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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 1557714" data-attributes="member: 3649">Because any doofus can use them with very little training. When measured against how much damage they do versus how little training is required to use one, firearms tend to come out ahead. For a long time, they were not the only weapon carried, either; you'd shoot someone with one gun, shoot another person with the other you carried, then wade in with cutlass. So there was a fairly long time where you saw both sword and gun being used. As various improvements began to mount up (powder that was more stable, faster and faster means of reloading, greater accuracy, greater damage) only then did melee weapons begin to fade away.  My only concern is generally not with the firearms per se; really they just become a heavy crossbow you can load faster. The concern I get is with black powder itself; sooner or later you get someone just say 'to hell with it' and roll a keg into the villains lair and fireball it, or ignite the powder stores on a ship. When you make the transition from guns to bombs, that's where I start to lose interest.</blockquote>