Curse

mazey vorstagg · Apr 13, 2009, 05:52 PM // 17:52

It occurred to me today that I've not seen any horses in GW. There are centaurs of course, and Iron Horse mine (although it is the name used for trains in the wild west) implies that horses do actually exist on tyria (at least the name does).

However, why haven't we seen any? Is Iron Horse just a made up name, something created by the Stone Summit, and horses don't exist at all? Possibly horses are extinct, or possibly they do exist but we just don't see them in game, an oversight on the part of the developers. I don't think they're even mentioned in any quest text.

On a side note, does anyone know what the Iron Horse actually was? Some sort of tank, or a train as its name suggests?

Thanks

Mazey

Rak Orgon of Beowulf · Apr 13, 2009, 06:49 PM // 18:49

maybe they don't it is a made-up world after-all.

TheodenKing · Apr 13, 2009, 07:51 PM // 19:51

The dragons ate all the horses, then went off to sleep for a long time. I hear they are waking up again soon. Someone should tell Zhed he's in trouble.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Lord Of Blame · Apr 13, 2009, 08:03 PM // 20:03

Centaurs aren't really horses, only half. There were horses at one time, then the stone summit resorted to beasteality and then came centaurs as a result. The centaurs got jealous of all the attention that the horses were getting and killed them all. That is why there are no horses in GW.

Stockholm · Apr 13, 2009, 08:24 PM // 20:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Of Blame

Centaurs aren't really horses, only half. There were horses at one time, then the stone summit resorted to beasteality and then came centaurs as a result. The centaurs got jealous of all the attention that the horses were getting and killed them all. That is why there are no horses in GW.

Come to think about it there is no Stone Summit women

, so who knows.

gremlin · Apr 13, 2009, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Whatever the truth about lack of horses, there should be creatures you can ride.
Wagons pack animals and Riding should I hope be in GW2.

Yes I know you can teleport from town to town but that's not always as useful as being able to move rapidly around the countryside.

Karuro · Apr 13, 2009, 09:34 PM // 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stockholm

Come to think about it there is no Stone Summit women

, so who knows.

What makes you think you've never seen a female dwarf? Eh? Eh?

For all other traveling purposes: Dolyak and Moa (a la Chocobo)

Konig Des Todes · Apr 13, 2009, 09:57 PM // 21:57

Ignoring the trolls and those who take observation as the only lore...

From the Nightfall Manuscripts regarding Centaurs:

Quote:

Elonian Centaurs not only have equine features, but also resemble the swift gazelles that run across plains and savannahs. These creatures are also more leonine than their distant Tyrian cousins, displaying some of the social behaviors of big cats—a group of Elonian Centaurs is called a “pride.” Their extended families normally prowl and hunt around a pride’s breeding grounds, fighting to defend their territory.

In brighter times, Elonian prides gathered around massive “ancestor trees,” where they believed the spirits of their forebears watched over them. According to arcane scholars, the fruit of these trees was seen as divine, possibly as a way to pass down spiritual wisdom from one generation to the next. The Kournans have decimated the Centaurs by driving their prides westward, away from their territory, ancestry, and spirituality. Since then, General Bayel’s pacification campaigns have allowed the province of Kourna to recruit many of them as slave laborers. Exiled and refugee Centaurs now raid human villages to survive, and most have developed a fierce hatred for humanity.

It says the Centaurs are like gazelles. Horses arn't even in the same "order" in the categories of animals. Toutatis would know more on this subject than I, but I would have to say that GW Centaurs are slightly modified from the typical centaur

That is, that GW Centaurs are more based off of just four legged beasts that are similar in looks to Horses. But not horses themselves. The closest GW version of the animal Centaurs would be "half of" would be Ntouka I would have to say.

As for the mission name, I'd say it's just a reference and does not mean there are horses in GW.

However, this might be proven wrong for GW2. And it is equally possible horses are just extinct.

Daft Shifty · Apr 13, 2009, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Not that A-Net actually focusses on lore... but in the quest "A Sound of Ancient Horns" General Poruk says "This old war horse still knows a thing or two.". Although this quote is referring to himself as a horse it still shows that there is some form of knowledge of a horse... Also some references to horses during the canthan new year by the Court Astrologer..
tl;dr devs fail at lore and enjoy randomly splashing info

The 8th · Apr 14, 2009, 12:35 AM // 00:35

There are several small references to "riders", "riding" and cavalry throughout the game, though none specifically mention horses as the mounts. The word horse is used in the game, so it's likely that horses exist or have existed in Tyria. This could mean that horses are extinct, or maybe they're simply not a native species of any of the lands we've visited so far. Perhaps the use of horses as the primary beast of burden in other lands is well known. It could even be they're a rare animal, making it impractical to use them instead of a more common, easily found animal, like a dolyak. It's also possible that the animal Tyrians refer to as "a horse" is an entirely different animal than the horses we know. Until we actually see a horse in game, we really have no way of knowing.

If nothing else, 2014 is the year of the horse, we'll find out if there's a celestial horse then.

Gmr Leon · Apr 14, 2009, 02:59 AM // 02:59

All this talk of horses and no one even once thought of the above? If horses were native to any region of the world, it would seem to have been Orr, and I suppose they held a tight grip on them, keeping them within their lands. Meaning that, possibly, they are "extinct" in the sense that they are dead, albeit undead. However, what the Necrid Horseman rides, I believe, is a corrupted version of the horses that may have once existed there.

