2. Practicality: If you ever get a chance to handle a sword, try it. Put it on your back and unsheathe.
I agree with your entire post, however this is one thing I want to highlight.
Currently, there are no sheathes or quivers.
This bugs me beyond belief. Running around with weapons just "sticking" to you looks awful, especially for bows that fire without a quiver to draw from. It gives me a genuine "naked" feeling.
I really hope they create scabbards and quivers, or it's going to look super lame running around like it currently does.
Yeah, this giant flaming sword on my back definitely doesn't burn at all!