My problem with heavy armor.

[Sjur]

Normans were not vikings

 

I beg to differ.

 

Note the family tree where it shows he was also the forefather of William the Conqueror.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Sjur

[Kazakovich]

I do like the armour-sets in Skyrim, mostly because they have a modicum of restraint. Like something you'd actually wear for a fight. But I am a bit disappointed that there were no sort of tailoring-system, playing as a mage.

[TobyTravis]

Normans were not vikings

 

I beg to differ.

 

Note the family tree where it shows he was also the forefather of William the Conqueror.

 

Yes, but with that logic, I as an Englishman, would be viking.

Cultures change, develop and grow, just because a culture was born of one thing doesn't mean it should stay labeled as it, the Normans and Vikings had two very different cultures and beliefs.

[Lachdonin]

I love all the armour sets in Skyrim. Particularly Ebony, which reminds me of the Admantium in Morrowind...

 

That said, there is something to take into account with fantasy games. And that is style. If i'm out slaying Dragons, putting the beat down on Trolls and whooing damsel's in distress, i want to look good doing it. Not just practical, but good. That means being bad ass, with spikes, capes, over the top iron boxes and the like. You're already applying a suspencion of realism with the simple fact that you're fighting Dragons, if you can't extend that to the armour you may be better suited to finding a more grounded game genre.

 

 

PS; you are an englishman. Everyone is. Because English is the natural language of the human species :P

Edited November 29, 2011 by Lachdonin

[Khorak]

Normans and Saxons were not vikings, not even close.

 

Then your research has been extraordinarily poor, or literal to the point of worthlessness. The cultural stem, especially in the terms being spoken about, military, is practically the same.

 

Normans were basically northern Franks, while Saxons originated in inland Germany.

 

Normandy existed as a region seperate from the rest of France, norminally a Duchy of the French crown but in reality paying absolutely no attention to it at all. This situation came about because Normandy was invaded, conquered and colonised by 'viking' invaders in 911, who didn't subsequently burn Paris to the ground because the French king decided it was a fantastic idea to let them have the whole territory and pretend they paid fealty to him, instead of hacking his face off and wearing it as a hat.

 

No-one contemporary referred to the Normans as anything but their own people, because they knew far better than that. They were politically and culturally independent from the rest of France, they were called upon specifically by the Pope, and they did their various deeds through their judicious and incredibly eager use of their 'viking' background.

 

Vikings were, by definition, natives of modern day Norway and Sweden, with a small overlap into Finland and Denmark.

 

Vikings were, by definition, an expedition. It is a catchall term in current modern usage to represent the particular cultural subset they came from. In military terms the Normans and Saxons were operating on the same 'viking' cultural basis until the Normans had morphed into the more cavalry heavy force they eventually took England with, but were regardless still maintaining the same basis of heavily armoured bastards as the core of the army.

 

They had were almost exclusively coastal (eliminating the Saxons), and tended to wear furs/leather with a spattering of chainmail as they could afford it.

 

Again, 'viking' is an often used catchall term, one which you yourself haven't actually properly defined regardless. Anyone shoving their boat out and sailing somewhere from 'that sticky bit north of Europe' is basically a viking expedition, with endless variety in intent and funding. In terms of the culture however, the actual armies were constructed around a solid core of chainmail clad heavy infantry; this is what is relevant to the situation in Skyrim. Wildhelm is launching a direct war against her immediate neighbours, with nothing in evidence of their real life inspiration.

 

I also complained about the Imperial Legion itself, which has also strangely morphed into an entirely light infantry force whose ranks are comprised of practically nothing but archers....the auxiliaries have become the army for some reason, when we should have been fighting a majority of legionnaires with the heavy Imperial armour and shields. The end result should have been Legionaries and the classic image of 'vikings' (an image which is actually of the professional soldiers of the viking era) beating the hell out of each other, not what looks like endless ranks of skirmishers having scuffles.

 

You can feel free to complain about the linguistic evolution of the word 'viking' all you want, but beyond that, you're just plain wrong in relation to what I'm talking about. Viking era armies from this cultural group were defined by their core of heavy infantry, eventually changing in the case of the Normans to...heavy cavalry. And by changing we mean 'exactly the same form of heavily chainmail armoured man, but now with a horse to ride in battle instead of strategically, and spears to hurl'. The basic nature of the Nords in Skyrim is at serious odds with their real life inspiration, and frankly, is pretty well at odds even with their background in Elder Scrolls; they have never been characterised as light armour users until now. They have not, in fact, even been characterised as particular two handed weapon users, since their bonuses have consistently been for forms of axe and blunt weapon (or just practically everything) and heavier armours. Both Morrowind and Oblivion set the Orcs and Nords up as the premier users of heavier armour; now the Nords have inexplicably changed into light armoured two handed weapon users. Rather like the Legion really.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Khorak

[Evilllamas]

I'm a bit anoyed with the armour in general in Skyrim...

Should be several more sets for each type...

Bonemeal, Mithril, Plate Glass, Ebony mail (I know there's that one cuiras), Amber, and all sorts of other stuff....

 

And dragon weapons.

Where are they?!

[WarKirby3333]

i like dwarven armor best. one of my characters has a companion dressed in a full suit of it (except with an orcish helm) because it looks so huge and spacemarine-esque.

[sirxazor]

I like Ebony armor the best, except the helmet... but that can be said for any helmet.

[frapfap]

bloody spiked armor?

 

ever hear of a "Battlerager"?

 

heres a excerpt from one of my favorite books ><

 

Thibbledorf Pwent is a dwarven Battlerager (the Most Wild Battlerager as he has called himself), a type of warrior characterized by their unorthodox style of fighting. He wears armor with many incredibly sharp ridges and set-at his knuckles, elbows, knees, and toes-with hooked spikes, which he uses to tear his opponents to shreds by wrapping them in a bear hug and flailing about until his victim goes limp, often continuing to mutilate corpses of his victims out of sheer blood lust. He is also credited with the formation of the Gutbuster Brigade, a battalion of dwarven Battle Ragers similar to Pwent and named after a favorite drink of Pwent.