Pretty much this.
I'm not sure what the OP is referring to by archers getting the shaft; In OB at least, there was Hatreds Soul, which was pretty nasty business even if you didn't keep it charged up. It was the highest physically damaging bow in the whole game.
And then there were the terrors you could http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn73/TinyWurlitzer/ScreenShot0.jpg
That bow would work better if you just used shock together with weakness to magic 100 and weakness to shock 100. Boost the drain to 100 and you are set to go.
This is a weapon who is very overpowered as just the drain health effect will kill anything with less than 200 health after two shots.
Weakness is the low base damage and few charges, easy to do 500 hp sneak attacks in Skyrim with an unenhanced bow.
In fact the magical damage is so low it's better to focus on other effects like the slow effect of cold or paralyze.