The List: Five Awesome MMO 'Mounts'

MMOs are often made up of expansive worlds, so what better way to get around than on your very own mount? If you have even a tiny bit of experience playing games in the MMO genre, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve owned your own mount. But not all mounts are alike; certainly some are more awesome than others. In this week’s The List we’ll be taking a look at five of our favorite mounts in MMO history.

World of Warcraft: X-53 Touring Rocket

If you’re socially inclined, you can earn a mount sure to make Major Kong blush with envy: enter the X-53 Touring Rocket! The X-53 is a two-seater flying mount (one of only two available in WoW) that can also be used on the ground. Players can earn the X-53 by completing WoW’s Refer-a-Friend promotion.

Flying mounts are a dime a dozen in World of Warcraft, but what is cooler than strapping yourself and a lucky (or unlucky?) friend to a giant rocket and zooming around Azeroth?

Star Wars Galaxies: Transport Skiff

Forget two seaters! What about a vehicle capable of carrying eight players? Heck yeah! Star Wars Galaxies’ Transport Skiff will be familiar to most folk as the center of the fight scene over the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi. In Galaxies, this vehicle was capable of carrying its pilot along with seven other players.

The Transport Skiff was fairly rare, as it was only awarded to players who pre-ordered Trials of Obi-wan, the third expansion to Star Wars Galaxies. I have fond memories of hitching a ride on one of these things with a nearly full group of passengers after finding myself speederless at Ft. Tusken. Multi-person vehicles such as the Transport Skiff were great for encouraging conversation over long travel distances. We'd love to see more of these crop up in MMOs!

Aion and Various Superhero MMOs: Yourself!

Sure, not exactly a mount, but Aion and a variety of superhero MMOs feature some interesting ways to get around. In Aion’s case, players are granted their own set of wings, allowing them to glide around and eventually fly for extended periods of time. Flight is part and parcel of the Aion experience: whether you’re flying from area to area within The Abyss, gathering materials in the sky, bursting through tunnels of wind, or even shooting up into the sky via geysers and updrafts.

City of Heroes, Champions Online, and DC Universe Online also feature player flight, but they’ve got a bit more than that going for them. Players can super leap, tumble and somersault, fly, and super speed around the game world in all of the above, but Champions Online adds a few more interesting options, including burrowing and a really nifty teleportation ability. If you’ve ever wanted to “bamf” around like Nightcrawler, you’ll definitely want to check out Teleportation in Champions Online.

Age of Conan: Wolf and Tiger Mounts

At face value, the notion of riding a tiger or wolf in an MMO isn’t exactly mind-blowing. There are quite a few MMOs that likely offer this already. However, Funcom made the experience of acquiring and owning a mount much more personal with the launch of Age of Conan’s Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Godslayer introduced the aforementioned tiger and wolf mounts to the game, but players would have to go through a process of acquiring either of these magnificent creatures as mere babies in order to raise and train them as their own companion and mount.

In the case of the tiger, the player must complete a rite that involves entering a tiger’s den, removing all gear and weapons, and defeating the mother tigress. Once defeated, the player acquires one of the mother’s cubs, and must then raise and train the cub through to adulthood before being able to mount it.

PlanetSide: Galaxy Dropship

The massive Galaxy dropship was a fan-favorite for players of the original PlanetSide. The Galaxy is basically a massive troop transport that was capable of “hot dropping” numerous infantry, up to two MAX units, and even a light vehicle right into the thick of battle. While I haven’t taken part in a “hot drop” myself, judging by fan recollections of the experience as well as a variety of videos available on YouTube, it’s fair to say that it appears to be an exhilarating experience.

Fortunately, SOE has announced that the Galaxy will make its return in PlanetSide 2.

What’s your list of awesome MMO mounts? Share ‘em  with us in the comments below!