If you could introduce a certain prop or piece of gear...

[Caspar]

What would it be? Either because the typical fantasy or medieval weapon doesn't exist in the game yet, or a type of clothing you'd like to see isn't in the game yet? Would it be a piece of gear that you'd want to use for rp, or could you not really see your character using it, but would enjoy playing with nonetheless? More importantly, do you think that adding it would give opportunities for cool scenes, or perhaps even a bit of storytelling?

 

It could be that you already rp the item in question, but you cannot represent it visually due to game limitations. If so, what do you currently do to get around that?

[Erik Mynhier]

Well not so much a new weapon type as that would need a new class, but since we gave swords and basicly wooden paddles, I kind of wish we could get (even if only for glamour) some one-handed hammers for PLD. Back in FFXI I use to switch out all the time from sword to hammer, mostly for skeletal enemies. But still fun to be a hammer wielding Paladin.

[Caspar]

Well not so much a new weapon type as that would need a new class, but since we gave swords and basicly wooden paddles, I kind of wish we could get (even if only for glamour) some one-handed hammers for PLD. Back in FFXI I use to switch out all the time from sword to hammer, mostly for skeletal enemies. But still fun to be a hammer wielding Paladin.

This is true. Actually, it's kind of a perplexing omission, given that even the Blacksmith and other crafting classes use the GLD animations and idle stance, so it would be super easy to just add a mace or hammer and use it the same way. Though I think it's cool that the macuahuitl got some love.

[Hyakki]

Gag weapons, like a broom lance.

[Steel Wolf]

I'd introduce the gear team to the folks who made the capes and coats for CoX. Seriously, the fabrics in XIV all have the movement properties of a tightly folded napkin.

[Arter Wood]

Wigs. I would love weird, funny wigs. Clown wigs?

[Aaron]

Scythe weapons. 

 

Yes I know irl they're impractical weapons but this ain't real life so those people can bite it. (Though tbh the portrayal of scythe weapons in fantasy show it's not the shape of the weapon that's the real issue but the limitations of humans in the real world to wield such weapons with efficiency. )

 

I've always loved the grim reaper appearance scythe gave.

[Spethah]

Gag weapons, like a broom lance.

 

This. Candy can and chocolate bar for PLD. Blow up Rekt-it Hammer for WAR. Miqobob skewers for Ninja. Broom lance for DRG. Giant fists (sanic hands) for MNK. A literal toy bow with sucker cup arrows for BRD. Pop up book for SCH/SMN (Better than the Mog one). Stick and lightbulb for BLM. An extendable feather duster for WHM.

 

Please.

[Grott]

For a weapon, I'd go with a rapier or sabre or something. I always really liked the RDM class and I wish it was in the game, plus fencing was a personal hobby of mine for a few years irl. Or, on the other hand, maybe a two-handed mace to put in with WAR, or like a 1h axe for PLD. Something a little more brutal and medieval than what we're used to, as opposed to the sleek, shiny, stylistic weapons and animations the game is riddled with.

 

Certainly not a scythe. What am I, a bronze age farmer? That's not even a weapon. An axe that can only stab? And the edge is on the inside? It's super effective! Sorry. Don't mean to call people out, but I've wrote off entire fantasy universes for thinking a scythe would be a cool weapon to give a character. The Grim Reaper never uses the scythe as a weapon. It's a symbol for cutting lives down indiscriminately and apathetically like wheat in a field. Also, the symbolism of spring being the time for birth and winter being when everything dies. Harvest comes right before winter, and I shouldn't have to explain this any further because we should all know what symbols are.

 

For a prop or a non-weapon piece of gear, it sounds cheesey, but I really wouldn't mind like a backpack/satchel/knapsack. Partly because my character spends a lot of time outside of cities and outposts, but also because I've always dreamed of making a lore appropriate lalafell tribute to Ness from Earthbound.

[111]

I want a backpack, messenger bag, or other thing to hold items.

[Rakoh]

Seconding the request for a bigger variety of swords. Rapiers and Sabres would be nice to see. I would love to see a good Kreigsmesser too, we already have Falchions in the game which are basically the same thing so it wouldn't be hard to model one.

 

I'd like to see better daggers too. Daggers look fine until you hit 50, then are fucking odd. The Khanjars, Sasuke's Blades, Yoshimitsu and High Allagan Blades are the only daggers/short swords at 50 that are either functional, or even have actual edges to them. The rest are just strange....

[Caspar]

Being a Suikoden babby, I'm obsessed with blunt weapons.

