OP:Even better idea buy the horse at a basic cost like you suggest but then you can level it up or upgrade it over time
Example: buy a horse for 10k gold
This horse has basic stats and points, you then can pay to upgrade it at a vendor (horse trainer) could purchas skills,
Them your horse has hp and stuff just like you it can lvl up with you, if it dies it gives you the option to spend a idol to have it respawn next to you or respawn at laystone and wait for you there.
So basically it is lvls up and acts just like you when you started the game. And the stats from the horse can add to your own kind of deal
I started playing this game within the first month it was released and from day 1 I was looking forward to horse mounts. Even tho no mention had yet been made by developers most players assumed there would be horses because of the NPC that was standing right at the beach (the old beach). That having been said, I've heard that horses are going to be in update four. I want to share my thoughts on how the mounts should work and I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone else who has thought about it.
1) horse mounts should be a separate slot from weapon. I'm not saying make the brooms/sleds/carpets different slots, just horses. I would hope the horse wouldn't qualify as a weapon (unless if bites or something lol) but the other mounts from previous events are weapons and should remain in the weapon slots.
2) I'd like to see the horse only effect movement speed. No armor, no regen, no anything... Just movement speed. But lots and lots of it (based of which tier horse you purchase. My hope is that even the cheapest horse comes close to the best carpet with the best horse having speed increases in excess of 100%.
3) I don't know how I feel about horse back combat but I wouldn't Be upset if the horse were to be Dismounted upon attacking any enemies. However; if enemies attack the player and the player does not retaliate then the horse should remain in effect until the player casts on or strikes the enemy.
4) as far as cost goes I hope it's not a plat item. Strictly gold for the horse and I was thinking that instead of the horse costing a ton of gold like carpets do now, perhaps they could have a relatively cheap starting cost but require continuous gold contributions. For instance, the best horse might only cost 10k gold in order to buy initially but for every day that you decide to "call upon it" or "summon it" you would have to pay a small gold fee... Let's say something like 100-500 gold. My thought on that is that the horse is a living creature unlike a broom or a sled and being a living creature implies that it requires some sort of sustenance. So the small daily or weekly fee that is asscoiated with your horse could figuratively represent the player having to buy oats and fresh water and grooming so on and so forth. I know, I know... Our characters are "alive" too and don't require food/water. I just think it would be cool instead of having to pay a huge price upfront. My thought is that it will allow even newer players to afford a horse. If you have a horse and you can't reach your gold quota for upkeep then you simply can't use the horse. You don't "lose" the horse, it's still yours you just can't ride it until you're able to farm the small daily fee. As soon as you have the gold to cover the upkeep then you can call upon your mount and will be able to do so for however long. Like the 150 gold buys you 24 hours of useable mount time. At the end of such time you will have to again have the gold in order to continue use. Of course, the better the mount the more is required to "sustain" it. So maybe like 100 gold for the cheapest horse to be able to use it all day and the godly horse costs like 500 gold for the day. You get it... I can tell, moving on.
5) naming our horse? I think that would be great! So when you purchase it from the vendor you must select a name just like upon character creation. Other players should also see your horses name.
6) the actual item itself... It's kind of ludicrous to think that a horse could be stuffed into your backpack inventory. So instead of that perhaps it's a charm, or a whistle, or something like that which can be "used" to call your horse from it's stable. A reasonable "casting" time is associated with the call but nothing anoyying... Maybe 10 or 15 seconds and then it's there.
7) perhaps incorporate a very crappy horse into the starting quest line so that everyone may have access to a small and slow horse regardless of player level or gold earning capacity. This horse could be given to you by an NPC as a reward for helping them but it only gives a menial 10% run speed boost with a very very low daily gold cost. Like 10 gold for the day. This will give new players a taste of the movement speed and the feeling of ownership of a truly remarkable game addition. Let them name it and grow attatched to it and it will encourage them to upgrade it over time.
8) speaking of upgrading, perhaps everyone could start with this horse for free and essentially you can decide when to upgrade based on your progress in the game. If you don't like the horse then cool, never use it again but if you do like it then you can figure out what you can afford and then go get a better version of the same charm or whistle which then allows you to have a better version of the same horse. However, there should be an option to have an all together differt horse (go to castle and check out the stables) allow the player to choose from those models which horse is right for them. A big horse for a huge tank, or a tiny horse for a petite ranger. A white horse to match your gown or a brown horse because you think it looks better. Allow the players to have ultimate control over how much it costs, how it looks, how fast it is, and how often they want to use it if ever.
*EDIT* quote from 'TwoForFlinching' thanks for your input and suggestions!
If even one of these ideas is incorporated into the horse mount system I will be a seriously happy camper but I'm not demanding anything. I'd love to hear your opinion on how it should work and I look forward to buying my first horse! I hope there are some out there just as excited as I am and would care to share their thoughts on the matter. See you in the game, and happy hunting!The "Novelty" ability currently applies to training existing inanimate mounts, such as carpets/sleds/brooms, however I would like to suggest that a new Mounting ability would might be more appropriate for training living mounts. (see Ideas below for more explanation)
Questions:
1) Would mount armor be standard (non-customizable) with each purchased mount, or would it be acquired separately (i.e., purchased via a stable/armor vendor or earned via a quest reward)?
2) If mount armor is acquired separately, would it be functional armor or only fashion?
3) If it's functional armor, would mount armor stats add to your character armor stats?
Ideas:
1) Mount armor might suggest that mounts could require their own armor slots (unless the armor is standard for each type of mount), so how about their own skill slots?
2) Mount skills could be purchased (i.e., Charge, Head-strike, Venomous Breath/Fireball, or Rampage, etc.), and a separate set of hotbutton skills could be displayed automatically depending whether you're mounted or weapon-equipped.
3) Each mount skill could require a certain level of "Mounting" ability before you could use it and the strength of each skill could be detemined by the overall "Mounting" ability level, instead of requiring skill points. (This would also limit the damage ceiling for "Mounted" attacks and therefore keep non-mounted fighting from becoming irrelevant.)
