I've read in previews somewhere that the bows in the game were going through a kind of overhaul, where by they deal a F-load more damage, but arrows are a rarer find, and take longer to load and draw.
This is kind of understandable I suppose, but I would've thought a game set 200 years later than Oblivion may have some kind of improved ranged weaponry. I am NOT talking about firearms, hell no, that’s a quick and easy way to kill a fantasy RPG's style. (See Fable for further details)
I was thinking wouldn't it be more interesting to keep the bow as standard to how it was in Oblivion, maybe reduce the damage even, then introduce crossbows back into the Elder Scrolls, I loved them in Morrowind.
The crossbows could do more damage and take longer to load, with less ammunition to find.
Whilst keeping the bows a standard kind of ranged weapon, if a little less effective.
Plus, you think about how many ways there are to deal melee damage (Swords, axes, maces, shield bashing etc.)
And magic is being improved as well, as you can equip two different spells at once (I think) or have the same spell on both slots to cast a stronger version of it.
It'd be nice to see an addition to the ranged weapons.

Just my personal opinion. I know the game is probably way to late in development to do anything about it, not that Bethesda are going to listen to one person anyway. But If I could create mods, that'd be one of the first things I'd try and do with a PC version of this game.

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And by the way, this is my first post ^_^

Sorry but no. I often had to shoot a regular human (Nord, Redguard, whatever) a dozen times before they fell dead. Thats not standard, its silly. I for one welcome our new power-archer overlords. ^_^

Remember there's a history going back way longer than 200 years which has seen very little in the way of technology advancement. So i'd expect the same stuff (good though).

I hope i'm not constantly frustrated that i can't use my bow because i've got no arrows, however creeping behind someone and taking him out with 1 arrow through the chest will be endlessly satisfying.
Bring it on!

Fair point, seconded =D

why did oblivion not have cross bows?

and i do hope they jack up the damage i hate using a bow and shooting some bandit in the face to just have him keep coming at me.

Thats a fair point, it did sometimes feel like you were killing them with splinters, not arrows.
I think you kind of threw my idea out of the window. Never mind then.
Still, I wouldn't mind seeing crossbows re-introduced, I did very much enjoy using them in Morrowind. Them and the throwing stars XD

I will actually play as an Archer this time

I agree. I'm glad that they're making bows do more damage in Skyrim, because it got kind of annoying with how many shots it could take to kill enemies with a bow. I don't expect to kill every enemy with one arrow, but when I can fill up a normal, unarmored human with 20 arrows before he goes down, it's simply too much. Though making arrows rarer could cause problems if they're too rare as you might get to the point where you're unwilling to use them, and supposed archers end up instead spending a lot of time in melee to conserve arrows, but that can be avoided by finding the right balance for how common arrows are, so there's enough of them that you feel like you can afford to use them, but don't get to the point where you actually want to use them more quickly because having several hundred arrows in you're inventory is weighing you down, as often happened to me in past games.

Also, while Skyrim takes place 200 years after Oblivion, Bethesda has said that its setting will actually be less technologically advanced, at least in terms of what average people will use, the Dwemer things we'll see are an exception. This could perhaps be explained by the collapse of the Empire causing Tamriel to enter a period resembling the Dark Ages, that's my speculation as to the lore reason, anyway, it could just be that Bethesda wanted to go for a different feel with Skyrim and felt that a lower tech setting would fit the feel they want better. But regardless, I doubt the lack of crossbows in Oblivion was an issue of technology within the universe, I highly doubt that the means to make crossbows was forgotten between Morrowind and Oblivion and all existing crossbows were destroyed, more likely, it was just an issue of gameplay mechanics, because Bethesda did not program the mechanics for using crossbows, and if they don't appear in Skyrim, I'm sure it will be for the same reason.

If they for starters would place the bow in the correct hand. That is LEFT hand if you are right handed, I'll be happy.

Uh... I can't remember IF they did that in Oblivion, but in Morrowind it looked so damned silly. :facepalm:

I like the new system. While I do agree we could use some other form of markman weapon other than bows, having them be a lot more powerful is good.

P.S. Welcome to the forums! Have a http://images.uesp.net//c/c4/Fishystick.jpg!

I assume by hold, you mean to hold the forearm with your left hand and stock/trigger housing with your right? Vice versa for left handed shooters of course.

That makes me think of what it would be like to implement a dominant hand system though, I'll continue it on a diff thread though

duh remembered the dual wield system would make it very easy to have a left handed character

I am looking forward to trying the improved archery system in Skyrim. Although, in Oblivion, in the starter dungeon, I enjoyed pumping a few arrows into the bucket on the well totally in awe of the in-game physics at that time.

EDIT: Revise text.

First bows was pretty powerful in Oblivion, a daeric bow did 21+ 10-12 for silver or elven arrow who was easy to buy in stores, give you 31-33 who is significant more than the daeric warhammer who did 28. Now add that you could fire before the enemy reach you and sneak attack was ridiculously easy, at dark places an sneak expert could regularly do multiple sneak attacks on one enemy, very nice on undeads who has problems detecting you and is imune to poison.
However to get good with bows you had to use them as your primary weapon, if mostly used melee they would not do much damage.

