Board Thread:Suggestions/@comment-25178962-20140716145327/@comment-24108228-20140716172003

I cant see this getting into the game. Sure, it would be interesting, but nobody would have the skill to use it effectively.

The main issue comes from shipping the horse from one place to another. Anyone who has done animal shipping before will know, it's very difficult to ship an animal, and especially if you want to do it frequently. The only way I am aware of is to use a large raft (everything else is too fast and will make the animal clip out of the boat and drown), build a cage, and slowly move the animal to wherever you may be trying to go. It's a very delicate process, putting yourself, the animal, and your hair at risk. With the insane walkspeed of a horse, I doubt even a large raft would be slow enough, and the only thing you could transport a horse to another island with is a bridge, which let me tell you, assuming you don't want the kind that is just foraged by any sailor who comes by, and ends up with huge holes until some bored player just lights it, is very difficult.

Plus, it would be easily killed if left unattended. Heck, I could be riding my horse with mithril barding armour, and two steel bolts to the head could kill it before I even knew the horse was being attacked. I believe that if you used steel arrows in a Yewbeam bow with a woven vest (sure, it's unlikely, but hear me out), you could kill a mithril armoured horse in a single hit, from a distance far away enough for the owner to never know who did it. A bolt and a vest could kill a horse with steel barding armour instantly. With leather, you don't actually require the woven vest, just a crossbow. And a mithril javelin kills an unarmoured horse. They're both unusable and a waste of your time and metal.

Ok, now I know what your going to say next. Ok, well you could make horses, which would solve both problems! So now have more problems!

The first issue (assuming horses can travel across water and survive large amounts of damage) would be horse theft. You cant use your horse all the time, a lot of caves wouldn't fit you on horseback through the entrance, and various other causes would mean that you have to dismount. At this point, any old guy could hop onto your horse, and get away without you being able to catch them, let alone kill them. Try as you might, not even weaponry designed for this purpose, such as a crossbow, would work in this instance. There would be little to no defence against theives. Ok, so I can see the next response coming: "Oh, well that's ok. We just make horses only obey their tamer." Which would further intensify the next issue!

Ok, so we have a horse that can travel across islands without much difficulty, soak up damage like a sponge, and is only going to obey their master. This would create massive demand for these things, and would completely redesign the game. Horses 303. Wars would be about horses, as they give huge perks for combat and everyday life. People with horses would become huge targets, as everyone wants to get their horse. A massive part of the game would be based around a horse, which would mean that certain islands which have horses would be massively important, while other islands would become much more obsolete. They would be overpowered and game defining.

Because the issue is, the horse is either remarkably hard to use or remarkably OP.