To my knowledge there are indeed ranked dragons that are distinguished by colour. I'm not sure if the model itself would change slightly depending on the type or rank. I think they vary a little but I'm not certain of it.
Well first of it being a game kind of hinders the immersion, there are so many factors that break it. Secondly, there could also be a mod to fix that as well as some other first person issues the game has. The 3rd person death blows for example.
Well as an alternative you could shout into the sky and summon him to defeat your enemies. I think your wife and especially your son would deem that more appropriate. That and the image is just so much more awesome in my head. =)
Even if it's more expensive to make the armour your self, I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed that crafted armour can be twice as good. With that said, I'm sure there will be of plenty of mods to fix/change/add to the system.
While I agree that it kind of sucks that Skyrim will be steam only. Steam is great and I love it to death. I pre-ordered Skyrim on steam because preloads are awesome. I would much rather have the physical copy of the game without steam at all. But at least it's not bound to a service like Origin. =P
I'm going to play with mouse/keyboard but I'll try it out with a 360 controller for a bit so I don't completely kill my wrists during my long weekend with the game. =D
I've just built a new computer with a 560 ti last night. I have the game pre-ordered and I've made sure to have no plans other than Skyrim for that long weekend. I know what race/class im going to make. All that's left for me to do now is get 4 days worth of snacks and I'm good to go!
Perhaps this new Skyrim Umbra will look even more awesome? Maybe even a better effect on it as well since they overhauled magical effects. This can only be a good thing.