IDEAS FOR RYZOM

The idea is for mounted warriors of some kind. Cavalry suggests a unit of mounted warriors but this would have to work for individuals first.

- Enable players to use weapons while mounted
- Use of existing 1-handed weapons (minimum 'Reach' value required - Daggers would be pretty pointless)
- Specialised Cavalry Weapons of equivalent power to 2-handed weapons but used with one hand
- Armour for mounts, specialist saddle to enable 2-handed weapons, etc.

This specialised gear would of course be expensive and extra training (new skill?) would be required to ride + use weapons at the same time.

- Possibly limit to melee weapons (no magic possible while mounted).
- Mount's invulnerability should be kept with all damage going to rider or should that depend on mount's armour? Perhaps let mounts take damage but only up to the point where they can't carry rider.

The more I think about this the more possibilities there are.

An interesting idea. I'm not sure whether I'd be for it or not, so this post is from the position of being for it.
In a discussion on how to bring players back, most people were against raising the skill cap, and gaining new skill trees might not be recieved much better. Possibly give the players new stanzas related to using weapons while mounted (in the fighting trees) instead. I can see credit stanzas "Use When Mounted" (or option stanzas, depending how you want to do it). If you haven't heard, there are plenty of skill points by high levels.

You didn't specify, but I'd think the 1h weapons with the power of 2h weapons should be limited to use while mounted if they're added.
I agree with the minimum reach limit of weapons and would agree with no magic (since you're constantly getting jostled when moving, you're sure to mess something up).
You didn't mention ranged weapons. I can see how those (the 1-handed ones) could be used from a mount. Possibly a new skill in the ranged tree + an weapon mount (to be purchased or crafted with tool crafting?) added on the saddle to use 2h ranged weapons. Accuracy would have to be down when moving, though possibly yet another range tree skill could alleviate this to some extent.

As for the mount/player taking damage, letting the mount take damage along with or before the player could give mounted players quite an HP bonus, made even higher effectively by allowing the mount to be armored. I don't know that having to heal the mount after it dumps you off (How? Stick it in the stable? Heal spell (too easy)?) would offset the HP bonus.
On the other hand, it would make sense for small/short animals only to be able to hit the mount, and not you. Similarly for melee weapons with short range (daggers, say, might only be able to hit the mount or the player's legs).

Just my thoughts on this.

Think this has been asked for since beta and with the current state of the game I don't see it happen but i did like your 1h bowgun idea it seems to the best weapon to implement first on a mount

Specialist Cavalry Weapons could only be used while mounted

Genius idea

The damage initially should be shared by rider and mount until the mount throws the rider. there would be an HP boost to the rider - that is to be expected.

The mount can only be healed by time in the normal way, although possibly this could be helped if there is a food stack with you.

Also since this is a specialised mount there would have to be a limit to how much gear it could carry - I would limit it to enough for perhaps three weapons and a spare suit of armour.

I would expect the advantages to this arrangement would be offset by the difficulty and expense of doing it properly - as with other weapons / armour combinations, low level abilities and gear would be useable but not very effective. Training in what should really be a new skill tree would enable the experienced player to get something really effective.

I absolutely think that new skill trees is a way to grow the game, and it would surely attract back some old players.

I like your idea and it's better thought tthrough than the others like it I've seen up to now :-)

I would use the version with extra skill(s)

But I'd use the normal mounts, only that they'd get a own skill tree of some sort.
Lets say riding 1km with it = 100xp for the mektoub and with mektoub level 20 you're able to gear it up with the special gear for ridden fight. So if you gear it up with the ranged gear you're only able to level ranged fight on the mektoub....
Hope you know where this'll leed ;-)

I always see one big problem with mounted combat:
If it has no advantage over un-mounted combat, there's no reason to use it.
If it does have an advantage over un-mounted combat, well... imagine an OP battle with everyone on mount. The horror O_O

How could we make it useful for some situations but not usefull for other situations?