In classic, we are presented with a classic bow. It is a useful tool and adds, in my opinion, more dynamic combat the in player killing.
I am a strong believer in NO Pay to win or unfair advantages.
However, games such as call of duty, and even the recent halo, have perks that give a player customization to make them more "unique" and feel more as if they are playing their own person instead of a set person.
Imagine the bow, a simple device, to be tweaked into a few different similar types. No drastic changes, but bows that alter operation slightly to give players a sence of combat customization.
Bow: Average, standard bow.
Rate of fire: Medium
Arrow travel speed: Medium
ShortBow: Bow aimed for close combat use.
Rate of fire: Fast
Arrow travel speed: Slow
LongBow: Bow aimed for long distance combat.
Rate of fire: Slow
Arrow travel speed: Fast
Crossbow: Bow aimed for firing on the go.
Rate of fire: Slow
Arrow travel speed: Medium
Bonus: Can be fired while walking or on horseback. Does not interfere with player movement.
These would be standard bows that would be sold for reasonable prices in a place such as MoD or Yorktown, as they both represent war.
There should optionally also be novelty special bows, harder to earn, and considered somewhat rare. Graal, could sell them for expensive if they wish to although i discourage that. They still aren't offering much advantage, just different strategies. They would have to remain equal in power with the regular bows. Imagine-
CombustionBow: Bow with combustible coated arrows.
Rate of fire: Slow
Arrow travel speed: Medium
Bonus: Arrows that catch on fire through explosions have larger blast radius', or the explosion lingers longer.
IceBow Bow with magical freezing arrows.
Rate of fire: Very Slow
Arrow Travel speed: Slow
Bonus: Arrows that hit opponents cause damage and freeze the target in place, identical to snowball freezes.
HealingBow: Bow with magical healing properties.
Rate of fire: Slow
Arrow Travel speed: Slow
Bonus: Arrows will heal whoever they strike by 1 heart. Friend or Foe.
HeavyBow: Bow with a powerful blow and piercing arrows.
Rate of fire: Extreemly slow
Arrow Travel speed: Fast
Bonus: Arrows are not affected by shields.
Thats all i got. I thought of some more but deemed them unworthy or unfair and deleted them. I am sorry for not adding pictures as i was planning on roughly editing bow designs to make this look more official and professional. i however have switched to a mac and haven't even played around with graphic software yet. Please, add more ideas if you wish or tell me whats good or bad about this whole concept. Please dont tell me this is for another server or such, thats not the RPG idea im looking for but for a few perks that can differentiate players in combat. Such as guilds taking forts, i can imagine people trying to become symbolized by their bow or using them in conjunction for strategy. (aka longbow and combustion bow for support, shortbows and crossbows for assault. Healing bow and ice bow for defense.