosmit dust or other particle effects.

Having Canthan Cuckoo Springers in Cantha wouldn't be off. Same for having the Kourna Jackrabbit or Savannah Stripetail in Elona.

 

As mentioned in my previous comment taking the exact skins probably would lead to performance issues, but in general I don't see a problem with having lower quality versions (like sand lion vs sand lion warclaw skin) of certain gemstore mounts in the game. Except the point that Anet had te recreate their models, which means work.

I mean, I was mostly being tongue-in-cheek. Obviously no issue with thematically good fittting skins

[mungozen.2379]

We do have the Mordrem Alpha mount which is based upon the mob of the same name.   I agree that having more player mounts based upon in-game creatures would be interesting. 
 

Notable as well that we haven’t had a character/NPC with an iconic mount that in turn was made available in the Gem Shop. They have done so for armor/outfits and weapons in the past. 

[kiroho.4738]

I still find it odd that we got the roadrunner raptor skin, but no Moa.

[Caitmonster.9036]

As for other mount skins that I've seen in game, the Kodan in Bjora use the ice raptors, and the sons of Svanir use Shiverpeak raptors. Always that that was heckin neat.

I personally was immensely disappointed we never got the Spitemaw Kryptis as a raptor skin. More skins that actually appear as living creatures in the game would be awesome. Fern hound jackals when?