Instead of simply havinga heirachy of weapon styles, what if they had differing sorts of attributes, which translates to cost. I mean silver is good against ghosts, but maybe it should be weaker to make up for it, and, say, glass weapons could be particularly light, or something like that. I dunno, these are just a few ideas, but maybe we could make the materials be not solely an upgrading system but also a choice based on the players playstyle.

This is actually a really good idea. For glass weapons (Since smithing seems to be in) They could be light but break easily or something. It would be nice to see stuff like this implemented. For silver swords they probably wouldn't do much damage against humans and stuff. Good Idea !

Why would volcanic ore be light? But I agree that there has to be something different in materials as it adds diversity and the usefulness of the material, instead of always using the best. Without a definite best material, you could choose what fits your play style.

I don't know, but glass armour is light armour despite being pretty bulky looking.

Well that's something that is true. But it's not that light, it weights more than any other light armor in previous games.

What do you think of the idea that, say, chainmail would be better against arrows and sword slashes but platemail better against stronger melee? Dunno how they'd implement that, but maybe.

Obsidian (glass) is extremely light. I have an obsidian blade, it's like a feather. A feather that can slice me into tiny shreds with little to no effort.
Chainmail is useful for slashes, not really for punctures or blunt weapons. Platemail is better against everything.

Chainmail should be able to be worn on its own or under any other type of armor.

Volcanic ore is very light.In real life too.I remember picking up a volcanic rock for the first time when I was little and I was extremely surprised.A rock as big as my fist was as light as cobble I could hold between my two fingers.Obsidian isn't that much light,but still lighter than you'd expect.

Also,people seem to miss this but,silver is a very soft metal.It'd bend with the first hit.So unfit for actual weapons in real life.I'm pretty okay with silver being a strong metal in the game,but had to say it for I've seen several people complain about "bows made of metal".

good idea, even if you just got some kind of defence bonus against a perticular type of weapon, of course if you were going for accuracy chainmail would svck against an arrow, only plate would offer any kind of defence and even then not much. The reason the Longbow was the most feared weapon of its age, was bacuse it was the armour piercing round of its time.

I stand corrected, I thought that the ores that came from the deapths of earth would be heavy, because when a planet is created all the heavy materials are forced into it's middle.

Chainmail is better against arrows. Or at least I remember that from somewhere. Have to check again.

EDIT: Nah, I think you're right. Chainmail is not good against arrows.

Agree, it would be nice to see different materials amount to more than just static increases in damage, armor etc. upgrades and the like.

When volcanos erupt there is often a great deal of gas that is associated into a molten rock material so the lightness comes from heavy materials being "infused" with gas. You are correct that when the earth was formed, the heaviest materials were forced to the center (iron, uranium, etc). When these materials are expelled and reformed is when they become lighter.

Pumice is a great example of an extremely light volcanic rock. In certain cases these rocks can actually float. Not sure that they would be any good for weapon making however...

Here's some interesting stuff on plate and mail armour and their effectiveness against arrows. Seems it is rather unclear. http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1062 But it would be interesting if they had Bodkin arrows in Skyrim...

No you are right - Chain Mail is better at defecting arrows due to the force being distributed over a larger area. Plate mail does not have any give, and it is not that thick so arrows quite commonly would puncture through plate mail.

Plate is good against blunt and sharp weapons - but wieght hampers your fighting style - really no advantage or disadvantge for either.

The discussion (fromarmour/weapon enthusiasts and including references to many journals and tests on the subject) that I linked does not show the same confidence as you. I don't see how the maille could distribute the force over a larger area, being flat against your body. The discussion mentioned that thinner arrows could easily slip into the holes between links and penetrate the maille. It also mentioned how plate armour was effective at deflecting arrows. They needed to hit at a close to flat angle, which is hard when it is bent out the way it is.

Chainmail not defend against arrows, because the arrow head, digs in and forces the rings / joints apart, its the padding under the armour which catches the arrow and distriputed the energy, Plate armour is specialy shaped to deflect the arrows and blade slashes.

This would be cool. It would make the different weapons more than just different skins.

This.

Plate mail usually has those tilts and outward bends to help make sure that the angle arrows and blades hit generates more of a glancing shot.

And will make players to actually think.

What about some type of mammoth hide made into a thick leather with a metal plate in the front/back? Also I like this idea, the weapons should do different things and support playstyles not just get more heavy and powerful.

In addition to plate armor being great at deflecting arrows, most large scale battles didn't have knights in full armor taking volleys of arrows anyway. Their horse would take too much damage, so they would get out of the way and let the peasants with cheap shields take the volley. Historians have said it was rarer for knights and nobles to be too directly attacked anyway because the enemy troops could ransom them for tons of dough.

Yep, was called Agincourt , English Bowmen 1, french Night's 0

Chainmail is pathetic against Arrows tho, unless worn with a material that forces the force across the chainmail, like leather, chainmail itself doesn't do all that much, it is combination of chain-mail and another material... usually leather. Then again, other then shields, what other protection is there really against arrows... that said, arrows are better at wounding then killing in reality. It's a lot harder to kill somebody with an arrow then a sword. Since arrows would realistically need to kill and yet players not be killed too quickly by them, I don't think the idea of certain armors are weaker to certain attacks is overall a good idea for gameplay balance reasons, just like I think arrows should do more then just wound a creature so that it'll eventually die... after it's digested your sorry butt.

All this said, I wouldn't mind seeing Resist Normal Weapons and Magic disappear and instead armor gaining secondary stats of Archery defense, Weapon Defense, Magic Defense and Unarmed Defense what vary between every single piece of armor but carry a bias based on the armor material, with vendors always supplying armor that is balanced in all categories but at later levels then you can loot it. So that you can if you want, figure out what enemy are weak to on a more individual level, after all, not all plate is identical and not all chain mail is identical, not even all leather is identical either. Maybe... possibly also a spell that shows you the relative defenses.