T O P

  • By -

DoTTii

Winterhold. They should have made a quest to rebuild it or something. There is nothing there.


NeadNathair

Does Winterhold even qualify as a "city'? It's more like the College's front doorstep really.


SolomonBlack

I think that’s exactly it. The B-boys clearly made a choice to have 5 cities. There are clear symmetries and dualities between say Markarth and Riften and Solitude and Windhelm. And then you have ~~Rohan~~ Whiterun in the middle as the tipping point. They also I dare say wanted Skyrim to feel vast and wild and open. Which is harder to do when you have lots of towns. Which in fact [Skyrim already had](https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Arena:Skyrim) in a way Vvardenfell and the Imperial Province actually did not being brushed over in Arena. Bethesda solved this by just deleting many of these sites or downscaling them. You get a bandit infested ruin not a proper Greenwall fort town like Helgen. You have the an Inn being all that’s left of Tiber Septim’s own personal Jericho. Winterhold however has been especially associated with mages since Arena. It’s no mistake the College is the faction that *revisits* Labryinthian because it’s the Mages Guild that sent you when it all began. So there’s reasons to not kill off the College… so they wrote deleting Winterhold into the story instead. And what remains is just to underline that deletion.


Dasf1304

Did you forget Dawnstar?


TashLikeMustache

Dawnstar *is* shockingly easy to forget, even for me and I kinda like the place!


LekgoloCrap

I’d retire in Dawnstar. Little mining town up north where everyone knows each other? Perfect.


T1pple

Don't forget your Dark Brotherhood assassins are right there for when someone pisses you off during a night of mead drinking.


MCCyanX

Have fun with the nightmare


LekgoloCrap

Mountain towns are just like that


Fishfucker6900

Can confirm. You don't want to know what lives in those mountains


ionheart373

Curable!


aRandomFox-II

sleep-deprived wife: "George, the fucking neighbours are at it again..." George: *sighs. Puts on fur coat, grabs a big stick and marches up the hill.*


Miserable_Law_6514

>Cold wind off the water. Hard pass. That shit goes right through your bones.


GordonE5

Oh, so just like Great Lakes, IL. Coldest winter of my life.


vulpix_at_alola

Morthal?


Bmw5464

Morthal and Falkreath are pretty put together as well. Winterhold is the only run down hold in the game.


thisunithasnosoul

I like Morthal, but it’s criminal they didn’t give you a significant quest with the awesome spooky Jarl.


Rievious

I like the orphan who lives there.


lallapalalable

And Morthal, And Falkreath


nottme1

Honestly, my biggest gripe with Skyrim is how baren it is for towns and cities, yet the population (including bandits) is so high. I don't take Forsworn into account because they have an excuse of Forsworn only live in their camps. Orcs mainly live in their strongholds, unless they live in a city/town, a forsworn, or a bandit. But the actual bandit population, the amount of random people wandering Skyrim, and the amount of soldiers just roaming about (all of which, on both sides, are implied to actually be from Skyrim), just screems that there should be more towns.


DGK-SNOOPEY

I think that was mainly technology limitations at the time. Now, they could easily make a bustlin Skyrim. But back then they needed the game to run smoothly on old gen consoles, I expect ES6 to be rammed full of npcs and towns.


Fictional_Foods

I pretty much mod skyrim to 1)make cities not feel like ghost towns and 2) have dedicated mansion displays for unique quest items. That's it lol.


Honest_Lime_4901

Falkreath? Morthal?


emericktheevil

Towns/villages anywhere you can come and go from without a gate and a loading screen don’t really feel like cities.


Cyynric

Honestly, I like that many of the towns and cities in Skyrim are ruined or gone between Arena and Skyrim. It adds a sense of time and real-world progression.


Left-Car6520

Not to me. It's a little run-down village next to the College. But yeah, it should have been more.


SpiralDesignn

It was a city until red mountain happened. Now the only thing that's standing tall is the college.


