Guild Wars 2

“The Buried Locked Chests in Dry Top have also been updated once again to include one of three new kites: the Ventari Follower, Prosperity Mine and Crystal Shard. If the looks of these kites were not enough, these kite toys will also grant increased movement speed while players are carrying them!” (source: http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=34802)

So… I hope they can be used in wvw, to make mesmers happy.

Though, I think kites should be improved further to increase their fun factor, by decreasing fall speed, and negating fall damage. Like a parachute?

Interesting… Sounds like we are getting mounts after all..

RIP gw2…

Take broomstick. Get speed booster. Mount.

Nick.6972:

Take broomstick. Get speed booster. Mount.

Logic. Kites that pull you to the opposite direction of your movement will increase your speed, but Magic Brooms won’t.

Nick.6972:

Take broomstick. Get speed booster. Mount.

Except that now instead of the speed booster being a gem store/ bl chest thing… it comes directly on the kite item and you have to play Dry Top RNG to find your mount.

Xenon.4537:

Nick.6972:

Take broomstick. Get speed booster. Mount.

Except that now instead of the speed booster being a gem store/ bl chest thing… it comes directly on the kite item and you have to play Dry Top RNG to find your mount.

The kites are just to get the “no mounts!!11!” zealots used to the idea of mounts in Tyria. Kites are a good trojan horse, since they are so far from the traditional idea of mounts ( look how the broom and the tunneling tool go unnoticed ).

Then, once ANet feels safe that people have com to terms with the fact that cosmetic mounts won’t break their game; they’ll release more “classic” mounts in the Gem Store, for people who don’t want to look like a bunch of kids flying kites

Sad to see they’ll have a speed-boost, tho. Hope it’s less than, and doesn’t stack with, Swiftness ).

I’m betting it will be a 25% boost (where swiftness is 33%). I don’t see this as move toward mounts as those would require MASSIVE art and graphics resources to put in place. This is just some simple coding to provide a perma speed option (as I’m guessing the existing WP system is going to deteriorate further with this release).

I’ve never even used my Storm Kite….don’t these use bundle mechanics (to USE them)? Unless they add some sort of “slot” in the inventory screen, this is going to be a major PitA to enable/disable (at least for me).

Brother Grimm.5176:

I don’t see this as move toward mounts as those would require MASSIVE art and graphics resources to put in place.

How many more resources than making our characters rigged to fly on a broom, do you guess it would take?

Oculus.5703:

Xenon.4537:

Nick.6972:

Take broomstick. Get speed booster. Mount.

Except that now instead of the speed booster being a gem store/ bl chest thing… it comes directly on the kite item and you have to play Dry Top RNG to find your mount.

The kites are just to get the “no mounts!!11!” zealots used to the idea of mounts in Tyria. Kites are a good trojan horse, since they are so far from the traditional idea of mounts ( look how the broom and the tunneling tool go unnoticed ).

Then, once ANet feels safe that people have com to terms with the fact that cosmetic mounts won’t break their game; they’ll release more “classic” mounts in the Gem Store, for people who don’t want to look like a bunch of kids flying kites

Sad to see they’ll have a speed-boost, tho. Hope it’s less than, and doesn’t stack with, Swiftness ).

That’s what really bothers me the most. Someone in the marketing department noticed the flood of stupid mount threads, and all he saw was $$$$CA$HM0N3Y$$$$….

Now to get their foot in the “mount” door they are going to gradually try to acclimate people to it until they can monetize it in the gem store. Mark my words, the old kites in the gem store will “conveniently” get a speed boost attached to them and go on a “convenient” 20% discount sometime in the near future.

I bet they will have speed boosted broom sticks in the gem store this halloween. I’m even predicting some kind of floating cloud mount from the next SAB release. By xmas 2015 people will be so used to the idea, they will be able to release a straight up santa sled… And all of these mounts will go from a small 15% boost to a full on 33% boost.

The end is nigh.

Oculus.5703:

Brother Grimm.5176:

I don’t see this as move toward mounts as those would require MASSIVE art and graphics resources to put in place.

How many more resources than making our characters rigged to fly on a broom, do you guess it would take?

To be fair, a broom stick is just a static object that floats around. A “real” mount like a horse or elephant would need to be fully rigged and animated. That’s a heck of a lot more work, trust me. But that’s not to say it won’t get done. Anet will pay it’s artists to do anything as long as they can turn a profit somehow.

They have had mounts since what the first halloween (broomstick) and speed buffs since the game was released. If people want to freak out that is fine but nothing is being added that is not already in game. It is also not a gem store item nor does it give any extra speed than can be gotten from traiting into whatever for warrior melee speed boost which is the most popular class in game. I would guess they won’t make them available in combat and won’t be faster than 25% (ie not stackable over 25% with anything already in game).

Oculus.5703:

Brother Grimm.5176:

I don’t see this as move toward mounts as those would require MASSIVE art and graphics resources to put in place.

How many more resources than making our characters rigged to fly on a broom, do you guess it would take?

Are you comparing the resources to create a 3D broom with an actual animated creature large enough for a character to ride on? Seriously?

