In Oblivion, we had two armor choices. Heavy or light. The problem with this is that we have to take one of two polar opposites if we want armor. We either got slow movement and tons of damage reduction, or great movement and fairly low damage reduction. This is a problem from both a gameplay and role playing perspective. It is poor gameplay design because a middle ground should be available. And it is bad from a role ploying perspective because it is somewhat limiting on customization.

When Skyrim was announced, I was hoping we could get some new "sizes" of armor including medium ( I was hoping for the DA:O system of light, medium, heavy, and massive). We sadly didn't get that, and the problems from Oblivion still exist.

Does anyone else think Skyrim should have had medium (or other sized) armor? Discuss!

I believe meduim armor would have added some tactical diversity.

No, it is one of the few meaningful choices one has to make in the game. Besides you get a few light armor perks and smith it a bit, you really don't need more protection then that.

The good thing is with certain perks/stones the movement/weight penalty is negated. Also, thanks to Smithing most armor can block all the damage possible. Now its all about aesthetics.

This

psst... There are three armor classes :

Cloth (Light)

Light Armor (Medium)

Heavy Armor (Heavy)

Except Cloth gives zero armor. >>;

Actually, I'd say those things render the choice fairly meaning-less.

Light armor is supposed to?

Nah, seriously. If anything there is no "Light" Armor. Light armor in Skyrim IS Medium, soz.

So if clothes are light armor, light armor is medium armor, and heavy armor is heavy armor, then what was medium armor from Morrowind?

I would have to agree.

Take Light Armor Perks, Smith, and Enchant... doesn't really matter that you picked Light Armor over Heavy Armor anymore.

I hadn't even considered that. The perks make the choice somewhat meaningless. A reworking of the perks system is also important.

I mean my friend has a Dark Elf in full Daedric Armor that weighs nothing and doesn't impede his ability to sneak. Why ever pick Light Armor if you can do things like that?

Thinking about it, there may be one difference between light and heavy that perks don't remove. Heavy armor still gets a sneak penalty.

Unless you enchant your boots with a Muffle enchantment.

That's true, but it does take up an enchant slot that could have been used for something else. Still, though, it does negate the significance of heavy armor.

My sword and board character is in light armor. She's wearing scaled armor and is quite the beast.

Thinking on it now... it seems strange that enchanting is limited to two slots only per item.

Games such as Torchlight and Diablo allow for loads of enchanting on items as long as you can afford it or successfully do it.

Unless heavy armor affects movement speed, that's about right.

To answer the point of this thread, no. Skyrim does not need medium armor, and bethesda already told us all why: it's a 3rd wheel. Heavy and light armor are supposed to have completely different playstyles(in theory), and medium armor just muddles up the difference between the two
If they really need to add armor, add more variety to each tier in the other two armor types, and spend the time that would go into perks for med. armor on better things

I've heard that justification before, but I don't believe it is true. Dragon Age: Origins had 4 different armor types and it didn't feel muddled at all. Each type had a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages.

But because practice disproves theory, there is zero difference between Heavy and Light Armor if you take the correct perks, enchantments, etc.

Could you elaborate? I'm not familiar with those differences.

As was said earlier, in TES games, the difference between light and heavy is movement/stealth vs protection. The probably with medium is that it sits in the middle and doesn't do either very well. That does make it kind of pointless.

There is some difference, but once you level enough, 1000 DR and 1100 doesn't mean so much. It's definitely not worth its own perk tree.
Unarmored might be worthwhile though.

I would have liked it as something that is in between light and heavy armor. Massive would be a good choice OP, having more options is never a bad thing, it adds more player choice and its better for roleplaying. It would probably be good for tactical diversity.

I've heard that one before, but like you I don't believe it's true. For one thing, DA:O and Skyrim aren't even remotely comparable as far as gameplay goes. you don't feel the difference in armor in Dragon Age to anywhere near the extent you do in Skyrim for one simple reason: one game lets you control your character from first person, while the other doesn't. Dragon age armor only affects your protection rating, your fatigue costs, and your aggro rating. Skyrim, on the other hand, affects your fatigue, armor rating and movement speed. The difference is, you actually can feel the difference between armor types as you play.
For another, to use that specific example, medium armor in DA:O had NOTHING special about it. it was just a mix between light and heavy armor.
and yes, I have played dragon age origins.
here's a summary
light armor: least protection, most fatigue, least aggro
medium: more protection than light but less than heavy, less fatigue and aggro than heavy but more than heavy
heavy: 2nd most protection, 2nd least fatigue, 2nd most aggro AND its penalty on archery can be negated
massive: most protection, least fatigue, most aggro

this...less choices isn't really a good thing in this type of game.