WoW: The new mount as a reward for 500 mounts splits the community

Collectors in World of Warcraft can look forward to a really fancy otter – but some just see it as “another boring recolor”.

A few days ago we reported that the dataminers had found an achievement in the World of Warcraft Dragonflight Alpha. It was about collecting 500 mounts, which was then rewarded with another mount. The reaction was devastating, which is why Blizzard has now improved – and probably makes most fans happy.

What was the problem? The first reward given for the Thanks for the Carry! achievement was a Big Yeti – essentially a recolor of a mount that’s been in the game for a long time. This caused a real outcry and large parts of the collector community felt betrayed. After all, there hasn’t been a new collector’s success for several expansions and the new one was extremely poor with an “old model”.

Blizzard agreed and promised improvement.

What kind of mount is there now? The new reward for the “Thanks for the Carry!” achievement is the “Carrier Ottuk”. Ottuks are new to Dragonflight and are quasi-giant otters used primarily by the Tuskarr for travel on land and sea.

The Carrier Otuk is armored and has numerous bone decorations, which are also based on the Tuskarr and match their building and clothing style.

Here’s how the community is reacting: The feedback on the carrier Ottuk is almost always positive. Whether in World of Warcraft subreddit (95% upvotes) or on sites like wowhead, the new reward is praised almost everywhere. Here are some excerpts:

• “I’ve never wanted to start collecting mounts. Until now. IT’S SO CUTE”
• “Make it a two-seater mount and we have a deal.”
• “Much better, but there is still a little room for improvement.”

Is there any criticism? Yes, there are. It’s a pity for some that the reward for 500 mounts seems to be a mount that can’t fly. At least the otter doesn’t look like it has wings hidden under its armor. Here many players would have wished that it might be a dragon or something similar, so that they could later take to the skies with the new mount.

Also criticized is that there are other Ottuk mounts in Dragonflight. Some would have wished that 500 achievement had a unique mount that had no other variations.

What do you think of the new reward? Is it appropriate and cool? Or would you have wished for a different mount and Blizzard should change it again?

It’s also interesting that the new class, the Rufer, is perfect for trolling other players.