Raid mounts...NOT Aspect!

[meepitco]

They're decent looking models/skins, but unless my guild magically starts raiding today, (which it might...cause we have a BoT raid tonight..), it's about a 30% chance I'll get it. (I dont say 0%, because an old friend has a hardcore raiding guild, and MIGHT be able to carry me ._. )

[Cerah]

Having said that, I'd like more rep grind mounts and less raid rewards. Even for raiders it can be a big bummer. I collect mounts on my hunter and raid with my druid, who uses flight form anyway. Raid rewards are cool but having them for every raid, and knowing that *every* awesome mount is a raid reward, gets tiring and sad. Sometimes it's nice to have something you can work for alone, or pick which character you get it on. These don't impress me much anyway (the colors seem really bland to me O.o) but still. More Netherwing type reps imo

I couldn't agree more. I absolutely loved doing the Netherwing and Skyguard rep grinds, and getting awesome mounts by myself, without having to bug any guildies, was very satifying. I've actually done the Skyguard grind on two toons now

Post-BC, we've been rather lacking in rep grind mounts. The only guarenteed one in Wrath was the Red Drake, with the Green Proto-Drake and Polar Bear being luck-based. The Argent Tournament ones took a while to get, but at least the dailies are enjoyable (I'm still working towards my Argent Hippogriff). In Cata, the only ones you can really work towards (mostly) solo are the Tol Barad mounts, the Firelands hippogriff (and that rep grind is long and extremely boring, unlike the BC ones), and the Vial of the Sands, which, believe me, takes a lot of time, effort and gold to get, but it worth every penny.

A lot of the cooler models have been raid only, like the Frost Wyrms and Firehawks, and that makes me sad. I would still like a rep grind Frost Wyrm.

Hopefully the Darkmoon Faire mounts might make up for these new dragons being raid-only. But with the DF ones being mostly ground mounts, I somehow doubt it.

[Royi]

Go figure....lol. Only the hard core raiders will get them while the rest of us dont.

Hey I do like my Ironbound Proto Drake quite a lot right now. I don't care if its not "in fashion"... but they should really have a "rare" type mount that casuals can strive for (like that flameward hippogryph for FL patch)

[peanutbuttercup]

While I very much like the red colored heroic model, I'm glad there's a regular mode one for normal raids... well, assuming they're guaranteed drops (one per clear is fine, but I hate RNG). Yeah we're not so hardcore but it still takes time, organization and teamwork to down things, so it'd be nice to have something strive for even if it's slightly less shiny than the other.

[Lisaara]

Go figure....lol. Only the hard core raiders will get them while the rest of us dont.

Hey I do like my Ironbound Proto Drake quite a lot right now. I don't care if its not "in fashion"... but they should really have a "rare" type mount that casuals can strive for (like that flameward hippogryph for FL patch)

Flameward Hippogryph is UGLY compared to the Blazing Hippogryph(I have both).

I still don't have the Ironbound cause not many pug ulduar on my server.

[Rawr]

Woot another raid mount for my collection. The Reins of the Blazing Drake should be easy enough to get. Oh, I can't wait for 4.3

[ummeiko]

Having said that, I'd like more rep grind mounts and less raid rewards. Even for raiders it can be a big bummer. I collect mounts on my hunter and raid with my druid, who uses flight form anyway. Raid rewards are cool but having them for every raid, and knowing that *every* awesome mount is a raid reward, gets tiring and sad. Sometimes it's nice to have something you can work for alone, or pick which character you get it on. These don't impress me much anyway (the colors seem really bland to me O.o) but still. More Netherwing type reps imo

Well stated. Another option I'd really love, because I love questing, is a long quest chain rewarded mount. I'm not talking about the Thrall/Aggra Elemental Bonds quest chain. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Dungeon Set 2 upgrade quest chain, which, even though I did a lot of it after vanilla was long outdated, was still one of the best wow experiences for me. Same with the AQ quest chains, although those did involve raiding so maybe something a little different. I love love love long, involved, quest chains - but still able to do without having to down heroic raid bosses or get a 1% drop (though I think having to do instances is fair game since they're open to everyone nowadays). The quest chains for the legendaries seem like good starts back to that, although I'd like to see something for everyone.

