I find myself somewhat saddened that there are so many options for weapons and armor in the game based upon their base forging (Iron, Steel, Steel Plate (for armor), Hide, Leather, Scaled, Dwarven, Elven, etc and so forth), but the level advancing is so quick, and the availability of higher level materials, weapons and armor is so great (ebony, daedric, glass, dragon) that the other stuff very rapidly becomes JUNK.

In truth, it bothers the heck outta me.

I'm wondering if there is a way to alter the game such that you actually run into artifact-like weapons and armor that are made from the 'inferior' materials, but which are SO AWESOME in one or more aspects that you just HAVE to hold onto them forever. Or, perhaps there would be particular bonuses to players who specialized in the lower level stuff - for instance, perhaps someone who only had iron weapons and armor would be able to receive special bonuses (extra damage against atronachs or undead or werewolves or something of that sort), or their weapons and armor enchantments would be enhanced if they stuck to one material.

In other words, there ought to be more utility derived from the lower level stuff that helps it last much, much longer in the game and not 'force' every character to get decked out as quickly as possible in dragon or daedric regalia.

What say you, fellow obsessive fanatics of Skyrim?

I've already taken this in my gameplay to an extent that is partially hampering one of my characters - I've found that I love the ancient nord armor, even though it's a decidedly average heavy armor, and am thinking of outfitting myself in ancient nord or perhaps skyforge steel weaponry as well, even though they are again somewhat mediocre compared to glass or daedric.

Comments, fellow brethren?

I don't know how that will work. They're suppose to be lower leveled weapons and armor for a reason. There are plenty of people here that prefer Steel Plate rather than Daedric any day. You don't have to use higher leveled weapons and armor, just stick with what you like most. Heck, there some people who play as bards and don't use armor at all.

i used to solve this problem in oblivion by choosing not to level up right away, not just for the occurance frequency of armors and weapons but also for the enemies that appear as well. As my style of role play does not involve my character's progression in power, experience and wealth increasing so fast i liked being able to choose when i leveled up.

Skyrim has seriously put a nail in my rp coffin in that regard, im sure there should be a mod to fix my issues with leveling but ive yet to see one.

Well I'm on console so I'm stuck with an armor cap so I just smithed ancient nord up on my orc using heavy smithing enchantments and potions, I like the way the ancient nord looks on him best, just trying to decide which axe looks best with my targe shield right now I'm using daedric and it doesn't look right, also that was made when I was overpowering weapon enchantments

What are you talking about ?
I'm 450 hours into the game and I didn't find anything beyond Dwarven.

I played through the whole game with a Nord Warrior, using nothing but a SkyForge steel sword that I improved, I stayed in Leather Armor until I found a full suit of scale armor. I never encahnted anything or used enchanted equipment because my charachter had a distrust of magic being a Nord. Also why he stayed with the steel, as he beleived Nord Steel to be superior to all other weapons. Made for some interesting fights near the end of the game.

I rather agree with the OP. I, also, would like to be able to find better but rarer randomized loot than I am able to craft.

My second character did almost exactly the same thing. Skyforged Steel Greatsword, Hide Armor, no enchanting or pre-enchnated gear. In my case the character wore Hide Armor until I retired her at level 50+. I had some interesting fights near the end too.