I don't think they would really be all that useful..but what do you guys think?

Oh [censored]. i sense a flame war coming on...

Because they were a fun alternative weapon that opened up alternative playstyles, just like throwing weapons. Doesn't need to be another reason besides that.

They would be fun for a bit..I'm not arguing that, but people are genuinely up in arms about no spears

i could care less about spears. gimmie drizzt do urdens scimitars already!!!

If there were spears and flails, I'd use 'em.

1. Spears were pretty much the first weapon in human history and the most used
2. Spears were the most common weapon that vikings used and Skyrim = pretty much vikings anyway

i dont care about spears, i just want a larger arsenal of weapons, the one in skyrim is puny

what amazes me is that spears are actually an exclusive feature of like what..2 games? morrowind and like 1 other game has ever had spears in them. people think it's something that's attached to the series, but it's not at all.

Wait didn't FNV have spears?

Are we talking RPGs? Elder Scrolls? Or games in general? Final fantasy had a class called "Dragon Knights" that specialized in spears and jumping. I believe The Legend of Dragoon had spear weapons/characters. Fire Emblem also had spears.

In games many RTS's have spear infantry, although their role is more anti cavalry, or cavalry units. In the grand "rock, paper, scissor" schematic of RTS's spears normally lost against infantry, while infantry lost against cavalry, and cavalry lost against spear men... ranged beat/lost to all.

Because Swinging and bow and arrows isn't exactly the epitome of Diversity, options and choice?

yeah i would like spears to comeback same goes with crossbows and throwing weapons. it adds more diversity and also adds new ways to play your character instead of just swinging melee weapons like swords/axes/maces at differing speed same goes with 2h weapons it adds a new element to try out.

and please bring back crossbows i miss them dearly

I wouldn't be disappointed, because it would be good to have the choice. It's not critical for my play experience... and my concern is that a spear is a situational weapon, they get harder to use when your close up, because when your trying to strike point blank, it would be difficult to get the power behind your blow...

What I'm saying, is I would have to suspend my disbelief a bit... mind you we're talking about a game with dragons and magic and boring vikings, but still.

I would prefer flails. Why? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyEFAAw3qww

Some people prefer spears over other forms of melee combat. Personally I only used the Spear of Bitter Mercy in Morrowind because I loved it. I honestly wanted to see spears in Skyrim. Axes, maces, and swords are getting old since every game that has a melee proficiency has those in it, and of course their two-handed counter parts.

If you throw your spear at anything not a dragon it should be a 100% kill and you can go retrieve the spear and continue about your barbarism in relative gleeful anticipation of a spear finishing move. It wouldn't be hard to add the motions for a spear to the game either since they are even more basic then the swings for the swords in the game.

Not to mention the over-all lack of ability to customize your character and truely be an individual hero. We are all in some way or another conformed to be indentical, and that svcks given everything else that's in this game. The lack of unique weapon, unique armor, and ability to truely "craft" equipment etc... makes most people end up looking the same at the end of the line, why can't there be more then one top tier armor or weapon group? Yeah Daedric is cool if your into that but why can't there be a Divine version along with it, same goes for the weapons. Daedra and Divine both play a pretty pivotal role of the entire population of Tamriel yet the Divines are more or less only good for blessings from shrines. While Daedra can give you weapons and all other forms of stuff that you can physically use. There are artifacts from the Divines in lore and in other games yet in the last 3, counting Skyrim, there have been little to none. Pelinals gear in Knights of the Nine was garbage for the most part, the rest is not worth mentioning save Akatosh's bow. I've said before we need more unique bows anyway, really Nightingale bow is the only one that is unique for the most the part, the rest just have names. Given the overall lack of anything that can truely define your character as an individual I'd welcome anything new, especially if I like it.

So spears would be a welcomed addition or recurrence to the game for a lot people, especially if there were one and two-handed variants. Let's
not forget the Spear of Bitter Mercy either.

