The thing about deer, though, is that they are game animals in our world. Generally, we only shoot bucks/stags and shooting does is illegal. They're more vital to more deer populating the world, the bucks are there just for their sperm. I did find it odd that we could shoot does in Oblivion without any backlash from the citizens.
Dagon crushed the Game Commission's office.
As far as kids go, I would be very surprised if children are implemented in a true-to-life way in this game (or the next, or the next); the ESRB gets very upset about politically-touchy issues (murdering children, wayward nipbles, etc.). Bethesda, as every other developer, is at their mercy. If children are included, I expect that they will be vastly under-represented as compared to true-life ratios and will play quite limited roles.
Personally, I think altering character models to show the signs of aging would create enough perceived age variation that fully-fledged children (10 years old or less) wouldn't need to be included, and the ESRB problems could be avoided.
You don't have to make them immortal/unkillable the way characters are in Oblivion (We think you got the memo on that one that it's really, really annoying). All you do is give them plenty of hit points, and whenever they get struck by a weapon or spell, they run in the opposite direction. And their speed is greater than any other character in the game, even with enchantments. Voila, death is avoided.
As I said, the ESRB would be all over that. They changed Oblivion's rating to M because someone found nipbles on models (that never actually showed in-game). Mods and console commands allow anyone to die, and the ESRB would take this into account.
I wouldn't mind them not being in the game, personally.
I agree here. Adding breadth while limiting time frame for development must also decrease depth; in other words, children are a potential aspect of the game that will come at the expense of another aspect. I'd rather see other things done.