WOW to get mounts at level 30?

By Oli Welsh Published 20 June, 2008

Plus more patch and trading card news.

The patch notes for World of Warcraft test servers indicate that the level requirement for mounts is to be lowered from 40 to 30.

It may sound like a trivial detail, but WOW players will understand that gaining access to the travel speed boost ten levels earlier will make a huge difference to the experience of levelling a character in the game, and will be very welcome.

"Mounts at 30?! Yes, it's true: Apprentice Riding and mounts are now available at level 30. Training costs 35 gold," read the notes, indicating that the cost of the riding skill - previously 90 gold for training, and 10 gold for a mount - has also been slashed.

Otherwise, patch 2.4.3 offers few major changes on the test servers, beyond the usual brace of adjustments to class balance, and some concessions towards easing the difficulty of the recently-added Magister's Terrace dungeon.

Naturally, these changes are currently for test only and are not guaranteed to make it into the next patch for real, but we'd be very surprised if they didn't, the level 30 mounts especially. Patch 2.4.3 will go live in early July.

Also supported by the patch - and released just before it, on July 1 - is the next expansion for Upper Deck Entertainment's WOW trading card game: The Hunt for Illidan. Three new cards with codes for in-game loot will appear: one allows you to leave glowing green footprints wherever you walk, another lets you create a mirrorball for instant disco action, and the third lets you summon an ethereal trader who'll follow you around, awarding you currency for every monster you kill which can then be exchanged with him for exclusive items.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • KungFuSpoon #1 4 years ago

    I don't play WOW so I don't care but a friend of mine who does has been complaining about the dumbing down of WOW to attract more people, and make it easier, I guess it really is true. This'll annoy him.

  • Leolian #2 4 years ago

    As the lvl cap gets higher it's gonna be frustrating levelling a new character. Getting to lvl 60 is one thing, but getting to 80 at the same pace is quite another. I applaud this.

  • oMonarca #3 4 years ago

    Good business practice, Blizzard is simply speeding people up to the expansion, so when it hits, more people will be able to see the new stuff, instead of having to grind like in the old days.

    And why is it dumbed down? I'm betting the high level content keeps being as hard as ever, it's only faster to get to the good stuff.

  • DFawkes #4 4 years ago

    I've stopped playing WoW at the moment, but if it's true that I'm only 10 or so levels away from a mount I'd probably subscribe again. I know it's just travelling faster, but it'd be enough for Blizzard to get my okay to charge me cash every month again :)

    It's not getting easier as such, just more accessible. There are still plenty of things to be done by the dedicated player.

  • rudedudejude #5 4 years ago

    Its so the later levels are more accessible now that the limit it up to 80 shortly.

    With a mount at 30 should speed the process up well.

  • KungFuSpoon #6 4 years ago

    Like I said I don't play it, only reporting what my friend said, but he;s one of those hardcore WOW players who got a lot of his epic stuff before it was made easier and is just annoyed that he put in a lot more work then people do now to get the high level stuff.

  • Eraysor #7 4 years ago

    Good move. It'll make levelling my twink easier :)

  • rudedudejude #8 4 years ago

    Well yeh, there is that, but if you keep extending the end game soon enough he'll find there's only him and 7 other people there.

    One of our guildies just got to 40 and mounted last night, they were quite pissed off they could have waitied a few weeks and saved 10 levels!

  • speed182 #9 4 years ago

    So he only got to level 40 for a mount? :S

  • Mr_Brown #10 4 years ago

    This is fantastic news. Getting a mount is the first major headache of the game. Things get so much easier and feel alot less of a slog once you get a mount. The 20 - 40 levels depending on class can be a total grind. Especially when you get to level 40 and needed to gain loads of gold. Can't wait for this (I have a level 30 Paladin gathering dust...free mount :-D)

  • FooAtari #11 4 years ago

    I've played a bit of WoW but never got much above level 10. Maybe I'm just thick but I've never really played an MMO before and find it all quite daunting, seems to be so much info to take in and not a whole lot of new players to do quests and things with which kind of removes a lot of the multiplayer part... Maybe I'll try again when this patch arrives.

