Why do current RPGs not have scythes?

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Mister Swift

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Jan 27, 2010
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Arkzism said:
Mister Swift said:
MY PREVIOUS POST
actually boomerangs are hunting tools... but ill let that pass.. and honestly final fantasy is not the best i use this as a weapon excuse...

but scythes where not designed to be weapons, and honestly i like realism with my rpgs.. i mean id rather have a simple spear then any of those fancy ones above
actually boomerangs are hunting tools
Yeah, I was hoping nobody would realize that >_>
That being said, they were only used to hunt small animals, and they had practically no potential in war.

and honestly final fantasy is not the best i use this as a weapon excuse...
So I can't use the most successful RPG franchise as an example for other RPGs? Darn.

and honestly i like realism with my rpgs
So, you've never used a phoenix down, have you? Do you also take your turn stabbing people so they can take their turn stabbing you?

i mean id rather have a simple spear then any of those fancy ones above
You're quite the boring person, aren't you? That being said, normal weapons usually have better stats when you have the choice between the two.
 

Eponet

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Nov 18, 2009
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Mister Swift said:
and honestly i like realism with my rpgs
So, you've never used a phoenix down, have you? Do you also take your turn stabbing people so they can take their turn stabbing you?
That's hardly an effective analogy, they've probably never done either of those in games either; even if they have, Pheonix Downs are just smelling salts in all but name, and the turn based system can be filled in with your imagination, it's hard to imagine a scythe being used effectively, or anyone actually wanting to use one. (Most games have enough similarities to the real world's kinematics that unlike say, magic, which is entirely fictional, this isn't realistic within the bounds of the game either)
 

EightGaugeHippo

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Apr 6, 2010
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Because they are used for cutting crops, not people.

Imagen finding a pair of hedge trimmers in an RPG that could be used as a weapon, im sure you would say "WTFuck?"
 

ScruffyTheJanitor

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Jul 17, 2009
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Mister Swift said:
and honestly final fantasy is not the best i use this as a weapon excuse...
So I can't use the most successful RPG franchise as an example for other RPGs? Darn.

i mean id rather have a simple spear then any of those fancy ones above
You're quite the boring person, aren't you? That being said, normal weapons usually have better stats when you have the choice between the two.
You can't use final fantasy as an excuse to say something is a weapon I think he means. You have seen the gun/blade argument? And the dude who made clouds sword out of aluminium (i think) and discovered that you could barely lift it, far less swing it about. The RPG doesn't really have the feasibility.

I can understand that in a game, silly weapons can bring brilliant gameplay. But If you ever saw a polearm being used properly in real life, it's be far from "boring." Staff fighting is one of the best arts there is and addin the pointy bit at the end makes it quite a deadly weapon in the right hands.
 
Apr 13, 2010
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EightGaugeHippo said:
Because they are used for cutting crops, not people.

Imagen finding a pair of hedge trimmers in an RPG that could be used as a weapon, im sure you would say "WTFuck?"
FF7, barret, atomic scissors. I think those qualify as hedge trimmers. :D
 

Julianking93

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May 16, 2009
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Go play Demon's Souls.

That's got about 6 different forms of Scythes in it.

But really though, why the hell would you want one? They're pretty impractical weapons at least those traditional crescent scythes Death carries.
 

imaloony

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Nov 19, 2009
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Souplex said:
Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
I beg to differ. [http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/zasalamel-in-soul-calibur-4.jpg]

Scythes can be used in combat. They're multipurpose as a long reach bludgeon weapon and a long hooking weapon.

As for why they're never used in games. Well, Dante from Dante's Inferno used one, but other than that, I just don't think the developers usually think of them when putting weapons into their game.
 

Mister Swift

Disingenuously asserting.
Jan 27, 2010
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ScruffyTheJanitor said:
I can understand that in a game, silly weapons can bring brilliant gameplay. But If you ever saw a polearm being used properly in real life, it's be far from "boring." Staff fighting is one of the best arts there is and addin the pointy bit at the end makes it quite a deadly weapon in the right hands.
I'm saying it doesn't matter what things can do IRL. The topic was "Why do current RPGs not have scythes?", not "Why do current military forces not have scythes?" It's an RPG, all your going to be doing with a weapon is selecting attack then selecting the enemy. Besides being ranged or not, nothing else about the weapon matters in most RPG's. Some of the more intuitive ones may be an exception.

Eponet said:
Most games have enough similarities to the real world's kinematics that unlike say, magic, which is entirely fictional, this isn't realistic within the bounds of the game either)
Question: What was my first post about?
Answer: Most mainstream RPG's have weapons that completely defy all know conventions.

It is these weapons that can make a game more quirky, without actually effecting them at all. You could give Wakka a gun, and he'd still be a physical fighter that can attack at a distance (shut up sphere grid).

