Spears getting the shaft
Did you ever stop and wonder whether your MMO character is actually using his weapon properly? We spend so much time focusing on gearing up and looking for the next upgrade, that I think most people really miss just what exactly we're doing with those weapons. Cameron Sorden stops and takes a quizzical look at this question on his blog, Random Battle. Specifically, he muses on the ways that the spear, one of the more versatile melee weapons of antiquity, is used and abused and in the modern MMO.
Think about it, most spears are whipped about like over-sized swords or maces, whacking enemies like overly cumbersome cudgels. According to Sorden, spears are weapons that be wielded with extraordinary grace, and they're fairly misrepresented at this point. The only game we've seen coming down the pipes that really seems to be depicting spears with any authenticity is World of Kung Fu, and that game is still a little ways off. In the meantime, it looks like spears are getting the shaft.
