Any plans for new mounted methods of transportation beyond Chocobos?

[scaevola]

If the WoW experience with flying mounts has been any indication, most FFXI zones likely do not have enough vertical space coded into them to accommodate flight. I'm making assumptions here, granted, but a fully-realized 3d space in the sky involves a pretty significant amount of resources so I seriously doubt memory limitations would allow it, and even if they did, I for one would rather see that memory allocated towards actual stuff to do.

[ringthree]

Unfortunately we do not have any plans at the moment to introduce any crazy new mount systems, though maybe…juuuust maybe if it’s something like a raptor….

Hold on to your butts!

What if we can just get regular chocobos more often? Something like a realistic version of the current personal chocobo system already in the game. I would actually consider raising a chocobo if it actually moved the speed of a normal chocobo, and it only had, say a 30 sec cool down.

Back in the day I understood why chocobos needed to be limited, but in this day and age I think it is time that we are able to get real chocobos. No one is racing to spawns, no one is competing for claims, so it might be time to consider giving us a modernized mount system.

[Sanriku]

Honestly, with the various forms of transportation available to us (choco's, airships, boats, op's, tele npc's), there is no need for a "new" form persay.

I think just an expansion of the existing one would be nice. Being able to ride choco's in certain zones based upon current level or pre-req type quests. Or being able to call our personal choco's that we raised and "bonded" with, in some of these other areas.

I have no problem being able to get to almost anywhere in under 5 min, or nexus to my leader in certain cases. But a slight revamp would be awesome!

Also, loved the images and creative idea, but I highly doubt we'll ever see a change of that magnitude. (^.^)b

[Vivik]

-----------
I'd love to see some FFXI Warthogs running around! o.o They would most likely be meaner than tigers lol.

Eh... wrong kind of warthog but OK.

[kingfury]

If the WoW experience with flying mounts has been any indication, most FFXI zones likely do not have enough vertical space coded into them to accommodate flight. I'm making assumptions here, granted, but a fully-realized 3d space in the sky involves a pretty significant amount of resources so I seriously doubt memory limitations would allow it, and even if they did, I for one would rather see that memory allocated towards actual stuff to do.

----------------
Yeah, I'd agree that our skies are probably just coded to look awesome instead of soaring through them. I'd still say it would be possible to attain flight on par with what most of our flying enemies achieve at the maximum height of perhaps some of our tallest enemies. Depending on the size of the possible new mounts (lets say a compact-sized Wyrm or a larger Chocobo), they would only need enough distance from the ground to accommodate for their wing size and flying animation.

Again, even though riding on a flying mount would be pretty cool to see all by itself, I would hope that the experience is a push in a direction that changes up the mold of simply: Mount -> Ride -> Zone -> Ride -> Zone, etc. Something that would validate and creatively utilize the need for a mount capable of flight or their size compared to a chocobo. It could very well be a new level of gameplay so long as the Devs push the limits of the system. We have chocobo digging, and chocobo racing, so it's not an impossible thought that new levels of activity can be designed around more capable types of mounts.

[kingfury]

Eh... wrong kind of warthog but OK.

-------------
Oooh! You're on some of this stuff eh? ^^

»Halo'ish Warthog

Well I'll have to sell ya on some FFXI style beastly stuff! Strapping a cannon to the head of a mean ass animal could be much more fun lol

[Kimble]

I remember long ago, they said they wanted to be able to engage in fights on chocobos (IE: Like chocobo night or something like that) but said that they were unable to do.

[scaevola]

What if we can just get regular chocobos more often? Something like a realistic version of the current personal chocobo system already in the game. I would actually consider raising a chocobo if it actually moved the speed of a normal chocobo, and it only had, say a 30 sec cool down.

Back in the day I understood why chocobos needed to be limited, but in this day and age I think it is time that we are able to get real chocobos. No one is racing to spawns, no one is competing for claims, so it might be time to consider giving us a modernized mount system.

This. I think a bit could be done to revitalize the non-combat portions of this game that always set it apart from its competition, and making personal chocobos more practical would be a big step in the right direction.

[kingfury]

What if we can just get regular chocobos more often? Something like a realistic version of the current personal chocobo system already in the game. I would actually consider raising a chocobo if it actually moved the speed of a normal chocobo, and it only had, say a 30 sec cool down.

Back in the day I understood why chocobos needed to be limited, but in this day and age I think it is time that we are able to get real chocobos. No one is racing to spawns, no one is competing for claims, so it might be time to consider giving us a modernized mount system.

------------------
/Agreed. It would be awesome to have a dependable mount that was always ready to scoop us up at our summoning.

[kingfury]

Honestly, with the various forms of transportation available to us (choco's, airships, boats, op's, tele npc's), there is no need for a "new" form persay.

I think just an expansion of the existing one would be nice. Being able to ride choco's in certain zones based upon current level or pre-req type quests. Or being able to call our personal choco's that we raised and "bonded" with, in some of these other areas.

I have no problem being able to get to almost anywhere in under 5 min, or nexus to my leader in certain cases. But a slight revamp would be awesome!

Also, loved the images and creative idea, but I highly doubt we'll ever see a change of that magnitude. (^.^)b

--------------
/kneel Thanks for the feedback on the on the art and concepts purposed in the questions. ^^

Yeah, our molecules will continue to be microwaved from point A to B and back again lol, which is all good. I imagine that the Devs could introduce new mounts that help us reach hidden points within select zones that we've never been able to before in order to either battle some new bosses or complete new missions and quests.

These new mounts would most likely be superior in movement speed compared to the standard rented chocobo, but outside of that, they could be used to do things no other form of transportation we have currently can achieve. Perhaps these new locations are shielded against certain types of magic which would ixnay any types of warping. These new locations could also cause any and all machinery to malfunction, so Airships would be out of the questions as well.

It's all in the planning and conception, so I'm hoping that with enough time and resources being poured into our futures here in Vana'diel we'll get to see some very unique travel experiences.