I can't believe Tequatl can fly

I can't believe Tequatl can fly

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Posted by: Dawnbreaker.6215

Dawnbreaker.6215

There is no way in hell something as big as Tequatl can fly.

1. It’s way too heavy. Just by the looks of it it seems to be the size of a blue whale with an extra long tail. We’re looking at something that is weighting at least 100 tons. In comparison, the biggest animal to ever fly, the Quetzalcoatlus, is believed to have only weighted 100-200kg while having a 12m wingspan.

2. The wings are way too damaged. Nevermind that it lacks a keel, which is an essential bone for flight. His wings are completely ripped appart, they’re almost just bones. Even if he was flapping those wings as fast as a fly does, he would get nowhere. Which is silly because in game he is seen taking off in seconds and even managing to HOVER around the pact airships. There are so many laws of physics being broken here that I can’t even count them.

3. He has both front legs and wings. That makes no sense. The wings of bats, birds and their ancestor flying “dinosaurs” are actually their evolved arms/hands. Look at the dragons in Skyrim, that’s what a reptilian would evolve to if it became a dragon instead of a bird. Here they have front legs AND wings, I mean wtf?

4. His flesh is too undead. His muscles are all decayed, he barely has any skin left, some of the bones look like they fell off. Any animal as damaged as this would just be hobbling around, unable to use its legs and much less fly.

So yeah, in conclusion: Me: 1, Anet: 0

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Posted by: Lemuria.3195

Lemuria.3195

Magic.
Anet: 1, Dawnbreaker: 1

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Posted by: Talonblaze.3175

Talonblaze.3175

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

Duty is heavier than death.

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Posted by: Dawnbreaker.6215

Dawnbreaker.6215

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

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Posted by: CureForLiving.5360

CureForLiving.5360

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

Lemuria.3195 has already covered this. Magic.

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Posted by: Talonblaze.3175

Talonblaze.3175

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

When getting stomped by a huge giant merely inconveniences a person as they slump over, pull out a few silvers and proceed to a floating glowing crystal only to beat it again; I would think the rules of physics and most other things are very different in comparison. Gravity DOES work. Hence why it isn’t flying all the time, but its nowhere near the same extent as it would be on earth. After all, a fully suited armored person/cat/twig can jump just as easily as a guy in silk clothes after all.

Duty is heavier than death.

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Posted by: rapthorne.7345

rapthorne.7345

Dragons are beings of magic. Look at the shatterer, a creature made almost entirely of solid crystal, yet he (and all the other, lesser dragons seen in the sky over blazeridge) can fly.

Tyria is a world where asura can float while swinging a sword as tall as they are, thieves can teleport across sizable distances, bows and firearms never require knocking with arrows or reloading and a great deal of things deemed impossible in our world happen on a regular basis.

Just because the Tyrian world is governed by similar forces such as gravity doesn’t mean that other, contradictory, forces aren’t also in play.

My advice is stop over thinking a fantasy setting and simply enjoy it.

Resident smug Englishman on the NA servers, just because.

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Posted by: Danikat.8537

Danikat.8537

3. Isn’t really an issue since the game isn’t set on earth. The fact that most real-life terrestrial and amphibious vertebrates are tetrapods (have 4 limbs) is just one of those quirks of evolution, like the fact that most also have (or had at some point in their past) 5 digits at the end of those limbs.

The first vertebrates to move onto land (the ancestors of all modern amphibians, mammals, birds and reptiles) just happened to have 4 limbs, and so most of their descendants do too. (Except where they’ve lost them through evolution like snakes and cetaceans.)

They were equally likely to have 6 like most insects, or 8 or 10. (Because of earlier evolution most animals are also bilaterally symmetrical which makes odd numbers of limbs unlikely. Any more than 10 limbs tends to get impractical, particularly for vertebrates – the downsides of them getting in each others way and limiting movement outweighs the benefits of being able to use them, because there’s only so many things an animal can do at once anyway. 2 is also possible but it limits your options, which makes the type of diversity we see among modern tetrapods unlikely.)

Or there could have been multiple animals that made the shift onto land and we could today see 4 limbed mammals but 6 limbed reptiles, and both 4 and 6 limbed birds (although the two kinds of groups would actually be largely unrelated, a form of convergent evolution).

