Peasants/low rank soldiers didn't have swords mostly. They used their laboring materials, that's were battle axes, war hammers, mornign stars come from. Those did the hacking you speak of.

A knight/soldier was expected to have a masterful crafted sword. They didn't use "rusty" weapons. And they enjoyed some kind of battle training...

Bethesda couldn't be bothered, simple.

http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm

Albion swords is one of the finest sword manufacturers in the world. Their products cost $800 to thousands of dollars per unit - they are not cheap $150 knock offs. Many of their pieces are museum reproductions - i.e. replicas of the real thing made to precise specifications. Check the site. Lots of info there that goes well beyond the weight of the sword. The types and purposes of various blade shapes. The back and forth between thrust oriented and slash oriented swords.

http://www.albion-swords.com/

Lots and lots more information like that available with a simple google search.

Why can't we have a large range of weapons? Why is everyone satisfied with Beth removing more and more weapons from each game?

Yea, we didn't really lose short swords; we lost long swords.

That's a theory...

The reason bethesda didn't add Shortswords or Longswords ingame is because they didn't want any sixual meme's to be used.

Yea but you're comparing reality to a game. A game where we run without tiring, swing a weapon endlessly at the same speed, carry hundreds of pounds worth of gear, bound down the sides of steep mountain slopes, or swim unhindered (carrying all that gear) in freezing ocean water. The fact that a mace is slightly too big in size is hardly a concern. In fact none of the swords, or other weapons, bothered me at all.

Too late. If you do the Companions questline early on you overhear Farkas and Kodlak having a discussion about "big swords" and "small swords"...

curved swords

That's a PoV and it's perfectly legit. For myself, I think real swords just look better than fantasy swords. Dozens of anime mods over at the Nexus and they're fine if you're into them. I just like a certain suspension of disbelief that I get when a weapon looks like a real weapon.

That is one of the things l like about the iron swords in Skyrim, and the iron battleaxes and steel warhammers. They all look real.

I'm not. thats why I am never buying a Bethesda made or published game again.

@subrosa: Damn right. You don't mix the art style of Anime with Skyrim, or Fallout. it looks ugly.

i won't go that far, but, for the first time ever, the next bethesda game is not an automatic buy for me.

i will wait until i read this forum and other sites to get an accurate assessment of what the game did and didn't do before deciding to purchase or not.

The next Elder Scrolls game will undoubtedly be on the next generation XBox. Now that graphics have improved just about all it can, perhaps they can use a stronger game system to re-expand the world's arsenal, among other functional objects.

We just need some sort of weapon for stabbing. We haven't had a stabbing/thrusting attack animation since Morrowind.

Wow, I didn't even realise that I've never seen a shortsword in Skyrim until I read this post. Now that I remember, I do miss them from Oblivion. They give more freedom in how you want your character to look and fight.

I really hope your right.

Well seeing the tread, Bethesda is going the easy route. Each game gets better and better in graphics but they I guess compensate it for losing core mechanics and equipment. I really dont understand. An overhauled morrowind graphics capabilities are almost on par with skyrims and its got most of everything. They keep dropping stuff and then throwing whats left in different stats.
You know for once Bethesda should take a coe from modern warfare. if it aint broke dont fix it in that aspect, not in the fact that both keeping keep getting more and more dumbed down. U ever notice the more streamline and prettoer the game gets, the less choices we really have?

Sadly, I didnt learn my lesson with fonv, and thought that since yes is their baby I wouldnt have to worry. Well ill keep occasionally playong this but the next game? Ya im waiting on the reviews before I buy. Im getting old and im still javing a blast in morrowind and oblivion and since I dont get to play often, it wont kill me to bypass the next tes. Hell, ill juat be enjoying the games that was close to perfect to me.