Without getting into too much of a tangent, wow needs more solo, max level experiences.

[Lisaara]

Having said that, I'd like more rep grind mounts and less raid rewards. Even for raiders it can be a big bummer. I collect mounts on my hunter and raid with my druid, who uses flight form anyway. Raid rewards are cool but having them for every raid, and knowing that *every* awesome mount is a raid reward, gets tiring and sad. Sometimes it's nice to have something you can work for alone, or pick which character you get it on. These don't impress me much anyway (the colors seem really bland to me O.o) but still. More Netherwing type reps imo

Well stated. Another option I'd really love, because I love questing, is a long quest chain rewarded mount. I'm not talking about the Thrall/Aggra Elemental Bonds quest chain. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Dungeon Set 2 upgrade quest chain, which, even though I did a lot of it after vanilla was long outdated, was still one of the best wow experiences for me. Same with the AQ quest chains, although those did involve raiding so maybe something a little different. I love love love long, involved, quest chains - but still able to do without having to down heroic raid bosses or get a 1% drop (though I think having to do instances is fair game since they're open to everyone nowadays). The quest chains for the legendaries seem like good starts back to that, although I'd like to see something for everyone.

Without getting into too much of a tangent, wow needs more solo, max level experiences.

Not too fond of Netherwing rep. Pain in the ass to grind. D:

But yeah, quest chains? Gimme!

[SpiritBinder]

Without getting into too much of a tangent, wow needs more solo, max level experiences.

I do like this idea as well. What I have found, and no that it is a bad thing by any means, is that a lot of the posters here are much more solo orientated. It comes with the territory of rare pet hunting and the ability of being a "1 man show" of the hunter class. I too love the ability of being able to log on and actively pursue my own achievements and goals without having to rely on to many (if any) others to do these.

What I do also understand is that this style of gaming with wow is not the only way. There are people whom raid hardcore, and only wish to do that. They do not want to have to sit at the TLPD span for days/weeks/possibly months trying to obtain it, they find that very unsatisfying, even unfair to get these beautiful mounts. For these people there are raid drop and meta mounts. As much as us "solo" fans may wish to have these mounts also, they are generally placed into the game for this purpose.

Solo wise, so far I think Cata has produced the most "rare spawn" mounts per expansion with Aeonnaxx, Posidon and the Grey Camel. There are new mounts avalible via Archeology which are solo friendly and of course the Sandstone drake via alchemy. There are actually no profession only mounts this time around (engineering or tailoring) but then that means you are less likely to be pigeon holed into a profession you may not like to have/use them. We have had 3 faction/grind based mounts with the two TB and the fire Hippogriff. As a whole the solo mounts do seem a little down compared to WOTLK (due to the tournament mounts) and BC (due to the Nether Rays and Drakes) as there where so many sheer numbers in both of those, but then the expansion is not over yet either.

If anything those whom only like the pvp side of wow get even a harder lot as there are so very few pvp mounts avalible compared to the solo/pve players.

It's all to do with balancing and working out how many players actively play what style within the game and providing a reward that fits the demographics within those.

I to am in the same boat of many here, I want them all. I what to be able to have access to every mount, but that's just not the way wow generally rolls. You certainly can try, but you will have to be one of the rare few that has access to all areas of the game, and be very competent in them. (whether it be time, skill, patients, availability, etc.)

Fair..? Actually, I think it kind of is.... but do I still want the ones that I don't have the ability to get....? of course

[ummeiko]

Tangent inc:

Don't get me wrong. I love raiding. I have no problem with mounts going to raiders because I think there can and should be rewards that come along with the extra difficulty. I'm also a healer at the core, so I'm used to grouping for just about anything.

