This next idea is one that just recently started formulating in my brain, unlike my other ideas about weather and healthcare that have been festering for years. I think we should have true beasts of burden, not just the nominal activities we get with the Summoning skill. Wooooo… imagine wavy lines going down the screen as I go off on a brief tangent…
This is how I picture the Jagex meeting when they decided to lump pet care into the Summoning skill. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, and because I’m too lazy to look up the real names.
Ted - “Well, the Summoning skill is almost complete, but it seems to be lacking something.”
Bill - “What? It’s not confusing enough?”
Gale - “Not expensive enough?”
Jim – “Not a big enough pain in the ass?”
Ted - “No, it just seems like a root canal. You might need to get one, but do you really want to do it?”
Bill - “That’s true. No one ever actually asked for anything like it.”
Gale - “Are you saying that not one of our 10 million players asked for anything like Summoning?”
Ted - “Well, there was talk about creature creation.”
Gale - “We added that in the Tower of Life quest.”
Bill - “And no one knows about it, and those who do, don’t give a damn.”
Ted - “Lets get back on track people. What can we do to make Summoning entertaining?”
Gale - “I hear many players asking for more pets.”
Ted - “That’s the ticket. We’ll lump a pet care skill in with Summoning and then people will have to deal with the Summoning skill.”
Bill - “Are those two even related?”
Ted - “Does it matter?”
Wavey lines again. Back on topic.
Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that one thing that seems to go hand-in-hand with medieval times is horses. Knights rode horses. Contests were played on horses. Goods were transported by horses. Everyone had a horse. Why not add horses to the Runescape mix?
Of course, thanks to Summoning, owning and caring for a horse would fall squarely under that sad skill set. I guess I’ll just have to deal with that aspect. Yet, I think the inclusion of horses (and donkeys and camels, and other beasts of burden) would be a nice addition to Runescape and would certainly fall within the realm of reality for the time period. Right now we are expected to accept that farmers take their goods to market via push carts. That knights ride into battle on… their feet. That ores we mine are transported via, at the most advanced, carts on tracks that lead to locations that are not strategically located to any place that ores need to go.
Here is my view of horses in Runescape. I see players with a high enough summoning skill (cough) earning the right to care for horses and keeping them as pets (raising them from birth). As the horses get older they would develop the ability to carry players as riders (players would be able to travel faster and further without depleting energy as quickly). Of course players would need to dismount before entering buildings. As the horse gets even older it would begin to be able to carry items in an inventory of its own (like the current beast of burden routine). Maybe player would be able to attach carts to the horses and transport loads of goods around Runescape. Over time the horse would reach a peak productive age, and then its abilities would lessen and eventually be of little “work” value. At that point the horse could be put out to pasture to make way for younger horses. I’m not suggesting sending the old horses to the glue factory (though, now that I think about it, that could be a new feature in the crafting skill… sorry, bad joke. I really do love horses). We’d just send them to Farmer Ted’s Ranch for Elderly Livestock.
Some restrictions would be needed. Players would not be able to put horses in their inventory. Lets face it, stuffing a horse in to your backpack just looks weird (and is already illegal in many cities). Also, players would need to build homes with special stables attached. To ride the horse, a player would need to have at least one hand free (so a shield or weapon would have to be in the inventory or not brought along at all). Also, a large animal working so much would require a good amount of food.
I am still working on this idea, so check back for updates on this latest idea.
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