I'll be very disappointed if the mistakes of Oblivion aren't corrected. Anyone seen word on these issues yet?

-Spears. The game just has to have spears.
-Medium Armor. Again, no excuse for cutting this from Oblivion.
-Pauldrons. One of the most important aspects of Morrowind, cut in Oblivion, will Bethesda repent and fix it?

and lastly and most importantly,

-hand placed loot. Please tell me it will take a scouring of the world to put together a full Daedric set rather than finding 3 full sets on 3 bandits. Exploring was pointless in Oblivion because you wouldn't find something like say...a Sword of White Woe stashed somewhere.

1. spears - "not in the traditional sense" sharpened sticks are a no. Polearms are a maybe
2. medium armor is neither confirmed nor denied.
3. Recently released gameplay footage suggests that there will be seperate pauldrons, however, devs have yet to confirm or deny.
4. hand placed loot: there is supposed to be a lot more emphasis on the dungeon design and the world in and of itself. This would suggest more specialization, but it has not been confirmed that items will be hidden in a specific place, randomly generated, or easily found.

Hope that helps =)

what i hope to see regarding equipment is a hyooooge diversity, loads of sets and loads of uniques. There were so few different items in oblivion, it was pathetic. Of course im not expecting an item database the likes of what diablo 2 had but a big improvement from oblivion is a must.

the fact that you had only 2 assassin specific armors in oblivon speaks for itself

big diversity adds to replay value, especially if the loot is randomized. it allows to have loads of different characters even if theyre the same class

sorry to derail your thread just had to get this off my chest

I'm afraid that in the podcast for GI, Todd has confirmed that spears won't be present in Skyrim, which for me I'm afraid doesn't make a huge difference.

As for the armor classification system, I would rather expect it to come back, since developers are constantly mentioning lot's and lot's of equipment. That makes me too happy.
I'm also pretty sure that they did/ are gonna do something with thugs wearing full glass. Bethesda has an attribute showcased only by the best developers in the businesses: They listen. And are damn, good at it too. I wouldn't be too worried about it, then.

For pauldrons there's a separate thread somewhere in here, and all the signs on sky and earth are showing that we might be expecting a glorious return of armor slots known previously in Morrowind. And that means more slots than in Oblivion, and singular gloves, and -yes- pauldrons. That makes me too, too happy.

On this armor note, I'd also like to mention, ( The devs are watching us, but shh...) and I'm not only speaking for myself here that what I think should be an amazing addition, that I've been waiting for ever for, is to be able to actually see physical degradation of your equipment. And we're taking cuts, bruises, bumps, hit marks ( also under specific conditions, perhaps dirt, and rust?), notches and all that kinda goodness. You know how much more satisfying would it be then to carry your ol', trusty sword, damaged furing last encounter with mountain trolls, to town and spend all this money even, but to get it shiny and new again.

It would really help you feel like this rugged, tough explorer, as well as teach you to appreciate value of a well maintained weapon/shield/armor.

their is some evidence for and against most of those, theres an active thread about the pauldrons, although I have heard nothing about medium armor. but what we do know is that all of it is subject to change. todd said that alot of what was left out in OB may go into SK if they have the time left to do so before the release date. (which is todd's way of pleasing every one if most doesn't make it in because he can say that they simply ran out of time, imo. I wish content was a priority for them.)

-Spears: I never used them in Morrowind, but properly functional spears (throwable) would be great.
-Medium Armor.: Not a problem, I don't see a 'skill' to wearing armor, it should just be based on how fast you want to run and how strong you are.
-Pauldrons: They caused too many clipping problems in Morrowind, I'd rather have seperate gauntlets.

-Hand placed loot is a must for immersion, storytelling, gamebalancing and awesomness.

Much people are asuming that spears don't being in game in the clasical sense means polearms, but it could mean also throwable spears.

By the way, I had never use a spear in Morrowind and when people started asking for it, I wheren't giving a damn about it, but I have started to have a little want for spears.

@ amgepo I think polearms were confirmed in one of the magizines

pauldrens are not confirmed but they are implied. And really one of the best parts of Morrowind?

-Spears: Not in traditional sense so who knows.
-Medium Armor: Absolutely unneeded imo. I would rather they bring back Unarmored before this. Heavy for Warriors, Light for Rangers, Unarmored for Mages. With Enchanting being a skill again Unarmored is unneeded as well. What is the point of having a skill for wearing clothes? Soldiers aren't in armor all the time. That being said, Armor skills are unneeded anyways. Heavier armor should just build Athletics/Acrobatics faster than light armor.
-Pauldrons: I hope they are back. Wearing nonmatching pauldrons is like +20 badass points.

The important part about spears is that they were the only offensive combat skill governed by endurance, giving a lot more diversity in how you can build your character.

" http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/1130/skyrim1080p11.jpg

http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/02/Skryim-Trailer-anolysis-12-Lute-Kill.jpg

Possible proof of Morrowind level of customization?


Look at the assassin. IT looks like he's wearing a sleeveless leather chest piece with what seems to be a shirt under neath it. But that's not what I have as proof.

Look at the female elf sitting down on the bar stool in the second picture. Look at her left arm. It seems like a pauldron, but it could be attached to the chest piece, right? Well, look at her other arm. It looks different. It douesn't seem to be protruding as much. Once again, it could just be the chest piece. But now look at the first picture. The tattooed elf looks as i he's wearing the same shoulder piece, with the chest and looking a tad bit different. What's definitely different is the armor on the right shoulder. It's sticking out and looks more like the one on his left arm.

Even if that's not true, the shoulder pieces look very similar, and the female elf has clothing underneath it, showing at least a possibility to wear clothing under armor.

Take this as you will, just some stuff to think about."