Really wishing Elk could be raised like sheep and pigs

[Novabella]

I get there are probably technical limitations making it difficult to swap a tamed elk from livestock to mount, but regardless I still find it very frustrating that tame elk are an entirely different entity from wild elk. I don't know about the rest of you, but making elk an end-game thing feels like it flat out prevents certain playstyles from ever getting to use them in any way. I can't imagine a Nomad managing to gear up to take on the archives and then saving the gears to buy the elk, for example. Additionally, once you can buy an elk, it likely isn't as useful as it could be earlier on. And finally, I feel like gating 2/3 of transportation options behind the final boss is just a really weird choice.

Instead, I would suggest maybe the ability to put a leather saddle on a domesticated elk, which would essentially transform the elk from livestock form to mount form. This way it still requires some effort (gathering leather and domesticating), without gating it off from people that don't want to sit in one place for too long. I don't think this would make it THAT much easier for nomad playstyles, but I feel it makes more sense than all wild elk being completely different entities from the tamed ones. Perhaps one could use pelts instead for cheap, nomadic friendly saddles to ride  the more wild ones, and they just don't listen as much as the domesticated ones? I'm not sure, just spitballing here.

If they've posted somewhere why they've decided to go with this thought and I've just missed it I apologize.

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums! If I had to guess, it's probably a case of just getting a working mount system in place first, and then adding more mounts/domestication of mounts in later. Likewise, I'm guessing that gating the elk behind the Resonance Archive's completion is meant to avoid trivializing the first story chapter. It's quite a trek, though very manageable, and once you have the elk you appreciate it a lot more.

1 hour ago, Novabella said:

Instead, I would suggest maybe the ability to put a leather saddle on a domesticated elk, which would essentially transform the elk from livestock form to mount form. This way it still requires some effort (gathering leather and domesticating), without gating it off from people that don't want to sit in one place for too long.

I like the idea, but I don't think it works for a full nomad playstyle. Livestock in Vintage Story actively requires settling down in a spot for a very long time, given how long it takes to breed and raise the animals. Likewise, most livestock requires a few generations' worth of breeding before they start behaving like domesticated animals--ie, losing fear of the player. Having the elk be able to be domesticated and used as a mount without the need for purchase from the trader would be nice, since it would offer an option of acquisition that both does not require gears, and that works in the Homo Sapiens game mode(where there are no traders).

1 hour ago, Novabella said:

I don't know about the rest of you, but making elk an end-game thing feels like it flat out prevents certain playstyles from ever getting to use them in any way.

Technically, it's an early-game thing, but 3/4 of the story has yet to be finished. I would also note that depending on the playstyle one chooses, and the rules they impose on themselves with that playstyle, it may not be possible to acquire or utilize everything that the game normally has to offer, and the "normal" strategies may no longer be the most effective either.

[Novabella]

While I do get not getting access to everything the game has to offer by picking certain playstyles, I feel like having a mount is kinda inherent to the nomad playstyle. Gating it behind something nomads specifically cannot achieve in any way feels kinda like a letdown.

On 1/29/2025 at 4:36 PM, LadyWYT said:

I like the idea, but I don't think it works for a full nomad playstyle. Livestock in Vintage Story actively requires settling down in a spot for a very long time, given how long it takes to breed and raise the animals. Likewise, most livestock requires a few generations' worth of breeding before they start behaving like domesticated animals--ie, losing fear of the player. Having the elk be able to be domesticated and used as a mount without the need for purchase from the trader would be nice, since it would offer an option of acquisition that both does not require gears, and that works in the Homo Sapiens game mode(where there are no traders).

Yea, I'm not entirely sure how to go about it, but I still feel like there should be some way for nomads to do it. I do agree that preventing mounts at all in HS mode is extremely frustrating. I would probably need to do more research into how mounts were actually domesticated in real life before I could give a more functional idea for nomad playstyle mounts, I suppose.

[Maelstrom]

On 1/29/2025 at 5:36 PM, LadyWYT said:

adding more mounts/domestication of mounts in later.

Consider wolf pups sold by the traders has been in the game since at least 1.14.  I belive Tyron himself has confirmed he wants to make domesticating wolves possible, I suspect domesticating mounts would be within that project.