91 réponses à ce sujet

[Nohvarr]

I have no desire to stifle Bioware's creativity by claiming swords made in a world of magic must conform to our world's view/understanding of weapons. That said I would ask that we get a lore explanation about the blades creation, something that tells us WHY the blade looks the way it does. The writers could even have a little fun with it, having types of swords have a certain look due to who made them. For example Teveniter blades could tend to have certain common elements, ones shared even with legendary weapons, like Lyrium veins worked into the hilt (Blue and Red), Mystic glowing runes worked into the blade and/or Gems capable of draining life and giving it to the user in the Tang.

 

I would love to have something unique and diffrent in my scabard, especially if it's look has a story behind it. Say I learn that something like the weapon this guy:

 

 

or this guy:

 

 

uses was made by a particular Blacksmith who was known to be exccentric, but in his madness created weapons whose power and effectivness was not apparant on first look.

 

That's just my feeling on the subject

[Remmirath]

other than the width for a lot of the two handed swords they weren't that far off. many zweihanders and claymores were between 5 feet and 6 feet. given the time they were made the average height was close to around 5'6"-5'"8 I would say the two handed swords are roughly the right length.

Zweihänder are the exception rather than the rule with regards to length of two-handed swords, and are not what most people would be carrying around for their only weapon. Most longswords (two-handed swords) were sized proportionately to the wielder, coming up to roughly chest level (including hilt). That leaves one with a blade size ranging more from 35-45".

Additionally, Zweihänder were only in much practical use for the first half of the sixteenth century, and were typically used in the same situations one would use a polearm. After the first half of the sixteenth century they were mostly used for ceremonial purposes. I don't think that they are what two-handed swords in Dragon Age are supposed to represent (although I could be wrong about that, not knowing the developers' minds), since they are in the same category as two-handed axes and two-handed hammers, not halberds and such. Not that I have anything against Zweihänder -- they're pretty neat, really -- but they're not the typical two-handed sword. Polearms would be a nice thing to have as well, for that matter.

Claymores were a pretty varied lot, but the typical blade length was more around 42", so they were not usually so large as people often think. Mostly it was just the Scottish term for the longsword, and they were of roughly equal size, though a couple inches longer on average. There were some very large examples, certainly, but those were believed to have been used by unusually large people.

[Pateu]

This looks funny when hero uses two handed sword bigger thatn his spine.

 

 

 

 

The average claymore ran about 140 cm (55 in) in overall length, with a 33 cm (13 in) grip, 107 cm (42 in) blade, and a weight of approximately 5.5 lb (2.5 kg)

 

The vertebral column is situated in the median line, as the posterior part of the trunk; its average length in the male is about 71 cm.

 

 

OP, do you even medieval?

[Aulis Vaara]

 

 

 

 

 

Is that Szeth son son Vallano and prince Dalinar in Shardplate?

[FlamenDialis]

swords so massive that they appear too large to lift, much less fight with, have always struck me as a silly and unnecessary staple of the crpg genre. i don't understand the appeal.

 

that being said, excessive weapon size in a crpg is/was not completely unwarranted. for example, the developer's choice to make warhammers and two-handed swords over-sized in the ie games was calculated. admittedly, my information comes from a black isle developer working on iwd, but given the relative size of the bg/bg2 avatars and their lack of detail, a realistic warhammer would indeed look not only tiny, but it would be difficult to distinguish from a realistic mace or morningstar. that being said, once game avatars became more detailed and increased in size, the developers of more modern crpgs did not feel a need to adjust their proportions. i don't fully know the reasons why, but as i loathe anime and most jrpgs, i feel at ease blaming those sources. it may not be fair, but it helps me sleep better. 

 

on a more serious note, people can be a little hypocritical about realism in crpgs. i don't like gigantic weapons, but i would never request more realistic weapons. fencing is my area of expertise, but i recall reading a treatise on armoured combat involving duels in plate armour. swordsmanship in these battles became almost incidental. the duelists would attempt to beat each other unconscious or find a weak-point in their opponent's armour, but such efforts were largely ineffectual. these armoured duels typically devolved into a glorified wrestling match in which armoured grappling skills were far more valuable than swordsmanship. the winner would eventually slam his sword through his prone opponent's visor. very romantic.

 

realistic combat is, to steal from hobbes, "poore, nasty, brutish and short." realistic combat rules. realistic weapons. realistic spell effects. realistic monsters. whatever it is that people actually want when they ask for such things, it isn't realism.

[emlit]

I'd like BioWare to commission Felix Sotomayor for weapon designs.

