Okay I am giving archery a go with no crosshairs. I have a feeling I'll get bored before I even reach level 20 though but we'll see.
I'm a two handed player at heart.

I love archery, but think its overpowered wrt unrealistic capabilities. My iron arrows penetrate dwarven armor, and make a ton of damage. And since money isn't an issue and arrows have no weight, there is really no drawbacks from being an archer. I have no objections on being overpowered against leather and animals, but just like "destruction mages" relying on a single damage system that actually have a hard time, the archer should also be forced to pick his fights and run away from others. The archer can rely SOLELY on the bow, and that is wrong, given his ranged capabilities almost without penalties. He have some though; can't use Spellbreaker or ward spells while dealing damage. But fully armored enemies have been lacking, at least in my games, I would be perfectly happy if the bow had some limitations against these.

The same could be said about swords I guess, they are too effective against high yield armor making it unnecessary to pick those other 1H perks. Not according to my own play since I haven't tried them, but based on comments I've read here pointing out these balancing issues.

Easiest way to get something/someone to attack you by doing a sneak attack and not get any record for assault hehe

For me it's the thrill of a silent and distant neutralization that doesn't require gunpowder and a silencer. Also, who doesn't love the whistle of a flying arrow?

Its excellent for sneak characters. If there are multiple enemies within close proximity, it'd be a joke going in trying to assassinate one. I like taking them down with arrows. Sometimes I'll shoot an arrow and it will get their attention while I stay in hiding, then when they head back I go in for some assassinations.

For me archery is the most enjoyable when I'm playing a stealth character. Nothing like hiding in the shadows and picking off enemies one by one without ever being noticed. It's a very gratifying play style.

haha great post bud...got a kick out of reading it

I love archery, in real life, and in game( thats got a lot to do with it). It makes me feel like robin hood ( with my role, though the TG is a little less benevolent in this game), and my play style(sneak). Ive tried every build except pure mage(my next one), and I have to say, I love the bow the most, just like in oblivion.

Keep in mind, if you perk the destruction damage increase perks for the damage enchants, they are increased just like a destruction spell would be.

I for one like bows and am certainly no kid and don't even know of cod. (Other than in fish and chips).

as to is it fun? Well it could be a lot more fun if the devs gave it a bigger role in the games.

It wouldn't sell much but a game taking place in a world that had not discovered metal would be interesting to roleplay in with clubs, bows, slingshots and fists being the only weapons

It's a bit extreme to say people love archery because CoD. Archery has been in this game series long before Call of Duty and I have loved using it, if it suits the character build I create.

I've never been much of a fan using the bow. In Oblivion I mostly used swords. This time around I found myself using the bow more, so now I'm more attached to it. Anyway....

I got into playing archery in RPGs precisely because I svck at COD. I like the idea of a sniper type character, I just don't have the stick skills to pull it off. So when a game like Baldur's Gate makes it all stat-based and calculated... I jump at the chance.

From a roleplaying perspective, I just think stealthy thief/assasin characters, or forest rangers are fun to play. There's a lot more depth than the hit it, hit it, hit it with a warhammer til it's dead warrior classes.

Now, obviously Skyrim is no Baldur's Gate... there are certainly some stick skills involved, but it's nowhere near as bad as a typical FPS. The sneak element means you get a lot of time to line up many of your shots, and taking the slow-time perk in the archery tree really helps with aiming. So I have a lot of fun with it.

I love playing as a sneaky assassin because of that satisfying feel of sneaking up on an enemy and taking him out with a bow, it just makes me feel incredibly powerful.

Archery is amazing in this game, just the sound of the bow cracking when you pull the string back, just fantastic, and there is no better feeling than hitting a target over two hundred feet away that is running full sprint. Just fantastic.