Backstabbing with spears...yummy!

I said the series not the genre..and i meant the elder scrolls series. who cares what other rpgs have..

Okay, there are valid arguments for and against spears. The argument "well, they were common" is entirely valid. The argument "Yeah, but they weren't that useful in combat except in groups" is also valid.

But what the OP is asking is why in God's name is there this sense of OUTRAGE over flippin' spears, for the love of Christ? Honestly, I never had anything against the presence of spears in the game - but some people are no kidding, flat out angry that spears aren't in the game, as though it were a moral obligation that is being ignored by leaving out spears.

People need to take their sense of anger down a notch sometimes.

Not useful? I guess that's why they were one of the most (if not the most) commonly used weapons in the history of warfare.

I just wish they were included because I feel like I would enjoy the spears more than I would a lot of the trivial things that were included.

I can't think, but this http://www.getthebigpicture.net/storage/prod/10/centurion31.jpg

The spears argument is a symbolic one, it's a neatly wrapped & easy to use point maker for the wider issue regarding people feeling that some key features are missing from Skyrim.
I just want spears for spears sake, No politics involved.

Spears & crossbows would be great & choice is always a good thing & it would add another dynamic to the gameplay & more freedom of choice, They were used in Morrowind & there is no reason why they should not be in Skyrim as i feel that they do fit the culture.

Why? Rage-o-holics Anonymous is closed this week.

It's not spears. It could be anything...and it is. Just read 10 or so threads.

Why spears?

Kiting.

Medium armor or light + athletics & acrobatics training + Mofo Spears >>> Daedric & not-spears.Yeah, also: I miss crossbows. Did full damage on click, no pull-back time, mechanically reliably consistent shots and damage. I think they're a superior assassin weapon than a manual bow.

They have been commonly used because in war, men fight in groups. A long spear was the primary weapon of the Greek hoplites, who fought in the close-ranks phalanx formation, with a short sword as a secondary weapon. The Roman soldiers, who fought in somewhat looser-order formations, used a pair of javelins (the pilum, plural form pila) as their opening weapon, then switched to a short sword, the gladius. There have been spears and other polearms used by soldiers in well-ordered formations through history.

But in the battles in Skyrim, which are usually one on one, or at most several against several, the spear is less useful. They're easier to evade and are useless for parrying. A block of spearmen in close formation with long, eight-foot spears can be nearly invulnerable against an equivalent number of swordsmen. Give them some longer spears and they'll drive off cavalry. But put one dude with a spear up against one dude with a sword, and the guy with the sword will knock the spear out of the way, drive in close and use that sword in combat, too close for the spear to be much use.

This is all discussing a relatively realistic heavy hand-to-hand spear, or a still-heavy pilum designed to be thrown into the enemy's shield. That spear you saw in the video wasn't a spear, it was a bo staff with a pointy end. A stick with a sharp end is only so useful against enemies in even light armor. They'll have no mass and no strength to penetrate armor. That spear in the video was just that - a stick - and that's why they were spinning it around like a stick or a bo staff and stunning the enemy. You could do that, but it would be useless against anybody with metal armor on. Make the spear heavier, like a real infantry spear, and then it becomes a dangerous offensive weapon - but you wouldn't be doing any of those fancy spins and bo staff stunts.

But again, the OP wasn't asking why people wanted spears, he was asking why people were upset about their absence. Wanting spears is fine and rational; being upset that they aren't in the game is just damn nuts.

I'd like to see spears just to have a bigger weapons base. Plus you have to think how the NPCs would handle it. It would change gameplay more than you think if handled correctly.

I miss my silver spear from Morrowing... and killing those little orangish imp things. Are there any enemies in skyrim that require one specific thing to kill them? I liked how in Morrowing the imps required silver weapons to kill them. I thought the Werewolves would be that way but nope.

I also like the way the silver weapons look they just are so weak.