But even when I was hardcore raiding, it wasn't every day. I just think Cata kinda paled in comparison to past expansions for things to do when you're not raiding. That was part of my burnout early in the year.

Vanilla wow had Dungeon set 2 quest chains, and generally there seemed to be more desire/incentive to run dungeons at 60. There were also a lot more quests around at the time. Fallen Hero was quite expansive, and there were a number of quests taking you in and out of places like Strat and Scholo. And there was the Ony chain, which could be completed without setting foot into any raid sans UBRS (which was technically a raid... kinda)

BC introduced heroic dungeons, which had their problems (mainly reward wasn't worth the risk a lot of the time - I remember 3 hour Shadow Lab heroics for gear that wasn't any better than in normal). BC also had some long attunment quest chains. Lots of rep grinds, things like Netherwing and Skyguard to keep you busy. Some longer quest chains that didn't start until you hit 68 or 70. Dailies were new, and the feeling of unlocking vendors and such on Quel'danas kept people interested.

Wrath introduced achievements, which kept a lot of people busy in raiding downtime, and in raiding uptime as well. Heroics were considerably easier than their BC counterparts, so you could clear them in under an hour... great for those times of "I don't have two hours, but I can hop in this dungeon anyway!" LFG made that even easier.

Cata turned the corner the other way. The return of heroics back towards BC difficulty levels made them long and tedious at the start of Cata. The prospect of spending hours in a dungeon that you were just as likely to not finish tended to scare people away from LFG, because again, the reward wasn't worth the time. Archaeology, as much as I enjoy lore and honestly don't hate the profession, loses it's newness and vanity quite quickly, and the fact that the greys were worth only a handful of silver (at the time) didn't help. It's a time sink, but it's not entirely engaging. And Tol Barad was, in my opinion, entirely depressing. Dailies there just depressed me (I was literally bummed out after doing TB dailies but that's a personal opinion). There were not a lot of new random achievements that were beyond what you would normally progress (quest/explore the zone, level your profession to max, get some gear).

So for me anyway, it just got kinda boring. There weren't any new quest chains that opened at max level until 4.1 brought the short Zandalari quest chain and 4.2 brought Elemental Bonds and Molten Front (which I actually like their dailies... a lot more variety and the zone isn't nearly as bleak). There's not a lot of incentive to visit the Cata zones (besides Hyjal) unless you're farming or doing TH rep dailies. I can't think of the last time I was in Highlands, Deepholm, or Vashj'ir, and the only reason I've gone to Uldum recently was for Archaeology or to get to AQ or CoT faster.

TLDR, I have no problem with the mounts coming from heroic boss drops (though I hope that the drops don't get nerfed when the content is outdated - give the hardcore access first, but allow the rest to get them... eventually - and not 1%-chance-probably-ninja'd-when-it-drops eventually). Raids are an important aspect of the game and deserve their share of rewards. But, it may be the rose colored glasses, I think wow has suffered since it switched away from having some max-level questing and more towards LFG and raiding as soon as you hit max - while at the same time making both have a much much harsher barrier of entry, especially compared to Wrath (where some of the biggest Wow-boom happened).

I want a long, expansive, full of travel and exploration, can take weeks to complete, questing experience again. Nothing would make me happier right now.

[Lisaara]

Very well said, Ummeiko.

(BTW I love your sig with the windserpent)

[SpiritBinder]

But even when I was hardcore raiding, it wasn't every day. I just think Cata kinda paled in comparison to past expansions for things to do when you're not raiding. That was part of my burnout early in the year.

Oh I definitely agree with you on this front, that's for sure. I find myself logging on at times and just sitting in the capital city thinking... Hmmm what do I want to do... Is there really any thing I would like to do.... I could grind a few more pirates to finish off that goblin rep... yuk! ooooor I could keep running VP in the hope the dragon drops... yawn.... etc.
I have found this expansion burn out much faster for myself also.

