Shwa

Why are there no mounts in Runescape? Its a question that has been asked many times by players over the years. Jagex has been fairly quiet about this issue,  mentioning it only sometimes on the Runescape forums. However, this issue has always been fairly popular among players. The best place to start would be describing what a mount is.

A mount is an animal or some other beast that a player would ride on. This animal would carry them faster than they would if they were running, making travel more efficient. These animals, depending on the type, would be running or flying. The flying mounts would of course probably travel faster than those that run on the ground, and could access areas that would be blocked off to anyone on the ground.

If mounts were brought into Runescape, there could be many benefits to new content. Jagex could greatly expand the map, not having to worry about the ability of players to access certain areas that may not have a teleport to that location. Players could also fly into forests to do quests not accessible to players who are on the ground. Mounts could also include water creatures, so that players would be able to sail to different islands without having to teleport or take a boat there. These are many benefits of mounts if they were to be included in the game, but there are many drawbacks as well.

The fact is, Runescape is just too small for mounts to be needed. The map itself is not very large compared to other games that have mounts. In addition, the teleport system is too established in the game to need mounts. Almost any location in Runescape can be teleported to, or is only a very short run from a teleport location. If mounts were to be included, the travel system would be even more clustered than it is now. Since there would only be a few situations where mounts could be effectively used, their full ability could not be used. Players would be only be able to use them for a couple minutes at most, until they arrived at their destination. Travel in Runescape is already fast, mounts would make it ridiculous.

Because of these drawbacks, Jagex has said they will never release mounts into the game. They have also said that players need to stop suggesting it in the forums because they are firm in not implementing them into the game. If Jagex was to expand the map though, by taking the same area and multiplying the empty space by possibly 4 or 5 times, then maybe a use for mounts might be found. Also if Jagex was to make a huge addition to the game, such as a new continent, and chose not to include many teleport locations in that area, then mounts could also find a use in that area.

Having an animal or beast to ride around Runescape sounds like a very fun experience. However Jagex has said they do not plan to implement them into the game. The reasons of course being the small size of the Runescape map, as well as the network of teleports and other forms of transportation that make almost any area in Runescape already readily accessible. Maybe with more updates that expand the map area, Jagex will look back at this idea with a serious approach. However as it stands, Runescape is just not a game that is ready for that form of travel.