Anyone Else NOT Use a Horse For This Reason? : V - Skyrim

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:43 pm

I don't use a horse for three reasons
1.Their suicidal tendencies.
2. No first person.
3. They're really slow.
Mounted combat might be nice but for me it wouldn't make much difference as to whether I'd use one.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:59 am

Didn't Todd say in an interview pre-release that they weren't sure if they have horses and would only include them if they were 'right' or improved over Oblivion or something? I think he may have actually mentioned Red Dead.....
Perhaps horses should have been left out all together.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:14 am

Not to mention that you can move much faster without them. Especially when descending from mountains.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:18 am

i wouldn't care for mounted combat if it didn't take me 5 seconds to get off my damn horse. right now, mounted combat is looking damn near attractive. especially since im an archer.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:51 pm

I tried using a horse in Skyrim once, and have done so a few times in Oblivion. They seem useful until you are being stalked by them all the time. They get in the way so much and just aren't fun to use to me. Daggerfall's horses were much more useful and left you alone.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:28 am

never bother with horses or followers find them more of a burden than anything else....

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:43 pm

The only reason I would want to ride a horse and engage in mounted combat is if there were a separate jousting component to a new Arena.
In the wilds, they are useless for all of the aforementioned reasons.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:51 pm

I have always used horses, they are probably the only friends my thief ever had since he detests followers of any kind. Even his housecarls live dangerously if they are too much up in his face.

If I combine the horses on both my mage and thief I think only two of them died, and I did after a while buy more than one horse just to get the different colors.

The best horses however so far have been Shadowmere and Karinda ("special" horse that can be accessed in the pc version), since those two don't need any looking after at all. Or well, Shadowmere requires that I just make sure he doesn't suicide off a cliff.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:31 am

I don't use them often but for role-playing reasons I have tried a couple times. The problems I have are:

1) Force third person. Sorry but I just don't like it.
2) Can't do anything while riding. Dismounting all the time.
3) Horses are not essential and die way too easily.
4) You can't use them as pack animals (like a follower).

Their only real useful purpose is being able to ride them while encumbered, but if they get killed that is kind of moot.

If Bethesda could make them like a follower, essential (unless you kill them yourself) and can carry items, then they would be very useful. As of now however, it's just a role-play gimmick.

I agree with all of the above. What I WOULD like are pack animals that are marked essential.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:36 pm

I don't avoid horses because of the lack of mounted combat.

I avoid horses because of the awkwardness of the controls and the inability to interact with the world at all while riding.

In Oblivion, while you were on horseback you could still initiate conversations with people. You could also pick up ingredients within your reach.

In Skyrim, you can't talk to anyone on horseback, which leads to the ridiculous situation where you're riding along and see a thief waiting by the roadside, weapons drawn. If you were just walking, he would run up to you and try to shake you down. But since you're riding, he can't figure it out.

In Oblivion, even though I couldn't fight on horseback I still got a lot of enjoyment just from hitting the autowalk key and being able to use my mouse to look around at the scenery as I rode. And I could do it in first person.

In Skyrim, once you mount up you're forced into 3rd person. I would assume that forced 3rd person view would be for the purpose of showcasing some excellent animations or visuals. But in Skyrim, 3rd person view means that for some bizarre reason, your mouse changes your direction, not your view. So instead of being able to look up at the towering mountain vistas, I'm basically stuck looking at my horse's rear end while I'm riding. Great!

See bold above. What the hell was Bethesda thinking when they brought back horses, but actually REMOVED features from them that were an essential part of horses in Oblivion???

Out of all the " x TES game was better because..." complaints, none is more prevalent to me than the way they somehow managed to completely ruin horses.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:56 pm

I don't use them often but for role-playing reasons I have tried a couple times. The problems I have are:

1) Force third person. Sorry but I just don't like it.

^ This.Third person is nice and all, and I use it on occasion, but I'd also like the option to be in first person while on horseback. Why it's not available is one of those great "what were they thinking? :wacko:

" moments of Skyrim.

2) Can't do anything while riding. Dismounting all the time.

Indeed. My character makes frequent use of alchemy, so one of the major reasons I don't use a horse is because I would be stopping literally every five feet to dismount and gather alchemy ingredients. No mounted combat is one thing, but not being able to reach over and pick a flower, or to stop and talk to someone? Really? Major step backwards from Oblivion, which is saying something in my book.

