The Collector’s Bounty event in patch 11.1 was certainly interesting. Boosting drop rates of rare mounts (and doubling transmog loot drops) by 5% meant a mount that might drop once every 200 runs was suddenly, if my maths is right, dropping every 20.

This had Blizzard’s desired consequence of sending everyone into every old raid and dungeon with a rare mount drop, completely destroying M+ and Raiding numbers for the duration.

Running four characters through old and new Karazhan, Firelands, and Tempest Keep led to me adding OG Midnight, Ashes of Al’ar, Flametalon of Alysrazor, and the Smoldering Egg of Millagazor. I jumped into Zul’Gurub and picked up a Swift Zulian Panther for good measure.

Guild notification of looting both Ashes of Al'ar and Midnight in one night

Lucky night

The only things that didn’t drop despite trying were the new Midnight from Legion Kara, and Sharkbait from Freehold.

All of this was terrific! Mounts for everyone!

Except.

Except I almost feel embarrassed to use the Ashes of Al’ar. There are people who spent actual years trying to get this to drop, and deserved the awestruck looks when Al’ar took to the sky (those skytrails!). Similarly with the pair of Firelands mounts: they’re so ostentatious that it feels cruel to have received them so easily.

This is of course fairly ridiculous, given modern Warcraft’s predilection for giving away things once considered precious. I suppose it’s an interesting psychological study: guilt about getting something too easily. And I was genuinely pleased for a guild friend who had run hundreds of weekly Icecrown Citadel runs to finally be able to mount Invincible; genuinely deserved.

Priest atop Invincible, a heavily armoured warhorse, backlit by a blue moon

Invincible

For now I’ll stick with my lovely Onyx Netherwing Drake, hard earnt during Burning Crusade by throwing hundreds of boots at hapless peons.