Honestly now, it's a bit disappointing that no one else pointed this out or brought it up.

Konig Des Todes · Apr 14, 2009, 03:21 AM // 03:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by GmrLeon

-snip pic-

All this talk of horses and no one even once thought of the above? If horses were native to any region of the world, it would seem to have been Orr, and I suppose they held a tight grip on them, keeping them within their lands. Meaning that, possibly, they are "extinct" in the sense that they are dead, albeit undead. However, what the Necrid Horseman rides, I believe, is a corrupted version of the horses that may have once existed there.

Honestly now, it's a bit disappointing that no one else pointed this out or brought it up.

I am ashamed to have forgotten about that! I love the undead lore, and I didn't recall that. >_<

And, now that I think of it, isn't there an untargetable horse-like NPC in Elona or something? Or is my mind playing tricks on me...

Well, all animal models seem to be in the Zaishen Menagerie, so if models aside from the Necrid Horseman exist, than it'll be there most likely.

Operative 14 · Apr 14, 2009, 06:41 AM // 06:41

Ah HA! found it!

:edit: dang that's a big piece of concept art!

http://www.wiki.guildwars.com/images...h_mountslr.jpg

And yes, I know that concept art (especially from Utopia) isn't going to be definitive proof of anything, but it's still interesting and pretty! :P . It also shows that the developers had the intention of the existence of horses.

My supposition would be that there are horses in Tyria but not any part we've had access to; maybe in the lands of Utopia as shown in the above concept piece. Kind of like horses in North America, there weren't any until they were brought over by the Europeans. That being the case they might know about horses and their usefulness, hence the comments. But they would be so valuable and expensive, especially in such a war torn area, that we wouldn't see any.

mazey vorstagg · Apr 14, 2009, 06:48 AM // 06:48

Aha, this guy: http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zumo_the_Beggar

Quote:

Hey, hey you! I was riding my horse to the other side of town and I ran out of hey to feed him to get there. Spare a few gold so I can feed him and be on my way?

If he's a beggar and has a horse, then they can't be extinct like the lack of horses and undead horses suggests.

gremlin · Apr 14, 2009, 08:31 AM // 08:31

I used to play a game called Two Worlds and one of the fun things in that game were the Horses normal and Undead varieties.

Archery and Spell casting from horseback was fun,as was riding through groups too large or powerful to fight.
There were polearms and the skill to unseat a rider so you had to avoid those or and up unseated.

Knightly combat with lance, recreating the parthian horse archers or even chariot warfare.
All that and more could be used by and against the parties it would make a real difference to outside adventuring as opposed to dungeon delving.

Riding and Swimming are two things I hope for in GW2

cataphract · Apr 14, 2009, 08:53 AM // 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by gremlin

Riding and Swimming are two things I hope for in GW2

Ditto.

Oh, and a distinction between spears and javelins please.

Shasgaliel · Apr 14, 2009, 09:27 AM // 09:27

Maybe someone can try to make a compedium of the domicilated animals in Tyria? Except dolyaks there are also yaks and animals looking like ox (or are they are yaks as well?) which can be seen used by ascalonian refugees in the sinematics of the borlis pass mission. Rouge Bull from pre searing quest and buffalos from NF suggest that there were come kinds of cattle like animals. Seems like the horses are just not used anymore.

Konig Des Todes · Apr 14, 2009, 11:39 PM // 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by cataphract

Oh, and a distinction between spears and javelins please.

Javelins are shorter, smaller, versions of Spears, which are pole arms like scythes (i.e., long and usually two-handed). The "spears" a Paragon uses are actually Javelins. Spears are, although toss-able, usually used for melee combat. While Javelins are pretty much always used for ranged combat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shasgaliel

Maybe someone can try to make a compedium of the domicilated animals in Tyria? Except dolyaks there are also yaks and animals looking like ox (or are they are yaks as well?) which can be seen used by ascalonian refugees in the sinematics of the borlis pass mission. Rouge Bull from pre searing quest and buffalos from NF suggest that there were come kinds of cattle like animals. Seems like the horses are just not used anymore.

I think Kalidri from GWO did this. Leon would know better, but I will look around. As I know she at least talked about doing it - and this was why she got a NPC in the Halls of Chokhin.

Also, Yak=short hand way of saying Dolyak.

draxynnic · Apr 15, 2009, 12:00 AM // 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

Javelins are shorter, smaller, versions of Spears, which are pole arms like scythes (i.e., long and usually two-handed). The "spears" a Paragon uses are actually Javelins. Spears are, although toss-able, usually used for melee combat. While Javelins are pretty much always used for ranged combat.

I'd actually be inclined to say that javelins are a type of spear rather than calling them two seperate groups of weapons. Pikes are a contrasting type of spear (which are too big to throw) but are, again, still spears, while your regular multipurpose spear suitable for melee combat or for throwing is simply a 'spear'.

Much like your typical straight slashing sword was simply called a 'sword' until reasonably modern historians started to call it an 'arming sword'* to distinguish from more specific examples like rapiers and scimitars.

*Or in the case of D&D and derived sources, a 'longsword'. The historical longsword actually tended to be a two-hander.

Konig Des Todes · Apr 15, 2009, 01:45 AM // 01:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by draxynnic

I'd actually be inclined to say that javelins are a type of spear rather than calling them two seperate groups of weapons.

I started like that, then went into saying the more general spear *and Pikes without realizing it* in comparison to the Javelin.