Horse speed vs. horse color - an experiment

[Alyeska 2,621]

These sorts of tests are futile.. With other traits, and a variety of factors you cannot run a fair test on these things ingame. Your own fat levels, the horses soul strength and various other things all apply to the end speed of the horse - soul strength activates how often and how long traits kick in (which is why hellhorses and unicorns do not ever stop using their traits once they activate whereas horses with lower soul strength have random speeds).

 

From the WU code, the ebony black would result in roughly 25% of the fleeter movement trait which is already a small number. The only way to "test" this - even then, it'll still not be 100% reliable, is to have a completely starved and fasted character ride two frshly spawned, same age, no-trait never ridden before horses, one ebony and one not-ebony and compare their top speeds, not their overall speed to complete a lap.

 

If it is indeed percentage based like suggested, then the effect will be nearly unnoticeable in a testing setup, but fairly noticeable on a full geared horse. The real only way to prove or disprove this is to ask a developer to confirm or deny this.

[Sidereal 1,119]

11 hours ago, Baramor said:

What about grooming a horse. I am convinced that grooming a horse sets a faster speed than a non groomed horse

 

That's a great question - let me test that and get back to you!

 

And to Alyeska's points, let me restate the thesis more precisely now that the experiment has lead me in a more specific direction:  "Ebony horses in Wurm Online do not have a sixth speed trait that other, non-Ebony horses do not have."  This claim can absolutely be tested empirically.  The WU code that indicates a 2.5% speed increase would be easily visible at the base speed of a horse (19.45 km/h vs 19.94 km/h).  Setting aside the question of using more speed boosts more often and just focusing on the 'extra speed trait', I see one of five options possible (there may be more, so if I'm missing them please weigh in):

 

1. The trait is applied to the base speed of the horse.
2. The trait is an additional speed boost on top of the three existing speed-related boosts in a five-speed horse.
3. The trait is intended to exist and does not manifest and is, in essence, a bug.
4. The difference between Ebony and non-Ebony horses existed at one time, but does not currently exist.
5. No sixth speed trait exists.

 

The data does not support #1 - Ebony and non-Ebony horses all have a base speed of 19.45 km/h given the methodology used in the test

The data does not support #2 - no Ebony horse has a speed higher than 28.10 km/h after hours of testing using the methodology above, nor do any of the 12 individual gear speeds indicate anything faster than a regular five-speed horse.

#3 may be possible, and if so should be brought to the attention of the developers - but I have yet to see anyone support the claim that this was an official announcement.

#4 is possible, and if someone can demonstrate an Ebony horse moving faster than the top speed of any other five-speed horse while using the methodology listed, I'd be eager to see that data.

As it is, the only conclusion that I can reach at this time with this data in hand is #5 - no sixth speed trait exists for Ebony horses in Wurm Online.  (And we can ignore the statistical analysis in the first tab for now, I'm only referring to the second tab, which is the more interesting data).

As Brash_Endeavors stated so well earlier: I didn't want it to be true.  For Vynora's sake, I also breed horses for sale!  And if we've been wrong all along about this conjecture, how many others have we been wrong about?  Wouldn't it be great not overpaying for a feature that isn't there?

 

So in the spirit of scientific inquiry, I encourage everyone to present evidence or design an experiment that would call this issue back into question.  I'm honestly not here to pick internet fights, I'm here to do science.

 

 

Edited to add:  Sorry to inform you, @Baramor- it appears the top speed of a groomed horse and an ungroomed horse are identical - this is exactly why confirmation bias is such a pernicious confound!

Edited September 26, 2018 by Sidereal
missing words, clarity - additional data

[SmeJack 5,798]

It has been said and explained twice now and shut down though *shrug*

[Oblivionnreaver 5,174]

3 hours ago, Sidereal said:

• The trait is applied to the base speed of the horse.
• The trait is an additional speed boost on top of the three existing speed-related boosts in a five-speed horse.
• The trait is intended to exist and does not manifest and is, in essence, a bug.
• The difference between Ebony and non-Ebony horses existed at one time, but does not currently exist.
• No sixth speed trait exists.

ebony speed boost is an extra trait that's a multiplier same as any other speed bonus, it'll turn on and off randomly. if you drop or pick something up all the traits will recheck coughcoughbugbtwcough so get a 0 speed ebony, run around dropping no weight items, such as garlic. if your speed changes there you go it's got the speed trait. last time i tried it was a speed boost of .8km/h while fully geared so like a waste of time breeding for them

Edited September 26, 2018 by Oblivionnreaver

[Ayes 3,715]

On 9/25/2018 at 7:59 PM, Sidereal said:

Wouldn't it be great not overpaying for a feature that isn't there?

Yes it would but in my estimation players overpay for features (rares for example) that *are* there to some extent, so paying for a feature of this sort in horses makes little difference in the end. The significance is all just within the eye of the beholder. Combine this with the placebo effect and there are those who are satisfied to pay for the price of their own particular viewpoint. Being the more skeptical sort myself, I tend to try to strike a balance between what I see as the cost vs worthwhile benefits. Minuscule figures such as expressed within this thread do little to retain my interest in focusing upon them but it is interesting to read the contrasting points of view.

 

=Ayes=