25,000 griffons!

[Sombrero.9204]

I love how everybody is happy about that mount and will realize next time we have a new map released that we will never ever have significant exploration in this game from this day on.

All MMOs have serious troubles with flying mounts (unless the entire game was made with it in mind as a core feature). You will always complain maps are too small and we will skip 90% of the content because of the ludicrous movement abilities of it. I mean the Raptor baseline is already pretty broken but now it's just absurd. It's fun yes but it will also destroy any possibility of new content (I guess the upcoming living world season will be quite "mount friendly" because we are in the expansion introducing mounts but will the entirety of the GW2 life now will always be around mounts ? If not then exploration is ruined, if yes then the game is turning into a weird poney riding simulator)

[Crise.9401]

> @LUST.7241 said:

> > @Duelight.7198 said:

> > Now we need wyvern. Tyrians the ultimate champions of the dragons.

>

> We're gonna ride Aurene soon. :)

 

If they won't do that as part of the story I will be massively disappointed, sadly story instances is the only place where that will work. Unless you want 25k Aurene's flooding LA.

 

Now there would be a trick they could use, by creating a skin that is applied onto everyone but yourself in your client so everyone would only see themselves riding Aurene and others riding some generic wyvern instead.

 

More realistically, if they won't start doing mount skins sometime soon I'll be very surprised, some people would pay an arm and a leg for certain skins :P, and in a world were mount skins would exist it makes way more sense to have the wyvern be a skin of the griffon (seeing as they don't want to do mounted combat where the biggest differences between griffon and a wyvern would logically be). The only thing with mount skins that might make them not do them at all is because I wager mounts need quite a large animation/art budget (for idles and all that, though I'd guess they can repurpose the existing rigs to an extent).

 

 

[Tseison.4659]

Sooo...you guys make the time to make a post about the Griffons which we obviously knew for the past few days now and yet, fail to mention or let us know that you guys have READ through the Elite specialization feedback that we’ve been CONSTANTLY talking about more than the other content in this expansion....

[Crise.9401]

> @Sombrero.9204 said:

> I love how everybody is happy about that mount and will realize next time we have a new map released that we will never ever have significant exploration in this game from this day on.

> All MMOs have serious troubles with flying mounts (unless the entire game was made with it in mind as a core feature). You will always complain maps are too small and we will skip 90% of the content because of the ludicrous movement abilities of it. I mean the Raptor baseline is already pretty broken but now it's just absurd. It's fun yes but it will also destroy any possibility of new content (I guess the upcoming living world season will be quite "mount friendly" because we are in the expansion introducing mounts but will the entirety of the GW2 life now will always be around mounts ? If not then exploration is ruined, if yes then the game is turning into a weird poney riding simulator)

 

Flying with the griffon is way too high maintenance to be used constantly, also if you mess it up you'll loose altitude really fast and once you loose it gaining it back is impossible unless you are still high enough to execute a second swoop (and still have the endurance for at least one wing flap). As for the other mounts, yeah they have basically forced themselves to create mount friendly maps going forward. How well they can pull that off long term is anyone's guess.

 

As for skipping content, that depends on what you mean by content, in my eyes all mounts do is put more pressure on the content to be engaging and rewarding to make players stop and do it. When it comes to exploration that comes down to the make of the maps, if they accommodate mounts then there will be meaningful exploration.

 

The bottom line is just as with every map since HoT the maps have to acknowledge that gliding exists, everything going forward will have to forevermore acknowledge that mounts are a thing.

 

 

[Ceridwen.6703]

I'm in that 25000, but regardless of if I'd taken longer or not, the griffon was simply a "must have" for me. So, I just wanted to say thank you, Anet, for including the griffon! The other mounts are fabulous, yes, but the griffon? I absolutely love it. I'm now on a quest to fly through all the maps and find the highest points so I can do those amazing swoops and just feel awesome doing it.

