i don't really get what the deal is with these altmer armours. they're light armor, they're a little lighter than leather and a little stronger; but, they're large sheets of metal covering your whole body, like heavy armour does. why would anyone restirct their movements in a metal case with a material which is barely better than fexible leather alternatives. when you start comparing sheets of metal too pieces of skin you have to wonder what the point is. then there's glass. even if it is super light it's still bulky and difficult to work with. when compared to iron armour which may be heavy but gives you a whole range of movement you couldn't get in glass with those big shoulder protectors.

even further, surely scaled armour is about as heavy as iron. surely. and don't get me started on dragonscale, covered in those super heavy dragonbones.

Elven armour is thin.
light armours are thin, heavy armours are thick.

There are no Dragonbones in the Dragonscale armor formula. It's called light armor because it's light. Sure, it looks bulky, but it weighs less. Bulkiness has nothing to do with weight. If I had a "Bulky" piece of paper and a "Slim" sheet of metal, what do you think would weigh less?

It's just how Bethesda wanted it designed, I suppose. Full Armor body coverage is better than Partial. And while in theory, it would make sense that there is movement restrictions on this factor, there is no penalty in the game itself. Only weight and armor type effect movement.

It's a fantasy game.

In The Elder Scrolls, the type of glass that makes up armor and weapons is actually volcanic, same with ebony, glass that comes from Red Mountain in Morrowind. The heart of a god was in the mountain, so you

figure it has some kind of magical quality.

Moonstone is a very strange mineral, and it's one of the most flexible.

Ever since Morrowind I was convinced that glass armor was a Dunmer armor due to it being from Red Mountain. Especially as there was temple guards of some sort dressed in it who were stationed at the ghost gate.

If it is an Aldmer / Altmer design which is the opposite side of Tamriel to Red Mountain then how did / do they get the glass?

they probably steal it.

The Imperials got hold of it after he Dunmer were assimilated.

Hmm define thin ...

A normal plate armor is not thicker than 3 mm usually less.

I always thought of elven armor as having more of a "mail" like quality instead of actual full plate. Like the armor was thin and light enough where it could pretty much be "rolled up" when not being worn.

I like it, but it wouldn't work with Gilded, because of the shoulder pieces being bulky (which is a valid complaint).

Well, even leather armor has pauldrons. And I'd think the material out of which elven armor is made would make the armor extremely light overall, but I agree that the pauldrons should have been much smaller.

Yea, when Op was talking about elven, he was probably refering to gilded, regular elven looks like a kind of "Magic Mail".

Elven and Elven guilded are the same look. Elven light has no pauldrons but Elven and Elven guilded does have Pauldrons.

Elven gilded's pauldrons are bulky, though.

they are the same as normal Elven armour pauldrons.

Are they? I thought the armor was more bulky.

Mail IRL was actually heavy with less even weight distribution than plate, so plate was arguably the more mobile choice - though it was more flexible, so it'd depend on how much plate you'd be in. It was better against certain types of weapons(slashing and piercing, but not so good against blunt) of course, but was also very expensive. Of course, you could wear mail under some plate - heavier but even more protective.

If they ever get into moderately realistic armor for a change, it'd be nice to see options like mail with plate, mail without plate, plate without mail, etc. for varying levels of weight and effectiveness vs. different weapon types. It sadly seems like no one on their weapon/armor/combat system designs is particularly interested in anything more than typical RPG-style "the fancier looking the gear the better it is" system though.

what i'm getting at is why would one of the most powerful race of people use large bulky armour made out of hard to work with and hard to obtain metals when it barely even helps more than a layer of treated fur; and the glass armour that is built in the same shape -or even less slick- as steelplate or ebony would restrict you a lot by the big pieces being strapped onto your body. am i missing something about the thalmor?

Well, in game elven armor is the best armor in the game if you're factoring in smithing and perks total needed to hit armor cap. It's incredibly lightweight so no need to waste perks on it's impact on sneaking or running, whereas heavy armors require conditioning if you want comparable mobility and more sneak perks for comparable stealth.

Plate style armors can be light depending on material, which elven seems to be if we base the in game stats on it, so being a plate armor shouldn't automatically classify it as heavy.

Also, Altmer aren't necessarily the most powerful race.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of its appearance either though. Mainly the gauntlets/boots, helm could be better too, and overall the color isn't particularly appealing.

??? I'm confused as to what you mean.

I can understand if glass was an Imperial armor as they own the mining. I am convinced that both the armor designs in both Morrowind & Oblivion were Cyrodiil / Imperial designs brought out after Tiber Septim conquered Morrowind for it's ebony.

What I was asking is how the Aldmer got glass as apparently glass in an Aldmer design.

The Altmer got glass because they were part of the Empire, and therefore had access to glass.

The Aldmeri races are primarily a people rooted in magic. It is the Nedic races rooted in physical combat and physical armoury.

With the exception of the Orsimer who are the "changed ones", all the Elven races are not warrior smiths but heavily influenced by the arts of magic. The Dunmer were shown how to make ebony armor by a Daedric prince (or was this in fact a reference to the origins to the secret of making Daedric armor by throwing in a Daedric heart?) but they are still (and rightfully so as they shouldn't have it all) not a race blessed in forging armor. In fact they craft their armor from chitin and bonemold.

When did Tiber Septim conquer Morrowind? Morrowind was never conquered. Tiber Septim was so scared of the Tribunal, he worked out an agreement called the Armistace. Morrowind would become apart of the Empire, but they would govern themselves. They also kept their religion and traditions. If you played Morrowind you would have seen the Empire had very little presence and political say.

Ok so "conquer" is arguably the wrong word. Morrowind still gave Tiber Septim all the ebony mines and trade as part of the deal so that he can build up his army. Imperial legions had forts adjoining to most the main towns.
What did Morrowind get out of it?

Poop.

I'm sure The Tribunal could have kicked Septim's stompy robot's butt.