Veteran VS Rooky recruits

[Chenier]

I've seen a number of female heroes, and plenty of female troop leaders getting wounded in battles.  Not to mention that some realms (Abington comes to mind) have certain centers that were always RP'd as having female troops.

Being wounded in battle doesn't mean you were in melee. !@#$ happens, after all, especially if you are close enough to the combat zone to be able to tell your troops what to do.

I would really love to see stats on character sex and class combinations, actually, would be interesting to know. I personally haven't seen any since the war islands are gone, at least as far as I know.

As for female RCs, it would indeed make much more sense to RP all units coming from that RC as being female, and not random units from any RC.

[Marlboro]

Knights would typically be mounted even if they led footmen, which along with their top-of-the-line arms and armor made it less likely for them to get hurt, but knights fought. Maybe the Lords and Counts and whatnot sit at the camp drinking wine and laughing as their proles die but I have a really hard time thinking of Knights as standing back patiently instructing their peeps and occasionally catching a stray arrow. I mean you could RP your Warrior PC like that but they'd probably get called out on it.

[Bedwyr]

You also increase your swordfighting and jousting skills in battles, which indicates to me that you actually do fight.

[Chenier]

Knights would typically be mounted even if they led footmen, which along with their top-of-the-line arms and armor made it less likely for them to get hurt, but knights fought. Maybe the Lords and Counts and whatnot sit at the camp drinking wine and laughing as their proles die but I have a really hard time thinking of Knights as standing back patiently instructing their peeps and occasionally catching a stray arrow. I mean you could RP your Warrior PC like that but they'd probably get called out on it.

I thought it was established that in BM, the only nobles that regularly get in a melee are heroes.

[De-Legro]

I thought it was established that in BM, the only nobles that regularly get in a melee are heroes.

Then how are you increasing your sword fighting, and how are you being injured when an infantry unit attacks your own unit? I've always thought the difference was that normal nobles are with their units, but probably somewhere in the back of the formation, while hero's are out in front, leading the charge etc.

[songqu88@gmail.com]

You know...one can in fact learn from observation. So you don't actually have to fight with a sword to learn how to use it. Of course, you'd suck at it, which is reflected even in the game: You gain swordfighting skill fairly slowly while leading I/MI/SF. As for getting wounded, well, sometimes an arrow does fly far and hit you, or the infantry line is broken and some dude manages to nick you. Or a piece of crumbling wall smashes you and you're not like that orc in LoTR: RotK who sidesteps at the last second. But don't worry, as long as you're not a hero you have contractual immortality in battle. The....uh...invisible deity of the battlefield is protecting you or something. Heroes throw away that protection by seeking immortality through death, the ancient Greek tradition. Either that, or their hubris in declaring themselves as heroes angers the Battle God and he/she/it revokes the contractual immortality.

[De-Legro]

You know...one can in fact learn from observation. So you don't actually have to fight with a sword to learn how to use it. Of course, you'd suck at it, which is reflected even in the game: You gain swordfighting skill fairly slowly while leading I/MI/SF.

Oh yeah, like all those martial art experts from watching movies.

[songqu88@gmail.com]

Oh yeah, like all those martial art experts from watching movies.

Hello? Did you not read the part where I said "You'd suck at it"? lol it's even in the part you quoted.

Obviously you won't be a swordmaster from watching. That also doesn't mean you would know jack !@#$ about it as opposed to some kid who's never even seen a sword.

Plus, movies use Hollywood fighting, which is by definition more for showmanship than practicality. That is very different from watching a real fight, which is the case in BM. You are actually witnessing people seriously trying to kill each other. That is real experience, and you definitely can learn even from observing that.

[De-Legro]

Hello? Did you not read the part where I said "You'd suck at it"? lol it's even in the part you quoted.

Obviously you won't be a swordmaster from watching. That also doesn't mean you would know jack !@#$ about it as opposed to some kid who's never even seen a sword.

Plus, movies use Hollywood fighting, which is by definition more for showmanship than practicality. That is very different from watching a real fight, which is the case in BM. You are actually witnessing people seriously trying to kill each other. That is real experience, and you definitely can learn even from observing that.

Having been in the military, and actually engaged in battles, my firm belief is that

1) battles are far to hectic for you to learn !@#$ by watching, you can't just calmly watch two combatants fight, you have people moving everywhere attacks on a single person coming from multiple directions etc.
2) Watching other people sparring teaches you next nothing, since the basics building blocks of melee combat are based upon very subtle factors like how you balance your weight, the way you brace your arms when you block a blow. Now watching people spar when you understand these basics can indeed be very enlightening.

Besides even though you learn skill slowly in combat, you can learn to a reasonably high degree.

[Indirik]

I would really love to see stats on character sex and class combinations, actually, would be interesting to know. I personally haven't seen any since the war islands are gone, at least as far as I know.

A quick count of a few of the realms I am in:

Total heroes: 29
Male: 22
Female: 7

FWIW I've had two hero characters killed, one male and one female. My only living hero character is male. He is included in the above numbers.



As far as fighting styles, I consider the hero subclass to be an OOC mechanic, having no IC ramifications on the actions or behaviors of my characters. There is no possible IC/IG justification for only heroes being able to die. More likely to die maybe. But that's not the way the game mechanic works. Therefore, I ignore it so far as IC character behavior.

[Chenier]

Then how are you increasing your sword fighting, and how are you being injured when an infantry unit attacks your own unit? I've always thought the difference was that normal nobles are with their units, but probably somewhere in the back of the formation, while hero's are out in front, leading the charge etc.

Increasing your swordfighting? You don't. Every now and then, your unit gets chased off and I guess you might have to use your sword a bit, but that's about it and would explain why you really don't improve your swordfighting from battles much at all.

[De-Legro]

Increasing your swordfighting? You don't. Every now and then, your unit gets chased off and I guess you might have to use your sword a bit, but that's about it and would explain why you really don't improve your swordfighting from battles much at all.

I've got a character that has never done anything else to train sword fighting, and the skill has reached 40%, so its really not that bad.

[Chenier]

I've got a character that has never done anything else to train sword fighting, and the skill has reached 40%, so its really not that bad.

Hold old is he?

Most of my chacters never were that heavy on infantry, but even those who were never got above 25% without at least training every now and then.

[De-Legro]

Hold old is he?

Most of my chacters never were that heavy on infantry, but even those who were never got above 25% without at least training every now and then.

He was created in September 2008. He has never been a pure warrior mind you, has spent considerable time as a courtier, diplomat and priest.

[Chenier]

He was created in September 2008. He has never been a pure warrior mind you, has spent considerable time as a courtier, diplomat and priest.

Random-based events sometimes generate extreme cases, I suppose.