On Tyria it’s entirely possible some animals that look similar to earth tetrapods actually evolved to have 6 limbs.

As for 1 and 2 however, you’re probably right. It’s a common problem with most fantasy dragons. They’re usually too heavy and the wings are too small to actually lift them (particularly apparent in RPGs where dragon bone/scales are items you can acquire and items are given weight as both are often very heavy for their size).

4. On the other hand heads into the usual explanation. Tequatl is dead. And yet he’s moving around. Something else that is impossible to explain through science. How is this possible? Through magic. He most likely flies the same way – through magic.

Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

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Posted by: Naus the Gobbo.5172

Naus the Gobbo.5172

I can’t believe Eternity and Twilight can have the universe in their blade.

It’s not physically possible.

What we do in life echoes in eternity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6zkT2uZAGA – GW2 – A world of wonder

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Posted by: none.9681

none.9681

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

The state of his wings is irrelevant. Should laws of physics apply to Tyria, none of the dragons could fly. Forget flying, it would be pretty much impossible for them to stand, due to their size.

If something grows, their proportions increase in all 3 dimensions (x^3). Meanwhile, for an increase in strength, only the cross-section of muscles matters (x^2). Something as large as the dragons couldn’t have enough muscle to even support their bodies.

So, if you want a realistic fight with Tequatl, it’d be like beating a slug that is already getting crushed by its own weight.

I prefer the ‘magic’ answer

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Posted by: Mourningcry.9428

Mourningcry.9428

Obviously it’s magic… too bad it doesn’t extend to his feet…

How else would such a force be defeated from severe toe trauma?

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Posted by: dace.8019

dace.8019

There is no way in hell something as big as Tequatl can fly.

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Posted by: Necroma.2379

Necroma.2379

Isn’t Zhaitan like 10x times bigger then Teq and he still fly like a bird..

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Posted by: sMihaly.1492

sMihaly.1492

Have you ever investigated the composition of undead flesh? Me neither.
Any data of the density of Tyria’s atmosphere?
What if i told you, whales are flying in the water, and birds are swimming in the air?

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Posted by: PaxTheGreatOne.9472

PaxTheGreatOne.9472

Isn’t Zhaitan like 10x times bigger then Teq and he still fly like a bird..

Zhaitan is ALL BONES, no flesh whatsoever Even if I jumped of a roof myself I would have a better gliding pattern… And trust me, no matter how fast I flap my arms, I have the flight pattern of a brick with fear of heights.

Disclaimer:
-do not try this at home-

Just to be on the safe side

23 lvl 80’s, 9 times map, 4ele, 4ncr, 3war, 3grd, 3rgr, 2thf, 2msm, 1eng, 1 rev.
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Posted by: Dawnbreaker.6215

Dawnbreaker.6215

3. Isn’t really an issue since the game isn’t set on earth. The fact that most real-life terrestrial and amphibious vertebrates are tetrapods (have 4 limbs) is just one of those quirks of evolution, like the fact that most also have (or had at some point in their past) 5 digits at the end of those limbs.

The first vertebrates to move onto land (the ancestors of all modern amphibians, mammals, birds and reptiles) just happened to have 4 limbs, and so most of their descendants do too. (Except where they’ve lost them through evolution like snakes and cetaceans.)

They were equally likely to have 6 like most insects, or 8 or 10. (Because of earlier evolution most animals are also bilaterally symmetrical which makes odd numbers of limbs unlikely. Any more than 10 limbs tends to get impractical, particularly for vertebrates – the downsides of them getting in each others way and limiting movement outweighs the benefits of being able to use them, because there’s only so many things an animal can do at once anyway. 2 is also possible but it limits your options, which makes the type of diversity we see among modern tetrapods unlikely.)

Or there could have been multiple animals that made the shift onto land and we could today see 4 limbed mammals but 6 limbed reptiles, and both 4 and 6 limbed birds (although the two kinds of groups would actually be largely unrelated, a form of convergent evolution).

On Tyria it’s entirely possible some animals that look similar to earth tetrapods actually evolved to have 6 limbs.

As for 1 and 2 however, you’re probably right. It’s a common problem with most fantasy dragons. They’re usually too heavy and the wings are too small to actually lift them (particularly apparent in RPGs where dragon bone/scales are items you can acquire and items are given weight as both are often very heavy for their size).