RPG's have absolutely no ties to real world physics, or else you'd kill everything with one hit with that slab of concrete you somehow carry around, and you'd get killed in one hit from all those gun toting enemies.

Making things super realistic might have worked for FPS's (debatable), but it's no-mans-land for RPG's. It just wouldn't make the game entertaining. And why do we play video games?


For entertainment. And if some people find killing enemies with scythes entertaining, then they have every right to complain.
 

Hargrimm

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Jan 1, 2010
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair
A guy who wrote a book about fencing with various waepons, including scythes( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97neHuFfPLI )
The dueling shields are awesome too btw.

http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00006570/images/index.html?seite=411
^ This is the book I'm talking about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe
Weapons used by polish peasants in many conflicts (Some say that they obviously aren't scythes. But the people who used them and contemporary accounts call them scythes. That sort of thing is a scythe. "Scythe" is the word for that thing. It's not a weapon that 'looks like glaive/halberd', because the blade of a glaive is convex, while the blade of a scythe is concave and halberd has an axe blade, a spike and a hook)


So yes, a scythe can and was used as a weapon and as a tool, just like an axe. There is no excuse not to include them (and polearms in general really) in a FANTASY RPG.
 

unicornninja

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Aug 4, 2010
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rsvp42 said:
unicornninja said:
Ninja Gaiden 2 has a scythe and its awesome so why cant they be more popular in gaming. I mean who cares if its impractical most of the melee weapons in L4D2 are impractical i mean who would use a frying pan or a crowbar to fight zombies?!?!? Besides its a game its not reality if i want reality in my games ill go outside!
I don't know if anyone responded to this already, but crowbars are actually great against zombies. They're lightweight, durable bludgeons that can also be used for stabbing through the eye socket into the brain. What's more they're still crowbars and can pry open doors and do everything else they were meant to do in the first place. Actually, a much more impractical weapon in L4D2 was the guitar.

That's why in that Zack Snyder Dawn of the Dead, I always face-palm when the one guy drops his crowbar for a croquet mallet... sigh.
I forgot about that crowbars could be used for opening doors and the guitar is impractical. but stabbing a zombie through the eye with a crowbar seems pretty hard to do without getting bitten or getting the virus(don't really know for sure haven't fought zombies in reality). I still want some more scythes in games thought i think it would be cool.
 

Einherion

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Aug 20, 2010
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masseyguy911 said:
Einherion said:
masseyguy911 said:
Einherion said:
masseyguy911 said:
Einherion said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythes

why would anyone use him as a weapon?

lol all jokes aside, im kinda appalled at all of the conjecture presented as fact here. no citation....BUT ANYWAY.

see this for some history;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe

check these guys out for some more info on origin;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythians

check this out for war
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythed_chariot

this guy made a book on how to fence with a scythe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair

and here is the WAR SCYTHE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe


enjoy.
Yea... read through all of that...
Still not seeing how scythe is a practical weapon, oh and war scythe is different from a scythe.
well some dude wrote a book about it... idk man if you will reread my post i was giving background info. not explanation. and hand scythes were used as weapons i think. i believe the egyptians used them. not so sure.
I believe the might have... What I do know is that they used a khopesh aka sickle sword. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopesh
But that was, once again, designed for battle, NOT like a scythe.
lol okay, new thread, why dont they have KHOPESH. that looks awesome.
Lol yea why don't they?
The Egyptians built these babies for war and used them all the time, why can't I use one?
agreed. they look pretty awesome.
 

megapenguinx

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Jan 8, 2009
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Yeah, that's true!
You never see scythes in games anymore. I always thought they would be really cool (if not a little awkward) to fight with.
 

MrNickster

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Apr 23, 2010
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Historically, a scythe was only ever used as a weapon by rebelling peasants and farmers because it was all they had. They are slow, unwieldy, can break easily (not always) and cannot do any damage to an armoured opponent. They are intended and designed to cut crops with, not for battle, polearms and halberds do that. A scythe is first and foremost a tool used for harvesting-That's why Death carries one, he is a harvester of souls.

I guess scythes don't appear much in RPG's because of their real life flaws as weapons and that a sword and shield is far more traditional and a 'noble' weapon for a player, while a scythe is just a farming tool a lower class citizen would put to use in a combat situation in the absence of a real weapon.
 

ZippyDSMlee

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carpathic said:
I have often had the same thought. They look cool - which is generally enough for RPGs
Ya but can you say without doubt the type of sword used in most fiction?
The best you can do is say "sword" or "gun" and not persay a flamberge or .38 Smith & Wesson.....
 

TiefBlau

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Apr 16, 2009
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Yeah, they used scythes in war. But to use them like that, they needed adjustment. The blade had to be aligned along the handle, not perpendicular to it. The way they fight with scythes in games are completely impractical.