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[Sergius]

consuming potions

Anyone else getting fed up with those?

They're a bit low in carbs.

[Sordid]

Because a sword is larger and less precise than a dagger that can cut windpipes and such.

Well that's just the point, by being larger it can stick deeper into the enemy. What you're saying would make sense only for armored opponents, in which case a dagger would indeed be able to exploit weak spots in their defence better than a sword. But it sounds like this damage bonus applies globally, regardless of what you're fighting.

[Sergius]

Well in theory, any big enough gash would cause a person to bleed out and die, hit points be damned. Anything that does anything to hit points is kinda gamey by nature. I'm not sure how real combat worked in the old ages, but I assume those that got their limbs chopped off died, unless they got really lucky, and those who lived generally managed to avoid being slashed across their unprotected chest by either a sword, knife or axe. Except for very minor superficial cuts.

That certain weapons do "bleeding damage", and others don't... well, don't know what to say. Are hit points blood? I don't even know what it's supposed to represent. A lot of games make some weapons have a chance to stun, other weapons ignore armor, others are more "bloody", or more "criticaley"... it's gamey alright. Is that bad?

[Sordid]

Well not necessarily. I think it's good that different weapons have different effects, it just seems kinda arbitrary that axes would make people bleed but swords wouldn't. If anything, I'd say the axe with all its weight concentrated in its head would be the weapon to punch through defences and cause critical hits, and the broad, cutting blade of the sword would cause large, heavily bleeding gashes. But you're right, anything with hitpoints is inherehtly gamey. Which I guess is kinda okay, give that it's a game.

[HLBeta]

Are hit points blood? I don't even know what it's supposed to represent.

Most of the better games I've seen explain hit points as a measure of combined luck, skill and fortitude. Instead of automatically representing an injury it indicates that the subject is suffering from battle fatigue or minor wounds. In such systems, hitting 0hp generally represents the subject being too battered to keep their defenses up and finally suffering a debilitating or lethal injury.

Unfortunately this can't really be applied to TES thanks to the fact that every blow appears to be an eviscerating gut slice and every arrow buries itself fairly deep in the target. Running around with 6 shafts sticking out of your head and 80%+ hp is just plain silly.

[Cheese]

the longer you keep the bow drawn the more powerful your shot will be

To what point and purpose? Why would I ever want to do less damage than the maximum I can?

If you have the bow drawn for less time, you'll be shooting arrows faster, with the disadvantage of not stretching the bow as far and the shot not being as powerful, so doing less damage. Basically a choice between speed or power. Also handy when you need to turn around and run when mid-draw.

[Sordid]

the longer you keep the bow drawn the more powerful your shot will be

To what point and purpose? Why would I ever want to do less damage than the maximum I can?

If you have the bow drawn for less time, you'll be shooting arrows faster, with the disadvantage of not stretching the bow as far and the shot not being as powerful, so doing less damage. Basically a choice between speed or power. Also handy when you need to turn around and run when mid-draw.

So it's basically about finding the right rate of fire to maximize DPS (damage per second)? That's just silly.

[Cheese]

No, it's situational. Range may also be a factor, longer draws may shoot the arrow further. If you have a big slow beasty that's at a distance from you and you have to shoot at it, you draw for a long time and then release to do lots of damage. If there are lots of little creatures you fire lots of arrows with short draw.If there's an enemy nearby, you release as many as possible by using short draws to damage them a bit and knock them off footing/balance, then pull out a sword and go in to attack, or run, perhaps even risk a long draw to knock them around a bit more.

[Soadreqm]

Well that's just the point, by being larger it can stick deeper into the enemy.

Presumably the daggers are long enough to reach the vital organs through the clothing, skin and bones. If you can cut someone's aorta, why would you want to stab any deeper?

As for the bows, wasn't that in Morrowind? Drawing the bow takes time, depending on your bow skill, and drawing it more results in more damage. I think. I never used bows all that much.

As for the relation between hit points and damage, it's hilarious.

[Sordid]

So what if you're up against something like, say, a minotaur? Those things are twice as tall as you, so slicing the windpipe is out simply because you can't reach. Plus I'm guessing something big like that has pretty thick skin. I'm betting a regular dagger wouldn't be able to get through the thick hide, the layer of fat underneath it, and the muscles under that and still reach vital organs. Or this fat fuck? No way you're reaching his vital organs with just a dagger. Or how about a storm atronach? The thing's nothing more than a pile of levitating stones, it doesn't have vital organs.

[Tellemurius]

you really want a game with that much realism, play DF.

[Sordid]

Right, because in reality living bronze statues typically try to murder midgets using socks. Got it.

[Soadreqm]

So what if you're up against something like, say, a minotaur? Those things are twice as tall as you, so slicing the windpipe is out simply because you can't reach. Plus I'm guessing something big like that has pretty thick skin. I'm betting a regular dagger wouldn't be able to get through the thick hide, the layer of fat underneath it, and the muscles under that and still reach vital organs. Or this fat fuck? No way you're reaching his vital organs with just a dagger. Or how about a storm atronach? The thing's nothing more than a pile of levitating stones, it doesn't have vital organs.

In all those cases, I suppose backstabbing wouldn't work at all.

Well, it still might, depending on what the good folks at Bethesda do with it. I think Baldur's Gate had constructs and the undead immune to backstabs.

[G-Flex]

Right, because in reality living bronze statues typically try to murder midgets using socks. Got it.

I don't think you understood what he meant by "realism", and I'm pretty sure socks being deadly isn't an intended feature of DF.

[Frumple]

S'pretty easy to kill people with socks. Can think of at least two immediate ones before putting things in the sock comes around.

Flailing people to death with empty socks, though, that takes a lot of effort. Less so if the sock's made out of something interesting, but generally quite difficult.

Then again, the colossus is probably swinging really hard. If the sock didn't come apart from the force, I'd imagine it'd kill someone.

Me, I'm pretty sure anything being deadly is an intended feature of DF. Otherwise, why misc. object mastery

P.S. Skyrim would seriously benefit from Chair-fu and the many related schools of combat.