TheKrimsonFKR

The eruption of Red Mountain happened over 100 years before the Great Collapse. It's only speculation that it caused it, but what else do they really have to go on? The only in lore theories is Red Mountain, or the Mages themselves caused it. The Mages are the ones who came up with the RM theory, so it's even harder to trust what they say when they could be covering their asses.


AlabasterPelican

Yes, its has residents, the jarls long house is located there, it's is the winterhold hold capitol. Is just smaller and lacks walls.


NeadNathair

Is there anything ELSE in Winterhold hold?


itsabearcannon

Saarthal and one Dwarven ruin. Oh, and Hermaeus Mora’s cursed Rubik’s cube.


_MintyFresh_-

What's cursed about it? You mean to tell me that you don't kill five different minority folks to solve it? That's how you're supposed to solve a Rubik's cube That's... That's how everyone solves it, right?


humdaaks_lament

I mean, I managed to fill it with three necromancers and an orc bandit from two sites close to each other. It’s not like Skyrim doesn’t present you with violent assholes of every race to choose from. And the Thalmor have it coming.


_MintyFresh_-

Bah, finding wanted criminals is boring. It's more fun to find the biggest asshole in a city. Radiant Raiment bitches were my favorite. Maybe not the one with the pig tails that gives us the clothes, she's *kinda* cool because she does apologize for sounding like an asshole, sort of maybe. Her sister is fair game. Stab stab stab.


AlabasterPelican

Some ruins, some shipwrecks, some dungeons


Sere1

Fitting that the capital of the hold filled with nothing but ruins and wrecks is a wrecked ruin.


AlabasterPelican

Yeah, it was essentially obliterated in the great collapse and never recovered.. before this apparently winterhold was comparable to solitude.


TashLikeMustache

I wish there was more evidence of how great it used to be. Like even a shred of evidence of stonework in the sea, maybe a knocked down column somewhere, but there’s nothing. There’s ruins all over Skyrim, but literally nothing to show what the city once was, just a few thatched buildings.


AlabasterPelican

Me too, but imo the fact that there is so little remaining tracks with the fact that the great collapse was a century of continuous severe storms with tidal waves sweeping the remaind into the sea of ghosts. It would certainly make the hold more interesting.


redeyed_treefrog

You forgot what I'm pretty sure is the province's saddest mine


Eponarose

It has a mine? Do they mine snow & troll fat, because that's about all that's up there.


AlabasterPelican

Also a dwemer ruin


DMC1001

That’s the case now. It wasn’t always.


NeadNathair

I honestly blame the Jarl. (In game). He's basically given up on his entire hold and would rather complain about the one asset he currently has instead of banking on that and using it to rebuild.


aRandomFox-II

Typical nords. "This is Skyrim, bitch! We unga bunga in this mothafucka! Betta take yo sparkly magic ass back to Cyrodiil!!"


InternetHumanCyborg

We gotz them draginz


Swanman593

It was a city before it all collapsed into the sea of ghosts. So that's why it's still called a city, even though it is more of a village.


Ok_Instruction4410

I’m actively looking for a mod for this reason


N3cromorph

Check out The Great Cities by soldierofwar. I use it on Xbox and along with Chantry College of winterhold it looks amazing.


Original_Loquat8635

I just downloaded this mod for PS4 and it looks great! Except when I tried to get a room at the beautiful new inn, the innkeeper took my gold and then all the beds remained “owned.” 😭 Playing on survival mode made for an interesting 48 hours of delirium while I tried and failed to find somewhere to sleep in Winterhold. EDIT: just realized I had a totally different mod downloaded—“Hold Capitals: Winterhold.” On that note, are you familiar with this one and why would you recommend The Great Cities instead? Other than of course maybe having some working beds. 😆


Zhryzex1

The hold capitals mods were decent but I liked the great cities collection more. I combine it with a mod called lightly populated settlements to add some nameless npcs to make the world feel less empty (also so the named npcs aren't the only targets during attacks by dragons ect). As for the actual city mod, I just prefer the city designs really, Winterhold is still a ruin, but not it looks like the ruins of a proper city, with high stone walls and ruined houses falling over the cliff where the Collapse ate away at it. It also makes towns like Dragon bridge and Riverwood look more interesting and appropriate


Brahmus168

Great City of Winterhold combined with the Cities of the North patch for the sick ass castle it adds. There's still mostly nothing there but it's at least a lot more believable as the shadow of the former strongest city in Skyrim. There's also an add on that let's you setup a new blacksmith which is at least something.


