When watching a speedrun of Fire Emblem a few days ago (it was either the one at this GDQ or last year's RPGLB), we saw some people arguing (in jest) about whether swords or spears are better, and one of the arguments that came up was that swords are much cheaper and use less metal and uh
no???
the entire reason spears were so common in ancient and medieval armies is because they were cheap as dirt compared to a good quality sword or even a mace