I've been pondering this for quite a while. It's a strange thing. How would you make a game, especially an RPG, that has realistically dangerous combat but not frustrate the players or bore them without giving very much of it? I also agree that combat should be scaled down quite a bit. When I envision a game like that, it seems like something that wouldn't catch on with most people. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a little disappointing.
I have no interest in appealing to people who wouldn't enjoy that sort of thing.
But I would make combat a much more elaborate system - sort of like the systems in Mount and Blade or the ancient Die by the Sword - and expand upon them. I want combat to be a dance, where making a hit actually connect and do damage something of a rarity.
So, against the very best enemies - it could potentially take several minutes of dancing around, trying to land blows.
It wouldn't be anymore frustrating than a game like Dark Souls - where there's a significant barrier of entry, but which plays entirely fair.
As I said, combat would be rare - and it would be something you could avoid in most cases.
But it would also be possible to kill people in one shot with an arrow if you're a skilled archer. Since enemies could have bows as well, it wouldn't do to make you fight 20 guys at once. Most fights would be against very few enemies at a time.
If the content of the game was strong (which is everything, really) - then the player would WANT to invest in learning how to fight well - and it would actually mean something if you were good at it. It wouldn't be something everyone could easily do - and that's a good thing, in my book.
That said, I want power progression - and at the end of the game, I would want gear and magic to be so powerful that "normal" combat would be all but gone.
I just don't like endless filler combat where you're not threatened. I'd LOVE to feel true tension when going up against even a single enemy at the beginning of the game.
I also think there's something to be said for permanent wounds. As in, I want to have scars be visible - and I would actually want it to be possible to play with only one arm - in case you lost one in combat. It would make for a truly interesting roleplaying experience - which is often the smallest priority in modern RPGs.
Obviously, the kind of game I'm talking about is not an AAA mainstream game. I hope that's understood. It would be for an exclusive audience interested in investing themselves for appropriate rewards.
Combat wouldn't be the most novel part of the game - as I'm much more about immersion and exploration. Again, content is everything - and if you have a powerful story and a great world full of detail and interesting NPCs, people will go a very long way to adapt themselves to the game.
Systems can be perfect - but if the content is subpar or middling, it won't help much. However, if you have strong content - systems don't have to be all that great.
Naturally, I want everything to be strong - and combat should be avoidable through stealth/diplomacy/guile - which again is about roleplaying. I want people to be able to play thieves and merchants and be successful as well.
It seems most developers have forgotten about those things, and even games like TES which allow thievery and bartering - you can't really get around fighting things in most cases.