Ok, let's talk a bit about the progress with bows and archery.
Crafting
There will be three main categories of bows: Short, Long and Asymmetrical. When crafting a bow, you must first decide on an overall shape from one of these categories. A Short bow doesn't require much strength and can be used on horseback, but has a relatively short range. A Longbow can't be used when mounted, requires a great deal of strength but also has a long range. An Asymmetrical bow has great range and can be used when mounted, but is much harder to aim with.
Next, you must decide if it's going to be a Self bow (made from one material) or a Composite bow (made in layers).
Then it's time to decide the shape of the limbs. A Composite bow may have limbs that are Decurve- Flat- or Recurve-shaped. A Self bow may not use Recurve-shaped limbs though (due to the extreme strain that would be put on the one material). Decurve, Flat or Recurve limbs will determine how much strain is put on the bow (durability), but also have an impact on the required draw strength (strength requirement, focus time), the range and the damage of the bow.
Each of the above choices will contribute to the characteristics of the final bow.
Finally, and this is of course a very important step, it's time to choose the material (or materials) for the bow. The materials used will greatly affect the final outcome. A Self bow is made out of only one material and is rather quick and easy to craft. A Composite bow consists of two layers, the back (outside) and the belly (facing the archer) of the bow, and you also decide the ratio between these two materials. Materials also behave differently depending on if they are used for the belly or the back.
Shooting
It's still really too early to tell, but right now (Combat Beta) shooting is done in arcs, with traces and simulated "real" trajectories. We're really doing our best to keep it for release, but we have to run some more tests to see how expensive it really is.
That said, if we can keep it, needless to say it's going to have a large impact on archery. Although not very apparent when shooting at close-distance objects, it really makes a huge difference when shooting mid- to long-range. Also, right now it's actually possible to shoot the arrow straight up and hit yourself on it's way down(!), if you're very "lucky"
The damage from an arrow will decrease according to velocity or range, meaning hitting a nearby target will do more damage than hitting one at a greater distance.