From an un biased source, ME..... i see the potential for roleplaying as a "ranger" may want a crossbow and also as an orc it is a more brutal weapon. But alos to the players who simply play it acts as another cool looking bow. like the people who wanted muskets.....

I still experience the hair on the back of my neck rising up everytime I hear those words.

That guy is a world class archer. He is shooting one arrow every 1.5 seconds, which is pretty amazing. Most people will never be able to do that no matter how much they train. EDIT: I watched the video to the end and it was interesting to hear that he uses his right brain when mounted, which is an instinctive style of shooting. That guy is a true artist the way he hits those targets at a rate of 6 in 10 seconds while travelling 20 MPH on horseback.

The thing about the crossbow reload speed from the previous video was it was a low draw weight crossbow, that is going to lack the armor piercing punch of a higher draw weight crossbow, and a higher draw weight crossbow is going to require some mechanical loading device (lever or winch) in order to reload. Thus the posts about the very slow reload speed of a crossbow.

Yep, you add these four things together and the crossbow would be quite a different weapon from a bow in the world of Skyrim. That would add some interesting variety. Far more variety than you get with the different types of one handed weapons, which amounts to little more than aesthetics.

Utter nonsense.

This one gets it.

Why do people want crossbows? Why do people want more spells? Why do people want choices?
Sure, there's a nostalgic part to some of the complaints. But to brush off all complaints about lack of variation as simple nostalgia is just stupid.

A crossbow is different from a bow both from a gameplay and a roleplaying perspective. For gameplay, the crossbow can deal less damage and reload slower than a bow, but offer the ability to move at full speed while the arrow is nocked.
For roleplaying, think of it like this: You can't decide that your character will only wield axes if axes has been removed from the game. That is what has happened to crossbows - since they aren't in the game anymore, there's one less choice when you customize your character.

It all boils down to variation. More choices means more variation and more indepth customization. And more customization is, by itself, always more fun.

Also that was a composite recurve bow, not a longbow- much less manly-man strength required, they are very very different weapons.


I have my fingers crossed that these things are indeed the change. It would be such a letdown if it was just aesthetics.

True, although you have to be reletively strong to pull a modern recurve with a decent draw weight. I imagine the composite bows would be similar. Don't need to be a hulking brute to pull one, but a ninety pound weakling is going to have a pretty hard time of it.


You and me both brother.

I have nothing against crossbows being the game, I would just never use them. As I stated in an earlier post, if I saw someone with a crossbow coming after me, I would just smile. I would also leave that enemy until last as they are the least threat to me out of a group enemies.

In fairness though the use of a crossbow also implies a fair amount of upper body strength. It's applied in a different way to be sure but you still need it.
Equally, I think you're generalising somewhat. Yes it is a cliche in some way but equally:
A. In fantasy terms it's a trope so standard PERCEIVED gender-based differences do not apply
B. Women are PERFECTLY capable of using a bow, a LONGBOW is only one type of bow, they are not all like that, and regardless of your gender if you had spent a lifetime using one you would have the strength, to use one.

... lets please not go there.

But if crossbows were done right (with proper NPC AI), you would have an enemy coming up to you and firing one quick, high damage hard to dodge shot before drawing down on you with a 2H weapon. I don't think anyone is advocating that people would take continuous crossbow shots in Skyrim (outside of sneak situations). I agree if they were implemented as slower versions of bows they would not add that much. But if they were implemented to do a lot more damage, reload much slower but with a quick initial shot and allow unrestricted movement when aiming (i.e., you could run up to someone while aiming your shot) then they could add real variety to the game.

@ Udey. Agreed. Some cans of worms are better left unopened.

I fail to see why - it seemed a perfectly reasonable point to make. I'm sure there are plenty of female members of archery teams the world over who would take issue with the view that they are unable to draw a bow, which seems to me to be the implication...
...But hey, there. you. go.

That's kind of how I feel about shields. I have only played one character who used shields, and that was only part-time, I mostly used a 2H sword. Still, the choice to use crossbows and shields makes the game better, doesn't it?
For the sake of balance, the crossbows would have to deal a lot more damage than bows or sport a lot faster (and less realistic) reload time. When a crossbow-wielding enemy sees you and immediately fires a one-hitting bolt without having to nock an arrow or draw a string back you're not smiling anymore!

If the game wasn't balanced, we would be left smiling at every dual-wielding enemy who almost falls over of fatigue with each swing of his 2 steel swords.

Indeed, though to be as you say realistic, the draw time would have to offset the damage. So you would be able to one shot kill but it would take you a LOT longer to ready the shot - which is reasonable I think.

Indeed, and the "high risk, high reward" kind of crossbow (high damage, slow reload) would be a lot more fun than an average damage-dealing crossbow with a faster reload time, as the latter would not be any different from a normal bow.

crossbows are just more fun and advanced. higher fire rate and awsome acuracy. plus it doesnt take up most of ur screen

And there is a lot to do before being able to fire the crossbow again:

1. Spin trigger nut back to firing position and let the trigger lever engage it
2. Put in safety pin (to prevent dry firing while reloading - it would destroy your crossbow)
3. Draw the string using both hands while stabilizing it with your foot in the stirrup
4. Put in a fresh bolt
5. Pull out the safety pin
Ready!

If you're familiar with a crossbow this procedure will take you at least 8 Seconds

I pretty much think they should be higher impact with lots of knock-back (possibly pinning enemies to surfaces) with a reload duration that's equal to the amount of damage. I just really hope they come in all sorts of materials, Daedric Crossbows please.

You people are saying why... I say why not? That is my philosophy.

@Phon I am not implying anything of the sort. Debating gender differences is just a bad idea.

Minimum draw weight to hunt deer in my state is 40 pounds at 28 inches. For Skyrim combat purposes, you would want considerably more than that. Longbows with a 100 pound draw are not uncommon when hunting bigger game like bear. The higher the draw weight the more strength it takes to pull the bow. Gender has nothing to do with it.

@OP: Because it's a primitive firearm with no bang. I would like to see an actual crossbow in-game, but I will stick with crouching and turning my bow sideways, for now. Personally I would much rather see throwing knives before crossbows. Why can't my sneaky assassin flick a blade from the shadows?????

Personally, I believe a crossbow should be instant fired, as opposed to the draw and fire of bows. Obviously, there will be longer reload time after firing. A crossbow will also have a shorter range.

This gives crossbow a tactical difference, it works better against lone targets at shorter range while bow masters can snipe groups from farther and remain undetected.

This is not a dig at skyrim. I love it. But more weapon variety is what is exciting. Same goes for spears if they ever see the light of day. An expansive arsenal of weapons makes for deeper and more fun gameplay. This is one of the things morrowind did very well.

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