this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2024
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No.250341473
>fantasy setting has magic and flying creatures
>still using horses as main transportation

No.250341651
>>250341473 (OP) #
>setting has nuclear energy
>still using coal as main energy source

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[–] [email protected] 132 points 10 months ago (8 children)

There's a lot of hidden costs and infrastructure needed for magical flying beasts. Not to mention limited capacity. Little can compete with the horse drawn cart when it comes to capacity for price though.

[–] Cypher 52 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Boats beat out horse drawn carts by an insane amount.

It’s why trade hubs and major cities were practically always on a major river and/or in a favourable location for a port.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yep, not having a bunch of your trade going to feeding and caring for your horses makes a huge difference.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Boats can also move much more than a horse and cart. More than a pair of bullock even

[–] cynar 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Someone's never owned a boat.

There are 3 idioms that come to mind.

A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into.

A boat owner is only happy twice. When they buy a boat, and when they sell it.

"You don't want to buy a boat. What you want is a friend with a boat!"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

A boat for personal use and a boat for trade use are two very different things.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

For trading, boats have always been better in regards to the amount of stuff you can carry, even back before sails were invented. Also, unlike roads, water doesn't need maintenance, it just needs to be at a high enough level that the boat won't crash into rocks or whatever.

[–] cynar 2 points 10 months ago

My main point was that boats aren't free to run. They require constant maintenance and care to remain viable. If you're going to include the maintenance and running costs of a horse team, then you need to also include the equivalent for boats.

Don't get me wrong, when you have a waterway, boats still win, by a large margin. Hence why Europe has so many canals etc.

[–] aeronmelon 34 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This message brought to you by Big Equestrian.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

They are opportunistic carnivores after all

[–] ComradePorkRoll 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is that what Bojack Horseman is all about?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

No, my baby loooved heroin.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Big (and smol) Equestrian

[–] NegativeInf 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

All magic comes with a price.

[–] dohpaz42 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What can I get for tree-fiddy?

[–] NegativeInf 6 points 10 months ago

Well, it was about that time when I noticed that Rumpelstiltskin was about 8 stories tall and Crustacean from the Protozoic era...

[–] Harbinger01173430 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It just costs 1 gold coin a month with the new wizard subscription....

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I have giant hummingbird mounts in my game, but guess what? They need nectar from giant flowers, or just barrels full of sugar water, and/or they sometimes pick fights with giant insects in order to try and eat them. (Fun fact, hummingbirds eat small insects IRL) They're dead useful and loads of fun, but it exacts its price.

[–] AngryCommieKender 2 points 10 months ago

I'm so very glad that I never tried to enlarge my pseudodragon familiar to try and ride him into battle. Never even thought about the fact that pseudodragons cannot pay attention for shit.

[–] Noodle07 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Big chocobo disagree with you

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Large chocobo is pretty neat but can't compete with my spherical sheep mount

[–] Noodle07 1 points 10 months ago
[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Plus, not every species can be domesticated. Gryphons and dragons are independent and not herd animals. So they may not understand the concept of following a leader, which is an important part of domestication. And if they did, you'd probably have to best them in combat before they'd do it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But you can talk to them and make friends with them

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This assumes two things: That I am capable of making friends and that I would then not feel weird asking to ride on my new friend.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Is it not normal to ask if u can ride ur friend?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But what if cart drawn by flying pony?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I could never ask Fluttershy to haul things for me. At that point, I would start carrying things for her

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

YEAH!

But also Equestria is r63-land.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

This, but also for coal power in the 80s and 90s.