Again, I'm not a huge fan of 1% drops, and even less so when they are in raids, I also agree there. But then the lucky few whom do get it, do feel a bit extra special for a bit longer (hey, we all like to feel special )

Again your right, this expansion seems very limited in travel. We now have the whole world to explore, yet most of us just sit in our little towns, as there is not much else out there to keep us interested.

Anyway, I guess I was just merely trying to add a different approach and mind set towards a few people here, whom seemed upset about the possibility of this mount not being immediately achievable due do it's possible implementation. It was not aimed at you or anyone in particular, just sharing

[Schwert]

As a new raider I don't mind the fact that we're getting extra goodies.
However I don't like the fact that unless you're hardcore you have to put up with 1% drop rates.

That's extremely unfair to those who can't do heroic raids and then going and nerfing the drop rate once your still not so average joe can go do it is just disgusting.

I'm seriously hoping that the non-heroic version of the Alex mount is at least 10% or higher. Not every run should drop it but it shouldn't be impossibly out of reach like the Firehawk. ((Only ONE has dropped on our server. A guild who'd get it in heroic mode anyways got it. I raged.))

((I'm still angry they nerfed Invincible and Mim's Head. Those fights are heavily mechanic based and are still hard. You can't just carry people through it yet.))

[Cerah]

I agree with Kraai completely.

Again, why can't we have more raids like the Obsidium Sanctum, where the drop rates are 100% (provided you meet the now-rather easy requirements), and haven't been nerfed. It's so nice that my not-at-all-hardcore guild (we only have about 6 individual members - lots of alts though) can get together, run OS, and give the drake to a guildie for a birthday present I honestly don't give a damn if the Black Drake is now considered "not special", or if "everybody" has it. It's still a cool mount, and my guildie is thrilled with it.

[Rikaku]

Honestly, I never really understood the hate towards raiders (especially Heroic Raiders) getting better rewards then everyone else. It's no different then the best PvP players getting the Arena Drakes in my opinion. Yet, I never see comments of "I hate how PvP players get access to these mounts and I don't because I hate pvp." XD It's always amused me.

Yes, you get rewarded for doing harder things. I personally hate PvP with the passion of a thousand supernovas; doesn't mean I sit there and go "man, those stupid PvP players getting mounts I want", lol. I make a personal decision: is the mount worth putting up with something I don't like? Yes, then time to go PvP for awhile. No, then move along.

Everything is a personal choice, you don't have to do something. You don't have to do achievements, but if you really want that mount or minipet it rewards, you have to decide whether or not the time invested (in something you don't enjoy) is worth it. Same with PvP mounts, same with Raiding mounts, and same with rep grind/daily quest focused mounts.

Besides, we all know down the line the raids will be nerfed so that more people can enjoy the content (Blizzard has stated this over and over again, including at Blizzcon). Plus, soon we're all going to be level 90 with better abilities. People will be pugging it like crazy.

Please keep in mind these are just my opinions, and I'm not attacking anyone. So if someone feels that I am, I'm not I assure you.




And yes yes OMG YES. MORE REP GRIND MOUNTS. I love faction mounts. I absolutely loved doing the Netherwing Dailies, I would love seeing something like that return. **cough cough*Give me the Infinite Dragon as a mount*cough* Quest hub please*cough**

And finally, on topic:
I want that handmaiden mount SO BAD. OMG D: I'm jealous of the heroic raiders on my realm. But one day... ONE DAY it will be mine *grabby hands*

And people keep saying there's a 3rd color? Whats the 3rd recolor?

[MaximumOverdrive]

Honestly, I never really understood the hate towards raiders (especially Heroic Raiders) getting better rewards then everyone else. It's no different then the best PvP players getting the Arena Drakes in my opinion. Yet, I never see comments of "I hate how PvP players get access to these mounts and I don't because I hate pvp." XD It's always amused me.

