The issue with building a system revolving on different archer types, is that for balancing, it would be necessary to give it to most civs. No matter what historical justifications one might find. Personally, I feel like the current system, with archers, slingers, and javelineers, isn't being used to its full potential.

I think because the bow was smaller, the draw string was tighter so it would create more force but didnt have the distance. I could totally be wrong and am willing to make any changes once I come across new evidence.

Well, no. A javelin throws javelins; a shortbow unit uses a bow and arrows.  And my guess is a Javelineer would be slower than a shortbow archer bc higher carry weight??   Answering to both of you here: Nah I didn't even check this. I was just following the logic of what Thalatta said here: But probably misunderstood the logic and he was talking about the arrow deal more/less damage depending target distance... To be honest, I’m not very interested in realism or historical accuracy, and I don’t know much about it so I leave that to those who do.  I’m more interested in gameplay. And I’d be willing to sacrifice historical accuracy to prioritize gameplay, variety, and so on. But I’m not trying to argue anything (just to be clear). In general, archers feel quite weak in the latest alphas and also lack variety, with the exception of some champion archers. So I guess my "proposal" would be that A shortbow could have higher dexterity and a faster attack speed (with less damage, based on what I now understand), while a longbow could be slower but have greater range and deal more damage.

Wouldn't that simply be a Javelineer? Also, why should a shortbow deal more damage from a realism perspective?

If I have understood that correctly, and to simplify it a bit, in addition to Resistances that reduces the damage by a certain percentage there is also a block / dodge mechanic that completely negates the damage of a melee attack / projectile. Would certainly give you more options to make one unit type effective against certain other units types. E.g. cavalry has high dodge but low block to make them effective against ranged units but "bad" against melee units.