I Like Horses

[Enkidoh]

I agree with Jynx - this is Final Fantasy where the mount of choice is always the chocobo, the series (and effectively SE's company) mascot. In FF games horses are usually rarely depicted, other than for Odin's mount Sleipnir (in keeping with his Norse myth roots), or occasionally a generic enemy (FFI's very low level 'Mad Pony').

Like Jynx I think the game is starting to suffer from 'mount bloat' where we are inundated with strange mount after strange mount with little regard for consistency or even logic as to why we're even able to ride it. I know SE are trying to please everyone, and they're doing an amazing job, but it's getting to the stage where I have a mount list full of weird mounts I never actually ride. Less is more after all.

And as Sacchrin mentioned, lore wise horses are actually not native to Eorzea, only unicorns are and they're an endangered species. Hence why most horses you see here are magical entities like Sleipnir and the Primal ones. Although lore wise horses are slowly starting to trickle in from the Far Eastern nations where they're native to (Doma for instance), it's still stated that chocobos are preferable for Eorzean conditions, so I don't think we'll be seeing an actual living horse mount other than the Frontlines warhorse any time soon (may I be proven wrong though!).

[Evangela]

you can get a unicorn by just finishing lv30 conjurer class quest. very very easy.

[LystAP]

Isn't there a Au Ra Xaela tribe that marries horses?

[Nadirah]

The primal ponies aren't horses.

They look more like mules. Ears are too long.

[Daralii]

Isn't there a Au Ra Xaela tribe that marries horses?

They're used exclusively in place of chocobos out east. I expect there'll be a couple vanilla horses if we ever go around the Empire to Othard.

[BreathlessTao]

Ugh. Gods, no. There already are more horses in this game than chocobos, when the latter are supposed to be the all-around transportation means everywhere, and the previous are supposed to be rare to even see, nevermind actually ride. It's already beyond obnoxious. For devs who seem to be way too adamant about lore reasons in regards to certain things, they sure don't seem to have problems with chucking the same lore into the ocean when it comes to certain other things. Like this, for example. Double standards are annoying.

[Gamer3427]

Like Jynx I think the game is starting to suffer from 'mount bloat' where we are inundated with strange mount after strange mount with little regard for consistency or even logic as to why we're even able to ride it.

I disagree. If you take the time to read the descriptions on the mounts, both before first using their summoning item, and after in the mount menu, most at least give an explanation as to their origin, and why they're usable as a mount. The why for some of them that don't explicitly explain it is usually left to general logic....

The best example I can come up with off the top of my head are the beast tribe mounts. All of them are trained and raised, (in some form or manor), to be mounts by the tribe that you can obtain it from. In example, take the Bomb Palanquin from the Kobolds. It may seem like it has no consistency and is purely there because they needed a mount of some sort, but it's description explains that when the Kobold bomb craftsman of the 749th Order created a few bombs that were incapable of exploding, he decided to put them to use anyhow by chaining them to a metal bench to be used as a mount. This may seem like it doesn't include the "logic as to why" we can use it as a mount, but if you pay attention to the Kobold quests, then you will learn that bombs aren't naturally living things, and that they are instead magical constructs created by the Kobolds, and are controllable by them. This is particularly true for the ones crafted by the 749th Order's craftsman, as throughout the daily quest line, he progressively produces smarter and smarter bombs that you as the player character often use to blow up enemy equipment by simply placing burning coals and telling the bombs to go to them. As you do not have access to the Bomb Palanquin until after completing the Kobold quest line, it stands to reason that the bombs used for it were highly obedient "smart bombs" in the same vein, but that lacked the explosive qualities.....

I can't say for certain that all the mounts have such information about them, (particularly the primal ponies and the tanking achievement mounts), but a great many of them ARE explained. The problem is that most of the explanations are found in flavor text, which many players over look......

I agree with your over all statement that there is a bit of "mount bloat" in that there is quite a large variety, (though players only use a few of them for some reason), but I'm disagreeing completely with you claiming that these other mounts don't have logical reasons and explanations as to why they're available as mounts......

EDIT: As to the problem with there being so many of these mounts found in the world, you have to account for the fact that from a lore perspective, only a single copy of each mount exists, (besides ones such as the chocobos obviously), as for all intents and purposes from a story and lore perspective, the PC is the only person that ever does any of the sidequests, main quests, ect that grants these mounts, and thus these mounts are each one of a kind and unique to you personally. The "problem" is that the story and lore is viewed from a single player point of view, and as such all the other "adventurers", (read players), are simply nameless NPCs who don't do anything except help you fight bosses on occasion, (and even then they don't "exist" most of the time), and who don't exist within the world of the story. In short, other players are "non-cannon" in the same way you might get a duplicate of a unique item in some RPGs through the use of a glitch. It exists from your point of view, but from that of the game, you're just imagining things....

[Gunspec]

Fighting between fans of the horse, and fans of the chocobo?

Take it away Haurchefant!

https://youtu.be/q1zMMLv3bno?t=2106

[Zumi]

Call me crazy but all these mounts asides the chocobo just seem tacky. *Shrug* Would have prefered a system to customize chocobos instead of riding any clawed/toothed monster we are supposed to fear.

Its already in the game, chocobo barding.

[FallenArisen0990]

I want a car or motorbike... Don't ask why

I really want that Motorbike now.... Make it the Rank 12 Veteran Reward SE!