More comfortable does not translate into more effectiveness. I might be able to put heavy armor to combat use very effectively, but just because I'm more comfortable in light armor doesn't mean I'll be able to use it in combat any more effectively. For instance, in plate armor I could use my arm guards to deflect an attack but if I tried to do the same with leather I'd likely lose my arm depending on how I deflect the attack.

You fight differently in plate armor compared to leather, and that is what having a separate skill is meant to represent. You know how to use that specific kind of armor in combat. Just because Beth hasn't fleshed out the games to the point that this is actually obvious (and not making the illusion that the skill is passive) does not mean that they should just scrap the systems. Thats just lazy.



In Morrowin thats precisely how things worked. But because, as it is in real life, if you don't know how to use that specific kind of armor its weak points are going to be easily abused by your opponent if they have any idea what they are doing. (which as far as ES is concerned, is a given) That is where the armor point system comes in. The lower it is, the less effective you are at using your armor. It can never reach zero so long as you're using a fully repaired (or undamaged) piece of armor, but it won't reach its max potential if you don't know what you're doing.

Honestly, instead of removing the skills, they should have spent developing a decent locational damage system like F3's, except taking into account the individual armor pieces and where flesh/cloth/chain is exposed. Having a higher armor skill means these areas that are relatively unarmored (or not resistant to direct attacks anyway) are going to be more easily defended by you. Having a lower one makes it easier for your opponent to abuse them for high damage.



The only time I ever truly worried about grining skills or attributes was when I either A) decided to play on the hardest difficulty without abusing anything or B) wanted a specific level in an attribute/skill that I wouldn't achieve through normal gameplay. (like if I wanted to start the game as a master swordsman from another land for instance, I'd grind my Long Blade skill then go on to roleplay afterwards)

If an RPG is forcing you to focus on grinding skills outside of whats natural (early game thats pretty much what you're supposed to do, as it is in any RPG) then the mechanics have been thought out very well or for some reason were made that way to cater to people who like number crunching. Oblivion obviously did the former but if you're defining ES games by what Oblivion has done then you're doing it wrong.

I could see the marksman skill being ranged weapon related (damage/draw speed/accuracy) / traps (bear trap like things, or simple snares) and something along the lines of tracking (a bit like detect life, maybe able to see trails left bejind by people and animals for increasing durations after they have passed).

As for medium armour, I do like the idea of having the 3 armour types having a noticable difference, with heavy slowing you down by quite a lot, reducing stamina faster while sprinting, and affecting jump height drastically, and light armours offering very low defences but hardly affecting your mobility. Medium armour would fit between the 2 others nicely.

this made me happier... i didnt think of that... probly wont happen but makes since... one armor skill... different perk branches hopefully

I take it you have never actually worn armor before. I own plate, chain, and have worn leather (heavy, medium, light respectively) and all are different.

Plate is the most different because you have to learn move your body parts more along the lines of the armor than would be natural. For example with the (closed) helmet, one can't just look around with their eyes but needs to condition themselves to move their head more to look around. Plate is usually designed to make mobility easy enough, but it is still different.

Chain's real difference is the weight in general versus normal clothing (especially on the shoulders). Its not really a movement issue but you get fatigued faster and there is a slight hint of different inertia during movement.

Leather is just like regular clothing, of course.


Anyway, as others said it seems there will be one armor skill with perks to increase benefits. Honestly, I this would be a good feature. Besides, Fallout 3 and New Vegas had light, medium, and heavy too.