http://www.flickr.com/photos/albioneurope/sets/72157629988787774/
Something like this
?
Exactly, although like I say, some florid engravings on the blade itself would be nice for decoration
Oh yeah, and with the whole pirate thing going on, why haven’t I seen a classic rapier, hmmmmm?
My Errol Flynn mesmer wants one soooooo bad.
Raedwulf –
Aye, my First Officer and good friend is a reconstruction artist owning over 20 swords and assorted other weapons (including real warhammers of the single handed variety), and we always have a grumpy old men’s groan & moan about the “swords” in GW2, and while I have never swung one in my life, I trust my friend when he explains how they work
Oh yeah, and with the whole pirate thing going on, why haven’t I seen a classic rapier, hmmmmm?
My Errol Flynn mesmer wants one soooooo bad.
Because, as your First Officer will tell you, rapiers would be a dead loss against all those blokes in Heavy armour… 
Oh, well, if you’re going to resort to magic, Gare, I’m going to quote Arthur C. Clarke… My point is that the game is quite obviously rooted in real world physics (unsurprisingly). No-one is suggesting throwing away all the daft weapon designs, beloved of fantasy artists & fans. It’s just that some of us would like a better proportion of more realistic ones.
Oh yeah, and with the whole pirate thing going on, why haven’t I seen a classic rapier, hmmmmm?
My Errol Flynn mesmer wants one soooooo bad.Because, as your First Officer will tell you, rapiers would be a dead loss against all those blokes in Heavy armour…
That may be so, but how am I supposed to cut a dash and make the ladies swoon whilst wielding a zweihander the size of a small country? Possibly made out of one too judging by the appearance of most of the darned things…
Dunno where you get the idea that Mesmers are levitating their swords. I’d class levitation as conjuration, and Mesmers obviously deal in illusion. I’d assumed they were swinging it, just like everyone else. You are, more or less, right about the weight of 2-handers. They don’t necessarily take a great deal of muscle mass to swing. Combat stamina is another matter, but again, that has nothing to do with muscle mass.
That may be so, but how am I supposed to cut a dash and make the ladies swoon whilst wielding a zweihander the size of a small country? Possibly made out of one too judging by the appearance of most of the darned things…
After 5 minutes swinging one of those things, you’ll have cut most things to pieces and, in a game with no anti-perspirants or deodorants, trust me, the ladies will be swooning, though possibly not for the reasons you’d like! No imagination, that’s your problem…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/albioneurope/sets/72157629988787774/
Something like this
Albions are beautiful. I want one one day. Need my custom kat in first though, and need a bit more income to justify it. That model in particular is especially gorgeous. Could possibly find the furniture somewhere and have one of the more respected Chinese forges produce a blade. The better ones can run folded and laminated Euro blades too, for those of you that want unofficial replicas from a certain book series / TV show.
Anyway, more like this please Anet. I also wouldn’t mind a unification of most GW2 swords, whereby they can be wielded in one hand or both, where the stats and damage are increased to 2H values of an equivalent rarity and level GS if you choose to 2H it (see: D&D, Dark Souls). For some reason I absolutely love this as a gameplay mechanic.
Oh, well, if you’re going to resort to magic, Gare, I’m going to quote Arthur C. Clarke…
Go ahead and quote him.
Also, the whole “gravity THEREFORE…” thing is a load of tosh. Yes, some rules of the real world are replicated in a fantasy setting. It doesn’t therefore follow that the rest of them apply. Indeed, magic is a major operative factor in the gameworld, like it or not. Some people like realism, some like it in degrees (myself amongst those), and others spurn it.
Though I am sure Arenanet could throw in a “realistic appearance” design to appease some people.
Dunno where you get the idea that Mesmers are levitating their swords. I’d class levitation as conjuration, and Mesmers obviously deal in illusion. I’d assumed they were swinging it, just like everyone else.
On most race’s spam attack the sword floats in midair between the hands then floats back while twirling back into the hand. With this in mind, other classes could adapt the ability to use a combination of magic and physical strength to lessen the strain on the body, which in turn allows the greatswords to be heavier in tyria than they would realistically be in the real world.
…which in turn allows the greatswords to be heavier in tyria than they would realistically be in the real world.