4. On the other hand heads into the usual explanation. Tequatl is dead. And yet he’s moving around. Something else that is impossible to explain through science. How is this possible? Through magic. He most likely flies the same way – through magic.

Very interesting theory but I think that saying “it’s magic” is much more of a cop-out than an explanation…

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Posted by: Ashen.2907

Ashen.2907

Teq isnt flying. His magic is so powerful that he moves the rest of the world while he remains in place. The wing flaps and bodily gyrations are merely the somatic components of his magic use.

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Posted by: Ariurotl.3718

Ariurotl.3718

Saying “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, not in fantasy RPGs where pretty much everything works differently from real life.

Dragons aren’t supposed to fly? Well, giant crabs, spiders and scorp… err… devourers aren’t scientifically possible either, because the ratio of exoskeleton mass to muscle power renders any such creature over a certain size extremely fragile. Same goes for giant mosquitoes.

90% of skills characters have are impossible in real life, 90% of fantastic creatures inhabiting Tyria are impossible in real life… “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, it’s the foundation.

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Posted by: Dawnbreaker.6215

Dawnbreaker.6215

Saying “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, not in fantasy RPGs where pretty much everything works differently from real life.

Dragons aren’t supposed to fly? Well, giant crabs, spiders and scorp… err… devourers aren’t scientifically possible either, because the ratio of exoskeleton mass to muscle power renders any such creature over a certain size extremely fragile. Same goes for giant mosquitoes.

90% of skills characters have are impossible in real life, 90% of fantastic creatures inhabiting Tyria are impossible in real life… “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, it’s the foundation.

Did you know that giant insects have existed on Earth? The size they are in game is kind of possible.

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Posted by: Soinetwa.5193

Soinetwa.5193

well.. tyria is a cpompletely seperate world
who knows how dense the air is.. what teq is made of or even how much gravity on tyrias surface has an impact on teqs abitlity to fly..

maybe on our earth something like teq would not be possible to fly
on a different planet however..
its a completely different story

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Posted by: MelGT.8326

MelGT.8326

The whole raison d’être of the elder dragons is that they seek and devour magic, and use magic to create powerful commanders and minions to gather more magic. “A wizard dragon did it” and “it’s magic” seem like pretty good answers to anything relating to the elder dragons.

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Posted by: Dawdler.8521

Dawdler.8521

Considering the physical attributes of every single person in the world and the fact they can jump about 2 meters every other second indefinetly without breaking a sweat and make a 10m drops without breaking any bones (after jumping off the cliffside of course, cant forget to do that), its safe to assume that the gravity on Tyria is far less than that of Earth.

Hence, massive and huge creatures can fly (or jump and glide really far).

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Posted by: Ariurotl.3718

Ariurotl.3718

Did you know that giant insects have existed on Earth? The size they are in game is kind of possible.

Yes, they have. Specifically, giant dragonflies, which most likely glided more than they flew (just like modern large birds such as albatrosses and condors). Their wingspan was what, about 70 cm? They weren’t nearly as big as the mosquitoes and dragonflies in-game, and most likely were extremely squishy, too.

Arthropleura is also frequently cited for shock value, on the account of it being longer than your average human. But there’s a reason it was herbivorous, most likely because this size combined with a chitin carapace would make it very slow and not much of a danger.

Of course, it’s a whole different ball game with sea fauna, where the real monstrous life forms thrive.

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Posted by: Beldin.5498

Beldin.5498

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

Oh yeah .. and just like in real life we have flying castles.

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Best MMOs are the ones that never make it. Therefore Stargate Online wins.

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Posted by: Dayra.7405

Dayra.7405

The physics behind undead dragons or why Tequatl can fly

Living consist mostly of water and water is the main reason of weight of Living. On dead living dry out and dead creatures are also infected by bacteria that produce Methane. Methane is slightly lighter than normal air.

So Tequal is a kind of Methane-ballone where his cells are now filled with Methane instead of Water, making him in total only slightly heavier than air, a weight his wings can easily cary in air.

Methane is also burnable (-> dragon-fire), the smell of Tequatl breath that let us all run away when he cries does NOT come from Methane (it’s odorless) but from Hydrogen sulfide also produced as Tequal is rotting since ages.