  • Tiger_Walts #12 4 years ago

    If you've ever seen graphs charting total experience against time for a non-twinked player you'd understand the change. There's a slump from lvl 30 to 40 and then the step at 40 where the player has to farm gold to get a mount. Quite simply this region of the graph depicts a sizeable time and (WoW) money sink, very good for lengthening the game and keep those subs coming in longer. It's also the band where I have mostly stopped playing due to the experience getting very dull.

    With all of the best stuff only available to the high lvls it's common sense to shorten the early game.

  • gaijin #13 4 years ago

    well if it's true, that will be perfect timing for me at least. Half way through 39, and about to start on a grind for an additional 60 gold (ie about twice as much again as i've accrued thus far)... think i might wait a week...

  • Kami #14 4 years ago

    Okay first things first. If people play WoW to comepnsate the size of things with "phat epix", then they've missed the point and should stop playing WoW. Hardcore players may be pissed off but they were a major minority and gearing people to replace those who left meant going back and gearing new people up, or hoping someone just as hardcore was waiting in the wings. In short, a real problem, not least that said geared and trained people tended to be in other guilds and then you get into guild relations and how big guilds fall out... none of this is good.

    Now it's much easier to substitute, gear and get stuff done. If hardcore players think this is a bad think thenthat's their problem, but if anything they're the ones benefitting from getting decent players to their gear level sooner.

    As for WotLK... we need a release date yet. If it's not due until early next year, then the game may end up stagnating a little like it did pre-BC, where raids died off in the last few weeks completely and everyone started farming anything of worth. If WotLK is far enough away that 2008 isn't in the release line, then Blizzard might do well to throw players a few more bones. Getting people ready for wotlk is one thing - but are they perhaps, maybe, possibly doing it too soon?

  • zootle #15 4 years ago

    Don't get me wrong because I play WoW a lot (guess you could say I'm a semi hardcore raider), but I really don't see why minor patches should be news on a gaming site. So the minimum level requirement for riding has dropped 10 levels. Big deal. Take it to the forums dedicated to the game, it doesn't belong here as a news story.

  • Byzanite #16 4 years ago

    didnt it used to cost about 4g for a mount??
    All that gold selling i guess :p

  • Saladin #17 4 years ago

    People don't want "noobs" to get access to the good stuff. That means that their own good stuff is watered down, and generally less of a great thing to have.

  • Laika #18 4 years ago

    Gah... I wish LOTRO would do this kind of thing. You can actually get a mount at 25 if you get some overpriced collector's edition shit. 25! If you have the regular version (like me) you have to grind another 10 levels.

  • stoopidgreg #19 4 years ago

    "It may sound like a trivial detail"

    you said it right there. this is non-news. doesn't eurogamer have an MMO sister site for this rubbish?

  • tentaculat #20 4 years ago

    It's obviously not a trivial detail given all of the comments already about it, minus yours and mine of course. Just because WoW is too popular for you to pretentious types to associate yourselves with, WoW remains one of the finest PC games ever made. This news is every bit as pertinent as those really interesting achievements in TF2 that everyone talks about for example, or news about the phenomenon of the Spore Cock Monster.

    But please, don't let me get in the way of you muppets slagging off the big nasty WoW.

  • ProtoformX #21 4 years ago

    I personally take this as good news. I have always been a fan of the Warcraft games and the world that Blizzard have created around them. However, to get to the true storyline-advancing you need to reach the endgame content (e.g. fighting Kil'Jaeden at Quel Danas) and I personally just don't have the time to commit to that degree. I've been playing WoW on and off for about 2 and a half years now and I've never even got a character to level 60, let alone 70. I understand why the more devoted players could complain - it's never great when you work so hard for something and then someone else can get it much quicker/more easily but hey, shit happens.

