I wonder how many times an MMO adventurer has walked out of an inn, looked wildly up and down the street and cried out ‘Oh great. That’s just great. Some bugger has stolen my horse!’ before remembering the animal is tucked away in their back pocket as usual.
In several MMOs mounts disappear the moment they hit water. Where do they go? Are they water soluble? Do they disappear to the same place as odd socks in a wash? Yet, when you leave the water, there the mount is in your back pocket again, ready to pop out as soon as you call it. But that doesn’t work for socks. Or does it? Next time you find you’re missing a sock, give a little whistle or pretend you’re calling to it, for about five seconds, and then have a look in your back pocket. As if by magic, you may just find your missing sock there! Or a warhorse. Best be prepared for either.
In World of Warcraft there’s a sort of rustling sound and your character hunches over and appears to be trying to unwrap a boiled sweet. It makes Poké Balls look positively kind.
If mounts are freeze-dried and shrink wrapped in WoW, however, it might go some way to explaining why they used to disappear when they hit water; they don’t anymore of course, but then we’ve all seen the ‘New and improved!’ adds from the Shrink-wrap Mount Trading Company on the late night Stormwind Shopping TV channel.
“Is that a warhorse in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?”
“Oh, my mistake, it’s a sock.”
It makes more sense for the warlock mounts, as they’re demons, so they are banished to the netherworld, and then summoned back later.
As for the other mounts…well if there’s room in your bags for massive stacks of ores, herbs, potions, armour, tokens and everything else, then there must be space for a horse as well.
What puzzles me is that in WoW and LotTO, your character doesn’t appear to actually be carrying any bags, which suggests that these massive magical bags are themselves contained in magical massive pockets.
Or else everything is stuffed down your toon’s socks, socks being well known for their magical dimension-warping abilities.
You sir are on a roll this week!
And the security word for THIS post was “frucking”.
Uh…
Have you ever played Oblivion? In that game your horse doesn’t disappear when you dismount but dutifully wanders around the spot you leave it. If you have a bad sense of direction like I do then forgetting where you parked your horse is a constant problem.
Bronte I will take your “frucking” and raise you “clunting”
It was my impression that upon contact with water, mounts would scream (that strange woosh sound) and jump into your pocket. Of course in their fear they completely forget the issues of physics, conservation of matter, and the weight of a horse, which is why they used to take up so much bag space and why now we have to learn them, meaning getting used to a horse suddenly jumping in our back pockets.
Fladge is not very entertaining.
@Papa Smurf: Ah, but what’s in the sock? After all, I’m really pleased to see your comment.
@FraidOfTheLight: Y’know, I could forgive Warlock mounts disappearing in water if they fizzled and bubbled and vanished in a super-heated steam cloud.
@Bronte, @mbp: If you’re going to be frucking and/or raising cluntings I would ask that you get a hotel room; this is a family blog and there may be hamsters watching.
@Klepsacovic: “In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!”
And sure fladge can be entertaining, look:
@Melmoth: They do – but only if it’s holy water.
The whistling thing definately only works for mounts and socks then because when tried it with my shoes I found one on a dual carriageway and the other on top of a bus shelter!!
Definately not on my feet.
Yes, whistling is definitely for mounts; although rumour has it that if you can fart the first three verses of Rule, Britannia! you’ll summon a limited edition Noël Coward steed.