The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: What is the obsession with spears

[Zathara]

As I stated in my title what is the obsession with spears? People are nuts about them being absent since Morrowind. As well, does anyone have any idea when we will see PC gameplay footage? I actually like to play this game very much but need to know something more about the spears. Anyone have any idea of this? Please let me know if anyone fined any information or has any idea on this. And also let me know about the PC gameplay.

[AZUL]

I want spears for the same reason I want halberds or at the very least staves you can hit someone with, because would be awesome weapons for my Argonians assassin. But really, mostly because they are different from the standard weapons, and that a long "stick" type kind of weapon would look cool and i really hope you’re not just limited to magic if you want to use that. In worse case I might play an Assassin/Mage hybrid dual wielding Staff and Dagger. PC gameplay, no idea, don't think anyone other than Bethesda really knows. Not for a while I think at least.

[RockOn]

Because the removal of pole arms is a removal of an entire weapon category. It's as if Bethesda had removed hammers and axes or swords. Because it's a removal of a playstyle, and it directly contrasts with the main selling point of the game. And, last but not least, because spears are one of the most ancient of weapon classes known to man (the other being throwing weapons), and is also one of three weapons classes which are still currently in use in modern warfare (the other two being knives/daggers and throwing weapons) and thus it's exclusion in the game world doesn't make any logical sense, yet Bethesda include the more technologically advanced and now obsolete weapons such as, for example, the war hammer.

[Squibbit]

An all too common misconception on this site, I am afraid, that they are indeed pointless and useless. The spear was invented five million years ago. The earliest suggested date the horse was domesticated was 6 thousand years ago. The shield wall became a military battle tactic just less than 3000 years ago. As you can see, for over four million years the spear was used by individuals without a horse. The fact speaks for itself. They are not useless, and they are very pointed weapons. You brought that one upon yourself, I am afraid.

[Wyvern]

Spears, billhooks and other pole arms were the primary weapon for most infantry after the Roman era, swords were too expensive for arming lowly foot-soldiers with. For a long time, swords were more of a status symbol for veteran warriors rather than standard issue weapons. They didn't stop at the industrial age either. The bayonet, which is still used, is a method of turning a musket/rifle into a short spear. However, ES history is not planet Earth history. This is understandably means differences in how people and wars fought, different cultures, different smithing techniques, magick, but still, the removal of spears, or pole arms in general, from the game is the removal of one of the most basic and effective ways of angry people killing each other.

[ApplePowerPC]

God I have never used a spear in Morrowind and I have never taken to that kind of weapon. But it at a standstill bothers me that they are not in it. It's ore about having the option than the option itself. I find that Bethesda undoes and dumb downs enough things as it is that we should "fight" to try and keep some of it still going. Another point I have is: if I don't like it is because of Bethesda. I am 100% certain there is a way to make them badass. Just think about it.

[MacIntel]

I wanted to point out as well that spears are a far superior and more versatile melee weapon compared to swords, maces and axes. In George Silver's "Paradoxes of Defense" in 1599 he confirms that even then a spear was considered superior to virtually every weapon except other pole-arms or a longs-word and shield combination. A spear combines all the effectiveness of a dagger and a staff; it can be used at very close range in addition to having great reach. It can be used two handed for slashing and thrusting or one handed with a shield for thrusting or throwing.

[Common]

You could put a spear in a quiver-like harness on ones back. That's where I would put it. Now, I never like using the spears. But I do love fighting someone who does. It added variation to it, considering the other weapon types were used the same way. But in defense of the removal of spears, it's entirely possible they were something that just fell out of use. There weren't too many people I noticed in Vvardenfell who used them. There aren't too many people who use walkmans anymore. I imagine Tamriel to be similar to Japan, in that Japan is the only culture in the history of the planet to not have shields.