Summary: If we would have undead dragons on earth they could fly on earth without any magic

Ceterum censeo SFR esse delendam!

(edited by Dayra.7405)

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Posted by: Elefym.2643

Elefym.2643

Saying “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, not in fantasy RPGs where pretty much everything works differently from real life.

Dragons aren’t supposed to fly? Well, giant crabs, spiders and scorp… err… devourers aren’t scientifically possible either, because the ratio of exoskeleton mass to muscle power renders any such creature over a certain size extremely fragile. Same goes for giant mosquitoes.

90% of skills characters have are impossible in real life, 90% of fantastic creatures inhabiting Tyria are impossible in real life… “it’s magic” is not a cop-out, it’s the foundation.

Did you know that giant insects have existed on Earth? The size they are in game is kind of possible.

True giant insects did exist, but there was a higher oxygen content to the atmosphere that helped them achieve their size. So taking that into effect, perhaps Tyria has more oxygen thus allowing for Teq to fly. I mean at one time there was a species of pterosaur called Quetzalcoatlus that had a 10 metre wingspan.

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Posted by: Tachenon.5270

Tachenon.5270

Perhaps Tequatl is not really a dragon. Perhaps your character’s mind is not equipped to understand what Tequatl actually is, and therefore is creating a mental construct of a flying undead dragon as something your character can ‘experience’ without being driven stark raving mad. As fantastical and illogical as a flying undead dragon may seem, perhaps such a thing is less harmful to your character’s model-dependent reality than the truth: that Tequatl is a figment of the universe’s imagination. Or a miniature giant space hamster. From space.

The table is a fable.

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Posted by: AdaephonDelat.3890

AdaephonDelat.3890

Perhaps Tequatl is not really a dragon. Perhaps your character’s mind is not equipped to understand what Tequatl actually is, and therefore is creating a mental construct of a flying undead dragon as something your character can ‘experience’ without being driven stark raving mad. As fantastical and illogical as a flying undead dragon may seem, perhaps such a thing is less harmful to your character’s model-dependent reality than the truth: that Tequatl is a figment of the universe’s imagination. Or a miniature giant space hamster. From space.

Nah can’t be the hamster. He never goes for the eyes.

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Posted by: MithranArkanere.8957

MithranArkanere.8957

1. Most undead can do things they could do in life. And dragons are highly magical creatures. They help their flight with innate levitation powers. Some dragons do not even have wings at all and still fly.
2. As in 1, what the wings can’t do the natural levitation ability compensates. The wings are mostly used to glide and steer.
3. Dragons did not evolve from Earth creatures. They evolved in a different world in which hexapods evolved instead tetrapods, with four arms and two legs, and so two of their arms became wings. Forgotten are another example of draconic creature with four arms. It’s not like their feet became a second pair of arms, but that their ancestors lost their legs, and kept the four arms. Drakes are hexapods who lost two of their arms. Griffins are hexapods who keep all 6 limbs.
4. Death magic animates him. He can exert greater force with his muscles than in life as they are preserved and empowered by death magic. The recent surge of death/shadow magic from Zaitan’s defeat made him even stronger.

SUGGEST-A-TRON says:
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No exceptions!

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Posted by: Jinroh.4251

Jinroh.4251

You’re really complaining about this now? After almost 3 years? Fantasy Video game!

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Posted by: Endless Soul.5178

Endless Soul.5178

Did you know in Guild Wars 1 the dragon Glint lives in a grain of sand?

Asura characters: Zerina | Myndee | Rissa | Jaxxi | Feyyt | Bekka | Sixx | Akee | Tylee | Nuumy
| Claara
Your skin will wrinkle and your youth will fade, but your soul is endless.

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Posted by: Dawnbreaker.6215

Dawnbreaker.6215

The physics behind undead dragons or why Tequatl can fly

Living consist mostly of water and water is the main reason of weight of Living. On dead living dry out and dead creatures are also infected by bacteria that produce Methane. Methane is slightly lighter than normal air.

So Tequal is a kind of Methane-ballone where his cells are now filled with Methane instead of Water, making him in total only slightly heavier than air, a weight his wings can easily cary in air.

