No, that's just some weird gamer consensus along with some history channel "specialists" who can't understand how to add 1 with 1. Historically arrows were used to kill, what some of the most educated into ancient warfare say is that for the most part, archers would mingle with the infantry and shoot at mid-range... Long range would be ineffective, bows only started being used at "arch" group shots with longbows in later periods. Also, the armor to stop arrows depend on material of the armor, material and shape of the arrow tip and the force of the bow.
There's too much into it, and I'm lacking the patience to give a class about the subject, I've researched it long time ago out of curiosity, but you are falling into misconception there.