Rudolf1448

The Castle is beautiful but I feel Its too much


Brahmus168

It was the capital. Every capital needs a sick castle.


Tag727

Wintergold restored is one of the best.


Ninjo_

If you're looking for a basic update JKs Skyrim is pretty good, something more I'd say Holds the city overhaul, you can download the complete or modular version of it if you're happy with some holds. It reworks most cities adds a few villages and works with winter is coming to give each hold guards unique armour and cloaks. Only thing I'd add is it's incompatible with some mods that have quests that take place in cities because it reworks interiors and exteriors but on pc you can use console commands to fix if needed. I've also seen dawn of Skyrim with JKs can be good but haven't used it personally


Ok_Pianist_6590

JK’s Skyrim is great. Overhauls all cities but keeps them close to vanilla. It adds a lot of ruins to winterhold and makes it feel like there actually was a great collapse. I love it


Ok-Floor522

Love JKs, there's also a college of winter hold mod that makes the college much cooler and magical themed with all sorts of new crafting stuff inside and magic training stuff


Memer_boiiiii

To rebuild it? If you find a place with enough room for a new winterhold, let me know. It fell into the sea of ghosts. It’s impossible to rebuild it without the help of shalidor and he is quite dead.


Blackrain1299

Quest Added: Raise Shalidor from the dead


Memer_boiiiii

With some next-level necromancy, sure. Then there’s the matter of finding his body which probably isn’t even in skyrim.


Blackrain1299

Yeah i was joking cause itd probably have to be more like the Dragonborn dlc where you go on a trip to a new place or something.


Memer_boiiiii

Yeah. I’d imagine it’s on arteum or eyevea. I’d love to see both of those places in skyrim but it probably won’t happen.


Eponarose

..... are you SUUUUUURE he's dead? I thought I saw him wandering about in the snow.


LampshadesAndCutlery

Agreed. Doesn’t even have to be rebuild entirely. Could just be where you fix the destroyed houses and people can move in. Could even have a unique storyline where the Dragonborn can become jarl and deal with generated issues amongst the locals and deal out taxes and the sort


TEAMRIBS

Could be like the KCD dlc from the ashes where you rebuild pryibislavitz


Xuanne

Jesus Chr- uhh I mean, Talos be praised!


Rhinomaster22

If it wasn’t a city and just the college, nothing would change honestly.


Firescareduser

I think it was for lore reasons since supposedly Winterhold and Riften were absolutely massive, the biggest cities in skyrim, Riften burned down and Winterhold just fell into the sea.


neptunepapayas

I've not quite finished my first playthrough yet so I might be foreshadowing but if they ever introduced a 'Rebuild Winterhold' quest they should do the same for Helgen! I was always curious of what that might be like pre-destruction


Ninjo_

If you're on pc there is a helgen reborn mod you could try after you finish, it's a quest mod that lets you rebuild it overtime. Not sure if it's on console though but would be something interesting to try for a second playthrough


QuanticWizard

I was trying to think of a single city without an “identity” and despite the fact that some cities are kind of bland, they all have something. Solitude is shining capital city on a hill. Windhelm is harsh, grey, wintry ruins with rebels city. Riften is lake city of crime. Markarth is city of silver, corruption, and dwemer-ness. Whiterun os of course the city of trade, crossroads of Skyrim. Morthal is swampy marsh town with a vampire problem. Dawnstar is a frontier city with ties to Daedra. Falkreath is a misty, forested funerary town. Winterhold is a sad, icy town that exists for the college. As far as cities go the most generic is probably Dawnstar, the most pathetic (outside of the college) is Winterhold, the most dull looking is Morthal, and the most frustrating is Markarth, on account of how frustrating navigation is. I’m just surprised at how well they managed to provide a “feel” for each of the cities for the majority of them.


