Okay, I've seen some talk about this in other places around the web, so I thought I'd throw in my opinion here on the subject.

Now, before anyone wants to have a go at me, let me say that my top five favourite games are 3 - Halo 3, 2 - Skyrim and 3 - Oblivion. Two fantasy games there, and two TES to boot. So before people go on abuot how I shouldn't play the games... shut up. I love this game to pieces.

However, one thing that annoys me (aesthetically speaking) is the higher-level weapons. I get that this is fantasy, and other-wordly etc., but in no sense would a http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120512225620/elderscrolls/images/archive/9/91/20131229190117!Daedricdagger.pngwith spikes that would only get caught on the armour or even in the flesh of an opponant, rendering it useless, can ever be logical and therefore useable. And with the Daedric war axe, it has a similar issue. The spikes do nothing more than get caught. And the handle on a war axe is designed to let your hand slide up and down it, but there are two spikes pointing towards your hand on the bottom! I personally think the http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120529201509/elderscrolls/images/d/d1/Oblivion_DaedricLongsword.png is a better design, IMO. There are of course some more acceptable weaponry in the upper levels. http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/archive/7/77/20120120142203!Glass_Sword_%28Skyrim%29.png are a good example of a decent weapon. Its leave blade design is quite a common design, and it's not terrible. Perhaps a touch too broad, but eh, that is nitpicking.

If you want an example of a very good sword design, then actually look at the http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120814140306/elderscrolls/images/2/25/Dragontwohander.png, it's a good solid design. Not too fancy or anything with no spikes or what have you, it's just a big sword with a good shape.

My personal favourite sword is the Iron sword. I just like the simplicity of it, and in my hands (real life now) that Norse design of a blade feels better to me than say a katana (which is not very well balanced) or a European longsword (which are often too long for my liking). Second-best is Steel, because it follows that accurate design, so I likes it. For this reason, on say my human-race characters, I tend to just use the Restoration Loop to keep an Iron Sword in top shape throughout my game. The Imperial Sword is a nice, simple design, too, and often sported by my pro-legion characters throughout their whole playthrough.

For these reasons, rather than having to put up with my little bit of OCD slowly eating away at me, I've tried several sword mods that keep more in touch with the real world. (by the way, I do also use Ebony on some characters, and Elven weapons minus the battleaxe on non-humans).

That's just my honest opinion, and in case you need a TL;DR - I like realistic weapons over fancy weapons.

Now if you want the real expert's take on this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcsLd3dVNz8

I love the Nightingale Blade, personally. I'd say the design is pretty practical. I can agree with your point. Not a fan of Daedric weapons because of those reasons. Just looks too silly.

There are earlier threads on that same video. Tried the search?

They're old and lost, to be honest. The arguments were reeeaally far flung. So yes, I did try search. Some that came up even predated the DLC's, which do also add some extra good/impractical stuffs and therefore more conversation.

On that topic, the Nordic Sword is okay, IMO.

That is one good way of explaining why I like practicality, but not necessarely discard the aesthetics. For example my one handed sword of choice is The Dawnbreaker sword - I will admit that in vanilla, it is mediocre, but there are mods that will make this weapon, not overpowered, but worthy of being a Daedric artifact. The weapon looks practical and at the same time its design is simple and yet perfect. The glowing hilt, nothing overdone, excellent.

I always found it amusing, too, that a seemingly blunt and aged weapon such as an axe of the daedric make would outperform cold hard steel made in the Skyforge!

Well I don't have the problem with weapons not being powerful enough through the restoration loop

Heh, I started only a few months ago, that bug has been fixed, I accidentally found out about it when I tried the older version, but it's kind of cheating, you know ?

'S why I have Armory of Tamriel and Immersive Weapons installed. I can have more practical/functional-looking weapons but keep the damage output of rarer materials and all of that stuff. Breton(based on the Silver Sword of Vanilla) and Dwemer style swords are the best, IMO. They're more ornate alternatives to the "Basic"(Vanilla Iron) style.

Have to say, though, that along with Daedric Weapons the Dwemer Shields bother me. It's hard to believe something that's so flipping clunky it clips through the arm as you're holding can be of any use. At least Daedric-make stuff have the excuse of being extraterrestrial weapons.