Methane is also burnable (-> dragon-fire), the smell of Tequatl breath that let us all run away when he cries does NOT come from Methane (it’s odorless) but from Hydrogen sulfide also produced as Tequal is rotting since ages.

Summary: If we would have undead dragons on earth they could fly on earth without any magic

Not a bad theory at all, especially the fact you go into chemistry. But I think the quantity of methane would not be enough. Look at how much helium it takes to pull anything heavy off the ground, manned helium balloons are gigantic, and helium is significantly lighter than oxygen.

But, now I have a question for the people who have been saying “it’s magic”. If it’s magic, then why does he need wings at all? The wings are completely obsolete, they are not helping at all.

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Posted by: Algreg.3629

Algreg.3629

cool story, bro.

So, the concept of undeath is biologically viable to you?

And while we are nitpicking, point 3.: A different world, different evolution, different taxonomic ranks.

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Posted by: Zafikiel.2094

Zafikiel.2094

If u know a little of the game… there’s a thing called magic, Teq was created by Zhaitan, one the elder dragons, who has a ton of magic. Teq isn’t an animal, he was “made” with flesh as a Zhaitan minion, as any of their minions, he has the part of other… things.

By the way, the number of functional members some being can have is all about evolution, if it fits better, it procreates. So if a species have 4 arms and 2 legs, and it fits in the nature, he will pass it on, it would be way better have 2 arms, 2 legs and 2 wings. The insects are a proof of that, look for the ants: the male ant in some species has a pair of wings, and still have 6 legs, as the female ones

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Posted by: brokenrabbit.6538

brokenrabbit.6538

3. He has both front legs and wings. That makes no sense.

Dragons are as such, having four limbs AND wings. Drakes are the ones with their foreclaws on their wings, like Smaug in Peter Jacksons Hobbit.

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Posted by: Pretty Pixie.8603

Pretty Pixie.8603

The wings are needed to ‘direct’ the magic’ Like rudders, or flaps.

I dunno, I’m making stuff up. I’m baffled that you can’t suspend your disbelief ove such a common trope as dragons, while there’s plenty of other stuff as fantastic if not more so (talking frogs anyone?).

Relentless Inquisition [PAIN] – FA

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Posted by: MithranArkanere.8957

MithranArkanere.8957

3. He has both front legs and wings. That makes no sense.

Dragons are as such, having four limbs AND wings. Drakes are the ones with their foreclaws on their wings, like Smaug in Peter Jacksons Hobbit.

Smaug was supposed to have also 4 legs and wings. Tolkien himself made sketches of Smaugh, like the one titles Conversation with Smaugh and Death of Smaug

In those, Smaugh is seen having both wings and arms. That is not made-up. Tolkien himself did draw that.

But keep in mind that Smaug was not a ‘true’ dragon. It was something made by Morgoth, not something that evolved naturally in their own world. So the dragons of Middle Earth were once something like lizards. Which would explain the elongated bodies compared to the most common depictions of dragons as having large, robust, bull-like torsos.

Most of what you see in that film is made-up nonsense.

And although there’s not ‘official’ naming used, what you’ll see more often in fantasy is this:

  • Dragon. General umbrella term. Generally 4 legs and wings, but it may be with no wings or with no forearms or no legs.
  • Wyrm : Old and powerful dragon.
  • Wyrmling: Young dragon.
  • Wyvern: Distant relative of dragons. Not as intelligent as sentient creatures. Generally has their forearms as wings, so they only have 4 limbs, and sometimes with a mace-like tail with spikes or a scorpion stinger.
  • Drake: Another distant relative to dragons. Even less intelligent than wyverns. Generally wingless.

But in different fantasy settings they may use them in other ways. GW2 has some roots on D&D, so they use the terms in a way quite similar to D&D.

SUGGEST-A-TRON says:
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No exceptions!

(edited by MithranArkanere.8957)

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Posted by: brokenrabbit.6538

brokenrabbit.6538

3. He has both front legs and wings. That makes no sense.

Dragons are as such, having four limbs AND wings. Drakes are the ones with their foreclaws on their wings, like Smaug in Peter Jacksons Hobbit.

Smaug was supposed to have also 4 legs and wings. Tolkien himself made sketches of Smaugh, like the one titles Conversation with Smaugh and Death of Smaug

In those, Smaugh is seen having both wings and arms. That is not made-up. Tolkien himself did draw that.