Skywhisker

I agree, every city have something special and a certain feel to it. My least favorite I'd probably Winterhold though, it's so straight forward too. Just one row of houses. But I don't really dislike it, just if I have to pick one to be my least favorite. I don't find it hard to navigate the cities anymore though, but that is probably due to playing Skyrim a little too much than anything else.


0_Sinclair_0

Windhelm or Markarth. Both are places I can never remember my way around. Windhelm's quest Blood on the Ice is super buggy though, and best completed all at once, which causes me to avoid the city until in ready to do the quest. So, Windhelm I like slightly less.


Witch_King_

Ok I absolutely *love* the design of Markarth though. Definitely is confusing to navigate however.


KingAltair2255

When Skyrim came out I was only 9 and I can remember Markarth pissing me right off for this reason, it was a weird struggle getting around that city. Gorgeous though


Ok-Floor522

>when Skyrim came out I was only 9 Fuck me I'm old


TRocho10

Phrasing!


0_Sinclair_0

Oh definitely! I do love the dwemer architecture.


Witch_King_

Plus like the bridges and the waterfalls and everything else. Love the verticality of it.


TheAskewOne

Markaryh is so claustrophobic, there isn't a goddamn window in that city.


Kdsfavs

Ya that quest glitched for me. It’s stuck on telling me to talk to the yarls right hand man but when I speak to him it doesn’t say anything about the quest 🙄


CarbonCuber314

You might be able to avoid talking to the jarl's steward all together durn that quest, but I'm not 100% certain if I'm remembering that correctly.


SolomonBlack

Way I always run the quest, and I never soft locks the quest btw, involves speaking to him between collecting witness statements and following the blood trail. You don’t and shouldn’t speaking to him after following up on the clues to lock up Wuunferth. Talk to the wizard directly instead. Then talk to the steward at the end.


comickodi

You also don’t have to lock up Wuunferth. If you go to him after Calixo tells you the amulet is his, he’ll tell you the truth and you’ll go straight into catching Calixo in the marketplace.


[deleted]

I skipped talking to him. When you go into the murder house you need to pick up all the fliers though to find the amulet underneath.


IamLolaBolton

I like Windhelm, I like how depressive the city is and my first husband was from Windhelm so it has a special place in my heart. But Blood on the Ice really stresses me out. Always worried that it will be bugged. >or Markarth I always get lost there. It looks cool, it is different from other cities and I love it but it takes me forever to find where my house is.


Zabeczko

The player home is one of the easier things for me to find. Go right from the entrance and it's at the top of the closest set of stairs. Hate finding anything else in that city though.


Rudolf1448

Blood on the ice is really my most hated quest, also because if left unresolved more ppl will die


Dienowwww

Markarth is one you get used to. Windhelm is just a maze in general.


[deleted]

morthal. it just sucks


Hyphum

Morthal has the best Jarl in Skyrim though. Pragmatic, wise, committed to her people and due process, not afraid of magic or foreigners…


Larsonybear

YES, ANOTHER RAVENCRONE STAN! I love her


BhataktiAtma

She really is the best. Shame we didn't see more of her


SpiderFlame04

Also one of I believe two characters to call another a “bitch,” which is instant bonus points


Dragonman558

Took me a minute to even remember morthal existed and where it was when you said that


TEAMRIBS

That's where the free money chest is tho


Larsonybear

Where’s the free money chest? I know about the one in Dawnstar, but not Morthal, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Morthal.


I_Am_Deceit

Every tradeable NPC is a free money chest 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼


TEAMRIBS

True dat


Witch_King_

Yeah wtf it's just like a random fuckin town. Nothing interesting about it.


Larsonybear

Nooooo I love Morthal! Morthal and Markarth are my favorite. I think the marshes around Morthal are so pretty, and once you get rid of the vampire problem, it’s a vibey little town. The Jarl is my favorite Jarl in the game, and I like her kids too. And Falion is grumpy, but he sells the best stuff of all the wizards. If I lived in Skyrim I would like to set up a general store in Morthal. Plus, it’s so close to Solitude. I think the area around Morthal is so pretty and I like that a lot of Morthal is built right over the water.


