A mounts matter

[Shougun]

Yoshida likes mounts, so wether you like mounts or not.. we know there are going to be quite a selection.

Now one thing I'd like to request Yoshida to do, and I hope we could talk about.

Is that mounts matter - that is, they have stats and application, that they have characteristics and are not just a sort of vanity skin you change moment-ly for dress-up's sake.

Yoshida has confirmed that all mounts will be the same except for bred chocobos which may also be used in combat.

I feel each mount having its own style would not only make the world a greater world (one deeper and further to delve into) but would also allow for unique opportunities and better explanations as well as a sense of customization beyond as I said "dress-up's sake".

Some examples of possible basic changes:

Endurance - Great suggestion by Shurrikhan to help ensure proper formations maintain and better balance mounts. More details:

Honestly, some sort of endurance mechanic could probably fix the difference in speed pretty well. Slow mounts will run a bit faster, pressing their endurance slightly, and fast mounts will build up a bit of bonus endurance in preparation for a raid or whatnot, with a total shared endurance pool averaging out the individuals somewhat. So, the party simply enters a "Caravan Mode" or whatnot and ends up moving at the same pace, given by the total composition of the party, rather than being hampered by any given individual speed.

Best stats will still be differentiated based on class, the fight itself, and party-role, which should be diverse enough as long as the stats as a whole don't enforce class-wide used-for-all-situations formulas (again). I'm really hoping stats will be more adjustable in ARR, for both mounts and their riders.

Even then though, there should also be ways in which a player might stray from role-pure. A white mage may want his personal guard chocobo for instance, armoring him with defensive stats that will in no way benefit the player or the player's role directly. At the same time, that could be used for sticking closer to the front line (if that actually gave benefits in this game...).

Movement speed - and min max speed

Movement acceleration - and min max acceleration

Turn rate - would be good for making chocobo races more like racing games, however it would mean preventing players from turning instantly with the camera which may annoy them. (Use with caution)

Turn radius in relation to speed and acceleration - a compromise of the above, allow players to turn as sharp as they want but it will affect the speed and where to restart the acceleration (% of speed/acc. lost on "too sharp" turns - so a goobbue charges really well but zig zags horribly). You could even make boosts to turns (with duration and nonstackable buff).

Damage tolerence - how much damage will the mount take before becoming lamed or being kicked off

Jump height / Distance - how high and or far a mount may jump (goobbue = -5 :P lol)

Other - good examples and comments by Shurrikhan:

A sprinting mechanic, yes, but it's only for players as far as I've seen, and is simply a TP-consume-for-duration, 20-second CD. It's nothing like being able to actually time your sprints in preparation for a jump.

A dynamic prepared (charged) jump could be fun. I was thinking more of enhancing the actual stat involved through increasing the jump range possible (matching to terrain similar to FFXIII but not as preset; though that may not even be a possible implementation given ARR's engine) and reducing the endurance lost by those actions.

[I imagine a Goobue as doing a ballerina leap. It just doesn't go very far. Yes, it look amazing.]

Tbh, I like Chocobo as my general treasure-finding creature, though Goobue is my botanical treasure-finder of choice. Horses... good at sensing ways out of situations... I don't think of them as being treasure finders.

Given the time I'd probably raise one horse, a Chocobo, another Chocobo, and finally a Goobue, in that order.

As for other mounts, if we don't have enough already... a truffle pig would be awesome. I do kind of want a crazy, kind of dopey-looking wolf mongrel with a case of gigantism though. I'd just want there to be some serious questing (that involve more than your typical quests) to get anything other than the Chocobo and horse, and even then probably more than there is now.

Edit: As far as pain tolerance goes, I was concerned more with being bucked, rather than being lamed. Pain tolerance might also be a factor in being slowed, but honestly if your tendon's been bitten in half, that's more a matter of having not dodged than you're just not "holding up" to the pain well enough. : P
Poor mount.

I'd imagine that Goobues would normally be surprisingly easy to make buck when fleeing (sprinting) [Just try imagining a spooked/bewildered/abruptly confused by the evil in the world Goobue face, and it should all come clear], but fairly hard to lame except from critical hits (aimed at those tiny legs), which will usually require a short time for the Goobue to catch itself as well.

Edit 2: I'd also like some ways in which the player could learn to benefit the mount, such as a Conjurer learning to summon wind behind a Chocobo, who opens its wings to catch said wind, or a (rather cruel) player tossing a firework behind his horse for even more sprinting speed (though at endurance cost, of course, and probably not needed on a higher loyalty-level horse).

With these basic characteristics you could make a coeurl distinct from a chocobo distinct from a goobbue. And yet they are all forms of transportation. You may use any mount to get around and no mount should be explicitly designed to suck unless its just for funnies - but you may consider using a certain mount in certain situations for the best results (like running through a crowd of monsters, or going short distances vs long distances, open terrain/closed terrain).

Chocobo being a general good at all things means those who dont want a specialized mount can be happy never doing that. But perhaps chocobo isnt the best at specific situations (like tanking damage without getting lamed as you run through a camp). (Though choco-gear could specialize chocobos as well).

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One other possible characteristic is abilities.

Here you could have unique abilities on your mount (perhaps a small bar pops up like the icon bars we already see, because UI is customizable this is no problem for user or SE).

Some example abilities -

Leap, leaps onto target dismounting and shortly stunning target
Charge, one direction charge at a bonus movement speed that pushes enemy contacts to the side
Sprint, ...
Shield, increases damage tolerance shortly (perhaps on a magitek he puts up a barrier temporarily)
Flying, gold chocobo - if they do sky content
Swiming, blue chocobo - sea content


The simplicity or elaborateness of abilities, or complete lack, should be decided based on each mount and their obtained level / logic. No requirement for a mount to have 1 each or them to be crazy- only for them to make sense and be balanced in respect to other options. Costs could be anything but most should just be free with cooldowns or introduce some sort of carrot system like Epona in Zelda .

For another example, a particular mount could actually be an orb you cast mana into - and is naturally a slow wisp of aether, but use some of its abilities and you meld into a zipping stream of concentrated aether like a ground level aurora borealis. (If you make DoM mounts then obviously there should be DoW mounts).

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So "Yes mount uniqueness" or "No keep them the same - minus looks" - if you dont like my examples please suggest others, just examples of mount differences :P