I personally think it was strange how nobody really cared if you were wearing full dark brotherhood armor in the middle of town. People need to react to your apperance. Low disposition to the poor, high to the wealthy, high to those who look strong, and low to the weak. I also think they should incorporate something that makes you want to not wear full armor in towns instead of clothes. Just for a realism aspect.

Not many people in real life will feel more or less animosity towards a person based on their physique.

I think at the very least, helmets should be toggle-able when in a city/town. And that there should be negative effects when talking to someone while wearing a closed helmet, just as there were penalties to talking to people with a weapon drawn... but armor im fine with.

If you're just passing through a town or doing a job (dragon killing) why wouldn't you wear armor?

I think it was strange where in Oblivion NPCs would comment about things that were done, like saying the Boots of Kynareth were bestowed upon someone who was worthy, and you are standing there wearing them right in front of them. I would love if the NPCs would be able to recognize what you are wearing too, and respond accordingly.

"put on a suit of armor" I hate you
"take it off" welcome friend
doesn't really seem that realistic, I don't see why people would like you more or less if you are wearing armor

This occurs in Fallout New Vages, armours specific to factions will cause different reactions from the other factions it is quite nice.

Even people you are friends with will immediately attack you if you wear the armour of a faction they are at war with.

What bothers me is you hardly ever see NPC's wearing armor in cities/towns. Are there no other adventurers?

Fallout New Vegas isn't the same thing at all. In New Vegas, everything is in turmoil. It would not be shocking to see a guy in Caesar's Legion armor roaming around and have him actually be in the Legion. In Skyrim, there will most likely be establishment. There are two defined sides to this, each with their own defined territory (I'm assuming). It would be unlikely for seceders to actually think you were a member of the Empire loyalists if you walk around in a seceding town with Empire armor on. It might hurt your disposition a bit, but they are not going to have everyone under the sun attack you for it.

good idea but not to smart because in the game informer article they mentioned dragons coming down and attacking the city so me personally i would like to wear armor in a town but i would b nice if people could notice what kind of armor like what was brought up earlier about the dark brother hood and if shop keepers would like you to take your armor off because it could be intimidating to see someone in full black plated armor or some other "scary" looking armor

1) You are based on your apperance. Always. The whole "Not many people in real life will feel more or less animosity towards a person based on their physique." thing is something fat/ugly people say to feel better.

2) I can see wearing armor in town at times. But constantly dressed like the guy from Assassins Creed? If your doing something, why not! But if you are just walking around town, I agree with Kaziurra, it should be penalized.

And if im dressed like the dark brotherhood guys, lets face it, the 14th ammendment didnt exist then, I should be arrested.

I agree...

...but this is too black and white. An NPC's reaction should be based on their own standing in society as well as individual reputation.

Yeah I kinda ignored the physique part, but in all honesty I could see that happening in many places.

Ever seen the photo of the starving child on his hands and knees while a man with food in a bag in his hand just walks away? It happens

Hell yeah. To take another example, show up in fatigue and T-shirt for a job interview, and show up in suit for another - see what happens. We're not talking huge reaction, here ; but some amount of judgement, definitely.


Again, yes. I used the very same example as your op many times. The guards at least should know me for DB and mightily dislike me. Other types of armour, given the situation... Dragon attack might spur the citizen to like you better so you'd help them, something like that.

In any case, on the question of realism, think of it like this : random guy wearing full body combat bullet-proof suit, holding a P90 : do you wave and say hi ? Granted, warriors are common on Tamriel ; doesn't mean the basic farmer doesn't view them as trouble.

This is about making unarmoured clothes actually matter. I'd love to have to dress up according to situation.

Do you seriously agree that it's a "thing something fat/ugly people say to feel better."?

i agree, there should be other adventurers. i dislike and find it sort of unrealistic when you are the only one in the world desecrating dungeons and such or wearing armor through cities (save guards)

Noooo, not worded like that... But insofar "you get judged first on your appearance" goes, definitely. I don't say it's right : it's just that it's automatic to gauge whomsoever you meet, and unless you're really good at staying your impulses, you will do it based on what you see. Theeeen, you go further than that, if you get to know the person. To some extent - more or less - everybody does it. Who's gonna get more easily a ride hitchhiking ? Girl or boy ?

On topic - people could be mistrustful at first of yet again a bloke in warrior ; but then, when you help them in quest and gain reputation in that area, they know you're an okay chap, for all you wear all that clunky.

"well [name] ive not seen such a fine looking dark elf in a long time" <--- morrowind NPC.

though this might be a disposition thing.

I like the idea anyway. Sitting in a tavern drinking a beer should not be done wearing full daedric armour.. and NPC's should react accordingly... old women should cross the street to avoid you, hold their kids back protectively.

If you wore heavy armour into a city you'd probably earn more respect than anything else. This is Skyrim after all, home of the Nords, who hold warriors in high regard.

Didn't ask you if it was wrong or right. I have never felt hatred or animosity towards anyone because I thought they were ugly/fat. And hitchhiking? That's just a guy wanting to get some. The driver probably never feels any more or less animosity towards a female hitchhiker than he would a male hitchhiker. It's not like he picks up a female hitchhiker and not a male one because he thinks "Man, for some reason I just already don't like that guy," and then sees the female and says "She looks friendly.". No, he avoids picking up the male because he is lazy and he makes a point to pick up a female because it could benefit him. And I'm not trying to sound sixist, but generally when something like that happens it has nothing to do with appearances. It has everything to do with a person's good will, altruism, and libido.

If you switch from one to the other, of course. But its called a descise. If the people you are at war with have a specific armor set and collor, and some random dude just walked into town sporting the same outift, odds are you're gonna go check it out and kick him outa town at least, if not kill him.

True, but civil war... A new guy in armour might generate mistrust in other warriors as they don't know your alignment. The local peasant ? However warrior-like is the society, after a few times having your field burned by various factions, I don't know if the regard is that "high".

I don't see why you should be penalized for wearing armor other than the slight speed penalty you should already get.

You SHOULD get a bonus for wearing rich clothes though (and rich clothes should cost a lot).

Or is this thread about faction armor? Just make it like New Vegas.

One could think of pretty cool implementations of this. For example, if you wear common armor, you'd be judged depending on your Personality and Fame/Infamy more than if you wore the rare armor types, in which case the fame/infamy of that type of armor would get a stronger impact. Ebony? "That must be a holy paladin!" Daedric? "Well sure he's killed that Dragon but darn it, I don't trust him."
With faction-related armor, there's yet another factor that should play a role. I agree that Dark Brotherhood armor should basically make the guards very suspicious, only waiting for you to commit a crime so they can put you on the gallows.

With clothing, it should really just be the same thing, only that the negative effect should be less, after all you might be a bit scary, but at least you're not looking like you're prepared for slaughter. But that's really the only realistic thing I can think of - I don't think that people would be more friendly to someone who wears expensive clothing as opposed to the same guy wearing a rare armor set with positive connotations.