I posted this suggestion in another thread, but decided to repost it in hear. It is an idea to balance the idea of mounts (ground mounts only) in the game
Here it is:
1) Reduce the amount of waypoints in the zones. Instead of having 12-20, have like 3-4 that are far apart. This encourages exploration as well as a need (or more desired) for a permanent speed boost in some way.
2) Add ground mounts that grant a speed boost (like what swiftness gives) and also cosmetic value (pretty much implied)
3) Restrict use in cities (personal opinion, i hated when players in WoW would block the NPC in cities with the mounts)
I believe that this is a great option to extending the life of the game as well as generating revenue for Anet.
Why?
1) If the some mounts where drops in a dungeon, then it would encourage activity on the PVE side
2) They could also allow them to drop randomly in just the world environment or zone boss which would cause a lot more activity in the world (i’m all for that)
3) Sell some in the gem store. Blizzard makes a ton of extra money from the mount/pets in their store (along with their much hated subscription).
It’s a win/win- people get the cosmetic mount with a more “permanent speed boost”, encourage exploring with the drops, and (more importantly) added revenue.