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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsRiding Crop in flux
by Eliah Hecht 
Sep 2nd 2008 at 4:00PM
There was a brief period of time, reflected in some spells mined from the data files, when the Crop was going to be an item that would be right-clicked to enchant your mount with extra speed. This led to many people complaining that they would now have to buy one Crop per mount. Anyway, now that mounts are going to be learned instead of kept in the inventory, this doesn't work anymore, apparently. So Blizz is still undecided on what precisely to do with it. It does seem certain that it won't stick around in its current trinket form, and virtually certain that it won't disappear entirely, but everything else is up in the air. What do you think they should do?
Filed under: Items, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Alveredus Sep 2nd 2008 7:07PM
Passive ability would be great.
I think making it an inscription would also be fine.
If they DO keep it as a mount enchant then they should make it much cheaper to produce and have a variety of mount enchants available for leatherworkers to craft.
Part of the problem with enchanting every mount with it is that, in its current form, it's a no brainer that you would want it on every mount.
However, if there were rival options, such as snare and root resist, 300% speed burst as a proc on damage taken while mounted, water walking while mounted, turning a ground mount into a flyer, etc. then there would be a reason to enchant different mounts differently.
Angelus Sep 2nd 2008 7:32PM
it should be a useable item in your inventory that you never need to equip.
it should be very similar to the rams at brewfest. Similar but different...
Use it once and you get a mount speed buff for a few minutes, use it twice and your mount starts hauling ass. Spam it and your mount turns red, bucks you, and kicks the crap out of you until you die. 10% dur loss too.
Also add that feature when you jump off a cliff that hurts your mount considerably, he bucks you and kicks your ass.
Vivaxia Sep 2nd 2008 7:37PM
I know that this wouldn't take it out of the inventory... but they could make it an offhand item. That way you could unequip it in combat. I think it would be great to actually give it a random animation while riding or flying. Or maybe give us back the use that would up the speed for a few seconds.
Andy Sep 2nd 2008 7:42PM
Blizz seems against the idea of making things automatic if at all possible. So have it as a usable item in your bag. Mount up, use the crop, the horse speeds up.
Lemons Sep 2nd 2008 9:02PM
riding crop? pfft...lame. It's skybreaker whip or nothing :P
Einer Sep 2nd 2008 10:04PM
How about making the crop an enchant for an item that cannot be enchanted currently. Let's say the make the riding crop a belt enchant. This will answer 2 issues that I can see. First, it will be passive and second, it will give some love to the leather workers. It will also work on any mount like the current riding crop does. You don't have to buy one for every mount you have, but you do have to buy one when you upgrade your belt.
Coolguy Sep 2nd 2008 10:20PM
Turbo Boosters ?
Engineer's should make it for mounts and can attach to any mount. It'll be nice for engineers for a way to make money
Arkeband Sep 2nd 2008 10:32PM
I think it should be a learned skill, but only give a temporary 10% boost, or if that's too subtle, bump it up to 20% so you'd go an even 300% in the air, once every minute, for about 10 seconds. It'd be like in the Legend of Zelda OOT, where you could whip your horse to give it a burst of speed. This keeps the idea that you're actually using an item on your mount, it frees up space, and it lets you use it on all your mounts.
Hammerhiem Sep 3rd 2008 12:53AM
Like someone else said, Saddle Bags...make it a one or two slot thing like the keyring, and kept the same way...it has a specific amount of slots, but you never really notice the space it takes up. Plus it would give them another money sink or LW's more profitable patterns. the reason for slots is because there are more than one mount enhancing item...Carrot on a Stick, Riding Crop, Sky Breaker Whip...not sure if there are anymore or not. If they wanted to make mount items stackable they could have more than one slot and make it expensive to get more space, but leaving it as it stands with the effects not stacking, they could still make more types of mount enhancing items, like one that reduces the chance to be dismounted or increased mana/health regen while mounted, like others mentioned above. Someone who can post on the forums should start a post on just this in the beta forums...they implemented a title idea from a players post on the forums, they might just listen to one of us...I can't post since i canceled my account, but if there is not one there yet, it might be useful.
Adamanthis Sep 2nd 2008 11:30PM
Leave the crop as-is, and give us a robust built-in wardrobe feature that will automatically equip it when we mount and swap it out when we dismount.
Lossarn Sep 3rd 2008 1:23AM
Im surprised no one has considered just making it an item that gives a self buff that increases ride speed. Either make it last long enough so you don't have to dismount to use it again, or make it so you can use the item whilst flying around. Make sense to, that you would have to periodically smack that crop to maintain top speed.
mxwp Sep 3rd 2008 1:05PM
I cannot believe it took 68 posts for someone to say this when it was the first thing I thought of upon reading this article just now. Blizz is not going to make the crop "learn it once and forget" nor will they make it it automatic as someone else mentioned. Whether or not this is what I want... I can bet that this is how they will do it. It will simply become a right-clickable use item that will buff yourself for an hour and unbuff when you dismount. That way you still have to have it in your inventory and "equip" it by using it each time you mount.
muugor Sep 3rd 2008 1:08AM
They have key ring in your back why not add a saddle slot. Then allow the saddle to be upgraded for plus speeds and usable on all mounts. I guess you could have a bridle instead, but hey just brain storming here
Justin Sep 3rd 2008 1:14AM
Should just have to get a crop for each mount like Blizz originally wanted. So what that you have to buy more than 1? Gold isn't hard to make in this game.
Siggy Sep 3rd 2008 2:23AM
"It does seem certain that it won't stick around in its current trinket form, and virtually certain that it won't disappear entirely, but everything else is up in the air. What do you think they should do?"
Schrodinger's Whip?
Orb Sep 3rd 2008 5:53AM
I like the idea of making it a weapon, but howabout using the ranged/relic slot instead of the off hand slot? That way you'll still get the benefit of being able to swap it out during combat, but still have your melee weapons/shield visible when you're riding around.
wildwinds Sep 3rd 2008 6:22AM
How about a held in off-hand item. Or better yet just remove it from the game, it's cruel to hit your horse/cat/raptor/wolf/goat/chicken? And how does a riding crop help make a mechanostrider go faster anyway?
Rale Sep 3rd 2008 8:55AM
Create another slot in the Character Pane (Call it Saddle slot or something) and allow players to equip these speed increasing items in those slots so they are always active without having to swap trinkets.
Juliah Sep 3rd 2008 9:09AM
Yep, agreed on the Passive option. Just have a line of code detect that the character has a Riding Crop (or whatever speed trinket you've got), and have it automatically apply to whatever mount is equipped. It really doesn't need to be complicated. Honestly, a little extra speed is hardly a game-breaking concern.
LostOne Sep 3rd 2008 9:25AM
Either make a passive talent, or add another item slot that is strictly for mount speed enhancing items. By making it a new item slot, they could have different speeds. 10% for riding crop, 15% for an epic raid drop, etc.