Here is my take on what combat should be like.
First, there are different part of the body, here is an example:
[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/207u9o3.jpg[/IMG]
the red parts take away health, and the green parts take away stamina.
the head region does 3x damage to health, but there is only a 20% chance of hitting that part.
the torso region does regular damage to health, but there is a 50% chance.
the arms and legs do damage to stamina, but if you run out of stamina you are paralyzed for two seconds and the enemy can do a finishing move on you.
sneak attacks on the head and the torso increase the chance of hitting that part.
that's about it, what do you guys think?

NO, WE HAVE HATED THAT SINCE MORROWIND!!!!!!

and stamina damage should not change in the slightest (other than being able to hit below 0 stamina to knock out an opponent), besides, your htiting people with sharp point objects and big blunt weaponry with intent to kill, that will do damage no matter what body part it hits

Sounds awfully complicated.

don't tell me that a lot of people died because they got stabbed in their leg or their foot, i just don't think that it's realistic for someone to die because their arm or leg got stabbed. most people die from a chest wound or decapitation.

Realism is not immersion however.

You can still throw realism out the window and still have excellent immersion by interesting and engaging mechanics... which is still severely lacking here.

it's not really complicated, fallout had the same thing, basically.

i don't care about realism, i just want something that make sense, i am human, therefore when i kill something by swinging at their legs or arms i'm going to think that something is wrong, immersion is about believing.

I do not think it would work. the whole only having a chance to do damage thing is silly. If I stab a guy in the face with a sword it is going to do damage, he will not have an 80% chance of coming away unscathed.

Thats a good point about realism. Sometimes when i fight someone, and theyre running at me with an arrow THROUGH THEIR HEAD, its a bit unimmersive.

Same here. I hated having to swing and swing for ten minutes just to hit a rat with a battleaxe.

Probably quite hard to kill a rat with a battleaxe IRL. I see your point though.

Wrong.

Getting your arm chopped off would cause so much blood loss you'd die. King Richard I died from a crossbow bolt to the shoulder, even. Unless adrenaline is pumping, you're going to get hurt BADLY by strikes to the limbs.

but the percentage to hit something is a way of expressing dodging, killing things is hard, because they will probably dodge your attack, but in games they probably will not add the dodging animation therefore it only stays as a percentage of hitting something.

It sounds like a lot of work with not too much benefit. I have no problem with the way things are, but that's just my opinion.

well i just think that it's a bit boring to just swing your sword 20 times until someone dies, i would like to think about the way i approach melee combat, but that's just me.