I think having tons of swords isn't a bad idea,depending on how you handle it.I have about 130 swords in my game so far and will probabaly make alot more.The way I made them so they weren't repetitive was to make different swords for different chars.Your female thief can use swords up to the Longsword class whereas your paladin can use swords up to the broadsword class.Then you could make requirements like I did by making it so if your strength is above 90 you can use broadsword.You could even throw in more prerequisites like no using evil-alignment swords if you have a good alignment.In the end though I agree with Bluecube in that if your weapons are numbering in the hundreds with little difference between them,the fun and intrigue factor is lost.