 

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

 but such efforts were largely ineffectual. these armoured duels typically devolved into a glorified wrestling match in which armoured grappling skills were far more valuable than swordsmanship. the winner would eventually slam his sword through his prone opponent's visor. very romantic.

 

realistic combat is, to steal from hobbes, "poore, nasty, brutish and short." realistic combat rules. realistic weapons. realistic spell effects. realistic monsters. whatever it is that people actually want when they ask for such things, it isn't realism.

Actually, that's exactly what I want.  I know, however, that I'll never get it.

[Remmirath]

on a more serious note, people can be a little hypocritical about realism in crpgs. i don't like gigantic weapons, but i would never request more realistic weapons. fencing is my area of expertise, but i recall reading a treatise on armoured combat involving duels in plate armour. swordsmanship in these battles became almost incidental. the duelists would attempt to beat each other unconscious or find a weak-point in their opponent's armour, but such efforts were largely ineffectual. these armoured duels typically devolved into a glorified wrestling match in which armoured grappling skills were far more valuable than swordsmanship. the winner would eventually slam his sword through his prone opponent's visor. very romantic.
 
realistic combat is, to steal from hobbes, "poore, nasty, brutish and short." realistic combat rules. realistic weapons. realistic spell effects. realistic monsters. whatever it is that people actually want when they ask for such things, it isn't realism.

That is actually what I would want, but I realise that it's not something I'm likely to get. I like combat in games to be brutal and full of potential consequences, and I find actual historical combat very interesting. I'll settle for just not having people swinging around horribly oversized and over-heavy weapons, though. That's a start. Less flashiness and more injuries would be nice, too, but I'm not holding my breath there, given DA II.

[ladyofpayne]

Maker no! I can't imagine how to use it. Playser must hurt himself!

[ladyofpayne]

Not again!

[Mirrman70]

Not again!

 

just got to point out it looks tiny on him. so either he's massive or its just a similar weapon/placeholder.

[Cainhurst Crow]

just got to point out it looks tiny on him. so either he's massive or its just a similar weapon/placeholder.

I think its safe to assume, iron bull is a very big man.

[Deebo305]

So elimate Greatswords all together seem to be the theme of these "realism" thread since those are essentially the biggest offender in DA, unless you want copy and paste sword all day

[Sylvius the Mad]

So elimate Greatswords all together seem to be the theme of these "realism" thread since those are essentially the biggest offender in DA, unless you want copy and paste sword all day

It's the apparent mass of the swords that is the problem. Yes, this occurs more often on greatswords, but not on all greatswords. In DAO (a game where the developers actually said they made the weapons oversized so they would be distinguishable when using the overhead camera), I can think of example off the top of head where a two-handed sword didn't look absurd. The Chasind Flatblade, which could be found in the Korcari Wilds, had credible dimensions. It looks like it weighs a tenth of what Hayder's Razor does.

[Gabdube]

Personally I think that better, more varied and more believable animated combat (including various tricks and so on) are a better way to make combat look cool than over the top weapons and armour. At the same time, this would compensate for the fact that, particularly with (semi-?) tactical party combat - where you look at an angle and some distance - many weapons would look samey on-screen. You would get melee combat that, depending on the type (or even variant within a particular type) of weapon, would look varied, dynamic and, hopefully, would have more 'sense of impact' behind it.

 

I suspect that's a lot harder than just throwing in a few over-sized swords of Ueber +2 though...

 

Having said that, 16th century German rapiers for teh win

This brings up a important point : it is imperative to take into account the common combat tactics of the "era" when deciding which weapon would be used.

Rapiers being used on the battlefield alongside longswords or bastard swords would pose some obvious issues if they're used in the same manner and in the same role...

Best example being that slashing attacks from a sword really don't work against an opponent wearing full plate armor. You're better off holding the sword by the blade and using the hilt as a hammer head. It's when this became too common a tactic on the battlefield that people gradually stopped using swords altogether. Then people started wearing less armor because there was no point in weighting you down against maces, warhammers and pikes (and firearms); that's when swords made a comeback.

[Gabdube]

So elimate Greatswords all together seem to be the theme of these "realism" thread since those are essentially the biggest offender in DA, unless you want copy and paste sword all day

The whole idea behind the invention of greatswords wasn't really their use against longsword-toting medium infantry or even heavy infantry. They were useful against pike formations and cavaltry, where they could reach far enough to cut a path through lightly armored pikemen or cut off a horse's legs and incapacitate the heavy-armored rider in the process.

There is neither cavalry nor polearms in DA, so gigantic swords are totally uncalled for, as it should obviously mean swift death for a 2-H warrior to go up against sword-and-board. Or basically against anything else, really. Greatswords were the epitome of ridiculously over-specialized and un-versatile weaponry.