 

Had I choice in terms of priority, these would ideally be in any rpg I play:

1. Blunt martial arts weapons

2. Bare hands

3. Guns

 

Those are what I default to, and while I like other stuff, I almost always find myself following this rule. If I can't have a san jie gun/sansetsukon, which is often, I'd take the tonfa, and if not that, the nunchaku, and if not that, the staff, and if not that, the rope dart/meteor hammer, etc. Even if I was forced to play a European-style character, which I tend to avoid pointedly, I would probably pick a mace or warhammer over a sword, though the rapier is pretty nice. These are all highly esoteric/impractical weapons and are rare in series outside of the blatantly Chinese inspired, like Suikoden. But I like them because they fit well with a heroic character. They are multi-purpose and the hero must adapt to many different circumstances. Blunt weapons can be less lethal, thus showing a commitment to preserving life rather than taking it. They're hard to use and thus demonstrating mastery. Most importantly, they are visually dynamic and demonstrate the character's athleticism and finesse. I have a general distaste for conventional magic and thus would never play a character who merely used a staff as a focus.

 

In Dynasty Warriors, for instance, every character I played obsessively featured at least one of these weapons. Just looking at my play history gives it away, with Guan Suo, Ling Tong and Sun Ce completely outpacing everyone else, lol. They're just really cool. Sadly it's hard to get them to feature well in a game like this as any class would not fully demonstrate its ideal qualities. The Monk could use a sansetsukon, but even if they did, the ability to block and trap weapons would not be demonstrated and it would be the same as if they had bare fists.

 

But as I've noticed in the past, I'd take literally nothing over a sword, because I'm just really fond of Eastern martial art aesthetics in fantasy. Though I don't mind the occasional katana or jian, they don't really appeal to me nearly as much. I prefer the spear to those, too, because at least it can be wielded similarly to the staff.

 

I can't say I was totally pleased with the Machinist. I like gun using classes in fantasy settings a lot too, and I always found it stifling back when I played D&D that it was very hard to create one in most campaigns. Ideally for me the gun-using class would have been a flamboyant Corsair-style class who wields a brace of flintlocks as they did in the old days, where reloading a black powder and ball firearm took too long and it was easier to just bring spares. Tossing guns in an exaggerated, unrealistic way takes the place of ejecting brass in the modern world, which needless to say, many movie directors and artists have recognized a strange beauty in.

 

Though I don't tend to play magic using characters, I'm very glad they put the book in the game as a focus. Using the staff just to channel magic always feels wasteful to me. To me the scepter is similar; why only use it as a focus when you could reinforce it and make it a mace too? To me the book says "I'm not inclined to combat, and I use my mind as a weapon" much more than a staff or wand. I appreciate that a lot. I'd like to see classes that use even more improbable focuses, like an over-sized ring, or a bell.

[Dravus]

Gunblades. I feel like they have immense potential for a melee/mid-ranged hybrid that could potentially offer us a much needed heavy armour DPS class. They're easily explained through Garlean technology too and are familiar for fans of the other Final Fantasy games.

[Caspar]

I want a backpack, messenger bag, or other thing to hold items.

I really really wanted a face and back cosmetic item slot. It's kind of a drag that my commitment to using eyepatches means headgear is off limits. And I want to be able to show my character is carrying a heavy load of stuff at a glance with a backpack too. It's little things like that which make me wish the glamor system went a bit further. I don't mind it as it is now because the gear is visually appealing and well designed, but I can't help but be a little greedy.

 

And yeah, given how many people want Gunblades, I'd say we're due for a class that uses it eventually.

 

If classes could have joke weapons, I'd want the Dark Knight to wield the Giant Squid ala Nightmare from SC. Complete with gross squishy noises.

[Aaron]

For a weapon, I'd go with a rapier or sabre or something. I always really liked the RDM class and I wish it was in the game, plus fencing was a personal hobby of mine for a few years irl. Or, on the other hand, maybe a two-handed mace to put in with WAR, or like a 1h axe for PLD. Something a little more brutal and medieval than what we're used to, as opposed to the sleek, shiny, stylistic weapons and animations the game is riddled with.

 

Certainly not a scythe. What am I, a bronze age farmer? That's not even a weapon. An axe that can only stab? And the edge is on the inside? It's super effective! Sorry. Don't mean to call people out, but I've wrote off entire fantasy universes for thinking a scythe would be a cool weapon to give a character. The Grim Reaper never uses the scythe as a weapon. It's a symbol for cutting lives down indiscriminately and apathetically like wheat in a field. Also, the symbolism of spring being the time for birth and winter being when everything dies. Harvest comes right before winter, and I shouldn't have to explain this any further because we should all know what symbols are.

