The reality though is that they didn’t want to make ground mounts interesting. They wanted to get rid of striders unique ability and wrapped it nicely as a present for those who don’t have one.
The equipment doesn’t work per mount but for all on one character. That isn’t interesting. I mean, all mounts do the same now except the expensive because somebody might buy a token for those. If they wanted diversity in water walking mounts, how about a boat that floats? Or make it per mount and leave the strider alone. To just add equipment pieces which are all available in potions…why? I guess next xpac we will see what they are up to.
6 Likes
Moo
I still wish they had given us multiple slots for mount equipment because all this change did was nerf the water strider and create a minor time sink in the form of the travel time from jade forest to krasarg wilds.
2 Likes
This was much ado about nothing, just like the portals thing. One guy above said this was made as a gold sink, as if getting 40g if you already had water walking constitutes a gold sink.
With the portals you had people who farm mounts on 100 alts raging because they had to take a 4 minute FP.
Or, better yet, make mount families where certain families had water walking, certain mounts have vendors and multiple seats, certain have the sky golem’s herbing ability, etc. But no, all we got was this crappy equipment system and something taken away because “Blizz didn’t like the players using it too much”.
6 Likes
it doesn’t.
the freebie was only during the introductory phase.
The biggest problem I have with the water strider nerf is, It was a rep reward. Everything is grind rep for this, grind rep for that, grind rep to open this, grind rep to open that. OK i went and ground out the rep and then you turn around and take my rep reward away.
Sure I still have a bug, but that was not what I bought, I already had a lot of mounts that sink when they hit water. I ground out a mount that walks on water and it no longer does, not a mount that sinks. Why would I ever buy a rep reward again, especially if it has anything unique about it. Will it be too ugly, too pretty, used to much or whatever excuse you come up with and be nerfed?
And the shoes are a joke, they could be disabled at anytime on any whim. The whole point of grinding out that mount was so I would not have to make consumables anymore to get my mounts to walk on water. I don’t understand why Blizzard does not respect the time I put in the game especially since that is what they are after.
But oh well it’s gone, my time was wasted. But a lot of my time was wasted playing this game, at least it was fun. There is nothing I can do about it now. Sure I’m a little upset Blizzard did this, but I learned my lesson, If it’s a rep reward don’t waste the gold on it it might just be too ugly to be allowed to use anymore.
7 Likes
Flight equipment. AH equipment. Repair Equipment. Transmog equpment…
all only working in their respective xpacs. Water walking will work in bfa, you need shadowlands water shoes for there. Flight equipment will be unlockable around 2023, but until then you can’t fly ANYWHERE in game (fits pretty well with the squish doesn’t it).
Magically flight is effectively removed, but not removed… we just can’t have it. All special mounts are now just skins. That bronto you spent all that gold on? Newblet can go pay [Cost of token or two here] and have it too! Equipment will be gated. We can get this and that after doing chore list A. We can get that and this after chore list B a year later. Chore list C will come out eventually and then we can unlock that and some other this.
The striders were the first victim… they won’t be the only ones.
5 Likes
Again, do this!
2 Likes
Please! Any of those options is way better than this
Just bumping this so it does not get forgotten over the Brutosaur-gate
- Make Water Strider stride on water again
- Bring back the portals removed for no reason
- Don’t remove the Brutosaur
12 Likes
Speaking of water-strider and portals, I decided to level up a Zandalari toon during the 15th anniversary. I had two big issues happen.
First, I came to water while questing and bam, couldn’t run across it because the toon wasn’t provided water walking shoes due to its level and the water-strider no longer works.
So I had to log off that toon, log into my main, go to Pandaria and buy some. Then log back over, go find a mailbox to pick them up. Time wasted.
Then, during the Thanksgiving event, I wanted to take advantage of the cooking quests. However, my cooking level wasn’t high enough. So I thought I’d just head over to Pandaria and quickly level it up.
Nope, can’t do that because you can no longer use the portal unless your character is 80. Again more wasted time as I went back to org to use the portal and ended up not being able to. 
9 Likes
Wow guys, who would’ve guessed?! We’re about to have another mount fade into the annuls of the history of this game! Not that anybody ever mentioned the problem with blizz starting to remove things from mounts and where such a “strawman” would lead.
