i didnt like using bows in oblivion something about it just wasnt right

I thought Marksman was the one style of combat in Oblivion that felt in some way satisfying. Melee weapons and magic just lacked a kick, whereas the feeling when you took out a bandit with a sneak headshot was amazing.

Massively underpowered compared to spellcasting for a start. Hopefully the balance is going to be redressed. I think the mastery perks were just about spot on, though.

Thanks for the comprehensive anolysis on what exactly you think should be improved upon. It was most helpful.

Definitely needs improvement. The arrows moved way too slow and you couldn't really shoot that far. It wasn't very satisfying.

its a good thing they have fixed it then

I didn't really like the price you got for flawed pearls in Oblivion.

Me too. 2 gold? It doesn't matter how flawed it is, it's still a damn pearl!

I know! And it's not like I just found it behind my bed, I had to go diving between slaughterfish and what not to get the damned thing!

Clearly you've never shot a real bow before.

It's going to be improved. read game informer article =]

I don't get it.

I've shot plenty of bows (and some very heavy bows, I might at), and the arrows from those flew so fast it was difficult to track them with my naked eyes.

Not that any of this matters. They already said they're making bows hurt far more while having a slower draw time, which sounds about right. The rate at which one could fire max range arrows in Oblivion was pretty silly. What was the pull strenght on those bows? 40 pounds? :teehee:

I can't wait for the new bows "Thud!" What they described about improving archery to be less of a machine gun and more sophisticated sounds great! My wife and daughter enjoyed hunting deer around the imperial city as much as smacking necromancers and skeletons around.

I hope that arrows can be recovered (and that there is a percentage chance that they are broken) with some sophistication as well. It would be neat to recover expensive/magic broken arrows and either fix them or pay to have them repaired.

depends on the bow, sir. Some heavy ones firepower is just stunning.

BOATS AND HOS

(step brothers reference)

Hmm, I don't know. I'm a former member of an archery club in England and we used to shoot everything from composite, compound bows to great English Warbows with over 100 pounds drawback weight. Their firepower is quite impressive, but I thought Oblivion did a good job of conveying it. Arrows are no way as fast as some people make them out to be.

I loved playing archers in Oblivion, but the system had it's annoying parts. At high level, I had to have a high alchemy score, so I could make custom poisons. Backpedaling was all too common for me, unless I could find a rock to shoot from. Even when I was completely maxed out in my skills and attributes, and sneaking, I couldn't drop many foes in a single shot, and certainly not without poisons. Their hit points would increase almost exponentially as I went up levels, so many enemies looked like pincushions before I was finished with them. It was a mini-game for me. Let's count how many arrows it'll take. Thirty was not an uncommon number. I used to carry 300 arrows. The changes in Skyrim sound hopeful. I love archers, so i'll be putting Skyrim's system to a rigorous test.

Longer draw distance better marksmen shots(don't want to say sniper shots might get accused of bein a Shooter fan boy) epic long shots watching arrow fall bamb crotch shot... I mean head shot lol hopefully enchanting arrows is a bit easyer so even though They've said limited arrows it not that limited...

I get your point, it's kinda like the "a katana can cut a horse in half!" thing. Nevertheless, Bethesda overhauled the bow system basing themselves on a great mod. Arrows aren't THAT faster, but damn they hurt, I think I even saw that some can knock back enemies. And you actually have to stand still to make a powerful shot, you draw (don't know if it's the english name for "pulling the bow string") slower. But as a whole, bow hurt much more.
But, let's bare in mind that most of the mighty powerful bow legend comes from war tales, where the enemies where literally under a rain of arrows, having devastating effects on leather and mail armors. I guess one guy with a bow isn't that dangerous, especially on moving targets.

I thought they had made them better? But bow and arrows were really good in Oblivion if you have enough space around you, you could easily back away from an enemy and put arrows into your foes.

we saw halberds in the concept arts *cross fingers*