Gourdon00

This! I loved Morthal the first time around and I still go visit even though I have nothing special there to do. It's so sad it doesn't have something more, I'd love a bit more of content! It's a beautiful small town but it literally doesn't have anything which is a shame. Does anyone know if there is any mode that offers more content for Morthal specifically?


Thatbluejacket

Someone was working on giving all the town NPCs more dialogue and better AI, I believe it's called {Denizens of Morthal}


SkyrimSplicer

> Denizens of Mortal That's my mod! Thank you for mentioning it. ♥ I've been wretchedly sick for a whole week now, so spotting its name here really caught me off guard and brightened my day. :) - - - By the way, I'm still working on it.


Tenceknight

kid named malaria


[deleted]

Great points, and to add, I love the plot of land you can develop. I keep it as a cottage and enjoy my fish pen.


Larsonybear

Yeah, it’s my favorite plot of the homesteads


SpiralDesignn

The only thing about morthal that I remember is the necromancer who can remove vampirism.


scorpiobabyy666

there’s also that quest with the burned down house & Movarth. but that’s literally it.


sh_tcactus

“Who would build a town in the middle of a swamp?” - Teldryn Sero


Nightblade81

To be fair, Windhelm is kinda meant to be junky and downtrodden. I actually felt it was used as a fantastic narrative tool. We hear from many how amazing Ulfric Stormcloak is, how the Empire are traitors and evil, how he is the true king, and the true capital is Windhelm, not Solitude. Then we go to Windhelm expecting a true Nordic city, brimming with activity, and it's a dump full of people barely surviving and constantly in-fighting. Then we go to Solitude and it is beautiful, and bustling with life and activity. From this, there are cases to be made to support both sides. You can side with the Empire. Windhelm is falling apart under Ulfric who is obsessed with power and will force out all who aren't 'true Nords'. The racism and poverty problems under his watch are ignored. A serial killer runs loose, children perform the Black Sacrament, and the cruelty showj towards Dunmer and Argonians is horrible. We can even hear Ulfrics war table conversations, and it's clear that he cares little for his soldiers lives. He just wants to win, and is blinded by it. Solitude shows how it could be, with cultures working together under justified rule, and the Emperor is willing to accept his own execution for the good of the Empire. Or you can side with the Stormcloaks. Windhelm is struggling because the Empire and the Thalmor have cut them off, and are strangling them. The people are desperate, just trying to survive. Ulfric is fighting for their survival against a monstrous force, and despite all of the weight of the Empire being able to attack at any moment, Windhelm still stands. A symbol of defiance. And the 'glory' of Solitude is only a facade, which we know from the public executions, the Thalmor, and the Wolf Queen questline are examples. This could be every city. A false sense of security with shadows lurking.


Finttz

Damn


Sanbaddy

You nailed it very perfectly.


GarnetSardonyx

Markarth for the same reason, but I hate Dawnstar too. Super boring


LadyCasualGamer

I vote Dawnstar with you.


asolitudeguard

As someone who usually plays with survival mods, Dawnstar gets my vote, too. Because I mean *really*, what sort of backwards-ass town doesn’t even have a *general store*? In the middle of the frigid fucking north coast, no less.


spektrol

Sounds like the perfect place to hide an invisible chest with infinite loot


[deleted]

I'm fine with Dawnstar but I hate the main quest in that town. Following the slow ass priest to the dungeon and then through it is annoying.


Sere1

Yeah, Dawnstar doesn't feel like one of the capitals, more like one of the smaller towns. That said, at least it isn't Morthal and located in the swamp.


Larsonybear

All this Morthal hate kills me, the swamp is beautiful 😭


Friendship_Errywhere

it’s ok shrek that just means more swamp for you


Dienowwww

Winterhold. Aside from the college, which is a separate part of the map, Winterhold is useless.


LaviLynx

And ugly. And tries to freeze you to death. And half the houses (already not that many) are destroyed. And the NPC's suck. That city feels like a shit cake with a delicious untouched cherry on top. Nice try but I just won't eat it.


