SenorZorros said:
I'd like to see people having to drop weapons to get rid of them.
I like this idea, and wrote about it myself a long time ago. I think players would accept it and get used to it rapidly; developers are often unnecessarily worried, I think, that people will rebel against something that makes a game less simple. It would end the instant weapon swapping that looks bad and makes preposterous gameplay; archer switches to melee too fast, two hander guy whips out his shield and puts it away again too fast. If you want to sheathe one weapon, you should have to go through a quick animation to do that before the next weapon is drawn. If you need to draw the next weapon without delay, you get that at the expense of dropping the current weapon. You could use the current system of using the mouse wheel/selecting a weapon with the correct number key for the drop-and-draw and use another key (or one of the extra mouse buttons if you have them) to do the sheathe-and-draw. Or, of course, you could use the mouse wheel for the sheathe-and-draw if you wished.
It would be good for general immersion and enjoyment of the game. Seeing someone discard a sword when they realise a horseman is approaching the rear of their group would convey the drama of the moment, the sense of haste on the foot soldier's part. In Warband, we see his sword magically disappear from his hand and appear at his belt, and his drawing animation seems to begin with the spear already halfway over his shoulder, very unnatural and annoying.
In multiplayer it would subtly change tactics for the better, necessitating a realistic choice on the player's part-
"do I stop shooting arrows now and sheathe my bow before drawing my sword, or get another shot or two away before dropping the bow?" A horseman and a foot soldier are circling me, and the foot soldier is closing in-
"do I sheathe my long spear now to draw my sword and shield? Because I cannot rely on being able to change back to the spear in the blink of an eye once the foot soldier is dead, and the horseman will close in on me before I do".
As it stands, you can be 10 feet from an enemy and only able to run or swing with less than realistic speed, yet he has the magic powers of instant weapon sheathing and fast drawing. It is not consistent and this is frustrating. It often makes me quit multiplayer matches.