If you haven’t noticed the Broom visuals are quite limited, lackluster and quite cheesy (lots of clipping, horrid movement, etc.). Frankly, they cut every corner in committing resources to making it they could. Yes, some of the resources are already available, but the assumption that going from the Broomstick to a ride-able Drake is a minor commitment of development time is just wishful thinking.

I’m not in the anti-mount crowd. I’ve always liked mounts in games. If Anet does add some cool mounts I won’t shed any tears over it. Mounts are just another thing to collect and individualize your character as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t like the idea of mounts because I don’t want to feel forced to spend exorbitant amounts of time/gold on getting one just to get around oversized maps like everyone else. I know they don’t currently have mounts which move faster than swiftness, but it’s a slippery slope my friends…

I get that completely. It is a slippery slope. I just like mounts enough where that doesn’t bother me personally. I can see why it would bother others.

Vayne.8563:

I get that completely. It is a slippery slope. I just like mounts enough where that doesn’t bother me personally. I can see why it would bother others.

Do you believe it is worth adding something to the game which would hurt many players just because it would be a little extra vanity for others?

Xenon.4537:

Vayne.8563:

I get that completely. It is a slippery slope. I just like mounts enough where that doesn’t bother me personally. I can see why it would bother others.

Do you believe it is worth adding something to the game which would hurt many players just because it would be a little extra vanity for others?

I actually think the amount of people who would welcome mounts is far greater than the people who dislike them. I can’t prove it. I have no evidence of it. But given that most people probably just accept the status quo anyway, I just don’t think the resistance to it will be as big as you might think.

I loved having mounts in Rift, one of the few things I ended up enjoying in the game. It’s one thing I’ve missed about other MMOs in Guild Wars 2. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

It will be the same for me as before, I will do the story, if I get keys for that I will venture over there and open some boxes. Otherwise I’m not hunting this currency to buy keys to open chests. I’m weird that way. Hopefully the kites will look nice

Personally, I couldn’t care any less even if these new items gave you 75% speed boost.
They’d be unusable in WvW anyway.

@ the above 3 responses:

This is sort of like the tyranny of the majority. I’d say the pro and anti mount groups are both similarly sized minorities. However the majority of indifferent people tend to lean towards pro-mounts because they tend toward new things. They are indifferent, but they welcome anything whatever it may be. So the pro-mount side gets a bunch of “free votes” so to speak.

To be honest, I don’t consider those kites mounts. First – a mount for me would increase the speed of what is possible on foot – currently I doubt that will be the case, of course I could be wrong about that. Second – a mount for me would be something my character is “on top of” and I would not have to open my inventory to click on it but rather be able to use a key-bind.

We’ll see if it’s faster than 33%, my only other though, it might be great to free up some speed-traits etc.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Are you comparing the resources to create a 3D broom with an actual animated creature large enough for a character to ride on? Seriously?

Yes, I am comparing them. On top of a broom, or on top of a horse, clipping issues are clipping issues and the art team deal with those just fine judging by the speed they turn out new skins with.

I’m not saying clipping issues don’t exist, or that mounts don’t present another challenge in that regard, but this isn’t the ‘90s anymore and mounts in video games aren’t exactly something new or a killer feature that developers give its own bullet point on the box

Oculus.5703:

I’m not saying clipping issues don’t exist, or that mounts don’t present another challenge in that regard, but this isn’t the ‘90s anymore and mounts in video games aren’t exactly something new or a killer feature that developers give its own bullet point on the box

And yet with the amount of threads popping up daily on this forum, you’d think it should be regarded as a killer feature.

Anyway, let’s see how those who created threads upon threads asking for mounts by using “we need a speed boost !” excuse are going to come up with new ideas for why mounts are mandatory to GW2.

It’s a Toy. I have a few, but they sit in my inventory because either I forget I have them, or I can’t be bothered to bring them back out once I encounter something that puts me in combat.

I think the novelty of these new Toys will wear off rather quickly. There are few places in-game where I spend a lot of time just traveling on foot and never encounter any mobs, so, for me, using this new Toy would just be to show it off. I don’t think I’ve pulled out my original kite since the week it was first obtainable. /shrug

Toy? You know, these can’t be used in combat and you can’t defend yourself when using a toy so . . .

They give 5% boost. So much for kittenufull item.
If you wanna see by yourself : [&AgFRBQEAAA] [&AgFNBQEAAA

Gunsnroll.2657:

They give 5% boost. So much for kittenufull item.
If you wanna see by yourself : [&AgFRBQEAAA] [&AgFNBQEAAA

Called that one right. Might still be useful to my engi.

obligatory takes a drink

50g tp order shrugs

Just found a green one in Dry Top.
Tested it by running along another player throughout the length of the Dry Top canyon.
Could not outrun him.
In fact, we had the EXACT speed.
I have the 25% sigil.
Either is bugged or I am missing something.

Xenon.4537:

@ the above 3 responses:

This is sort of like the tyranny of the majority. I’d say the pro and anti mount groups are both similarly sized minorities. However the majority of indifferent people tend to lean towards pro-mounts because they tend toward new things. They are indifferent, but they welcome anything whatever it may be. So the pro-mount side gets a bunch of “free votes” so to speak.