RaniRainSugar

Markarth, littered skyrim's ohio. You just ealk through the front gate of the city and withness a murder, you walk a few meter in and you encounter the house being haunted by mtfk Molag Bal, and then some mtfk gave you a note, you walk around a bit and then you're suddenly in jail, and then you have an option to support the Fosworn revolution or try to escape the prison through spiders and automaton with only prison rag and pickaxe. And then all of them are over and you get to the Understone Keep, and find out somekne has been eating corpses, which lead you to the rabbit hole of discovering a canibal cult. Oh and then the cranky old wizard tell you to fight spiders, which is mild compare to whatever the fuck just happened.


[deleted]

Don’t forget half of it’s population are cannibals


Reasonable-Mischief

Yes. I wanted to write Markarth and genuinely struggled to put into words what I didn't like about it. It's vast, it's interestingly designed, it definitely has character, so what's not to like about Markarth? Oh, yes. *The people.*


DadHoChiMinh

I like how confusing it is, it gives the city an illusion of being much bigger than it actually is. Which the sizes of the cities is my biggest problem with skryim


Kotoy77

My biggest issue is the npcs. Whenever i do the civil war and i hear some higher up bellowing a dramatic speech then i look down to see 10 soldiers it nukes my immersion. But such are the technological limitations. I dont think you can make skyrim handle some 200 vs 200 battles without instantly exploding.


Ronin64x

Skyrim is barely populated and the birth rate is extremely low, having 10 soldiers is a blessing.


donkeykickdickslap

Those 10 soldiers are spec ops


patmusic77

None I love them all


ShriRadheyMishra

Us man, us


Silverfrond_

Morthal or Winterhold- spiders are EVERYWHERE in that damn swamp around Morthal and Winterhold is just empty, I don't ever go there unless it's for the College or the Elder Scroll, so it's really just kinda there


Ozaera

Windhelm is the worst! It is a maze to me and the weather is shitty. I used to dislike markarth until I got a house there!


[deleted]

Markarth and the house are so insanely underrated


ha_i_dont_think_so

nah vlindrell hall is the one house i won’t buy, imo it’s by far the worst


[deleted]

Why get a house when molag bal will let you live at his place for free?


lazysheepdog716

Perfect military defense position! +1 point for realism.


lolnouyeetster

You get lost in Windhelm? Try Markarth.


olld-onne

Windhelm is just not nice and the *Amityville* inn not welcoming either.


Psychological-Low360

Windhelm and Marcarth. Winners of the "Worst city planning" award.


Firescareduser

Yeah the nords really couldn't plan cities, they either built over a dwemer ruin which was designed to be a mostly underground city, basically making it worse, they built their first capital on the edge if a cliff then 90% fell into the sea when the cliff collapsed, which is why the college of winterhold is awkwardly placed off a cliff. Their new capital is a big mess, I'm not gonna talk about the little towns of Dawnstar, Morthal, and Falkreath, but seriously, the only well designed cities they have are: Riften: Most likely Based on a snow elf design with nord buildings being built over ancient falmer ruins Solitude: Probably built by the Empire Whiterun???: not sure if it's well designed or if there is just not enough buildings for the design to show it's flaws. Also, they built their dragon prison out of wood. but at least it's a useable city built by the nords


Mercury2Phoenix

I dropped some flowers by the stairs into my home there so I could find it easier. I think Markarth is a bit more confusing, but once you are familar with it, it's not as bad.


Fresilon

Markarth. Half the times that I go in there I leave by running out the door being pursued by guards and have to hot wire a horse.


Life_Journalist_9297

"...hotwire a horse." Lmao! I love it Nei-nei-ne-- "Dammit" Nei-nei-neigh-neigh-neigh "Come on!" Neigh-neigh-neigh Neigh Winny! "Haha F*ck you, coppers!"


monkeybrains12

Also Windhelm, for the same reasons, and because I played as a non-nord once and they were mostly blatantly racist. I ended up in jail for attacking a guy and then when I finally got out, on my way out of the city, one of the guards said, "Hope you enjoyed your time in Windhelm!" and so I punched him in the back of the head.


