Thank you!

I long for the day that a game will feature staffs that are simply carried. Did you see Gandalf sling his staff onto his back when he wasn't fighting? No, he used it as a walking stick!

Actually, a large number of shields in history have a sling attached. This allows you to easily sling it over your shoulder for times you don't need it, and provide easy access to it should you be surprised.


Swords on the back are possible, even practical, but Drawing swords out of a scabbard strapped to your back is not. At least not for anything much longer than your forearm. Human arms simply aren't long enough. Sure, it can be done, but it isn't easy, it isn't quick, and it is a great way to accidentally slice the back of your neck open.


You are also likely to wear the sword on your Right hip, not your left. Why? Because it is actually easier to draw the sword from the scabbard in a lot of cases for many fashions. Easier to draw in tight quarters and not accidentally chop a bit of flesh out of a buddy, catch it on your shield as you ward off a blow, etc. The usage switched throughout history, but last I had heard the modern opinion, based on art and re-constructive archeology is that the right hip was favoured more for a longer period of history, and the left hip-cross-draw is really a modern invention for 'small swords/walking swords' and their like. (You don't have a shield to worry about, and your left hand can hold the sword steady, leaving your right hand free for all of its gentlemanly duties.)

This would be so awesome with a fitting walking animation.

When I say that storing a shield on your back is impractical, I'm referring to putting it behind you at the small of your back, Zelda or Dragon Age style.

Your second paragraph highlights what I'm referring to.

I liked how Dragon Age Origins did this (though they forgot the scabbards). I would also like to see the Shield on the back for those who have it equiped (also like DAO).

Minor issue though since I play almost entirely in first person.

Yep, I agree.

I would much rather have my weapons sheathed realistically than strapped to my back "cause it looks cool hurr".

Luckless also makes a good point. http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?app=forums&module=forums§ion=findpost&pid=19678258

Please, no weapons carried on your back. Not greatswords, not staves and certainly not one-handed weapons. It is impractical, and it just makes the drawing animations look weird and the weapons will clip through their scabbards. Shields, on the other hand, I'm okay with being carried on the back.

I won't have my sword on my back if i have to quick draw it. :shakehead: Thats why knights had it on the opponent side of their sword arm. I also don't think in a real fight two swords would be a good choise. In a game it MIGHT look good if they are on the back but useable...mh :vaultboy:

I definitely notice this and am annoyed by it. I thought it was very weird as well.

But what about weapons for combat not between two individuals with pre-approved rules? bliviongate:

Me too. And I don't look at my character all that much anyway. So I could care less where the weapons show up or not at all. And I feel certain that Bethesda would have included all that if they could. But I bet the reason they didn't include it was because of a framerate or rendering problem or something like that.

I didn't know there were dueling swords in Skyrim.

Drawing any double-edged medieval longsword from a scabbard isn't particularly graceful in a pinch irrespective of where you store it. I actually had an opportunity to try drawing a sword from my back with the scabbard on a sling; it wasn't fast but it was feasible, and would be FAR more comfortable to carry than on your hip.

EDIT: as for dual swords though, they'd be less practical to draw from the back unless they're shortswords. To draw the longsword from my back in a reasonable timeframe I had to yank the sling with the other hand; taking the sling straight off and pulling it out that way was more 'graceful' though, and was probably faster on reflection.

Dual blades worn on the back look cool but it's more importantly impractical. Staves on the other hand are meant to be used as a support while walking, so it's unnatural to have to carry them. I think long swords (ones longer than human legs) weren't used by ordinary infantry but knights used them while fighting on horseback.

I think it would look cool if a single dagger was kept in a sheath horizontally across the small of the back, but that's just a style preference, not a functional preference

I mean realistically two swords isn't historical or practical at all, so where you store them isn't particularly important :whistling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocQ_DZVAU0

Notice though, if he were wearing it on a sling he could use his left hand to alter the position of the scabbard while drawing, resulting in the last part of the blade coming free much easier.

Of course, if it were on a sling you could also remove the sling very quickly and draw that way.

The SHing noise xDDD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocQ_DZVAU0&feature=relmfu

Ninjaed.

I wonder how many fans of back-stored swords have ever tried to draw and sheathe a sword on their back. There's little to no logic for how it would stay there, since most of the "epic back sordzz" in games these days look like they're attached using superpowerful magnets or something.

Actually, I rather think it would look cool if both swords appeared on the characters hip (either the same hip, or both hips depending on the weapons). Having a long sword and a dagger affixed to one hip looks awesome, and was practiced by samurai (just so there's some validity to my claim).

I'm quite tired of the weapons-on-the-back trope. It looks stupid and, well.. stupid.

Getting it out is feasible. Putting it back however.. not so much lol.

You'd need to take the sling off to do it in any reasonable timeframe; assuming you are using a sling and it isn't somehow tied to your armour.

i dont care if the weapons are stored on the back or on the belt actually. BUT:

what really annoys the hell outa me is that the lefthand weapons JUST GOES POFF when sheathing it. this was the same as back in morrowind with ALL weapons but guess what? morrowind is TEN [censored] years old. seriously bethesda this NEEDS a patch. its utter lazyness on your side. no excuse for it sorry absolutly no excuse. thats just lame for a game of today. made me avoid dwing completly because it looks gay to walk around with just 1 small sword on one side.

this should be adressed.

Well then you should also wonder, where does your Character store all the weapons you find, where does he put the armor if you wear normal clothes?
Guess it must look like http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/Holy_grail_only_a_model_small.jpg