Shields will break much faster without the 40-60% damage reduction, but I understand what you're getting at.
Here are the current problems with shields and shield skill as I see it:
1) There's basically no reason for players, specifically 1hers to get 1-3 points in shield skill.
2) Shield skill at 7-11 points is mostly never done.
3) Shield force field leaves a lot to be desired.
4) Current shield's speed stat leaves most shield slow to block
5) Current levels of shield weight and thus the movement impediment that follows because this, is too great.
6) All players should be able to pick up any shield but at the cost of massively reduced effectiveness, and possibly movement penalties when wielding the shield.
7) The Damage Reduction formula is absurd.
What I'd like to see is something along the lines of the following formula for DR.
(8*shield skill)*(1-(.025*shield skill))+20
Shields with higher amounts of resistance would need toned down slightly and shield hp cut by about 10% across the board, but mostly everything should be fine as is I think. It doesn't do everything that I want to do with shields, personally, but it would put shield skill closer to where it needs to be when considering per point effectiveness. Next, I think
most lower shield skill requirement shields should get a massive buff that comes at the cost of increased weight(meaning you'd still have lighter alternatives). This will allow players to choose to have 1-3 points in shield skill, for mediocre effectiveness(as opposed to what is now very little) while at the same time, increasing the effectiveness that medium to medium high levels of shield skill receive.
Again, this isn't everything I'd like to see, but having the DR formula at a stable spot that makes sense, will set the stage for future changes.
Edit: This whole thread of course assumes no benefits from
directional blocking with a shield are implemented.