4 Likes
they didnt remove the Spider so idk why they are removing the Dino
1 Like
Because token sales are skyrocketting thanks to the “announcement”
2 Likes
to make it easier to remove the AH functionality on it so they can turn that into more of the failed mount equipment
3 Likes
I am sure that eventually this will end up happening. Step one, remove the mount from the game. Step two wait awhile for the dust to settle. Step 3, remove the AH feature when no one is looking.
5 Likes
I earned my Water Strider. The game has given me several mounts and its been appreciated, but… the mounts that meant the most were a scrubby looking Pinto Horse, described as “rideable”, and my Water Strider. I don’t remember what character level it was when I could start riding, nor do I recall the exact cost, but the Pinto was all the mount I could afford. And it was perfect, I could ride. My Water Strider was not so visceral a thing, yet still, I had to earn the Water Strider, deliberately, if I wanted to ride on water unfettered, not needing a potion or enchantment or such to make it possible, as the ability was inherit in the mount. That’s what I wanted, that born to it ability. Gold alone could not get it, I had to earn the right to buy a Water Strider. Several weeks of indenture to a certain faction earned me that right, and gold by then was not an issue as it had been for the Pinto, nor was character level a concern. I got my Water Strider. No big deal, but mighty handy. The Pinto, my character was finally to the level I could buy riding, if I could afford it, and had or could afford a mount. Well, time and level was gonna come regardless, still though, I had to watch it pass, and I did good, saving my money. So, I bought the Pinto when I earned the right to ride. It was no accident and not a gift, I had to make it happen. The Water Strider was the same thing, I wanted something, and to get it I did the things I needed to do. I earned the right to buy a Water Strider and I did it specifically for its unique inborn ability to walk on water while being ridden. I earned it. I worked towards it for days upon days, only so I could enjoy the benefits of riding a mount possessing an inbred water-walking ability. And it wasn’t that hard, but it wasn’t trivial either. I’ve heard it said it is trivial, I’m losing nothing, just equip the waterbags. No, I had a mount to water walk, I never wanted all of them to do it. People that never had it will lose nothing. Me, I’ll lose a mount, because the Water Strider without the inbred water walking ability, is too damn ugly to ride.
15 Likes
According to Kaivax, a blue, Blizzard doesn’t intend to remove the AH from the Brutosaur, but that’s far from a guarantee. It’s not even a promise.
Blizzard loaded their ability-removal gun by introducing equipment and mutilating our Water Striders. If I were to walk into a home carrying a loaded gun* and tell the residents I didn’t “intend” to shoot anyone, I would not expect them to feel wonderfully reassured.
I bought my own Brutosaur when they first came out, and have since saved enough to buy one each for my sons. However there’s no way I’ll be buying those now, because I do not trust Blizzard.
Blizzard taught us a lesson in misplaced trust the first day of Legion, when players who had not acquired a legendary cloak tried to cross the Timeless Isle bridge to battle Ordos. They trusted Blizzard’s promise they would be able to, and thought it must be some kind of bug causing them to fall to their deaths.
Several days later Blizzard got around to informing us they’d changed their minds, and were not going to open up access to Ordos after all.
When you can’t even trust a promise from a company, a relayed statement of intention does not count for much.
*I don’t and never will own a gun, and don’t condone any kind of violence.
10 Likes
The word that most people ignore is “intend”. This word is used on purpose so they can leave the door open to removing things in the future.
I am sure the purpose of removing the ability to buy the AH mount is purely so they can boost token sales. However, they are also thinking about how to put the AH “horse” back in the barn.
5 Likes
I’m facepalming for days. I thought putting the damned water shoes would be account-wide. Just hopped on a lowbee character and the so-called ‘water strider’ doesn’t. No, I haven’t equipped ANY other mount equipment, anywhere. So, this proves Blizz’s usual BS is in progress. They’re definitely going to have to change the mount’s name, yeah, because it’s a lie now. Amongst many, many others. No wonder people are leaving this BS-Ridden game. If Blizzard would start giving a damn what their customers wanted, genuinely, and showed it by not pulling this duplicitous stuff on us ever expansion, maybe their customer base would not be shrinking like it is. slow, sad headshake
10 Likes