Why are xbows so puny? (in General)

If I think about the actual device, it should pump at least as much power as a compound bow. Now I can't complain about my axbow or the exbow, as it trades off abilities for power, but the hxbow? Why doesn't it have the same base damage as the ELB?

Because the ELB is all elven and stuff....duh.... :O)

I have always wondered this myself, however, xbows can fire in melee also, bows do not. So, if you had them do the same damage as bows and yet still allow them to fire in melee, you would have a serious overpowered item on your hands.

well xbows also don't fire every round in melee, neither do bows, so in CB they are still underpowered if you look at them VS bows.

Let's get a dwarven hxbow going - base 6 or even 7 to trump the ELB.

No, Dwarves use axes. Make it a Gnomish Crossbow ;)

Gnomes use firearms with gunpowder instead of crossbows.

Gnomes are like me. They like cake...=q*

however, bolts do have higher base damage.,^_^

Realistically, heavy crossbows should be slower than Long bows, not sure about range or power (I've got the nagging feeling that English Longbows had more range and power than heavy crossbows, but required far more training...).

Maybe, make Archery a pre requisit for even using any type of Bow, make crossbows fire every other round (including ranged) but bump their damage.

bolts perhaps have higher base damage, but the damage difference from ammunition is not that big, especially when looking at 10x2 or 8x2 ammo.

So make bolts base 20. ;)