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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsMount race restrictions lifted, Tauren rejoice
by Michael Sacco 
Dec 11th 2008 at 5:30PM
As the newest member of the WoW Insider team, I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce myself before diving right into news, news, news. We might not be total strangers, though! I was the blue poster formerly known as Belfaire (the talbuk). A good number of you may be familiar with my work already, and may have even wondered where I'd gone off to in the past two months. Now you know!
That's right--I've given up the animated avatar and moved on to greener pastures. I'm still the same incorrigible talbuk you knew, though, and my unique experiences make me a real...WoW insider.
With the obligatory terrible puns out of the way, let's talk shop, yeah?
Mounts! A subject near and dear to my heart, having been one in my past life. With today's posting of the patch notes for PTR patch 3.0.8, we've discovered that mounts are no longer restricted by race, which means that any mount available to your faction is yours to ride as you see fit. Tauren, this means you can ride that skelly horse you've been after, or even a choc--err, hawkstrider. It also means that if you're a human, night elf, or draenei, you can ratchet the ridiculousness level up to eleven and ride a mechanostrider if you so desire.
Lifting this restriction also helps a number of races with getting those mount collection achievements, including the reported new one, which tasks you with collecting a square hundred mounts. Your reward? A dragonhawk mount -- surely just the thing to break you out of those "riding a huge red dragon is so boring" blues.
I've always thought that the race restriction on mounts was kind of silly and likely a legacy thing from vanilla WoW. I'm glad that, with all of the other cosmetic and customization changes Blizzard's added for Wrath, that they rethought the restriction and put all races on equal footing (or hoofing, as the case may be).
Good news for those who want to look hilarious and comical. Great news for Azerothian animal chiropractors!
Filed under: Tauren, Patches, News items, Factions, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Fyve & Boomstick Dec 11th 2008 6:09PM
@kesherz
Thank you for pointing that out. Good thinking!
Cinate Dec 11th 2008 4:54PM
hey blizz heres an idea, make a bicycle mount (not the choppers) so us druids can ride on it in bear form, gogog ^_^
Niiru Dec 11th 2008 6:10PM
Now is the time to let druids mount in Moonkin form. They have the animation; you see it on several vehicle-based quests and the previous bug in the wetlands that let you mount in Moonkin form.
Why should balance druids be the only class/spec that has to deal with a roughly 75% armor reduction while mounted?
Zaringu Dec 11th 2008 10:33PM
@ Niiru. Pet classes cant have their pets out while mounted. That's an enormous blow to Demo Locks and BM Hunters. I'm not sure about this, but I dont think you can block/parry/dodge while mounted. Maybe that's just b/c whenever I'm in combat mounted I'm running XD. Point is, being mounted in combat isn't meant to be viable. I'm not opposed to mounting in forms but the "imba" argument seems a bit weak.
Tanglebones Dec 11th 2008 4:55PM
As a representative of D.H.E.T.A. I feel that it is my ethical duty to protest this change. Taurens riding hawkstriders has been shown in numerous studies (cf. Dr. Van Ziederman, Undercity University) to be the leading cause of injury and stress to the hawkstrider's leg muscles and bones, while the Orgrimmar Emergency Animal hospital reports a marked increase in snapped spines in riding wolves (except Frost Wolves... they're hardier... 'cause there's frost in their bones!)
Chris Anthony Dec 11th 2008 8:47PM
I feel bad for saying this, but you'd be more credible as a DEHTA rep if you could spell the acronym. ;)
Tanglebones Dec 12th 2008 10:57AM
Uhhhh...we're a splinter faction... yeah, no error here!
interesting Dec 11th 2008 4:56PM
"Blizzard's added for Wrath, that they rethought the restriction and put all races on equal footing (or hoofing, as the case may be)."
Because different mounts were so unbalanced...
We are well on the way now, dmg is being made equal, everyone has the same mounts. Everyone has AoE's (somehat)
Pretty soon all armor images will be the same. Then we can be called World of Lineage.
joerendous Dec 11th 2008 8:40PM
where have you been? all the armor images -are- the same.
Mark Dec 12th 2008 8:44AM
It was actually kind of unfair to Tauren, the old way. With the mount achievements, it was much more difficult for a Tauren than anyone else.
They have enough trouble fitting through doors. At least make the achievements the same for them.
Shroommonkey Dec 11th 2008 4:58PM
Make up your mind on whether or not to post the article already. :P
Let the, "OMG, you were a Blue!?!?!" spam commence!
hold up Dec 11th 2008 4:58PM
yay! i can finally trade in my plain white chicken nugget for a more colorful one. cow riding a chicken... the pinnacle of hilarity.
Manatank Dec 11th 2008 5:05PM
I'm glad that Blizzard is letting players make this choice for themselves. Now the only restriction on mount selection is shame.
Myrandriel Dec 11th 2008 5:10PM
Belfy?! BELFY! You DO live!! It's good to see you again!
Huzzah for mount race restrictions going away!
Huzzah for Belfy's return!
Phoenix Dec 11th 2008 5:45PM
Definitely one of my all time favorite blues.
Still have that little "Belfaire Partying" flash thing?
Talowin Dec 11th 2008 5:07PM
Does this mean that you still need to be exalted with each mount's respective faction, or can you just purchase the mount from the vendor?
FoxOfWar Dec 11th 2008 5:48PM
I'd wager one still has to be Exalted to get the mount.
Which is a good thing, IMO. Getting the mount feels better if you grind a rep to exalted to get it, as odd as it may sound to some people.
kesherz Dec 11th 2008 6:03PM
Yes, you'll still need to grind the rep or battleground tokens. It just means that the racial restrictions (ie. tauren have to ride big things, only small races can ride mechanostriders) are gone.
Rox Dec 12th 2008 4:37AM
For now, yes. Undoubtedly Blizz will change that as well in future. They seem determined to make WoW one shade of grey
jurandr Dec 11th 2008 5:09PM
Hooray for taurens. Now fix the wintergrasp doors for the lady tauren?
Also, nice to see you again, belfaire :)