I would be okay with the weapons thing if Bethesda brought back something like the cart from Daggerfall, so we can still loot a whole dungeon, but would have that kind of "I see what I carry" feel. The only downside to this that I can see is that size would become a major issue (and its own stat) with EVERY weapon because you'd have the guy who maxes out his strength so that he could carry a horse and a half without being slowed, but can only hold one big stick as opposed to the small little Bosmer who could bathe himself in small little daggers. It would have to be very gingerly handled to keep balance or the entire experience of combat will be cheapened.

I am completely against the potion belt though.

Unless they did it right, it would be really annoying. So I voted no for both, but I'm open to the first option as long as it's done right.

My idea would be that anything your character has would appear on their person, so you could carry all kinds of stuff, you just couldn't have all attached to you at once, you'd need a sack or something. Like you could have up to three weapons hanging on a belt/harness/etc., anything ranging from crossbows to greatswords, but everything else is inside some of kind of package.

Which of course would be annoying to anyone whose not REALLY into role-playing or something. I would like it, but the rest of the game would kind of have to center on such ideas, which Skyrim will not. And thankfully so, since no one but me would play it I think.

Wow, exact tie atm.

I say yes.
And since we are at it, make it possible to "hire" a squire and draft horses to carry your stuff. (or even the good old cart from Daggerfall).
And also a ministrel who would sing :
Bravely bold Dovahkiin rode forth from Solitude.
He was not afraid to die, O brave Dovahkiin
He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways,
Brave, brave, brave, brave Dovahkiin!


Seriously, it's probably too complicated to implement in a satisfying way gameplaywise. A real-time inventory would be a good enough approach.
And make something to prevent the usefulness of armor changing in the middle of a fight. (for exemple, changing a piece of armor would be like casting on oneself a spell of damage speed / agility while the armor rating would decrease from its former level to 0 before going up to its new level over a period whose length depend on the armor types)

im actually kind of surprised. im in the realism and challenge camp but i expected to see way more votes for the unlimited choice. guess i figured wrong.

I would have your hotkeyed items show up on your person. And some way to customize what goes where, if I want my sword on my back or belt, if I want my dagger on my belt or boot, etc.

And instead of making it 'impossible' to enter your inventory in combat, I would just make it so time doesn't freeze when you enter your inventory (a feature I would like regardless (as well as non-freezing time for conversations, lockpicking, etc)) so it's not 'impossible' you would just have to take a few hits to change to a non-hotkeyed item, or run away to buy yourself enough time to go into your inventory.

And non-hotkeyed items would just go into your magic backpack, so you can still carry around 5 swords and a battleaxe if you wish. (On a sidenote: I would also like for your backpack to sort of be an item that encumbers you, and you can drop it when you wish to not be encumbered, or get a packhorse, wagon, etc. (Although I realize most people would find this annoying, so it probably won't/shouldn't be implemented. But the realtime inventory/minigames/conversations and hotkey-to-equip ideas are golden IMO.))

Yes and no. Yes, I'd like to see more weapons being carried at once. For example, you can at equip a longsword,axe,mace (anything one handed) at the side of your belt. On the other side, you can see a dagger. On your back you can have your quiver plus either a bow, or a two handed weapon.

However, I think you should be able to carry as many weapons as you want, they just wouldn't be visible. If they'd be able to do that is questionable.

Wait, that's what would be immersion-breaking? A system that reflected what someone could carry in a far more believable manner? I think you've got it backwards...

The thing is, a lot of people are referring to the fact that it's a fantasy RPG, using that as an argument against a system that did more to restrict how much could be carried; 'it's not meant to be realistic...' The problem with this logic is that there's a difference between realism and believability. A game can have as many elements of fantasy as it wants, but things still need to make some sense within the context of the game world. Unless there's some explanation for how volume is completely irrelevant in the Elder Scrolls universe, or how it would be possible to change one's armor in a split second while in the middle of combat, etc., there's a problem with the current system.

As has already been suggested, real time animations for various actions would solve the problem of changing armor or drinking potions in combat -- if the player had to select those things from their inventory while events continued, and then wait for a few seconds while their character drank a potion, grabbed a weapon which hadn't been equipped or changed their armor, it would be pretty difficult to do while under attack. To anyone who would object to that, I'd say it's time to evolve with your games. I mean, if you're looking for an immersive experience, why would you want something as 'video gamey' as instant switching of equipment? What good are all these advancements in technology without more sophisticated gameplay?

I would be okay in limiting a playable character to only carrying so many weapons, etc. at once if they brought back the wagon. Or implement saddle bags on your mount. That way park your ride outside the dungeon, go through the dungeon until you can't carry anymore, and then come back to the entrance and unload your stuff onto the wagon/ saddle bags.