Ban dual-wielding

[Sandman]

Historically, dual-wielding has rarely been used. And yet it infests huge numbers of games. In fact, in RPGs, it's often the most efficient fighting method around!

This destroys immersion. Nothing reminds you you're in a game like seeing someone fighting with two hammers or some other similar stupid combination.

Why don't they just hand out machine guns? That would make about as much sense.

[duke o' york]

The lack of a shield is the weak point. A dual-wielder facing someone who knows what they are doing is in for a hell of a beating.

[Sandman]

But they do have a shield. One shaped like a weapon.

[Theben]

Well the long sword + long dagger w/ hilt guard was somewhat common. But yeah 2 hammers is unrealistic.

[duke o' york]

So they have twice as many attacks. In PvP, all you need is someone highly skilled in a parry skill, and then a bowman/wizard to take them out from afar while their attacks have no effect.

[Sandman]

How often do you see a sword/dagger combination? How often is a sword/dagger combination even efficient?

And if you need two specialised people to overpower someone swinging two swords, then something is obviously smegged up.

[duke o' york]

Or just one with a decent shield, and one with arrers. (that's not darts, British (and Dutch) sports fans).

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Sandman
How often do you see a sword/dagger combination? How often is a sword/dagger combination even efficient?

Neverwinter Nights. You practically have to have a light weapon in your offhand, most usually a dagger or short sword.

And what's unrealistic about 2 weapons? It generally (in an RPG) takes a lot of specialising, meaning you lose out on a lot of other abilities. As in real life, if someone trains for few years, wielding two weapons can be done. However you can become a lot more skilled with one in that time.

Especially if playing a Samurai-like character, someone skilled in fighting with that particular set of weapons and who can do little else. It's not like magic's realistic either, but like dual-wielding, it takes years of practice in a game.

Since I normally play high dexterity fighters/assassins, I go for dual-wielding regularly.

[Snotty]

When I used to larp there were still two weapon twinks in that. It was kind of balanced out by shields being huge, and fantastically more efficent at defense

two daggers was the best two weapon combo , for obvious practical reasons.

[Whoha]

Re: Ban dual-wielding

Originally posted by Sandman
Historically, dual-wielding has rarely been used. And yet it infests huge numbers of games. In fact, in RPGs, it's often the most efficient fighting method around!

This destroys immersion. Nothing reminds you you're in a game like seeing someone fighting with two hammers or some other similar stupid combination.

Why don't they just hand out machine guns? That would make about as much sense.

machine guns
"records from that time are spotty at best"

[Sava]

Sandman... why are you using "historical" stuff in your argument about games involving fantasy?

If you want to keep it historical and realistic, then you wouldn't have magical powers and superhuman strength, etc...

SO DEAL WITH IT

[duke o' york]

No Sava, magic is obviously historical!

[Drogue]

One of the keys of good fantasy is to make fantastical things believeable, to make the audience/reader/player think it could happen. That means having getting little things right such as how people would react if someone magically got superpowers. If you gave Luke Skywalker a machine gun, it would be out of place. Is it believeable that Rambo could walk into a barraks guarded by 100 men with machine guns and sniper rifles and kill them all, coming out alive and not harming a single innocent? No. But it works. If you gave him the power to cast fireball, and made it so he could go invisible at will, it wouldn't work. Both are unbelieveable, but one of them fits.

Magic fits into fantasy. Machine guns don't.

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by duke o' york
The lack of a shield is the weak point. A dual-wielder facing someone who knows what they are doing is in for a hell of a beating.

Miyamoto Musashi was a dual-wielding samurai. IIRC he introduced the concept. However he often used the secondary weapon as a shield.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Snotty
When I used to larp there were still two weapon twinks in that. It was kind of balanced out by shields being huge, and fantastically more efficent at defense

two daggers was the best two weapon combo , for obvious practical reasons.

LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!