I’m not 100% sure this is true. I think the pro mount crowd is the crowd that had mounts in other games. That is to say, if had a hamburger on a menu all my life and came to a place without hamburgers…if I liked hamburgers I’d miss them. This is where I come in.

I’ve played a lot of MMOs with mounts and I like them. Probably the group of people who’d be most against mounts are Guild Wars 1 players, who didn’t need them, or even have much experience with them.

Now, the question his how many Guild Wars 1 players play this game, compared to people who have widely played other MMOs.

There’s a third group, people who play Skyrim who never played an MMO before. They might like mounts too.

It just feels like a hole in the game to me. Something I expect in MMOs which was a largely positive experience for me, that just happens not to be in this MMO.

And I do understand your reservations about mounts, but I still like them.

Deepcuts.9740:

Just found a green one in Dry Top.
Tested it by running along another player throughout the length of the Dry Top canyon.
Could not outrun him.
In fact, we had the EXACT speed.
I have the 25% sigil.
Either is bugged or I am missing something.

Movement speed effects don’t stack

Vayne.8563:

I’ve played a lot of MMOs with mounts and I like them. Probably the group of people who’d be most against mounts are Guild Wars 1 players, who didn’t need them, or even have much experience with them.

Now, the question his how many Guild Wars 1 players play this game, compared to people who have widely played other MMOs.

There’s a third group, people who play Skyrim who never played an MMO before. They might like mounts too.

It just feels like a hole in the game to me. Something I expect in MMOs which was a largely positive experience for me, that just happens not to be in this MMO.

And I do understand your reservations about mounts, but I still like them.

I have some reasons for not wanting mounts, the more serious ones are about technical limitations and the feeling it will wind up splitting the community as hard as that one announcement around October 2012.

The less serious one come with the game not being designed with mounts not being in mind when the game was made. Therefore, the travel boost is unnecessary when the waypoints are working properly.

Grok Krog.9581:

Deepcuts.9740:

Just found a green one in Dry Top.
Tested it by running along another player throughout the length of the Dry Top canyon.
Could not outrun him.
In fact, we had the EXACT speed.
I have the 25% sigil.
Either is bugged or I am missing something.

Movement speed effects don’t stack

So it is useless for me?

I welcome these kites with open arms. Like many of you, I see it as one step closer to mounts, which is one of the few things GW2 is “missing” in my eyes. If/When Anet decides to push towards fully fledged mounts, they can create a sticky’d topic where everyone can voice their concerns, whether it be negative or positive. I personally will then pretend that thread doesn’t exist, or maybe visit it once in awhile if I ever have a craving for tears.

EDIT: I sunk 1000’s of hours into gw1, but also into many other MMO’s. I think some people should let go of gw1 and focus on gw2, because they are completely different games. With that said.. mounts please <3

Deepcuts.9740:

Grok Krog.9581:

Deepcuts.9740:

Just found a green one in Dry Top.
Tested it by running along another player throughout the length of the Dry Top canyon.
Could not outrun him.
In fact, we had the EXACT speed.
I have the 25% sigil.
Either is bugged or I am missing something.

Movement speed effects don’t stack

So it is useless for me?

Well, it is 33% during Sandstorms. So, I would guess you would have an increased speed during those times.

If “Movement speed effects don’t stack” how can I have the extra 33%?
Either they do stack but somehow it is not visible/working or they DONT stack and it is useless?

Oculus.5703:

Brother Grimm.5176:

Are you comparing the resources to create a 3D broom with an actual animated creature large enough for a character to ride on? Seriously?

Yes, I am comparing them. On top of a broom, or on top of a horse, clipping issues are clipping issues and the art team deal with those just fine judging by the speed they turn out new skins with.

I’m not saying clipping issues don’t exist, or that mounts don’t present another challenge in that regard, but this isn’t the ‘90s anymore and mounts in video games aren’t exactly something new or a killer feature that developers give its own bullet point on the box

It’s not a matter of how “challenging” it is or of perfecting the “clipping” issues bound to arise from the effort. It’s a matter of committing the resources (time and labor, both model development, art application, coding, testing, etc.) to DO it as apposed to using those resources for something that might actually be NEEDED elsewhere to add some functionality to the game that doesn’t already exist (a transit system is already in place).

Sure it CAN be done (I have no doubt Mounts are technically feasibly for Anet), but it’s a matter of assigning limited resources to perform tasks that are part of their overall plan. I just don’t see mounts as part of that plan (but I could be totally wrong).

Deepcuts.9740:

If “Movement speed effects don’t stack” how can I have the extra 33%?
Either they do stack but somehow it is not visible/working or they DONT stack and it is useless?

Try it during a sandstorm. Apparently the movement speed for the kite does stack with others. Otherwise if you had 25% +5% kite, and your friend 33% you would likely appear to be same speed.

That’s my best guess, I don’t have a kite myself.

Edit: To clarify, it stacks with the boon swiftness from what I understand, so if you have a skill in your utility bar for 33% you should be running 66% during the uptime of the boon. Disregard the comment above with the 25% + 5%, I don’t think that works that way.