Personally, I'd like to be able to choose my starting weapon - as you would be able to in life - but that's hardly a big priority in an alpha.

I totally agree with that. But if it will be random, the least it can be is random in a way that doesn't take away from player choices.

I'd like to see a new question system, similar to the one that was added to ADoM. Only, rather than just influencing starting stats, it should impact everything, including starting weapon skills (and weapon itself), etc.

That way, you can influence your starting weapon, but you don't just pick it.

You are a mountain dwarf, man! You have been raised in the deep shafts of, er, Mountaindwarftown. And every citizen of Mountaidwarftown is expected to fight with a two-handed axe or maul, as all honest dwarves do! The fact that you have spent your teen years secretly training with one-handed weapons in that secret tunnel where no one could see you doesn't mean that you would be able to, you know, take those weapons out of town, in front of your family and friends that were giving you a moving goodbye. You had to act like a good dwarf to them. Only now that you're a solitary adventurer out in the wild, you can definitely renounce your roots and use undwarvish weapons.

Well naturally, no dwarf would ever use a spear or a sword in front of their family. But they should be able to choose between 1H/2H axe/mace ;-)

indeed, if I wanted to wield a battleaxe in both hands and be a ferocious berserker, I should be able to. After all, I'm an adventurer anyways, I don't fit the conventional rules in the first place. ;)

Actually it would be too difficult to take all combinations of race, profession and skill choices into account to provide meaningful results.

Suggestion - when you implement talents, make the various weapon-talents good (for example - in addition to other bonuses, they could increase the rate at which you accumulate Marks. That'd be a pretty big deal), and also have them override your weapon, which would otherwise be some fixed default for your class and race. That'd be few enough possibilities that it'd be manageable, yeah?