 

Thank you again, you totally made my game. <3 <3 <3

[Ashabhi.1365]

> @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> Well, now we know that at least 25,000 people are playing the game. ^^

>

> I wonder if you would tell us what % of PoF owners have a griffin. Inquiring minds need to know you know.

 

I own PoF. I do not have a griffin. I am not really sure I want a griffin. If I come across a part of the game that I cannot play without it, then I might reconsider. Or, if I run out of things to do (haven't in 5 years) then I will do it just to have something to do.

 

Congratulations to everyone who got what they wanted :)

[BigWhiteShogun.2591]

https://youtu.be/3UgFfbQ_Rj4

 

I'll leave it here.

 

PS I love the Griffon!

[Iason Evan.3806]


Really would have loved to see Griffons be earned like the other mounts and had this skin for 250g, but oh well. I love my griffon and adore the fact that you guys were all so tight-lipped about it. The best part was the surprise.

 

Hate seeing really cool game mechanics locked behind a paywall and would rather see cosmetics be a paywall thing but I still love the mount. You all did a fantastic job with it.

[GussJr.1643]

I just got my griffon today and absolutely love it!!! Reminds me of my griffon mounts in EQ2!

[Ashen.2907]

> @Ashantara.8731 said:

> I got mine the other day, but like I just wrote in another thread: the griffon mount is underwhelming and overrated. I still prefer using the other mounts (in particular the first three: raptor, springer, skimmer), which are much more useful in my opinion.

 

As much as I am delighted to have griffon mounts in the game and shall get my own when I can, I am very glad that they do not invalidate the other mounts.

[Grim West.3194]

> @"Mike O Brien.4613" said:

 

> With _Path of Fire_ we left griffons unannounced so that players could discover them. We watched with excitement this past weekend as the community pieced together the path and the first players unlocked their griffons.

>

> Mo

 

Love the discovery part. Last Saturday while I was in Desolation getting a view point a player next to me popped the griffon and took off. "WTF IS THAT!?" I remember thinking. That was a very cool moment. And I knew then I had to have it.

 

Had my griffon by Tuesday.

 

I hope you can create more experiences like the griffon (hint.. spider mount). Very enjoyable.

 

Thanks

 

 

[Danikat.8537]

I haven't gotten mine yet due to a combination of limited time to play and playing slowly (the story step where you collect memory crystals took me almost 2 hours, but involved some map completion, events and screenshots of llamas). But I've loved seeing everyone else's in game and I'm looking forward to getting mine too.

 

It's nice to know we're free to talk about it now.

[Revanchism.6319]

> @"Mike O Brien.4613" said:

> Since Saturday night when the first 349 players acquired their griffons

Need a full list so I can know who my crazy compatriots were. Would've even been done sooner if the legend bounties had been turned back on earlier!

 

It was a really fun collection to do completely blind with a handful of us scouring zones and is just one of the things PoF just knocked right out of the park on awesomeness.

 

[NazzyDragon.9127]

Adolescent Aurene skin for Griffon when? B)

[LionZero.3479]

Bummer that for some of us the progress is halted by a bug where we aren't recieving the Rune of Justice from Warden Jabari

[Despond.2174]

> @Ashantara.8731 said:

> I got mine the other day, but like I just wrote in another thread: the griffon mount is underwhelming and overrated. I still prefer using the other mounts (in particular the first three: raptor, springer, skimmer), which are much more useful in my opinion.

 

Hmm for me the skimmer is obsolete, you just need to approach the map differently. Nearly every jump to get higher enough to fully utilize the griffon can be jumped on by the griffon spacebar flap. I find myself for linear stuff using the raptor eg. AB treasure rooms, chest farm, the springer RARELY for a vertical jump I want to get to quick--so I can use the griffon. The jackal is very niche once you get all the portal items, and skimmer I haven't used again - even in desolation where you can griffon anywhere on the map with ease.