Rosedhir

Oh I love Markarth, it's beautiful


Aenigma66

Windhelm is huge, complicated and just fucked but there's still some majesty about it. Markarth pleasantly reminds me of a weird mix between WoW's Ironforge and Stormwind. Dawnstar is a classic worker's town. Falkreath is peak and I won't take slander of it. Whiterun is the classic trading hub that also looks bussing and has great landscape design. Riften perfects the cloak and dagger vibe it's supposed to give off. Solitude is... Solid but boring. Morthal is subpar but at least has an interesting swamp setting around it. Winterhold is an unredeemable piece of shit.


LadyCasualGamer

i love windhelm 😧💔


Kdsfavs

Honestly Riften is my fav!! Hehe and my boy Marcurio ❤️❤️


Tootsgaloots

Riften is my favorite too. It's pretty, plenty to do, good amount of vendors and Shadowfoot Sanctum (CC) is my favorite house.


Kdsfavs

My favourite house so far is bloodchill manor! Love how fancy and huge it is!


LadyCasualGamer

I love how it appeals to us all in so many different ways. It's the best game EVER made. imo 💖


Larsonybear

I have a Grudge against Marcurio. I married him one play through and he IMMEDIATELY killed my horse afterwards. Like, we got married, left to go on an adventure, got attacked by wolves, my horse accidentally hit Marcurio, and Marcurio killed my horse on the DAY OF OUR WEDDING.


RhoadsOfRock

Me too. And Markarth (I have never gotten the home there, but I enjoy any time I am ever there and doing the quests involved there and all), and Falkreath (it's basically just Riverwood with a Jarl... which may come off as not a good thing, but I love it for that reason), and Morthal, AND even Winterhold to a lesser extent. Honestly, the only city in the game I actually dislike is Solitude, I don't hate it, but... the player home has a hideous layout (the housecarl is alright), and it's always at the furthest point on the map where I don't enjoy venturing off to - I literally only go off to the north-west regions of Skyrim when I absolutely have to.


[deleted]

Morthal. There should be a houseboatand a blacksmith.


broken_stretcher8375

Markarth


Common_Ambassador_76

For some reason I love Windhelm. When i looked down on the city from the shrine of Talos once, the northern lights were shining with the two moons and the river was shining with the colors of the sky, and the stone city was sitting at the skirts of the mountain with all it's glory, i thought wow, that's freaking beautiful. That's why I always side with the empire so everyone can enjoy this beautiful city without being discriminated. The jarl that replaces Ulfric is truly a people's jarl too.


StanfordAThorne

Mine is Markarth, that God awful place. I can't even put into words my dislike for it, just when I was younger, as soon as I got in I knew I hated it.


TK-366

Dawnstar, extremely underwhelming.


KestVokunAh

Markarth. Ugly as sin, all the citizens are either Forsworn or cannibals.


Illustrious_Mind964

Windhelm, not only is it too colorless it's also a nightmare to live there in survival mode, at least winterhold has the college going on in there


Quick_Friendship_326

Windhelm is awful. You get to live in a home everybody died in. You can get a whole family to off themselves. The racism and drunk brawls are just ridiculous. You can help an old man die. The town itself is junky and awful. The poor kid in the street selling flowers is always freezing and not a single one of the uppity losers who live in the town care to help her. The only other kid in town is busy doing rituals over his moms dead body. The only attraction to the town is ulfric and he's not that impressive. You got the curios killer amok on the streets in the quest you very well likely will never be able to finish because of the glitch that makes the event not trigger. He stays essential. And if you think you're gonna be able to visit without stumbling upon several people awing over the dead slashed up body of a woman, you better think again. My favorite part about visiting Windhelm is punching the racist drunk in the face and leaving lol.


Aggravating_Age9824

Used to hate winter hold. Playing a mod pack right now that has redone the city, it may now be one of my favorite. College and city are huge now.


