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Wandering Ancient spring

The Wandering Ancient

Choose the Next Shadowlands Mount was a community poll conducted by Blizzard Entertainment between September 4 and September 18, 2020 which allowed players from all regions to vote on which of five mounts would be given for free to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands owners in the first quarter of 2021. Blizzard presented five mount descriptions created by the World of Warcraft artist team, and the concept that received the most votes internationally would be made into a real mount in the game. On September 19, it was announced that the Inv ancientmount [Wandering Ancient] had won the poll. The mount was showcased at BlizzConline in February 2021 and was subsequently released with patch 9.0.5 in March 2021.

Two of the losing concepts were later added to the game with different methods of acquisition: the Soaring Spelltome in patch 9.1.5, and the Gooey Slimesaber (now named Inv catslimemount [Jigglesworth, Sr.]) in Shadowlands Season 4 during patch 9.2.5.

Poll announcement[]

This year we’ve been all called upon to overcome many things, and we’re ever grateful to you—our community—for being with us each step of the way during these uncertain times. In that spirit of unity, and as a token of our appreciation, we want to collaborate with everyone who owns Shadowlands to create a mount that you can ride across the realms of the afterlife.

Making A Mount Together

Our artists have kicked things off by coming up with concepts for five unique mounts for you to choose between. Now it’s time for your part—pick your favorite from the poll linked above and below; the highest number of votes internationally will be crowned the winning choice and our artists will begin working on making your choice a reality.

  • Wandering AncientNot all ancients are interested in war or lore, some just want to travel the world! A large and leafy mount, the Wandering Ancient invites you to climb aboard and grab ahold of its branches as you embark on a lumbering expedition.
  • Soaring SpelltomeIn the forgotten depths of the Dalaran library, this oversized tome was found flapping madly around the room. Open the pages of this arcane-infused book and hitch a ride to magical adventure.
  • Nerubian SwarmerWhen the Helm of Domination shattered, the Nerubians under the control of the Lich King were unleashed. Some were captured by the Argent Crusade and turned by their allies in the Ebon Blade. Now their spidery claws are put to use as mounts, skittering through the frozen tundra of Icecrown in pursuit of the rampaging undead.
  • Curious CaterpillarA curious caterpillar found its way to the Heartland in Valley of the Four Winds one night and gorged itself on the oversized vegetables. The Pandaren of Halfhill awoke the next morning to find the crops half-eaten and an enormous, slumbering caterpillar among them. Too large to become a butterfly, this friendly worm is just the right size to train as a mount.
  • Gooey SlimesaberFrom the slime pools of Plaguefall emerged all manner of jellied creature, including this sticky kitty. A slimy saber cat that’s dripping with ooze, it’s the kind of mount that you’re going to want to wear gloves for.

Once our artists finish making the mount ready to ride, it will be added to the Mount Collection tab in Q1 2021 for every player with Shadowlands activated on their account. Polls will remain open for two weeks before we close them on September 18 at <3:00 p.m. PDT/22:00 CEST>, so be sure to pick your favorite before then! Do take note that there are several polls from different regions to support our players around the world, and your region’s poll results will only reflect the votes counted in your region.

Mount names and descriptions are in development and subject to change.[1][2]

Winner announcement[]

Blog post[]

After two weeks and with hundreds of thousands of players internationally casting their votes, the popular vote for the mount you want to ride is: The Wandering Ancient! Our designers will now work on bringing this mount to life, and we'll provide more information to share with you closer to its release.[1][2]

Forum post[]

Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of players around the world who voted in polls over the last two weeks, we now know which of the proposed mounts you most want to ride in 2021. The winner is:

  • The Wandering Ancient
A large and leafy mount, the Wandering Ancient invites you to climb aboard and grab ahold of its branches as you embark on a lumbering expedition.

Our designers will now work on bringing this mount to life, so that all players who purchase Shadowlands will receive it.

And again, thank you for voting![3]

Notes[]

  • According to Lead Art Producer Shani Edwards, Blizzard wanted to do a community-picked mount because Shadowlands was designed around the theme of player agency and choice and the poll served as an opportunity to engage the community.[4]
  • The team had a lot of internal debates about whether they should provide concept art for the mount descriptions or not. They were ultimately glad that they didn't since it encouraged artists in the community to create their own artwork envisioning what the mounts might look like.[4]

References[]

External links[]

Announcement
Polls
Winner announcement
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