Here is an idea that I'd just like to float and see what people think.

In Morrowind weapon skills were broken out into different types. This discouraged the use of a broad variety of weapons; why bother with that totally awesome Spear when all your experience is with Long Blade? There was also the illogic that an expert in the use of a Battle Axe would be totally inept with a War Hammer, when in reality these two weapons are wielded in a very similar manner. Then came Oblivion where weapon skills were combined. Again variety gets discouraged because when you are equally proficient with every weapon you encounter why not just pick the one with the best stats? Also why would all that experience with a simple dagger automatically carry over to skill with a claymore? And neither system addressed the idea that in reality someone who has been swinging a club in combat would be able to apply some of that knowledge when they first get their hands on a sword.

What if each weapon in the game were given 3 characteristics that covered Length, Balance and Striking Surface. These would equate to 9 weapon skills/sub-skills Short, Medium, Long, Hilt Balanced, Center Balanced, Tip Balanced, Single Edged, Double Edged and Blunt. When a weapon is used experience is gained in all 3 of skills that define the weapon. When the weapon is viewed in the players inventory on of the stats would show the players skill with this particular weapon, this would simply be the average of the three skills used.

Some examples of weapons are:

Hatchet - Short, Tip Balanced, Single Edged
Scimitar - Medium, Tip Balanced, Single Edged
Spear - Long, Center Balanced, Double Edged
Dagger - Short, Hilt Balanced, Double Edged
Rapier - Medium, Hilt Balanced, Double Edged
Claymore - Long, Center Balanced, Double Edged
Hammer - Short, Tip Balanced, Blunt
War Hammer - Medium, Tip Balanced, Blunt
Scythe - Long, Tip Balanced, Single Edge

As you can see this would allow for more cross class weapon use.

So what do you TES fans think? Good idea? Bad idea? Too complicated?

Too complicated

I like it but would would actually come up as the skills? Like would you custom-create a weapon skill choosing from each of the 3 sublevels and have that as a skill or would you have blade/blunt/spear as skills with a "hidden" skill in each sublevel

I like the idea, but I think that's way too many skills that the devs won't want to implement for both sake of time and complexity.

I just hope for the morrowind short and long blades plus axes blunt and staff it made combat even more enjoyable the current system feels dumbed down as a dagger is never better than a long sword etc...

By this logic a spear would be wielded in the same way as a claymore. Needs much more refinement.

Your'e right, a Claymore would be held differently, maybe make it Tip Balanced?

I'm just hoping that this would do away with the need to have to specialize so much in just one weapon type and maybe just have an overall Melee skill that gives a weighted average of the 9 sub skills.

I think if the skills are in the proper attributes, then the attributes themselves are the link between the weapons. In that being good in mauls means you have higher strength, that strength lets you gain skill in greatsword faster.

I can see the logic that a club and a sword COULD be used identically, but practically implementing that in game is going to require some tinkering. furthermore, the "proper" technique to using a sword and a club are different even if they COULD be used the same. When it said "styles" in the header, I thought that might work, but your styles is different than what I thought you meant.
I was thinking 'schools' of use. for example a 'spear' school could be used with a claymore, but you WOULD be using the claymore like a spear (don't forget your gauntlets so you don't chop your fingers off.) and your rolls would be calculated like the claymore was a spear, and you would SWING (poke really) the same way with both, but the claymore's stats would still be like it was for a 2h wielder ( sharp on the edges at the tip, same piercing potential, same reach, same sharpness.) in this way you could use a staff like a spear, or like a 2hdr or like a 1hdr even (unwieldy, unbalanced, not sharp, hard to swing, hard to hold upright, but you could TRY to do it). You could switch styles without switching weapons and would gain XP in whichever you used, but there would be no skill for weapon classes, only styles. you could train your "1h swd style" with a (2h?) club, but it would be penalized due to weight and balance issues.

edit: shade's system would be easier to understand, easier to develop and probably easier to use. the only thing thats missing is that "STR =\= skill " and that can be rectified by saying that "1pt in swd =\= 1pt in blunt" but that "10pts in swd might be about 1 pt in blunt" problem solved, more or less.

the trouble with this idea is that while comprehensive and more realistic it is very complicated and confusing. the oblvion/morrowind system is just simpler to implement and easier to understand.

What they've done in the past is require your attribute be higher than your skill in any give category, or something to that effect. So if you use your Dai-Katana quite a bit to get it to level 75, your strength might be 80, and your blunt skill might be 20. Having the strength of 80, then starting in on a blunt skill of 20 means that while you don't get free levels, you gain blunt levels a few times faster. You'd catch up to your long blade skill faster that way.

If it was tip balanced it would be wielded the same way as a 2h axe.


I'd prefer the following weapon skills:
small weapons (dagger, hatchet, kurki, club)
1 handed blades (swords and short swords)
2 handed blades (2h swords)
1 handed hafted weapons (axes, hammers, maces)
2 handed hafted weapons
Polearms


Honestly unless they add gauntlet weapons, hand to hand is worthless and can be cut out.

Or they could merge HtH into a new skill called "improvised fighting" that also lets you shield bash, strike with the pommel of a 2h weapon, kick enemies that are blocking to throw them off balance, etc.

Anyone watch that show Top Shot? Where all those marksmen competed in tests of marksmanship skills? We found that, even though rifles and pistols are both firearms in the basic sense of the word, the skills to be proficient at them were quite different. Then when other weapons were thrown into the mix (longbow, hatchet, knife, crossbow, etc.), we discovered that marksmanship isn't just a generic skill that covers projectile weapons. If anything, the system should become more weapon-specific. Marksmanship alone should be broken up into at least bows and thrown weapons, if not short bows, long bows, darts (blowguns?), knives, and hatchets. But I can see how this would complicate issues. I think we should just go back to the Morrowind style (spears!!) and leave it be.

Agree all the way. I would love it to be that complex, but probably can't be. Also think it should be heavy and light arms.

Something like:

Light:

Sword - Quick, high damage
Dagger - Quick, grants critical damage while sneaking
Axe - Slowest, chance to paralyze

Heavy:

Mace - Quickest
Hammer - Slow, chance to disarm
Pole-arms - Slowest, chance to paralyze

actually heavy and light makes some sense. but its pretty muc morrowinds short blade, long blade thing

Bah if they worried so much about illogical things in the game they'd never finish. Let's just keep it simple, and hope Bethesda uses the remaining time to do more important things.

too complex for a console game unfortunately

To Complex in general.

A Bladed Weapon is a Bladed Weapon, why make more than one catagories for 'em?

A bladed weapon is a bladed weapon but there is different sizes and weights which would make them different to use eg.(dagger and long sword).

Aw boo hoo, I can't get a PC exclusive =(