Other reasons I don't use horses much include: no mounted combat, and no horses for followers. No horses for followers is probably the biggest one. Oblivion modders had this figured out ages ago, and most of the big companion mods (Vilja springs to mind) have horses. Heck, you can even tell Vilja to ride her horse even when you're on foot!

As for the mounted combat...true, Oblivion didn't have this either. On the other hand, there was a mod for Morrowind (Pegas Horse Ranch) which not only added horses, but it added mounted combat. And horses for followers. Granted these features were rather clunky, given engine and script limitations, but hey--at least they were there.

It's really :facepalm:

-worthy for me to see mods for Morrowind and Oblivion that managed to include features vanilla Skyrim is blatantly lacking. We won't get into Morrowind and Oblivion companion features vs. Skyrim's vanilla followers. Bethesda, why you no use teleport rings?!

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:55 am

Yes, the lack of mounted combat is the reason I rarely use a horse.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:42 am

I don't use them for the OP's stated reason and the fact that I can't harvest ingredients while I'm riding.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:31 am

I dont use them because thy are hard to control, dont add anything to my rollplay experience
And last the world of skyrim is small, i dont know if it is smaller or bigger then oblivion but i do all i can in-order to make the world feel larger. having the ability to go from whiterun to windhelm in about 10 min ruin the immersion for me.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:46 am

I am at least 165 hours into Skyrim. I don't have a horse. Don't want one. Why? Because of the stupidity of not being able to defend yourself while mounted! By the time that you dismount and draw your weapon, whatever is attacking you has just taken half your health while you were doing that. So, I don't bother with horses. It was the same problem in Oblivion.....and Morrowind, as I recall.

There are reasons not to have a horse but that's not one of them. Outrun the enemy. Ride past the enemy and then get off. If you go far enough the horse won't even go into combat with you.

I ride horses to get quickly from one place to another. If you want to stop for every fight you might as well walk because it's going to be just as quick anyway. I never take a horse if I plan on fighting. I even ignore dragons when I'm riding.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:02 am

I rode one once to see what it was like, wasn't impressed then realised that when I fast travelled the bloody thing turned up near me in the wild.

I then reloaded the save from before I rode the horse to avoid this bug.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:59 am

I don't use a horse because you can sell/give back or otherwise disown a horse without killing it.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:16 am

I am at least 165 hours into Skyrim. I don't have a horse. Don't want one. Why? Because of the stupidity of not being able to defend yourself while mounted! By the time that you dismount and draw your weapon, whatever is attacking you has just taken half your health while you were doing that. So, I don't bother with horses. It was the same problem in Oblivion.....and Morrowind, as I recall.

The whole point of a horse is so you dont need to fight in the first place.

But horses svck anyway. Their sprint time is pathetic. The fact Beth said they were improving horses is a joke. Oblivions were better. Not to mention the glitchy sprint sound not cutting in when its supposed to.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:46 pm

All of my characters use a horse. But I also play on the PC and have used some mods to spruce up the experience.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=13348 - Using

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=13637 - Using

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10579 - Not Using but have heard good things

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11193 - Not using because I have http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=14037 which I believe enabled my followers to use horses. Because my followers use horses and I have no other mods effecting horses.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1522 - Using and I love it especially when paired with Horse Whisper (see link above). That way horse always runs from battle and Horse Whisper enables you to call your horse back to you from nearly anywhere on the map.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3145 - Using. It is awesome.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=7830 - Using. I love, love, LOVE this mod.

This is my first Elder Scrolls on the PC. I played Morrowind on the Xbox and Oblivion on the 360. I can't believe how much delicious mod content I must have missed for those games. From now till forever I'll be buying these games for PC.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:52 am

Didn't Todd say in an interview pre-release that they weren't sure if they have horses and would only include them if they were 'right' or improved over Oblivion or something? I think he may have actually mentioned Red Dead.....
Perhaps horses should have been left out all together.

ha i wish they were done like red dead...thats the best horse riding in games to date imo

had they added a whistle feature like red dead, i would use horses...only if the horse runs away from a fight like they're supposed to, not charges after a dragon and get roasted

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:18 pm

I just like roleplaying, I mean, wouldn't it make sense for a legendary warrior to have a trusty steed by his side? Although the stealthy assasin would probably have no need of it. The only reason I want mounted combat is A) I hate dismounting all the time B)Calvary was used a lot in ancient times, weapons like lances were even made specifically to suit the combat style of calvery, I don't see any reason why Tamriel would be opposed to it. I mean, sure, it can get annoying if an npc is attacking you and running away faster than you can catch up, but Beth can just program the npcs not to do that