I don't mean nobody considers stamina - it's obviously something you can't ignore - I mean nobody considers the stamina bar during combat. Considering how quickly you get punished for reading the enemies attacks wrong, it's extremely counter-intuitive to then also need to keep your eye on a bar in the corner of the screen that facilitates how many actions you can stil perform. In the heat of combat nobody is looking at that bar, they'll just try to string dodges and attacks until they're forced to stop. The bar in that sense is just kind of a useless indicator, except when you're using a shield and you're trying the measure how much of your stamina a new big baddie will knock off while you're guarding.I understand your sentiments on their face, but I'd argue that stamina in FromSoft games adds a layer of gameplay complexity that must be considered to survive the game. In fact, to say "I can assure you nobody actually considers this stupid stamina bar during combat" is by far and away an inaccurate statement. I, for one, went into DS1 trying to play it like a typical hack 'n slash game, tried to button mash, and got shredded. It wasn't until I learned that managing stamina was a vital key to success before I was able to manage. I learned that an opening in an enemy's attack pattern meant nothing if I took advantage of it without enough stamina to roll away or block without being stun-locked.
That's cool, and I would like that.. if they didn't put the bar in the corner of the screen. Put the stamina read-out (not necessarily a bar but some sort of indicator) over the enemy attack or over your own character so I can keep my eyes on the action. Again, health bars are easy to manage since only when you get hit do you need to take a quick glance at it. But then with stamina that would require you to check your stamina bar everytime or every other time you swing your weapon, dodge, and/or shield an attack. It splits the players attention more than it should in a game where one screw-up can mean death.You don't have to like it, but I feel it's a mechanic that keeps the player engaged during every moment of combat, and makes victories over more aggressive and fast enemies that much sweeter when you discover how best to juggle your health AND stamina to stave off relentless attacks that would otherwise decimate players who think tanking damage with a shield or mashing the attack button with abandon are viable options. Stamina mandates that nearly every action has a potential consequence.
Also, have enemies function under the same rules - give them a stamina bar that you as the player can try to break or exhaust. As it is they might as well have unlimited stamina, there's no way to know. Also, make enemies bounce their weapons off of walls, not just the players. Also, add a decent goddamn aiming mode for projectile weapons, every other game has had one for 15 years now Fromsoft. *sigh*