Yes, you get rewarded for doing harder things. I personally hate PvP with the passion of a thousand supernovas; doesn't mean I sit there and go "man, those stupid PvP players getting mounts I want", lol. I make a personal decision: is the mount worth putting up with something I don't like? Yes, then time to go PvP for awhile. No, then move along.

Everything is a personal choice, you don't have to do something. You don't have to do achievements, but if you really want that mount or minipet it rewards, you have to decide whether or not the time invested (in something you don't enjoy) is worth it. Same with PvP mounts, same with Raiding mounts, and same with rep grind/daily quest focused mounts.

Besides, we all know down the line the raids will be nerfed so that more people can enjoy the content (Blizzard has stated this over and over again, including at Blizzcon). Plus, soon we're all going to be level 90 with better abilities. People will be pugging it like crazy.

Please keep in mind these are just my opinions, and I'm not attacking anyone. So if someone feels that I am, I'm not I assure you.




And yes yes OMG YES. MORE REP GRIND MOUNTS. I love faction mounts. I absolutely loved doing the Netherwing Dailies, I would love seeing something like that return. **cough cough*Give me the Infinite Dragon as a mount*cough* Quest hub please*cough**

And finally, on topic:
I want that handmaiden mount SO BAD. OMG D: I'm jealous of the heroic raiders on my realm. But one day... ONE DAY it will be mine *grabby hands*

And people keep saying there's a 3rd color? Whats the 3rd recolor?

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/247 ... 4.3-on-PTR

Took me a bit to find it lol, had to dig pretty far back. But it's the one with the purple-y tint to it. The only one I like the color scheme of, but I still don't care for the mount itself.

[Schwert]

I think the main reason people aren't liking the raid drop mounts isn't because it's just for raiders...it's because the moment people CAN go for it the drop rate is nerfed to 1% even on heroic modes.

There's a difference between working hard for something and having to work hard for something you won't get.

[Wassa]

1% drop mounts, especially raid mounts which you can do only once a week, needs to be reworked. Even if you are a raider like me that has a chance to get the mount during the current patch, hoping for that rare 1% drop isn't skill. It's pure luck if you will ever see it.

Change them to like the Sarth 3D mounts where they always drop if you do something special (clicking the switch to heroic mode isn't special. Blizzard needs to make hardmodes again in the Ulduar style not this switch to heroic mode and bosses have more HP/damage crap but I'm ranting...) or to achievement mounts.

[SpiritBinder]

Honestly, I never really understood the hate towards raiders (especially Heroic Raiders) getting better rewards ........................ soon we're all going to be level 90 with better abilities. People will be pugging it like crazy.

This ^ /agreed.

Change them to like the Sarth 3D mounts where they always drop if you do something special (clicking the switch to heroic mode isn't special. Blizzard needs to make hardmodes again in the Ulduar style not this switch to heroic mode and bosses have more HP/damage crap but I'm ranting...) or to achievement mounts.

I agree with you too Wassa, I do believe that atm, if you do Rags on HM, the fire hawk is a guaranteed drop. However, as with most current tier that ticks over to not current, bliz does seem to change the drop rate to the 1-2% drops again. I hope they don't do it, yet again with this one.

Its would be great if they just left them as is. I mean really. How many people go solo Heroic LK, or No Lights Yog? It's still hard to get a group capable of killing them and of dealing with the mechanics most days. I know it would slowly make Invincible's reins and Mirm's head slightly less rare, but it sure as hell would not become common. Can you imagine if they made OS3D a 1-2% drop when Ulduar came out, that's how it is for those mounts atm. I say leave the 100% drop on all HM's.

Bliz keep telling us they don't really go back and tune/change/edit old content, as it is just that old/outdated content. So I think that should stick with their choice and leave the drop rates the same too.

Oh and they should totally put back in the black and plagued protodrakes too I did remember them saying if there was enough people showing interest in them doing it they would take it consideration, but what I want to know is who do we need to plead with, PLZZzzzZZzzz make it so