I'm surprised it hasn't come up before, really.

http://www.justpushstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/tes_5_skyrim_91.jpg

I mean, it's not about the low res textures or anything. It's about the fact that it looks like a TOY.

Don't get me wrong. I'm impressed with everything else in the game. And not to mention that I DO get it's a VERY minor problem. I don't even like maces. I do not intend to use them in Skyrim (at least not on my first playthrough).
Thing is, as far as the modeling goes it's... Okay... but not anything really good like the rest of their weapon models (which are pretty good). The mace has this cartoony look because of the cartoony texture they've given the wood. It looks like plastic. It looks like a spider on a stick.

I can see why, as a weapon, it's efficient. If you think about it, when you bash someone in the head with such a weapon it'll probably kill him/her.

I think they could've done a better job, and like I said, NOT NITPICKING and it's definitely NOT A BIG DEAL. Just pointing it out. I've seen lots of maces and this is not one of my favorite...

Now not to split hairs, but that don't look much like a toy to me. :toughninja:

Agreed. I imagine it'd be hard to get a great hit on someone, unless you hit them with the VERY BOTTOM of those spikes.

Eventhough i agree with the fact that i will (likely) not use them, i actually think they look great enough to change my playstyle at some point and use them this time around!

See nothing wrong with them to be honest... :unsure:

I'm more of a traditional mace lover myself and yes it looks meh-ish

Hard to make every single mace in every single TES game looks good when there's only so much you can do to a mace to make it look unique.
Otherwise they end up re-using models from Oblivion/Morrowind who were just graphically updated.

Besides, it's very likely that it's a low level mace.

Seriously? It doesn't look cartoony to you? It looks a bit... out of context with the rest of the game.