This thread is full of fail and whiners.
Edit: To clarify:
1. adding a higher strength requirement would destroy dedicated xbowmen, what does a sniper need with he-man strength??
I think a lot of the whine comes from the fact that pretty much everyone can pick up a xbow to augment their kills. Its like throwing before their great nerf. A higher str requirement would have exactly the wrong effect.
2. Why do we need to get rid of running xbows? I get one hit by most melee weapons, hell yeah I'm gonna run. If you don't like it, pick another target.
The only problem I see with this is that xbows really can't hit and run like archers can. Running is a decent tactic for archers. Xbows typically mix in some melee skills in their build because there is no dedicated xbow skills and they can't hit and run. I really don't see how running is more than an annoyance.
3. As has been said, xbows account for a very small % of all kills, why are we even having this discussion?
I have yet to see any source for this statistic. Apparently its old. It doesn't necessarily mean that xbow isn't OP, though. For one, ranged tends to have more effect on a battle than kills show. People are generally hit with ranged before they are hit with melee. This leads to a lot of damage with not a lot of kills to show. It would be a mistake to try to balance the number of kills with melee, who's job it is to finish off weakened and distracted opponent. I can say (with the high amount of certainty that comes from not having any hard statistics) that xbows account for the majority of my ranged deaths atm.
4. The over nerf of bows seems to be what started all this nerf arbalest crap. Bows need to be buffed back. Not all range be brought down to uselessness.
No comment
5. If you really want to nerf Arbs, tweak wpf requirements, dedicated xbows don't need a nerf, there are not many of us as is.
What xbow really needs is its own skill. Something to reward dedicated xbows and diversify their builds more than "how many points should i put into melee".
6. If these melee whiners get the arb nerfed, I think 2 handed weapons need to lose 30% speed and power when it rains also. Lets see if THEY mind that.
It would be kind of funny if all weapons lost speed and power in the rain. As it is, the rain makes it hard to balance xbows, as they are OP or UP based on how the server is feeling at the moment. I guess that's what happens when you try to add sporadic bits of realism to the game.
All this being said, I don't think xbows are all that overpowered. Throwing is still a bit UP and it seems that ranged balance is favoring high damaged low firing speed weapons (of which the arablast is king). So buff throwing and low damage bows, lower arablast damage a bit in favor of a higher firing speed and reward dedicated xbows over melee hybrids and everything will be better in the ranged camp. (This will do nothing to stop whining, you can't stop that).
