I have a few issues with this game that make it a bit confusing at times...

1. How can you know what level someone is so you know to avoid them or fight them?

2. How do you know what advantages of armor are? Should I just naturally assume steel armor will protect me more than iron armor? And what about weapons?

3. Are heavy armors naturally better than light armors? If so, why is there a skill to help imporve leather armor if it's just obsolete?

well from wat ive seen, u cant find out wat lvl the others r anyway, so that rules out that question. And u can pick any armor u want, just be sure that all the stats that go into it r good and u'll be fine. E.g. it's best to have light armor when ur a theif, assassin, agent, etc. and heavy armor for say barbarians, knights, etc. whichever class u are is really wat tells u the kind of armor u should wear, check out the manual on classes, races, skills, etc. and compare them to ur characters stats. Hope that helps

First of all, very noobish questions.

Second of all, dont triple post, just because ur impatient when no one replies within an hour or two hours, people dont spend their life on forums. WE ARE NOT HERE FOR YOU IDIOT!

And to answer your questions:
1. everyone you see is your level.except some have a minimum and max level, so gaurds will always be higher level X until you are X level and they will level up with you until level Ywhen you become Y level.

2. the name of armor really doesnt mean anything, because what you got to look at is the stat right under the shield marker, it tells you how much armor you have, and to get mroe protection from a certain type of armor (light/heavy) you got to have a good skill level in it.

3. heavy armor is naturally more protective than light armor, assuming you have both in a equal skill level, start off light as a major skill and heavy not as one, and light will have significantly more armor effect, since you have no skill in heavy armor.Light armor is naturally less heavy, and heavy armor is naturally more protective, when using it think of your character class and how you are going to fight.

There is a book all about armor in the game (usually in a mage's guild). It shows the ranking of the different types of armor. Name does matter, the better the armor the less it degrades and you won't have to repair it as often.

Right, but that doesn't mean that heavier armor ALWAYS equals better defense. For instance: if you're naturally agile or fast, light armor will work better for your character--and the armor rating on light armor will consequently be higher for you than heavy armor. Not to mention, if light armor is your major stat, you'll never get it raised using heavy armor.

Also, the level of a person can't be decerned--but generally speaking, they're your level, as the guy two posts up said. Some characters have better equipment though, and that may play off your weaknesses, which makes them ultimately stronger than you. For instance, you probably wouldn't be able to finish the Seige of Kvatch level with only an iron dagger--it's attack strength just isn't high enough to do enough damage to the well-equipped Daedra inside there.

That being said, there are also characters with fixed/functional levels. Fixed levels meaning they are ALWAYS one strength, even after you've surpassed them, which means that they may be impossibly hard at the beginning of the game, but later you take them out with one swing. Then there are functional-leveled people (I think the construction set just labels them "leveled") in that they are always x levels higher than you, or possibly x levels lower, or their level is always equal to yours. Town guards, for instance, may always be 2 levels above you--so if you're level 6, they're level 8, thereby ALWAYS discouraging you to do something stupid.