I believe that ANet can approach the subject of mounts a little differently than other MMOs with something like Mounted Combat.
Here’s what i’ve thought:
1. Mounts should be treated as equipment (with rarities, equipment slots, lvl requirements etc.), giving increasable movement speed (and possibly armor) per rarity
2. By equipping a mount the utility toolbar (the right one) should change to mount abilities (something like stomp, charge etc.)
3. 2 new weapon types should be implemented:
Lance: cavalry weapon, slightly more powerful than normal weapons, but only used when mounted
Halberd (or pike): two handed, used on foot only, slightly less powerful than normal weapons, but with a meaty bonus vs cavalry
I think this could be a win-win situation for everyone since:
a. ANet would make a TON of money from mount sales while keeping the community happy
b. A lot more strategy in WvW since commanders will have to coordinate different types of troops on the field more effectively
c. The cycle “normal characters beat halberds, halberds beat cavalry and cavalry beats normal characters” should keep the game balanced
d. Awesomeness level of the game +9000. Imagine a WvW game where ten, twenty or even fifty players charge with their mounts against a forest of spears….. this is just movie epic
.
(for the sake of balancing i guess mounts in sPvP should either not be used or work like mounts in regular MMOs)