My idea for improving the Elder Scrolls' melee combat system is that the entire staff need to spend two weeks playing War of the Roses or War of the Vikings so they can learn the combat system in and out. I think that TES would benefit from studying a combat system with multiple angles of attack such as left hand strike, right hand strike, overhand chop and thrust.
They also should study the way, in War of the Roses, different types of armor are more or less effective against different types of damage. For example, Hard armor like Plate is very effective against slashing and piercing attacks like sword blows and arrow strikes but blunt attacks from maces and the like actually do MORE damage to someone in hard armor than someone in soft armor. Likewise soft armor is far more effective against blunt attacks but less so against sword blows. You could even extend this to the magic system, so for example a suit of leather armor provides bonus protection against electrical attacks (leather is non-conductive) but fire spells can actually cause it to catch fire and burn.
EDIT: One more thing, Bethesda. ADD FREAKING SPEARS. The Spear has been the workhorse weapon of virtually every army in history right up until the widespread application of gunpowder. Yet no-one anywhere in Tamriel uses a spear. How hard could it possibly be to code a spear into your games?
They also should study the way, in War of the Roses, different types of armor are more or less effective against different types of damage. For example, Hard armor like Plate is very effective against slashing and piercing attacks like sword blows and arrow strikes but blunt attacks from maces and the like actually do MORE damage to someone in hard armor than someone in soft armor. Likewise soft armor is far more effective against blunt attacks but less so against sword blows. You could even extend this to the magic system, so for example a suit of leather armor provides bonus protection against electrical attacks (leather is non-conductive) but fire spells can actually cause it to catch fire and burn.
EDIT: One more thing, Bethesda. ADD FREAKING SPEARS. The Spear has been the workhorse weapon of virtually every army in history right up until the widespread application of gunpowder. Yet no-one anywhere in Tamriel uses a spear. How hard could it possibly be to code a spear into your games?