I understand that this topic will likely get a quick "no" from anyone who considers themselves above average at the game, but just hear me out and read what i have to say before grabbing your torch and pitchforks. just a couple ideas here.
i believe combat has become way too fast and twitchy. this doesnt mean poop for anyone that plays autoblock only but on manual block its a different story. let it be known that im likely the biggest supporter of manual block--i think it greatly increases the skill cap and it gives that adrenaline rush over pressing a button that does the job for you. but i really, really think that weapons have become so damn fast (and powerful) that it's become detrimental to the game. i believe that in some cases manual blocking is just too difficult to pull off within the confines of what we have.
at home, i enjoy a ping of around 20 on 99% of the days (east coast 4 lyf) and its great. however, a few days ago my internets provider was being terrible, and my ping went up to something like 60-75 or so. still not bad by any standards, and damn good for most everything...except when i fired up warband. i could see the swings and whatnot, but even that 40 ms difference led to me getting rocked by any weapon near me. blocking was quite frankly impossible, even though i could see them. that small difference meant by the time i could right click to save myself, whoever's weapon already swung. it got me to thinking that sure, armagan probably set the east coast servers in my basement which is cool for me, but anyone else playing at something like that--a ping that is excellent by any other standard--is probably having a shit of a time trying to fight as infantry. i understand that you can't design a game around people having bad ping, which is totally understandble, but having difficulties at anything over 50ms is a little....asinine, dont you think?
a suggestion i saw from (IIRC) test was that holding a weapon in a certain position should "charge" it, and make it do regular damage. a swing that was instant was, of course, quicker, but did less damage. theres no point in holding a weapon in a certain way, and youre better off feinting a swing. feinting is a great tactic, and i do it frequently. however, i think its a little stupid to ignore inertia completely and swing a massive fucking battle axe like a crack monkey in a different direction in an instant.
id always favor gameplay over realism, and id say that the poor bastards we play as are more athletically fit and strong than your regular joe. but i think weapons simply swing too fast for the amount of damage they put out, even for an above average player. i think the spear, for example, is a very well balanced weapon. its fast as hell (much faster than 98 speed id say) but it does something like 13b per hit. yes, its fast, but the damage is more reasonable, and lends itself towards a player that likes to wear his opponent out instead of a huge cascade of smash hits. on the other hand, a battle axe hits a monster truck, but should, in my opinion, swing slower to compensate instead of this instantaneous-babe-ruth-homerun-swing stuff thats going on now. not sure if any of you gents have ever held a really big axe irl, but they arent exactly light. some axes heads are even made heavy on purpose to give more punch in the swing. i would expect a reasonable swing in game, seeing as our dudes are all soliders and what not, but i still feel its a little crazy how weapons in general have become in regards to speed.
i have a feeling that top end players are going to look at this post like the pope would at satan having intercourse with a statue of jesus and see it as dumbing down the game, but understand im the LAST person that wants to play a dumbed down game. i just think it could be a little better, and that we shouldnt have to drink a red bull in order to play. maybe something like a global 10% swing speed reduction to see how it works for example. thoughts? suggestions? death threats?
TLDR/cliffnotes version: cool story bro