But keep in mind that Smaug was not a ‘true’ dragon. It was something made by Morgoth, not something that evolved naturally in their own world. So the dragons of Middle Earth were once something like lizards. Which would explain the elongated bodies compared to the most common depictions of dragons as having large, robust, bull-like torsos.

Most of what you see in that film is made-up nonsense.

And although there’s not ‘official’ naming used, what you’ll see more often in fantasy is this:

  • Dragon. General umbrella term. Generally 4 legs and wings, but it may be with no wings or with no forearms or no legs.
  • Wyrm : Old and powerful dragon.
  • Wyrmling: Young dragon.
  • Wyvern: Distant relative of dragons. Not as intelligent as sentient creatures. Generally has their forearms as wings, so they only have 4 limbs, and sometimes with a mace-like tail with spikes or a scorpion stinger.
  • Drake: Another distant relative to dragons. Even less intelligent than wyverns. Generally wingless.

But in different fantasy settings they may use them in other ways. GW2 has some roots on D&D, so they use the terms in a way quite similar to D&D.

Oh, I know Smaug was SUPPOSE to be a four-limbed dragon, that’s why I specified PETER JACKSONS Hobbit, and yes he really screwed it up.

I’m using the European heraldry definitions of Drake/Dragon. Drake has hind legs and wings, a dragon has four legs plus wings.

A drake:
http://www.heraldry.ws/gif/drake-devon.gif

(edited by brokenrabbit.6538)

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Posted by: rapthorne.7345

rapthorne.7345

The physics behind undead dragons or why Tequatl can fly

Living consist mostly of water and water is the main reason of weight of Living. On dead living dry out and dead creatures are also infected by bacteria that produce Methane. Methane is slightly lighter than normal air.

So Tequal is a kind of Methane-ballone where his cells are now filled with Methane instead of Water, making him in total only slightly heavier than air, a weight his wings can easily cary in air.

Methane is also burnable (-> dragon-fire), the smell of Tequatl breath that let us all run away when he cries does NOT come from Methane (it’s odorless) but from Hydrogen sulfide also produced as Tequal is rotting since ages.

Summary: If we would have undead dragons on earth they could fly on earth without any magic

Not a bad theory at all, especially the fact you go into chemistry. But I think the quantity of methane would not be enough. Look at how much helium it takes to pull anything heavy off the ground, manned helium balloons are gigantic, and helium is significantly lighter than oxygen.

But, now I have a question for the people who have been saying “it’s magic”. If it’s magic, then why does he need wings at all? The wings are completely obsolete, they are not helping at all.

perhaps the wings are the focus of his magic, or it could be an obsolete remnant of evolution (look at the number of things on the human body that serve little to no purpose)

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Posted by: Danikat.8537

Danikat.8537

Nothing in Middle Earth evolved.

Most of it was created by Eru Ilúvatar, who is basically God. The Dwarves were created by Aulë, one of the Valar (demi-gods/angels) and given life by Ilúvatar. No one seems to know where Hobbits come from.

We don’t actually know that much about the early history of Tyria or if life evolved there or was created by one or more of the various deities (or a bit of both).

Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

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Posted by: Daywolf.2630

Daywolf.2630

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

Likely the animation is extending to the ground as it propels itself through the air, so it’s not really governed by gravity as like you experience with falling and falling damage on a player character. It never really leaves the ground

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Posted by: Teon.5168

Teon.5168

3. Isn’t really an issue since the game isn’t set on earth. The fact that most real-life terrestrial and amphibious vertebrates are tetrapods (have 4 limbs) is just one of those quirks of evolution, like the fact that most also have (or had at some point in their past) 5 digits at the end of those limbs.

The first vertebrates to move onto land (the ancestors of all modern amphibians, mammals, birds and reptiles) just happened to have 4 limbs, and so most of their descendants do too. (Except where they’ve lost them through evolution like snakes and cetaceans.)

They were equally likely to have 6 like most insects, or 8 or 10. (Because of earlier evolution most animals are also bilaterally symmetrical which makes odd numbers of limbs unlikely. Any more than 10 limbs tends to get impractical, particularly for vertebrates – the downsides of them getting in each others way and limiting movement outweighs the benefits of being able to use them, because there’s only so many things an animal can do at once anyway. 2 is also possible but it limits your options, which makes the type of diversity we see among modern tetrapods unlikely.)