  • gremly #22 4 years ago

    Hopefully Blizzard pull a surprise release day of late this year

  • DarkTimes #23 4 years ago

    It's actually quite a sensible move by Blizzard, they're simultaneously pushing people towards the expansion, easing the frustrations of the notorious 30-40 lull, and removing a lot of the pain of levelling an alt (you really, really miss your epic mount). Really, there will be few players that will find fault with this new development.
    Edited by DarkTimes at 21/06/08 @ 03:24

  • Nill #24 4 years ago

    That this would be trivial news is just pure nonsense. Remember that the vast majority of WoW's playerbase does not raid. It consists of players like I, that re-roll every so often - quit and resubscribe frequently only to play on a different character or realm. For all of us, this is big news indeed, and it quickly had me thinking about resubscribing again.

    I believe Blizzard released numbers about how large a chunk of WoW's population that actually raids. It was down to something like 8%. Now, obviously this was some time ago, and things might have changed, but still, there's lots and lots of people re-rolling characters every so often - and this is beside the fact that the leveling-curve is soon to be raised by another 10 levels.

  • rogueJT #25 4 years ago


    Just paid 85G for my mount at level 40 then this.

    It reminds me of anytime I buy a new laptop or electrical device and one week later it's a lot cheaper with better specs.

  • Nikalai88 #26 4 years ago

    Blizzard knows what it is doing, don't dumb down the content but the curve.

    Unlike other MMO's like Lineage 2 where you have to do boring mindless grind for hours before you actually get to the good bits of the gameplay Blizzard spreads the fun around all the levels. Mythic is doing it to with WAR. In DAoC you pretty much needed to be lv. 50 to do RvR but in WAR it is a gradual increase.

  • Svecke #27 4 years ago

    Ordered WoW and its first expansion the other day, still waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I figured it was time to give it a twirl. But after visiting the forums on the official site, I feel apprehensive. Damn, what a monkey-house. :p I just hope people are more coherent and polite in-game. :)

  • qoobah #28 4 years ago

    @Svecke You'll be unpleasantly surprised I'm afraid. When I used to play it, some odd 1 year ago, it had, I daresay, the worst gaming community I've come across with. Constant whining, flaming, shit talking and more whining is abundant, even on (or maybe scratch the 'even' part) the RPPvP realm which are supposed to have more "mature" community. I quit partly due to the fact that most of the players were total fuckheads, basement brooding teens, or usually both. Or at least, they were the most vocal group. Mature my ass. It was monkey house as you know it, I doubt much has changed.

  • Svecke #29 4 years ago

    @qoobah

    Aw, nuts. Well, maybe things have changed! :D Or I could hope that the RP-servers have a more... mature population these days.
    Edited by Svecke at 22/06/08 @ 13:56

  • Lemming81 #30 4 years ago

    Those who are complaining about this are ridiculous.

    Being eligible to get a mount was never a skill or hard slog in itself. Getting the money for one, was. This changes nothing really.

  • Lemming81 #31 4 years ago

    @rogueJT: you've just proved my point. Don't be retarded. Did you have 85g at level 30? I doubt it.

  • timberwolf #32 4 years ago

    like the sound of this! :D but also luv the grind, a good grind never hurt anyone :D i am happppppppyyyyyy :D
    Edited by timberwolf at 23/06/08 @ 02:22

  • zootle #33 4 years ago

    "But after visiting the forums on the official site, I feel apprehensive. Damn, what a monkey-house. :p I just hope people are more coherent and polite in-game. :)"

    Word of advice. Well, a sentence or two...

    If you want to play WoW do NOT use the official forums. I've never seen such a bunch of totally obnoxious wankers and generally all round unpleasant people. And no, people aren't more polite in game, sadly. The best thing to do is to find a half decent group of people to play with, maybe join a guild.