So make any armor over 10 weight reduce effective melee wpf by 50-75%. This will make it as ineffective as an archer wearing heavier armor and force more melee into wearing lighter armor, meaning they will make tons of gold. Problem solved
Thank you for posting this.
This is exactly the issue. Archers sit in the back and don't have to fear melee early in the rounds like other melee have to. Meaning you are able to be effective for the first part/end of the round with low armor, as you're not coming into contact with any enemies aside from ranged ones and the only place where armor affects you here, is as a wpf reduction. Melee can't fight unless they're in melee, they can't be effective unless they're sticking their neck out there. So to be effective for the same duration as a ranged player would be, they'd have to go into melee starting from the beginning of the round and hack their way to the end. To do this even remotely well, consistently, you can't be wearing light armor. There is a direct limitation on the effectiveness of a melee player in battle/siege and it's called armor.
I'd almost go so far as to say that plate is a must for any melee that isn't an athletics build and is serious about maximizing their effectiveness in battle, but I know no one wants to hear about plate when it could seem like I'm suggesting to remove upkeep completely(I'm not). How often do melee wear light armor in scrims or tournaments if they don't have to? There's a reason for this and it's not aesthetics.
Kesh: Personally, I'm not really suggesting any specific changes need to be done. What I am doing, is trying to help draw light on the underlying reasons that upkeep for different classes, is currently the way it is. It's a problem that should be looked into. I've seen a increase in naked melee since the market came out and it sucks when they're on your team because they're essentially useless. The current upkeep system rewards naked melee more than the ones doing damage and getting kills.