NOOOO!
Please tell me you are joking
I really like the new stab, eventhough i know i would score better with the old one. Thats the main mistake in most arguments imo, that people only argue for effectiveness and never immersiveness! Never really trying to embrace and appreciate the new thing the way it is itsellf, always comparing back to the old (which btw they had crieed about the same way they do now with the new stab!).
Giving in to those arguments is a sign for me that we are degenerating into a playership of foolish, overoptimizing damage and score whores. It saddens me, that we cant reach a balance between beauty and score-whoring by ourselfs(meaning: independently from the native game) - but we go for score and thereby blocking the way for new and future creativity in the mod.
For me the new stab is perfect in its own way, making a succecssful hit way more gratifying than the old one, feeling clumbsy and hard to pull off but physically correct and looking good still - and because its not a nobrainer insta kill with no relation to a physical process!
SIMPLY SAD!
I suppose you find it immersive when someone breaks their back with this new stab animation, in order to look straight up in the air with their sword and then pull down?
You're making a good case for the native stab coming back by saying it's much more gratifying to land a hit with this new one, since it's so difficult. Feels like you've got to go on a rollercoaster ride with your mouse to make it work - pretty much forget about using it in duels.
The 1h class needs a substantial nerf when used without a shield. No self-respecting soldier from this time period would pick up a 1-handed weapon and nothing else to fight against a 2-handed sword or polearm. (I challenge anyone to find me medieval drawings of 2 evenly-matched warriors where one of them is using a 1-handed weapon and the other using a 2-handed weapon)
I see too many people running around like wannabe fencers from the renaissance. It looks and feels out of place in this game. They should WANT to carry a shield but they're too effective without them and therein lies the problem.
Honestly, I feel like the reason that most of these "1h no shield" guys are so effective is because of a massive amount of AGI. Might be a few exceptions - e.g. Voester/JayJrod. What you're saying is absolutely correct to my knowledge, though: I can't imagine anyone in reality choosing to use a 1-handed sword without a shield.
To get some insight into another reason people might choose not to use a shield with 1 handers: some people might just feel cheap using them. I know I feel like a complete shmuck whenever I use a shield, because my blocking isn't improving when all I have to do is right click.