Let me start off by saying that I understand fully why developers would rather implement a scaled loot system. It makes sense from a resource standpoint, and given the time they have clearly spend hand-crafting the world of Skyrim, I can't accuse them of being lazy, or lacking attention to detail. In terms of time, code, and versatility, it's justifiable.

However, quests should feel -Special-. Not all quests. Leveled loot is perfectly acceptable for generic fetch quests. In fact, I don't have a problem with leveled loot for the majority of dungeons and quests. That being said, when I fight my way through the depths of some ancient Draugr ruin, I want more than "Hide Bracers of Stamina" as a reward. Even a simple, custom rename job is better than nothing. Finding "Otar" and "Sword of the Red Eagle" feels so much more epic than finding some random, generic piece of gear that you could buy in a shop. Even though they use the same model as generic Draugr weapons, it feels more special. When you look through your inventory, and see those, you'll remember how fun/hard/special it felt to get it, as opposed to the easy-come, easy-go leveled generics.

Even better are weapons with custom sprays, and custom models. Even a simple-recolor or paint job makes it feel beyond the norm. I'm not a computer designer, or know more than a semester of python courses taught me about code, but I can't believe it would take *that* long to change the color, or add a different design on it. So, please. Make epic quest rewards feel epic. When I carve my way through three linked dungeon of Falmer and Dwemer, I want to see something like "Heart of the Dwemer Forgemasters" not "Necklace of Greater Smithing."

As a final note, to those of you who say "Mods will fix it," I agree. Yes. Mods will fix it. For a select group of people.

I agree, I hardly feel like lockpicking master locks anymore, all I ever get is gold and the occasional unenchated ebony equipment. And even if the item happened to be enchanted, it would be a lame one-enchant item, like "improve light armor skill by 15"

sigh

They should have made the really rare stuff, like artifacts, and certain rare questline rewards special by perhaps giving them 3 effects instead of 1 or 2, just something in general that can make it an interesting tradeoff in light of better raw damage/defense because the effect cannot be replicated or matched with crafted gear.

What re123 said.

My lvl 42 warrior is swinging the same Ebony greatsword a Draugr Death Lord dropped for him when he was lvl 22 or something.

Why haven't I found a better weapon since? Heck, I'd even switch it out for a less effective weapon if it had a model that I haven't seen and looted a thousand times before. Why aren't there 5 or 6 different models for each class of weapon?

I would love to decorate my houses, and especially the house I'm gonna make with the CK, with all the crap I've looted. But there is so freaking little variety in the models I really don't want to bother. Yes, they have different names, but I walk into my impromptu amory in my Solitude house, I don't want to see 12 identical Glass battle axes and 20 ebony swords.

Texture and model packs are gonna be instant downloads when the CK comes out, and I'll just hand swap weapons to get the variety I need, and this game deserves.

On a bit of a tangent, I'd like to hear your thoughts on possible unique rewards for various quests. This is both for possible modder inspiration, and just to hear any neat ideas.

Only upgrage from Ebony is Daedric, which I have only seen one random piece of, and my char is 61. If you want an upgrade, you'll need to craft it through smithing.

I wouldn't expect much more than a couple weapon\armor sets from expansions when they release them. Most of it will be done my moders.

I'm starting to think that Skyrim was designed so that you were more or less meant to get Smithing if you want to get meaning full upgrades.
A full set of dwarven armor is only 9% damage reduction behind full daedric; an elven sword deals 4 less damage than a daedric etc etc.

On one hand, it awesome because you can wear anything you like and still complete the game. On the other hand, it svcks for those who won't bother with Smithing.

As for unique rewards, I wouldn't mind items that were rather powerful in one area but made you weaker in others, a la Necromancer Amulet.
Say, Heavy Bow of Heavy Shots - hits hard but you can only walk as long as you have it in your hands, or Vampiric Sword of Vampiric Nastiness - absorbs a good amount of health, but makes you weaker in sunlight. Stuff like that

I have been terribly disappointed in the amount of truly unique weapons, artifacts and armor in Skyrim. One of the most enjoyable things for me in Oblivion is collecting them all and putting them on display. There's just no where near the items and artifacts in Skyrim as there were in Oblivion. I'm sure modders will add a bunch but they're just not the same. Look at all this stuff from Oblivion in my trophy room:

http://ypdesign.com/tes/glenvar/display.htm

Just recently I have found quite a unique weapon in skyrim (an enchanted weapon) It's a pretty odd enchantment but is pretty cool!

i think we will see most unique weaponds on DLC to tell the true the think i found in Skyrim that i miss on Oblivion is that you feel your armor is part of the area you are playing, and no something tottaly disconected that happen to me alot in Oblivion with all the unique items, you still can find alot of cool weaponds on Skyrim