....is what the game seems to make you be to begin with.

The first thing you get is some Light Armor and 2 Swords.

Nothing wrong with that, but doesn't anyone else think they should have had it where the initial room has a set of heavy armor, light armor, and robes? A sword, a shield, a longsword, a bow, a spell?

And while I'm here, is it better to be a Mage with Light Armor or do you get better perks with Robes?

That's if you go with Hadvar. If you go with Ralof, first thing you get is one Iron War Axe and a crappy Stormcloak cuirass. But 20 seconds later you get heavy armor from an imperial captain you kill.

I like playing mage with robes. The magicka regen you get with the robe is actually quite useful, and it gets very powerful as you get better robes.