Also, unless the polearms have perks that are separate from the two handed axe skill, it's just an aesthetic choice, and one that has no influence on the depth of the game.

Why wouldn't there be perks that are specific to polearms? It is it's own unique weapon, there is no reason to think that it would be bound to two handed axe perks.

When Todd said there's no spears, people freak out. Sometimes it's amusing to see the reacting being so dramatic and makes me wonder why is spear so good and beloved? In morrowind, spears are very popular because it's simply easy to use. All you do is keep facing the enemy and poke, and he'll never be able to get close to you, because every time you poke he's pushed back. This is not balanced."

Spears are very balanced I htink. Unless you play Easy Mode (Always Use Best Attack) You have to restrict yourself to a very specific form of fighting. if you do anything BUT Thrust/Stab, you do virtually no damage.so two of its attacks are horrible, one is good, and its the most difficult one to use right that is very good. Not to mention that all the spears are VASTLY weaker than swords. The Spear of Bitter Mercy, Illkurok, Greed and Stormforge, the most powerful spears -- tend to pale in comparison to the more powerful artifacts from other schools. Not to mention that it negated shield use.

This guy has it figured out.

spears are very popular because it's simply easy to use. All you do is keep facing the enemy and poke, and he'll never be able to get close to you, because every time you poke he's pushed back.

When Todd said there's no spears, people freak out. Sometimes it's amusing to see the reacting being so dramatic and makes me wonder why is spear so good and beloved? In morrowind, spears are very popular because it's simply easy to use. All you do is keep facing the enemy and poke, and he'll never be able to get close to you, because every time you poke he's pushed back. This is not balanced. In real life, when you use a spear to poke the enemy, the enemy can easily parry it out of his way and get close to you while you have nothing to protect yourself. Therefore, spears are either used for special occasions (against cavalry or in a formation), or if used as a personal weapon, the length is greatly reduced to the point that it's almost a claymore (this is configuration is often used in Chinese martial arts), to gain more versatility.

However in TES games today, weapon clipping hasn't evolved to the point where spear's disadvantage can be represented in the game, it's difficult to balance the spears, and if attempt to balance it in some way, it'll either come out as a super weapon again, or utterly useless. That's apparently not what the devs want to see.

About crossbows, I personally like crossbows because it enhances class balance (well, I know there's no defined classes, but there's still classes otherwise every character will be the same). Why? because crossbows are in fact "bows and arrows for dummies". If you are a character dedicated to sword and block, what happens when you want to do ranged attack, such as hunting? It would be too stupid to run around chasing a deer with a sword to hunt for venison, it's just not realistic. What can you do? You should be able to pick up a crossbow which is supposed to require less marksman skill (which, in real life, is true), and shoot the deer. Of course, as a penalty, you cannot reload it in a short time, so you probably cannot use it effectively in combat, or you need to switch weapon as soon as you have taken a shot. this is also true in real life combat, such as cavalry sometimes carry a one-shot crossbow, do a quick ranged attack before engaging in close range. Heck, even the ancient Roman legionaries carry a throwing spear and cast it before melee fights. So I don't think crossbow is useless.

You know, I actually wouldn't care if they completely nerf spear damage and make it so that they never stagger anyone. I just want a melee weapon to use that's not a stupid sword, axe, or mace! As long as the weapon looked cool and had good animations, I would make do with nerfed damage. I would make do with them being completly underpowered. And I would love it. Because I love spears, and not because they're overpowered. So will people please freaking stop saying that people only liked spears because they were freaking "overpowered"? Please, it only makes you sound like a [censored].bag. That is all.

Was there any successful spear mods for Oblivion? I can't recall any.

Was there any successful spear mods for Oblivion? I can't recall any.