Making arrows rare while adding crafting and smiting does not make much sense, one of the most obvious thing to make is arrows, and almost all crafting systems let you do that.

But I agree that Skyrim will be less technologically advanced than in Morrowind and Oblivion, more unrest and some sort of mini dark age will give less long distance traffic and trade. This would also affect magic who is a scholar art, but will not affect bow making much as its a craft however you will get less exotic materials to work with.

I also think that there should be more ranged weapons. I mean, it is slightly rediculous that there is only one ranged weapon in Oblivion. Where are the spears, and crossbows? Where are the Throwing Knives and Axes (That would bee sweet)? maybe they might still add some, but as far as I know it's once again only bows.

its about damn time, I hate shooting somebody a million times to kill somebody

Never had the problem of enemies looking not unlike ole Pinhead, mostly because I use the right weapon for the right foe with the right enchantments (a weapon for every occasion) and a large stock of poisons. Example, if I'm up against any kind of undead I use Silver Bows with intense fire enchantments and weakness to fire poison applied to the arrow. If the first shot doesn't 'kill' 'em (extremely rare) than the next shot will

It sounds like a lot of people on this forum haven't actually used a bow with a fairly significant draw weight (^70lbs). It takes a lot more skill to shoot a bow rapidly than people realize; I was personally hoping that using a bow would require your character to be stationary (I can't imagine walking around in rough terrain while aiming and trying to hold back a bowstring--- I would trip, impale my arm, and probably cause my bow to explode in the process). Anyways, I'm very happy that bows will feel more authentic (less like BB guns).

EDIT: the idea that it would require more than one arrow to drop an unarmored enemy is extremely unrealistic. Maybe enemies with certain armor types will only be effected narrow arrow heads that do less immediate damage.

Yea, but bows in the design of this game aren't like modern compound bows that have a 65lb+ draw weight. I have fired some better end non compound bows and they don't have that type of draw weight.

Not too bothered about cross bows. Higher powered bows are awesome .

Not to mention the fact that they have magic in TES, and any advance in technology would not directly relate to the fact they found that gun powder explodes. (Let's ignore the Dwemer and their steam for now, it clearly didn't work for them ). Because, you know, they can already make stuff explode without gunpowder. So the revolutions in Nirn will likely be crazy crazy crazy

Because crossbows aren't a realistic weapon to have in a fight. You ever try to set a crossbow while someone is swinging a sword at you? Yeah, not going to happen hehe.

If I'm not mistaken, I think that is going to be the case. Well, not that you will be required to stay still, but there will be penalties for moving while drawing/holding a bowstring.

Someone above mentioned throwing weapons. I'm not really too concerned about crossbows, but I would really like to see throwing weapons like knives or axes. It would be nice to have a throwing knife in one hand, toss it, and then have that hand free for magic without having to shuffle equipment around/unequip stuff (assuming, of course, that you would default back to your previous setting for that hand after throwing the weapon).

As i understand large aggressive animals like bears are hard to take down with a single shot, you have to bleed them out or hit vital organs who are hard to hit. People will go down with decent hit.
Also a good point with arrow types, a bodkin arrow would do far less damage on the bear but would work far better against armor. You could also factor in materials, iron would have serious issue with daeric armor, while a daeric arrow ignore iron armor.

Your bolded statement pretty much sums up my fears as well. I'm sure they will balance it well, and I love the idea of powerful bows, but as someone who almost exclusively plays ranger style characters, it does have me a bit concerned. If arrows are too rare, I may try to always conserve them, and not end up using them. Additionally, if my draw time takes too long, and it takes multiple shots to bring down a higher level enemy(combined with the much slower backpedaling speed), I fear that archery will sort of be relegated to a secondary skill. I.E. you might approach an enemy and fire off 1-2 arrows by the time they are on top of you, and then you have to switch to melee weapons. Again, I'm sure they will find a way to remedy this, but it is a slight concern of mine...

That statement on arrows being rarer to find/obtain struck me as a bit odd when I first read about it. But it got me thinking...

After all, a proper archer (at least in medieval times) should have been able to fletch his/her own arrows. So while I have not seen nor heard anything about it, I think it would be great if the player would be able to make his/her own arrows (and maybe even bows) through the use of the Marksman skill-tree. With all the talk about mining, farming and smithing I think it would be awesome for Bethesda to implement a way for a ranger to spend time crafting his/her own arrows. Perks might be a great way to go about it in my opinion

But then it may be wishful thinking on my part as I really enjoyed such mods in Oblivion where I could be a Woodelf Ranger out in the wilds; making my own arrows and crafting leather armor from the beasts I killed.

Yea, the Oblivion was kinda silly. Increased Damage or Lowered Health!
Seeign an a bandit running at me at full speed with 20 arrows sticking through his chest does not make sense. In real life 1-3 would kill a human with good shots.