Why do current RPGs not have scythes?

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Souplex

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Jul 29, 2008
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Judgement101 said:
Please just let this thread die. Then Death can take it because he can actually appreciate scythes.
By bumping this thread you revived it.
migo said:
Souplex said:
Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172
The real question is why do RPGs neglect polearms and axes? Historically they were the most commonly used melee weapons. Swords were the equivalent of an officers pistol.
You mean like death is an idiot? And like how nunchaks are farming tools and only an idiot would use them?
Death doesn't fight, he harvests. There is a reason nunchucks weren't used on the battlefield, and that's because they're thoroughly useless.
 

Judgement101

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rsvp42 said:
What about this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAw5svabfk

I never played the game myself, but this seems like a pretty effective use of the scythe in a video game. A nice feature is that the blade locks into different positions depending on what's needed. The simple fact of the matter is that most weapons in RPGs or whatever genre simply involve swinging and hitting. It doesn't matter what the actual effectiveness is, it all boils down to a character swinging and an enemy getting hurt. For that, a scythe is great. It looks cool and has a blade, end of story.

However, there is another use of scythes. I know in WoW, warlocks can wield a scythe, but it's really more of a stand-in for a casting staff. That works though! Don't worry OP, I don't think the scythe is going anywhere and any sufficiently robust RPG will probably have it in some form or fashion.
Wow that made Death look like a whiny *****.
 

King Kupofried

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Jan 19, 2010
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Judgement101 said:
King Kupofried said:
Judgement101 said:
King Kupofried said:
TestECull said:
I'd imagine it's because they're hard to animate. I suppose there's also the possibility that some dumbass will take offense, since it's the weapon of the Reaper and thusly must be satanic of some such bullshit.
Souplex said:
Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
The Grim Reaper kinda never got the memo...and he's got a pretty perfect KDR as of late.
It's not a weapon for him though, it's still a tool. D= The Grim Reaper doesn't fight the souls of the living any more than a farmer fights his fields of grain.
Watch the anime "Soul Eater" near the end of the season they have Death with a scythe fighting a guy.
That is true, but with the amount of magical powers and outright weird stuff that goes on in there, it's not exactly Death vs. Normal human being.
So Death v.s. Evil thing doesn't count?
With the consideration that my point was that Death reaps people like a farmer reaps grain and not fight them, and from what I know most people do not possess evil magical powers, I'm going to have go with no.
 

Judgement101

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Mar 29, 2010
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Souplex said:
Judgement101 said:
Please just let this thread die. Then Death can take it because he can actually appreciate scythes.
By bumping this thread you revived it.
migo said:
Souplex said:
Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172
The real question is why do RPGs neglect polearms and axes? Historically they were the most commonly used melee weapons. Swords were the equivalent of an officers pistol.
You mean like death is an idiot? And like how nunchaks are farming tools and only an idiot would use them?
Death doesn't fight, he harvests. There is a reason nunchucks weren't used on the battlefield, and that's because they're thoroughly useless.
Actually I didn't mean to bump it, I origionally quoted someone but it failed so I had to wing it.
 

AWDMANOUT

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Jan 4, 2010
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Odd planetary alignment? Drugs? Bad water? Who knows?

Also, I think this dude's callin you out:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes
 

rsvp42

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Jan 15, 2010
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Judgement101 said:
rsvp42 said:
What about this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAw5svabfk

I never played the game myself, but this seems like a pretty effective use of the scythe in a video game. A nice feature is that the blade locks into different positions depending on what's needed. The simple fact of the matter is that most weapons in RPGs or whatever genre simply involve swinging and hitting. It doesn't matter what the actual effectiveness is, it all boils down to a character swinging and an enemy getting hurt. For that, a scythe is great. It looks cool and has a blade, end of story.

However, there is another use of scythes. I know in WoW, warlocks can wield a scythe, but it's really more of a stand-in for a casting staff. That works though! Don't worry OP, I don't think the scythe is going anywhere and any sufficiently robust RPG will probably have it in some form or fashion.
Wow that made Death look like a whiny *****.
lol, true. But I think it shows that animation isn't a barrier to the scythe being used in games. No real awkwardness in the animation there.
 

Judgement101

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AWDMANOUT said:
Odd planetary alignment? Drugs? Bad water? Who knows?

Also, I think this dude's callin you out:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes
That thread is almost two years old...
 

MajoraPersona

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Aug 4, 2009
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It probably has a lot to do with how a scythe needs to be used a certain way. And maybe that the 'certain way' in question makes it horrible in combat.

However, there were apparently scythes made for combat. They're probably not anything like what you want, though.
 

AWDMANOUT

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Judgement101 said:
AWDMANOUT said:
Odd planetary alignment? Drugs? Bad water? Who knows?