Or there could have been multiple animals that made the shift onto land and we could today see 4 limbed mammals but 6 limbed reptiles, and both 4 and 6 limbed birds (although the two kinds of groups would actually be largely unrelated, a form of convergent evolution).

On Tyria it’s entirely possible some animals that look similar to earth tetrapods actually evolved to have 6 limbs.

As for 1 and 2 however, you’re probably right. It’s a common problem with most fantasy dragons. They’re usually too heavy and the wings are too small to actually lift them (particularly apparent in RPGs where dragon bone/scales are items you can acquire and items are given weight as both are often very heavy for their size).

4. On the other hand heads into the usual explanation. Tequatl is dead. And yet he’s moving around. Something else that is impossible to explain through science. How is this possible? Through magic. He most likely flies the same way – through magic.

Very interesting theory but I think that saying “it’s magic” is much more of a cop-out than an explanation…

There’s a reason it is called ‘fantasy’……plus, it is a video game, and anything is possible in video games.

Forum discussions -
Mmo players with a screw loose vs mmo players with two screws loose. All very important stuff.
-Zenleto-

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Posted by: Westwater.1095

Westwater.1095

Applying real earth logic to an undead flying creature in a fantasy setting of a different universe.

Strong arguments there.

But there’s gravity in game just like in real life… and air and the Sun and all these things you know. So yeah why is gravity not working on Tequatl? Did he buy something from Trading Post that I didn’t?

You say this as if the player characters don’t already utilize impossible abilities. Many classes possess the ability to instantaneously teleport. That means that the character is either squishing the fabric of space time together for an instant, or is able to travel backwards in time and move to the new location before anyone can recognize that they are gone. Either of these would beg the question of how reality itself is even holding itself together when there are literally thousands of people ripping apart the time space continuum every hour of every day.

Even if you don’t want to buy the “it’s magic” argument that everyone in this thread is so fond of, it’s clear that the guild wars realm utilizes different rules for it’s reality, so it’s reasonable to assume that the laws of physics don’t work exactly the same either.

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Posted by: DigitalKirin.9714

DigitalKirin.9714

What makes you think Tequatl is that large? What if a Tyrian “human” was only 10 (Earth)cm tall? Skritt would be the size of Earth mice. Tyrian spiders would be like large Earth tarantulas. Tequatl would be the size of an Earth eagle. Zhaitan could be vulture sized.

This also explains why a Tyrian could jump to the height of their own heads, and why their greats words can be so large- compared to their own body size.

So yeah, it’s not that Tequatl is so Big… It’s just that Tyrians are so Small.

Genevieve Talbot [NP] – Noble Phantasm on Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: CETheLucid.3964

CETheLucid.3964

I can’t believe Tequatl can fly

He can, lad. I’ve seen it with me own eyes. Believe it.

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Posted by: Zanshin.5379

Zanshin.5379

It’s maaaaagic.

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Posted by: Rukh.9287

Rukh.9287

The most believable thing about the gigantic undead dragon creature that drops other undead and summons giant bone walls and bone fingers out of the ground is that it can fly.

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Posted by: Beldin.5498

Beldin.5498

Oh, I know Smaug was SUPPOSE to be a four-limbed dragon, that’s why I specified PETER JACKSONS Hobbit, and yes he really screwed it up.

Yeah who cares about such details anyway in movies ? I’m still kittened of from the
new avengers movie.

Next maybe they create a movie where Tony Stark creates Sauron .. lol

EVERY MMO is awesome until it is released then its unfinished. A month after release it just sucks.
Best MMOs are the ones that never make it. Therefore Stargate Online wins.

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Posted by: Sube Dai.8496

Sube Dai.8496

Wizard…

15/

John Snowman [GLTY]
Space Marine Z [GLTY]

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Posted by: Ashen.2907

Ashen.2907

I believe Teq can fly
I believe it can touch the sky
I try to kill it every night and day
I hope he doesn’t fly away
I believe he can soar
I see us running from his fearful roar
I believe Teq can fly
I believe Teq can fly
I believe Teq can fly