I spotted a weapon labelled longbow in the inventory during the three part twenty minute demo, in addition to the iron bow.

Perhaps there are finally variations of bows with different pros/cons? I'd definitely be really excited if there were!
http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/09/12/20-minutes-of-skyrim-action/
Its scrolled past briefly in video one around 3:50.

Discuss!

Yup, pretty sure it's different types. Most likely Short and Longbow though

Ive really never used bows in a TES game before, never had a dedicated archer character and never had any idea of what to do with the fifty billion arrows that I seem to acquire through my travels.

What would different kinds of bow actually do? I know long bows are a lot taller and with a further range, but what other kinds if bow exist in the real world? And what are they good for?

Longer/shorter range, more/less damage, slower/faster to shoot things like that I guess.

Yeah, there will be Long and Short bows, I'll be using Long

theres also a hunting bow

Bows in Oblivion were pretty bad, you had to use about 300 arrows to take down anything late game. But Todd has said this is different in Skyrim but I digress.


I figure I'd be similar to swords, short bow would probably do less damage, have less range and fire faster. "Bows" are going to be medium and Long bows probably will fire slower, have longer range and higher damage.

In real life there are composite, recurve, crossbows, short bows and I'm sure a few more specialized options. Crossbows are famous for their ability to pierce through armor, longbows are as you described. I'm not a huge expert though, I'm sure someone here is.





I am really excited for this though! I've always played a hybrid character but longbows seem perfect for my play style, I'm very happy about this development


EDIT:

Any details on that? What would it be used for?

Long bow short bow maybe something in the middle. Maybe longbows will be unusable in tight spaces. Maybe there will be some bows enchanted to fire faster. And perhaps longer arrows will work better on long bows and shorter arrows will work better on short bows.