Conan will have mounted Combat. Will Warhammer?

Competition drives quality. According to their newsletter Age of Conan is going to have mounted combat. In fact, they are going to have quite a bit of intriguing gameplay surrounding mounts that’s normally left out of MMOs. The newsletter goes into some depth about the various facets of mount gameplay. Here’s just a snippet.

When you finally reach the required level to own and operate a mount in Age of Conan, there is a wide range of choices for you to make before you head out and buy one – and it goes well beyond just choosing what color you want it to be!

In addition to choosing what type of mount you want (horse, mammoth, rhino and so on), you also need to choose between different variations of that mount.  Each different type of mount has its own advantages and disadvantages. While the mammoth moves slowly, turns slowly and may be difficult to control, it can take a huge amount of beating. The horse, however, tends to be quick and easy to maneuver, but it will never stand up to the same amount of damage that the mammoth can take. – AoC November Newsletter

They go on to talk about customization, getting to know your mount and its strengths, and a bunch of other stuff you can read for yourself at their Newsletter archives.

Okay so we know for a fact AoC will have mounted combat and they’re obviously proud. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun to ride a mammoth into combat and stampede over a bunch of players. Maybe riding a rhino and having him gore opponents with his horn; lots of possibilities there.

On the Warhammer Alliance forums (Mark Jacobs’ favorite hangout it seems) Mbj gave his response to this: Mounted Combat: In for AoC, In/Out for WAR?

Folks,
Just remember what I always say, nothing is in any game until you see it actually in the game and the game is LIVE. We’ve all seen too many promises/hopes/plans from all game developers, including Mythic, about what will be in a game at launch and well, many times those promises are unfulfilled. So, don’t get too worked up about a feature(s) in another game until we all see it when the game is launched.

There are some substantial technical issues surrounding mounted combat, especially in an RvR game that hopes to have lots and lots of people actually fighting against each other. Throw collision detection into the mix and that makes it even more *interesting* for the developers. Anyone who thinks it is easy has simply never looked at the problem long enough. – Mark Jacobs

That’s a very long way to say ‘no’. Notice he plays to the emotions of the audience by mentioning the past failings to deliver on promises as well as mentioning the infamous “nothing is official until it’s official’ line. He ends with the classic technical issues and affirms he knows what he is talking about. Again, it just seems like a very long way to say no. (No offense Mark, I’m a fan.) If Mythic WERE developing mounted combat we would have heard about it already. It’s not something you hide from your potential players when there are strong competitors biting at your heels.

Honestly I don’t see the need for any fuss about mounted combat. It would be cool and all but I don’t think it’s a make or break for either game. Conan does need any edge it can get right now to compete but it’s still not a major game breaking feature if it suddenly falls off the list. And just in case Mythic decides to drop the bomb in their next newsletter that this is “under development” please remember that it is always better to leave it out completely than it is to rush it, neglect it, and leave it as an unfinished broken element of gameplay.

I’m still not hyped about AoC but they continue to impress me with the little things.