(08-12-2015, 04:10 PM)Telluride Wrote: It's not just Eorzea, not just "Fantasy", but ALL fictional/cinematic combat.
Anytime you see a close fight between someone using a penetrating weapon (sword, knife, pistol), that person will get very few hits in, if any, compared to the person using blunt weapns (sticks, staves, clubs, fists) if a good, dramatic fight is supposed to be going on. Put a good knife in the hand of the latter person - the one getting the hits in - and fight's done. Boo! Hiss! Boring Murder!
So, basically, what Melkire said. Â Real combat isn't really dramatic. Boxing can be only because it is constrained by very specific rules of engagement. Â MMA fighting often devolves into rolling on the floor and, as Penny Arcade once put it, sweaty, grunting groin-punching. Painful... effective... but kind of, well, not what most people expect a fight to be - at least, most people who don't fight.
Much of fanatasy and cinematic combat does revolve around flashy displays. Â Not all of it does, however. Â A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones comes immediately to mind. Â There is some fine knife fighting to be found in those. Real combat is boring in real life. But in RP? The imagination and sky is the limit.
(08-12-2015, 04:57 PM)Shoshopu Wrote: I dunno, to me there's something dramatic and scary about just how brutal (and brutally short) the "proper knife fight" scenario is. If you wrote it right, it could still be a deadly dramatic grapple to keep your opponent from being able to grab at you well enough to stab, without all the dramatic dancy stuff.
There's a place for both, it just depends on what sort of feel you're going for!
This echos my sentiments extremely well. Â A proper knife fight can really play to the emotions and allow characters to focus on interaction and tension. Â Flips and explosions rarely have the same effect. Â I find that the more RP'ers focus on kinetics, the softer the emotional impact of the RP usually becomes. Â
(08-12-2015, 05:36 PM)Knight Kat Wrote: What is "realistic" in a world where people of many professions can use magic, people often wear armor made of metals stronger than steel and things like aether and materia come into play?
People develop combat styles based on the times and context. Modern knife-fighting could have an application in Eorzea, but there are many scenarios where it wouldn't cut it (pun not intended).
What if the person you are trying to use the knife on has a spear? Good luck trying to shoulder-grab and close in to stab the spear-user. What if you tried that move on an armored Paladin? Knives by nature are side-arms in warfare. Even in the era where guns didn't exist, bigger, longer weapons were a soldier's first go-to. For Rogues and Ninja who use knives and short-blades as primary weapons, I would think the simple moves won't be enough for every foe.
No one disputes that Eorzea is a surreal place filled with all sorts of magic and mystical objects. Â Those objects can also be used in direct, brutally efficient ways. Â
And absolutely, it is most unwise to bring a knife to gun fight, or any fight that features larger arms. Â Armor is frustrating but most suits have convenient little slits that conceal squishy parts. Â Ultimately, a good knife is an amazing side-arm. Â It is sad that it is not used in more colorful ways. Â But this of course is entirely subjective. Â Some folks love flashy pomp.
