Rideable elephants

[slow furnace]

With the addition of sundarpatan and the gandhare rifle, we can go a little more to how kings and britishers hunted in the jungles of Terai. They would often use elephant backs to ride in the tall grass. To this day, it's still done in Nepal (although no longer for hunting as far as I know). This can be used to relive their feeling. It will be exclusive to Sundarpatan (up to Pahad) and Vurhonga, it can't be used in any other map unless for realism. Here's some mechanics:

1. On elephant back, you will be safe from getting attacked by other animals. This happens in real life too as the forest department in India uses elephants during the tranquilization of man eating tigers or when radio-collaring them.
2. Tigers above level 6 will have a very small chance of pouncing onto the back of the elephant. This may or may not kill the player. However, they will usually either stick around for some time or flee.
3. When predators are nearby, no matter if they're aggressive or fleeing, the elephant will start shaking. This may cause difficulty in shooting
   Although it raises ethical concerns, it's just a game. Tigers too aren't supposed to be stalking people as soon as they see them, but it's just a game mechanic. Plus it's still done to large extents to this day.

[fossil horizon]

elephant riding is unethical as it is harmful to them in many ways. it doesnt matter if people USED to do it, it is far from proper practise anymore and shouldnt be included at all.

[slow furnace]

Yes but hunting snow leopards too is illegal and every snow leopard counts
Tigers too aren't supposed to be stalking people when they see them
Take it with a light heart

[slow furnace]

Tiger hunting as well is harmful to the environment, so is hunting snow leopards. It's just a game.

[slow furnace]

@fossil horizon give me one valid reason why elephant riding is more harmful than massacaring tigers and snow leopards

[flint hare]

Sadly this has the same issue as a few other “vehicle” suggestions. Mainly being that the maps have not been designed for something of that size. Moving through the terrain or even down some roads will have you getting snagged on various hit boxes and make traversal very unsatisfying.

[vital onyx]

People would put rideable elephants in other maps like Asky Ridge, and that would ruin the essence of COTW’s hunting immersion. I do not want a rideable elephant in COTW.

[versed rivet]

The animals in this case are cull animals iirc

[slow furnace]

no what the

[versed rivet]

Not cull, problematic animals is a better word.

[slow furnace]

I already mentioned it would be only vurhonga and sundarpatan and that too only up to pahad

[vital onyx]

EW would likely reject this proposal.

[fallen violet]

Any other vehicle, horse or mule would work better imo and there's the points everyone else made

[dusty axle]

Plus the ethics of elephant riding are something else

The way they train elephants to be used as a mode of transportation is far from ethical plus the howdah is not good for their backs

[mild rivet]

Cotw has so many animals. Hunter has chance every 100m. Riding good for a long trip but in this case is the mobile shooting range only.

[untold wing]

Not to mention elephants are arguably sapient like humans

[neon harbor]

this would be mint

[frosty acorn]

sapient doesnt really mean much
Just a term to make humans seem special as intelligence is more complex and gradient like

[flint hare]

Sapience in psychology is linked to abstract thought, long term planning, and creativity which several species (including elephants) have shown Sentience is the ability to feel and perceive things which most (if not all) multicellular animals are capable of. It’s is the separation of the gradient and while sapience started out as a way to separate humans it’s more becoming just a threshold of certain traits of intelligence.

[frosty acorn]

wise and rational are mainly human traits and dont mean much in judging the intelligence of none homonid animals congintion is more like a map than a ladder

[flint hare]

I’m talking about the definition in psychology not the general definition

[frosty acorn]

i agree but for example nutcrackers and jays have much better memory than humans migratory birds and bees and cetaceans have much better navigation , bats dolphins and electric rays and eels have abilities so advanced we can’t replicate them , some birds can outperform humans on pattern recognition , Octopi coordinate 8 semi-autonomous arms elephants, corvids cetaceans, and great apes show complex social knowledge, grief rituals, empathy, and cultural transmission.

It will always be biased toward your own species.

[flint hare]

While true I like to think we aren’t as biased as in the past, some cetaceans also have evidence of complex language that might one day be decipherable. Animal psychology is complex and the science ever changing. The recent studies on jumping spiders for example, are bringing a lot of previous knowledge into question as well.

[untold wing]

Different populations of orca’s have their own dialects btw

[flint hare]

Yep they also have complex culture to the point some populations won’t breed with each other because their courtship rituals are so different