 

Griffon master mount with small usages of raptor+bunny. ;)

 

 

[arawulf.5210]

> @"Mike O Brien.4613" said:

> I love to play a game and not know exactly where the journey is taking me or what I’ll find along the way. I think many of you feel the same way, and you’ve been great at spoiler-tagging your posts to preserve that sense of discovery for other players.

>

> With _Path of Fire_ we left griffons unannounced so that players could discover them. We watched with excitement this past weekend as the community pieced together the path and the first players unlocked their griffons.

>

> Since Saturday night when the first 349 players acquired their griffons, the number of griffons in the world has grown exponentially with each passing day. We hit a milestone today: 25,000 of you now have your griffons. You’re out there in the skies over the major cities showing off your new mounts. With 25,000 griffons flying around, I think it’s safe to say that the griffon is no longer a spoiler.

>

> It’s been fun to see your videos of griffon aerobatics in various places in the world. Now that the griffon is no longer a spoiler, unleash your creativity! Let’s see what you can do.

>

> Mo

 

Here are some acrobatics I was doing today in Divinity's Reach. I still can't believe we can do stuff like this now!

https://youtu.be/4VFZr4jGKiw

 

[Sazukikrah.5036]

Broke out a second Map in Divinty's reach :

 

[DearlyMe.5320]

Thank you for adding it! All the mounts are so fun, but the grace and beauty of the griffon puts it in my top favorite. I love all the catlike movements~

[Sarrs.4831]

Very impressed with the griffon. Not necessarily the griffon itself but how ANet managed to make a 'power increase' that sucked a lot of gold out of the economy without actually making a power increase, as the griffon is only necessary for a handful of mastery insights (which you can use a mesmer for anyway).

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

> @Sarrs.4831 said:

> Very impressed with the griffon. Not necessarily the griffon itself but how ANet managed to make a 'power increase' that sucked a lot of gold out of the economy without actually making a power increase, as the griffon is only necessary for a handful of mastery insights (which you can use a mesmer for anyway).

 

You can reach every mastery insight without the griffin or portal. Tomb of Primeval Kings requires a janky route that's clearly not intended and gliding, but you can get there.

[Etterwyn.5263]

> @arawulf.5210 said:

> > @"Mike O Brien.4613" said:

> > I love to play a game and not know exactly where the journey is taking me or what I’ll find along the way. I think many of you feel the same way, and you’ve been great at spoiler-tagging your posts to preserve that sense of discovery for other players.

> >

> > With _Path of Fire_ we left griffons unannounced so that players could discover them. We watched with excitement this past weekend as the community pieced together the path and the first players unlocked their griffons.

> >

> > Since Saturday night when the first 349 players acquired their griffons, the number of griffons in the world has grown exponentially with each passing day. We hit a milestone today: 25,000 of you now have your griffons. You’re out there in the skies over the major cities showing off your new mounts. With 25,000 griffons flying around, I think it’s safe to say that the griffon is no longer a spoiler.

> >

> > It’s been fun to see your videos of griffon aerobatics in various places in the world. Now that the griffon is no longer a spoiler, unleash your creativity! Let’s see what you can do.

> >

> > Mo

>

> Here are some acrobatics I was doing today in Divinity's Reach. I still can't believe we can do stuff like this now!

> https://youtu.be/4VFZr4jGKiw

>

 

wow you just took me back to 1994 when i would spend hours at a time riding Flammie around the world map in Secret of Mana!

[hellsqueen.3045]

Feels good knowing you were in the first 25,000 to get the Griffon :3

[Inazuma.2795]

Here's me creating some fun mini-game circuit in Div reach, good luck if anyone tries it :P

[Crise.9401]

> @"Drarnor Kunoram.5180" said:

> You can reach every mastery insight without the griffin or portal. Tomb of Primeval Kings requires a janky route that's clearly not intended and gliding, but you can get there.

 

If you have to use an unintended route that is borderline a map breakout (including finding a hole in an invisible wall), that kind of defeats the point of saying you can get every mastery insight without griffon, sure you can, but that was not as intended (whether this is an issue is a whole different discussion entirely).