Also, I think this dude's callin you out:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes
That thread is almost two years old...
Um.
>.>
http://www.twoweekstillfriday.com/blah/images/pie-chart.JPG
 

Kyogissun

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Jan 12, 2010
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I don't see why scythes are being written off as 'lol, useless' by most people. I mean, the scythes in RPG's used to follow these kinds of standards:

-They are wielded by either non-combat heavy characters and used in coordination with magic or as a sort of 'crowd control' item in which they can strike multiple enemies 'surrounding' the wielder
-They are USUALLY not the regular kinds of farming scythes people are not used to, they either have a movement functionality (Like having a saw on it in the .hack//G.U. series), massively oversized (Agarest War and others) and again, would have some 'magical' element to it
-In terms of how one uses a scythe effectively in an RPG, the most common excuse is that the user has quick reflexes and a good deal of strength to 'flip' the scythe on a dime, let's say they were doing an air combo in some action combat RPG, the swing the scythe upward and then upon ending that swing, they let go of the scythe, twist it around and swing the blade back down to cut up an enemy
-ANOTHER way to effectively use the scythe is to attach a 'ball bearing' type handle that's in the side of the scythe's pole, thus allowing the user to 'spin' the scythe on this 'rolling' handle and either protect himself/herself from non-projective attacks and enemies charging harming them

And so on. So so so so many people seem to be COMPLETELY ignoring the concept of FANTASY when discussing scythes as weapons. When discussing ROLE PLAYING GAMES that usually have an element of sci-fi or fantasy in them, ASSUME IMPOSSIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPEN.

My thoughts? I'd like to see the scythe a little more properly acknowledged as a weapon 'alternative', maybe in future Dragon Quest games? You know, the 'class switching' heavy titles like the recent iteration DQIX. Maybe Sages or... Um... Okay, maybe the DQ series isn't the best to suggest using scythes in but you get the idea. People just writing off scythes as a 'tool' in this thread are clearly not thinking outside the box.
 

Judgement101

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AWDMANOUT said:
Judgement101 said:
AWDMANOUT said:
Odd planetary alignment? Drugs? Bad water? Who knows?

Also, I think this dude's callin you out:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes
That thread is almost two years old...
Um.
>.>
http://www.twoweekstillfriday.com/blah/images/pie-chart.JPG
What?
 

rsvp42

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Jan 15, 2010
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Kyogissun said:
I agree. And I think they're ignoring too that a weapon's success in a GAME is all about how the animation looks. It doesn't really matter how a scythe needs to move in real life, as long as the game's animation for it is unique and believable. It's not about realism, it's about believability. As long as the character swings the scythe in an appealing way and the enemy gets hurt, then everything is fine. It's a FANTASY GAME, not a History Channel special.
 

ZombieLawngnome

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Jun 3, 2010
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I came into this thread thinking about commenting on how much better poleaxes and halberds are than scythes. Man I miss Morrowind...
 

Zacharine

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Apr 17, 2009
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Judgement101 said:
Back up the logic train. I asked in RPGs not IRL. So the armor piercing aspect has no place in this.
And RPGs quite often take their weapons listing straight from IRL. More authentic, less work that way.

Or when was the last time you saw an equippable fork replacing a knife?
 

Aryanos

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Aug 20, 2010
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Judgement101 said:
Has anyone noticed that most rpgs don't have scythes as a weapon choice? (None modded games) It sort of annoys me because almost everyone loves a scythe as a weapon. So I was wondering what do you think the reasons for the lack of scythes is?
Growlanser!!

And actually if someone was trained well and proficient a scythe would be more effective then a polearm.
 

masseyguy911

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Aug 6, 2010
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This thread still going on?
Well I will say again, because they are farming tool, not a weapon.
Also, I would imagine it would be difficult to believably animate a guy using a scythe as a weapon.
Also, People did not use scythes as a weapon in real life, even a farmer would sooner pick up his pitchfork or a knife then his scythe.
When one thinks of a scythe what comes to mind? The grim reaper, not really a good guy. Thus a game designer would go with something like a longsword, something a knight would use.
Besides, does it really matter if scythes aren't in the game? Are you going to not buy another RPG because it lacks a scythe?
 

Pigeon_Grenade

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Firoth said:
Final Fantasy XI and .hack//G.U. both use scythes as weapons.
I, too, am miffed about a lack of polearms and axes as weapons in games. They're rather fun. But, why do axes often get categorized as blunt weapons? Can someone explain this to me?
Eh all that comes to mind is a Rusty old axe
 

Mister Swift

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Jan 27, 2010
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Souplex said:
Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172

Because keys aren't weapons. They're for opening doors. Only an idiot would fight with a key.


Because slabs of cement aren't weapons. They're building materials. Only an idiot would fight with a slab of cement.


Because balls aren't weapons. They're for playing sport. Only an idiot would fight with a ball.


Because boomerangs aren't weapons. They're for traditional aboriginal ceremonies. Only an idiot would fight with a boomerang.


Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.


It's an RPG. How well a weapon would fare IRL has NOTHING to do with it.