Mighty Steed ???

eesmurph · July 2007

Okay, what's with the player purchased horse? Am I the only one who is disappointed with the performance of this animal?

First off, they are not quite as fast as a Stable Master Transport. I can live with that though.

Second, you get knocked off your horse from the lightest of attacks.  A full on assault should take you off of your horse, but a gentle thwap from an angry green mob shouldn't be the end of your ride.

Third, when you mount your horse you loose all active skills (prospector, forester, hunter stances, etc). Now I don't really care that I can't see a Gold Deposit while riding my horse; however, as a hunter, those stances are important if you are knocked off the horse and need to defend yourself. They don't deactivate when you buy a ride from the Stable Master, so why now?

Fourth, you can't talk to people while on a horse. Frankly, this is silly. I don't mind being unable to "use" while on the horse, but it seems pointless to have to get off your horse to turn in a quest just to get right back on again.   Yes, I am an impatient person.  When you are doing some of the heavy travel quests, that dismount-remount time can be a bit frustrating.

Fifth, random dismounts. I can not count how many times I will be riding along and just dismount. No attack, no cliff, just... dismount.

Sixth, must we dismount when we jump off a cliff? Can't we just apply the same penalty as usual without dismounting? I am level 40, and I still can't see a pattern to how far one can jump before taking damage or how many "bounces" are necessary to avoid the penalty. I have jumped over small rocks that have caused fall damage and I have fallen off of huge cliffs and suffered none.

Seventh. What's with the horse color? I thought we could chose one of four horses? The one I've got is most assuredly not the color horse I picked. (Could this be a settings issue?)

Eighth. Horses can swim. Not well mind you, but horses can swim. Can't we keep the horse in the water and just suffer the speed-debuff like normal?

I think the programmers were trying to keep the horses "reasonable" in their ability to transport; however, they took it to a point where it is almost painful. I have run several tests with friends, one person on horse back and another on foot, and at times the person on foot has won or come very close to winning. On flat terrain in a lowbie area it is no contest... horse every time. However, in upper level areas with rough terrain, the horse can actually be a hindrance. (Was that the point of the horse. Make transport through lowbie areas easier for higher level players, but keep everyone on the same playing field in the upper level zones?)

Once again, this is not a complaint post, I guess I am just really disappointed. I was really looking forward to the horse. It is sort of a benchmark of progress for a character. Level 35 - 4.220 gold. I was expecting more.

As usual, comments are welcome. How do you feel about your horse? No poetry!

JonMichael · July 2007

Originally posted by eesmurph

Okay, what's with the player purchased horse? Am I the only one who is disappointed with the performance of this animal?
Actually, I'm very content with my horse. It sure as heck beats running all over the place... especially if you're not a hunter!
First off, they are not quite as fast as a Stable Master Transport. I can live with that though.  Nope.. they aren't as fast, but they're still faster than any speed buff.

Second, you get knocked off your horse from the lightest of attacks.  A full on assault should take you off of your horse, but a gentle thwap from an angry green mob shouldn't be the end of your ride.  I've never been hit once and been dismounted. It's usually at least a few hits from a low con green that can knock you off. I know a lot of people were upset when they changed horses so that you could be knocked off. I for one didn't mind it since it really doesn't make sense that you can ride right past an aggro mob and it doesn't affect you. I can see the stable horses not doing that because you're paying for the ride to a certain destination.

Third, when you mount your horse you loose all active skills (prospector, forester, hunter stances, etc). Now I don't really care that I can't see a Gold Deposit while riding my horse; however, as a hunter, those stances are important if you are knocked off the horse and need to defend yourself. They don't deactivate when you buy a ride from the Stable Master, so why now? That's because you're "invincible" on a stable ride... not so on a personal horse. As for the stance, it really doesn't take that long to activate it again, does it?

Fourth, you can't talk to people while on a horse. Frankly, this is silly. I don't mind being unable to "use" while on the horse, but it seems pointless to have to get off your horse to turn in a quest just to get right back on again.   Yes, I am an impatient person.  When you are doing some of the heavy travel quests, that dismount-remount time can be a bit frustrating. That doesn't bother me because I usually need a bit of a break after a quest.

Fifth, random dismounts. I can not count how many times I will be riding along and just dismount. No attack, no cliff, just... dismount.  Never been dismounted without either being aggro'd or jumping too far.

Sixth, must we dismount when we jump off a cliff? Can't we just apply the same penalty as usual without dismounting? I am level 40, and I still can't see a pattern to how far one can jump before taking damage or how many "bounces" are necessary to avoid the penalty. I have jumped over small rocks that have caused fall damage and I have fallen off of huge cliffs and suffered none. I've only fallen off my horse once while trying to jump a cliff. I didn't know you could be dismounted from it and haven't had it happen again since I'm more careful now.

Seventh. What's with the horse color? I thought we could chose one of four horses? The one I've got is most assuredly not the color horse I picked. (Could this be a settings issue?) Could be. I picked the dark (I think chestnut) horse and he's the color I wanted.
Eighth. Horses can swim. Not well mind you, but horses can swim. Can't we keep the horse in the water and just suffer the speed-debuff like normal? THIS I agree with! Horses CAN swim and I wish they'd change that.
I think the programmers were trying to keep the horses "reasonable" in their ability to transport; however, they took it to a point where it is almost painful. I have run several tests with friends, one person on horse back and another on foot, and at times the person on foot has won or come very close to winning. On flat terrain in a lowbie area it is no contest... horse every time. However, in upper level areas with rough terrain, the horse can actually be a hindrance. (Was that the point of the horse. Make transport through lowbie areas easier for higher level players, but keep everyone on the same playing field in the upper level zones?) I haven't noticed. I do love being in the tougher terrain with my horse. It also let's me run away from mobs easier with the added speed.
Once again, this is not a complaint post, I guess I am just really disappointed. I was really looking forward to the horse. It is sort of a benchmark of progress for a character. Level 35 - 4.220 gold. I was expecting more. Remember, these horses are the first tier of what's to come. In book 10, we'll have more mounts... faster and not as easy to get knocked off. I haven't read any details, but I'm sure they'll be more expensive and probably require a higher level. But for now, my horse does me fine.
As usual, comments are welcome. How do you feel about your horse? No poetry!

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