So why bother with alternate weapons?

Is the axe DPS vs sword dps really that much off? For example, could you give me any reason back in 2005-2007 to even bother making a strength dit? They were inferior in every way besides have two extra weapon attack. People choose different things for different reasons.

STR dit was my second character in beta. There were a few reasons and I've already mentioned some of them. The first reason is that there was no cash shop in beta so style points made a difference back then. The second reason is that weapons after 30 were difficult to come by (scrolls too). The crafters in the various towns around Victoria were somewhat helpful in that (we still had to collect all the ores and materials), but not all weapons could be built. STR dits also had a reliable weapon path.

Cass > Bazlud > Golden River

versus

Gephart (or fan) > Shinkita (weapon speed bugged to be slower) > Kandine

All of the STR daggers were more reliable and acquired earlier than the DEX equivalent. The level 70 weapons only dropped from Jr. Balrog and therefore I think I only ever saw one each Kandine and River. The average player could expect to make it to mid 50s or 60 before giving up (I made it to 57, and had a +5 Bazlud). Again, weapon paths were determined by what dropped, or what was available in the market. Beta really was a different game than the current maple, but much of the logic of the game has held since then: Players tend to choose the path of least resistance. As the game has changed, as items have become more available, and as stat whoring has reigned, the various alternates have fallen out of favor.

There is a final technical reason, which is that everyone in beta thought that Nexon had a plan and that they would be on everyone's side instead of playing favorites, and we thought that an impending 3rd job (and then after that was released, an impending 4th job) would make everything OK. However, looking back, various class imbalances were in full force, especially assassins and clerics. Hunters and Xbowmen were doomed to be the worst class in the game even then. Interestingly, player psychology has not significantly changed since that time. Nexon is mildly successful with their carrot-stick gaming paradigm.

He was asking about 05-07 o.o after BB the VIP 1h axe will be a good weapon for Heroes.

Sweet! So we're finally getting to the light at the end of the tunnel. Any good news for blunt weapons?