 

For a prop or a non-weapon piece of gear, it sounds cheesey, but I really wouldn't mind like a backpack/satchel/knapsack. Partly because my character spends a lot of time outside of cities and outposts, but also because I've always dreamed of making a lore appropriate lalafell tribute to Ness from Earthbound.

I know very well the scythe is meant to be symbolic. Writing off a fantasy game just because they use scythes as weapons if frankly a little too unrequited. Even in real history the use of scythes as weapons have been documented "Revolutionaries in the American Revolution had farmers who used s cythes along with other things because they couldn't afford weapons."

 

Nothing remotely wrong with a scythe in a fantasy game. Hell it's been showcased IN FF before (Sice from type o uses one (two even) and it was a DRK weapon in XI))

 

Not calling a personal front on you just a clear up. But the unconditional hatred towards stuff that seems even remotely anime is a little ridiculous (talking to everyone not you). It's just a weapon (amateur one irl but can still kill a person), not some realism breaking superman.

[Caspar]

I'm pretty tired of it myself. The new thing seems to be Europaboos, as far as I've noticed, since Historical European Martial Arts is getting more exposure these days. They are similar to the stereotypical MMA elitist.

 

Sure these styles may be ostensibly practical, but at least to me they lack visual appeal. Admittedly though, I'm always going to exhibit a Chinese bias. Since it's not a matter of practicality, I think something that merely looks cool like a scythe is fine. What matters most to me is what the weapon or prop says about your character's background and their personality. What if an assassin who favors the scythe DID come from humble farm origins? I think that would make a lot of sense, personally.

 

To me the sentimentality attached to a weapon is an important rp tool. Even in modern fantasy settings, I made sure to chose weapons for specific character driven reasons, despite it being the age of mass-produced guns and impersonal bullets. The Chinese called the jian the scholar's weapon because it genuinely was considered "an elegant weapon for a more civilized age," and in fiction it tends to occupy a romanticized position because of that. It's things like that I want to bring out with a wider variety of tools to work with.

[Blue]

I'd like to see clothes of the Industrial Revolution era. Bland colors, average looks, nothing extravagant. I feel there is way too many extravagant clothes in-game.

 

But more than anything else, I'd pay blood for a damn plain T-shirt. It's crazy we can have stuff that looks like it came out of Tron, and not a T-shirt. The closest we have is Tabards, and alas my mages cannot wear those.

[Rakoh]

Scythes were never used in history as actual weapons. Why use something to impracticable when a Polearm does the same thing? Scythes are just way too unbalanced and top heavy to make an effective weapon.

 

Sickles however? Yes there are plenty of examples in historical manuals depicting various European Martial Arts (usually in Germany and Italy), as well in various Asian Martial Arts (Mostly South East Asia). The point of balance is in a position where they are much more nimble and less tiring to use in combat.

 

EDIT: Also whoever mentioned Chinese Swords? YES! A dozen times yes! I would love to see a good Dao in this game. Dynasty Warriors has me in love with the Dao and the Jian (even if the Jian wasn't used in combat)

[Aaron]

Scythes were never used in history as actual weapons. Why use something to impracticable when a Polearm does the same thing? Scythes are just way too unbalanced and top heavy to make an effective weapon.

 

Sickles however? Yes there are plenty of examples in historical manuals depicting various European Martial Arts (usually in Germany and Italy), as well in various Asian Martial Arts (Mostly South East Asia). The point of balance is in a position where they are much more nimble and less tiring to use in combat.

They actually were used by farmers for everything ranging from defense from coyote and wolves attacking live stock (if they didn't have a gun or better yet had guard dogs with em) to the revolutionists in the AR war.

 

It's still a object that can very well kill a person.

[Caspar]

Scythes were never used in history as actual weapons. Why use something to impracticable when a Polearm does the same thing? Scythes are just way too unbalanced and top heavy to make an effective weapon.

 

Sickles however? Yes there are plenty of examples in historical manuals depicting various European Martial Arts (usually in Germany and Italy), as well in various Asian Martial Arts (Mostly South East Asia). The point of balance is in a position where they are much more nimble and less tiring to use in combat.

 

EDIT: Also whoever mentioned Chinese Swords? YES! A dozen times yes! I would love to see a good Dao in this game. Dynasty Warriors has me in love with the Dao and the Jian (even if the Jian wasn't used in combat)

We see a lot of characters on here who only engage in fights sparingly. A thin, jian-like sword might be really suitable for them as an rp prop, similar to a rapier.

 

As for the scythe, I think you could say it falls under the category of improvised weapon, like using a pitchfork or a saw, which really could kill someone, just not maybe as efficiently as a war weapon.To an rp character with anywhere from incredible skill to superhuman abilities, this is a moot point.

