I think the type of armor should decide how many pieces it should have. For example, chainmail should come in fewer pieces than plate armor.

I don't mind clothing underneath armor, so long as it doesn't result in half the armors not covering the elbows or knees (in particular the heavy armors), but I don't want robes over heavy armor. And if so it should have a penalty to counteract the extra CE enchantment. I don't want my Daedric armor to leave anything exposed, and I don't want it to be more efficient to wear a bulky robe over it.

Agreed.

Actually I read in the little book that came with FO3 that they wanted separate armor pieces, but that basically, it was just too complicated.

Somewhere between MW and a more sensical DF slot system.
Drop bracers and pauldrons all together.
Drop cloaks to 1.
Add in complex head slot system F3 had> eyeglasses, hat, hair, mask, earrings and so forth.

I have a question.... if theres an insect in a 100% reflect damage book and someone puts the boot on. what happens to the person who put the boot on?

Ehm, no. Sorry, I just can't admit to that For me that would be cheesy looking like a clown. But each to his own I guess. I don't *mind* each side, but I'd be more happy with a *set* of pauldrons and gauntlets like everything else that is double. Underclothing, armor or clothing, and hoods (no helmet) and robes on top seems like a good approach to me. Two rings and a neck amulet shouldn't interfere with anything. But a bracelet should interfere with a bracer but not any clothing.

But what about materials? I desperately want more materials, maybe bring back medium armor. For 5 each materials with some variations (8), giving 24 total armor styles:
Light: bearskin (AR5), 2 * fur (AR5), chitin (AR6), 3 * leather (AR 6), glass (AR 7).
Medium: 2 * bonemold (AR 6), orcish (AR6), 2 * dragonscale (AR 6), 2 * elven (AR 7), mithril (AR 8).
Heavy: iron (AR 5), 3 * steel (AR 7), 2 * dwarven (AR 8), ebony (AR 9), daedric (AR 10).

Variations might be things like chain mail, ring mail, or fully plated for the heavies, to different treatments for the lighter, and "racial" versions for the medium. Dunno. I don't want the extreme differences we end up with regarding armor rating, especially if we're getting new pieces. Should mithril and glass change places? Breaks what have been done before, but I think glass *sounds* like a heavier material than mithril which I always considered a light metal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithril
"It is described as silvery and stronger than steel but much lighter in weight."

Suggested armor rating values is if they add up to a common defense value (which I don't like btw); if you're hit in the head and wear no helmet, you shouldn't get the extreme bonus from the rest of the armor. That's why daedric only ends up only double rating compared to bearskin. Considering the damage on armor, I suspect the calculations to be more nuanced than that.

In any case, I don't want to feel invincible just because I'm wearing all glass and my foe is in iron. My choice of armor could be based on looks, durability, or even exclusivity (price). In OB it's hard, especially during the mid game, to *not' wear the best by armor rating in order just to stay alive. I hate being a hunter in glass, but the game leaves me no choice.

Rareabilities:
Light: Only glass is really exclusive, with only a few complete sets.
Medium: Mithril is really exclusive, but elven is hard to come by too.
Heavy: Daedric is pretty much unobtainable , while ebony is really exclusive, and even dwarden is hard to come by.
Iron is poor mans armor, but the steel ones shouldn't be neglected at all. There is a reason that guards are good, so maybe their slightly special armor is armor rated at dwarden, but still lighter. Makes steel a valid option for a longer period of the game for heavy armor users. My current character is at level 40, and I still haven't found my glass helmet. And it's awesome looking everywhere for it (yeah, I know...). I want SR to have this same hunt for armor and rare material items, not pour it onto us like in OB due to scaling.

Just my few cents...

The same thing that happens when you turn a bag of holding inside-out.

There were technical reasons for some choices between MW and OB. In MW each clothing/armor piece was 'fixed' in place of a body part and thats why you looked like you had an insect body. In OB each clothing/armor piece was multi-bone rigged in place of a body part. This looked a lot better but increased chances for clipping as items are rigged to the skeletal system. Clothing meshes therefore don't collide with each other.

This is true. Though I kind of wish that Bethesda had decided to change it in Fallout 3, I mean, Bethesda already brought in many other elements of the Elder Scrolls, so I see no reason why this couldn't have been among them. Still, in one can nonetheless argue that the one piece outfits plus headgear of Fallout 3 is because it was that way in previous Fallout games. And I doubt Bethesda will do it in Skyrim, and I'd be very dissappointed if I'm proven wrong.

To be honest, though, I too hope to see a return of seperate pauldrons and left and right gloves like in Morrowind, it allowed for more customization. Sure, you could produce combinations that looked silly, but that was your choice to make, if you didn't want to look silly, you could just wear armor parts that went well together.

This.

Plus, I would combine all pairs into one item (i.e., pair of gauntlets, pair of boots, pair of pauldrons, etc.)

ok...



SKIRTS- HOW COULD YOU MISS THEM?
armoured skirts
greaves
pants
shirts
curriass/body piece/coat/robes
pauldrons (i don not care for left and right so much, but it would be a nice to have feature
boots (NOT left and right)
masks
gloves (preferably left and right)
helmets
other masks that could combine with masks (glasses for example)
scarfs
amulets (2)
rings (lots)

the minimum i would like to see is:

1 shirt
1 pants
1 cuirass
1 set of boots or shoes
1 set of pauldrons
1 set of bracers or gloves
1 robe or cloak to be worn over everything.
1 helmet (the robe or cloak can also go over the helmet)

i would like to see pauldrons seperate simply because archers do not wear the same pauldron on both sides. wearing cloaks or robes over armor is a must for skyrim. whenever i went to solsteim i would put one of those warm looking nordic robes over my armor for some reason. it made sense that my character would have something on him that provided warmth. this also goes for clothes underneath armor. in oblivion i cringed at the chafing that must be going on "down there" while wearing only metal armor. that seems even more painful than a zipper incident. the gloves and boots being sets i can live with. belts...meh...i can live without.