To which the question has to be, why would you want them to be heavier? A sharper sword does more damage, not a heavier one, in most scenarios where you wouldn’t rather be using something else in the first place. A heavier sword is merely slower & more awkward to wield. Since any of the advantages you outline would also be available to the less massy versions, from a standpoint of “realism”, I can’t see the point of the argument. You can’t reduce the weight of the sword (which is a function of gravity), you can only magically reduce the mass (which, indirectly, makes it lighter). By your own argument of “heavier” (which is not completely wrong) that makes it do less damage, while still being more awkward.
Don’t get me wrong. As I’ve already said, I’m not asking for daft designs to be removed. Those that love ‘em can have ’em! But the daftness of them isn’t just about weight; it’s more about impracticality. If the designs were practical & efficient, people would have been making them. They didn’t. Have one because you think it looks cool, but don’t try to justify its existence to me!
…which in turn allows the greatswords to be heavier in tyria than they would realistically be in the real world.
To which the question has to be, why would you want them to be heavier? A sharper sword does more damage, not a heavier one, in most scenarios where you wouldn’t rather be using something else in the first place. A heavier sword is merely slower & more awkward to wield. Since any of the advantages you outline would also be available to the less massy versions, from a standpoint of “realism”, I can’t see the point of the argument. You can’t reduce the weight of the sword (which is a function of gravity), you can only magically reduce the mass (which, indirectly, makes it lighter). By your own argument of “heavier” (which is not completely wrong) that makes it do less damage, while still being more awkward.
Don’t get me wrong. As I’ve already said, I’m not asking for daft designs to be removed. Those that love ‘em can have ’em! But the daftness of them isn’t just about weight; it’s more about impracticality. If the designs were practical & efficient, people would have been making them. They didn’t. Have one because you think it looks cool, but don’t try to justify its existence to me!
Being sharper doesn’t really help much if the person you are fighting in in plate, crushing weapons such as a mace, or heavy ended bladed weapons such as an axe would be more effective in this case. Some weapons however are more effective being small, for example daggers. The magic would be used as an extra force, like an extra hand holding it, not reducing the mass directly. The most practical place to use this force would be near the tip and moving it with a full body arc to increase momentum and mass of the strike. But really in the end this would make a pole axe much more useful in Tyria than a greatsword would ever be.
And I know you don’t want the giant swords to be gone and just want more realistic swords. But I find talking about other worldly physics fun…Also I hate losing arguments. Mostly the latter though.
(edited by Raedwulf.3712)
Being sharper doesn’t really help much if the person you are fighting in in plate
Quite right! Which is exactly why my caveat was there – “in most scenarios where you wouldn’t rather be using something else in the first place”. In actual fact, the sword is a fairly crap weapon. It’s a great all-rounder, but the problem of being an all-rounder is that in most scenarios, another weapon is better. In the real world, you can’t walk around with 40lbs of unwieldy weaponry hanging off you, in a game it’s easy. From that point-of-view, a sword is a very useful real world weapon. But if you know you’re going to be fighting a man in plate, yep, a polearm of some description is a much better bet.
Some weapons however are more effective being small, for example daggers.
“I do not like the dangerous dagger” – Fiore dei Liberi. Who knew what he was talking about!
But really in the end this would make a pole axe much more useful in Tyria than a greatsword would ever be.
Aye, this was part of my point. If I take your perspective as valid (and of course, it’s perfectly valid in a fantasy setting), then your argument is valid. Unless the weapons become massless (which stretches my believeability barrier too far), though, you don’t necessarily shift the relative merits of weapons very far. An 8’ weapon is still physically unwieldy because of its size, even if it is weightless ("Ooops! I didn’t mean to stick it in that tree!)
But I find talking about other worldly physics fun…Also I hate losing arguments. Mostly the latter though.
So do I, to the former. To the latter? I’ve learnt to settle for getting my point across. As long as you understand what I’m getting at, I don’t care if you disagree – you’re as entitled to your opinion as I am to mine!
Debating =/= agreeing with you, just saying.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, Morag. It wouldn’t be much of a discussion if everyone did, would it? I just found the tone unnecessary. As I’ve more-or-less acknowledged, yes the whole discussion is pretty much nonsense. But it’s fun sometimes to have a discussion on the basis of “If…”, isn’t it? That’s all I’m doing… If you want to posit a different “IF…”, feel free to do so. I’ll have fun = /=, as the case may be!