[Rakoh]

That's the thing, when people mention farmers fighting with improvised weapons it is usually something like a sickle or pitchfork they grabbed from the field. Or maybe a wooden pole to use as a quarterstaff. Or maybe they fashioned a makeshift spear out of something. Or maybe they even just grabbed a hatchet and started using it like an axe.

[Caspar]

That's the thing, when people mention farmers fighting with improvised weapons it is usually something like a sickle or pitchfork they grabbed from the field. Or maybe a wooden pole to use as a quarterstaff. Or maybe they fashioned a makeshift spear out of something. Or maybe they even just grabbed a hatchet and started using it like an axe.

The distinction between the hatchet and the axe can get kinda blurry at times haha.

I wanted to be able to use my botanist axes as glamor for my Warrior. I mean, if you do that, you could go into a dungeon looking like an angry farmer, which might honestly be the extent of some characters' combat ability.

[Grott]

I know very well the scythe is meant to be symbolic. Writing off a fantasy game just because they use s cythes as weapons if frankly a little too unrequited. Even in real history the use of s cythes as weapons have been documented "Revolutionaries in the American Revolution had farmers who used s cythes along with other things because they couldn't afford weapons."

 

Nothing remotely wrong with a scythe in a fantasy game. Hell it's been showcased IN FF before (Sice from type o uses one (two even)).

 

Not calling a personal front on you just a clear up. But the unconditional hatred towards stuff that seems even remotely anime is a little ridiculous (talking to everyone not you)

 

It's been used as a weapon of necessity, not a weapon of choice. It has a blade and a handle, so it beats trying to punch a guy in a life or death situation. In the middle ages, peasants slung rocks from slings of cloth, but I'm sure they would have preferred a sword and shield. Using the closest device that can kill a man in a time of desperation isn't evidence of it being a good weapon. I would grab the scissors if some guy tried to strangle me to death in an arts and crafts store, but I'm not about to take them to Afghanistan with me. Scythes were available because they are farming tools, but those people would've chosen a bayoneted musket or a sabre over a scythe 100% of the time.

 

As for it being used in Final Fantasies before, this is very true. It has been. And I can still remember grumbling about having to equip one because it had better stats than my greatsword in FFXI. 

 

Concerning unconditional hatred towards stuff that seems even remotely anime: Idk how many people hate things that are anime-esque in a game like this. This seems pretty anime centric, and being such, you are totally in your right to suggest scythes and wacky hair-dos and asymmetrical clothing. Seriously. If you were going to do it in any game, this would be the one. It's a Final Fantasy game after all. If this were LOTRO I'd be pretty vocal about my distaste for it. As it stands, though, I don't like anime and I never will. Sorry. It just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I've given it a fair chance multiple times and it does nothing for me. I can't get into the recurring plot tropes (not an insult. Every medium has recurring tropes), I don't understand Japanese humor, and I'm not a huge fan of the art style. But I've also been reading comic books for eighteen years and some people have similar complaints about that, so I can't be too harsh.

 

When it comes down to it, people are all looking for different things in the same game. Disagreements happen, but that doesn't make anyone's opinion invalid. Yours or mine.

[Aaron]

That's the thing, when people mention farmers fighting with improvised weapons it is usually something like a sickle or pitchfork they grabbed from the field. Or maybe a wooden pole to use as a quarterstaff. Or maybe they fashioned a makeshift spear out of something. Or maybe they even just grabbed a hatchet and started using it like an axe.

If it had a edge, a farmer would use it. Scythes probably had the biggest blades around back then so they would use those especially against wolves for the range.

 

However do notice, scythes are comfortably portrayed in fantasy as efficient weapons by humans. Why? Because fantasy humans don't suffer the same physical limitations as real humans. Especially Final Fantasy characters. See bloodborne for example. No REAL human could do this.

GlybZFSRuuk

 

Skip to around 1:20.

 

^ is that REALLY so far fetched for a FF ARR character to pull of to the point you will have people going "my immersion is ruined because that random guy is using a scythe."

 

Like really?

[Rakoh]

There's really no difference. An axe is an axe at the end of the day, which is any they were so popular to carry around. Tool that can double up as a perfectly fine weapon? Yeah there's a lot of appeal there and would like up perfectly with someone playing a common soldier for example that maybe can't afford a more expensive weapon.

 

I mean you could have a specially crafted axe for fighting with a better point of balance with the head made of steel, and a nice tough wood (Hickory is tough, but it's not native to Eorzea). But an axe is an axe. It's a simple yet highly effective weapon that actually takes as much skill as a sword to use well.