Mickey said this needed a new topic, so lets start with what I posted in the other thread:
On the subject of armor, it does take knowledge to understand how to attach separate pieces; otherwise you'll have a shoulder-guard attached to a shoulder-guard. Better armor has more parts, for increased maneuverability with the protection, or more layers of protection without a loss of maneuverability.
lol thats something that could change in game also...a bulky plate armor could reduce attack/movement speed, while something easier to use(leather?) wouldn't.
this could add a new depth to the game if each type of armor had an akwardness value, and could even give a reason for more variety in armor types, ie:
steel chain -50 run +0.75 attack speed
steel scale -50 run +1.0 attack speed
steel plate -50 run +1.5 attack speed
articulated steel plate -50 run +0.5 attack speed
studded leather +0.05 attack speed
double leather/lamelar +0.2 attack speed
penalty to run based on weight of armor, so same metal same run penalty. penalty on attack speed based on design of armor, easier it is to move around the less it bothers you during an attack. heavier metals protect more but cause you to run slower, while the style of the armor affects how well you can swing your weapon...
you could also add more armor slots, meaning instead of just using 1 big main piece of armor a person could use a cuirass or hauberk to cover the torso, pauldrons to protect the shoulders, bracers to cover the arms, and guantlets to protect the hands. the more stuff you have the more protected you are, but its a trade off against movement and attack speed.
to get around having attack speeds too slow you could have higher skill increasing attack speeds, maybe get a .2 every 10 skill levels(based on type of weapon of course daggers would be fastest, clubs/hammers slowest). this way it also adds more to pvp, it won't just be who has what skill, but how they actually use that skill...to cover defenses or to go all out beserker style.
I never use armor(I walk around naked most of the time) so seeing some guy in full steel/magma/damon plate armor go zooming past me always makes me chuckle a bit...
@Mongo sorry to segway your topic it just sort of hit me from what Toko said
basicly what I'm proposing are more armor slots, but a penalty to speed for using more armor. the slots would be:
replace chest slot with torso, shoulders, upper-arms, lower-arms, and hands
replace legs slot with waist, groin, thighs, lower-leg, and feet
replace helmet spot with face, neck, and head
you don't have to fill each slot, but based on what you put in each slot you'll change the amount of damage you receive from attacks(down to 0 if you have awesome armor) but in return for the great armor you'd be slowed down when running and attack slower(shouldn't even be a problem past 300 run
). this could work along with Mickey's idea to add different types of equipment also, if you can get copper guantlets with a bonus that makes them as strong as iron and iron gives a larger penalty to run you would still use the copper...
most of that last sentence was rambling, so add your thoughts now