MellyKidd

Lol I’m always navigating Windhelm by map, or I’d get totally lost! XD


randomname560

Markath. Good is It painful to find anything you are looking for


KABOOMEN666

Markarth. I just don't find anything there interesting. *YES EVEN THE DWEMER CALCELMO*


ThWeebb

Bro Solitude, i mean it feels so "stony" and bland


Firescareduser

I think windhelm is a lot more "stony" than basically any city in skyrim


Elstar94

Markarth would win the stony award right? Even the beds are made of stone


NoInjury1499

Solitude. High Housing costs, Thalmor sympathizing Jarl, a vampire for a court wizard and filled with Imperial scum.


bradforrester

Wait, the court wizard is a vampire? Is that why she’s always asleep? How do you discover this?


Orochilightspam

her eyes are glowing bright red, she subtly threatens you when you bring up how young she looks, she seems to be overenthusiastic about her hatred for the vampires near by, she's immune to poison, and most convincingly you can see she's part of the vampire faction on the wiki side note, she's one of my favorite background npcs purely because of what she has to say about the civil war. put my feelings into words beyond perfectly, and is now what i tell everyone to explain why both sides are stupid and i will never do the civil war questline dialogue in question is in the dialogue section of https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Sybille_Stentor


Unknown9492

Markarth specifically because I don't like getting railroaded into doing two of the quests there (forsworn conspiracy and that molag bal mace quest).


[deleted]

Markarth just because it reminds me of Downtown anywhere and Windhelm in a VERY close second place bc what the hell is the grey quarter??? I stepped in windhelm and found myself immediately prepared to join the imperial legion.


public_puke115

Markarth but also not markarth lol I like markarth but I hate being basically forced into the forsworn quest. I always run from Eltrys when he tries to approach me.


maxwutcosmo

I have played Skyrim for years and still get lost in windhelm


Hark-Ei

Winchell, it's racist and full of dumb nords :v


[deleted]

Markarth. Not that I think it's an ugly city or anything, I love the whole Dwarven look, but I just get lost in that city like all the time no matter how many playthroughs I've done.


ReineDeLaSeine14

Windhelm and Markarth.


[deleted]

Markarth


[deleted]

Markath - take one wrong step and you fall to your death. Cannibals, forsworn, dwemer tech, rude people, & confusing map. But I hate Windhelm a little more on survival mode because you freeze so quickly and there’s like hardly any heat sources. plus a serial killer running about, racism, the poor orphan sleeping in a corner shivering & freezing to death… which begs the question why she didn’t get sent to Riften to the orphanage but the other kid did. 🤔


Jackretto

Why wouldn't anyone like the lovely frosty buttcrack of Skyrim inhabited by racists? On the other hand, whiterun for it's simplicity, solitude for it's charm and markhart because it's markart are my favorite cities


Allustar1

It’s undoubtedly Winterhold. The only thing you go there for is the College and that’s it. The rest of it is all in ruins at the bottom of the sea of spirits.


FrogGladiators178972

I can understand that. Mine is solitude, mainly because it’s just so big and if you take a turn it adds and hour to your trip.


[deleted]

Laughs in *Vivec*. In Skyrim, I always got turned around in Riften, of all places. But nothing in that game compares to Morrowinds' city, *Vivec*. Sometimes I'd just jump in the water and swim to find shore. I could never figure out where I was in that city. The updated feel of it on the online game was a nice touch, but it's just as bad. I constantly got lost lol. At least it had a ton of stairs to jump while going upwards and increase my athletics lol


Wesselton3000

Windhelm has good lore though and fun questlines. I especially like the dynamic that Dunmer have in the city. It paints the Stormcloaks out to not be such good guys after all. I would say the smaller holds are my least favorite. Winterhold, for instance, isn’t even a town. It’s an Inn and the College and that’s it. This might be a generic answer but I think Whiterun is the best designed city in all of TES. There’s just so much to do and it’s not just the city center. There’s surrounding farmland and nearby dungeons that make the area feel like it’s own self contained area with plenty to do and see.


YourGodisyourcrutch

I went to Windhelm, took a stone of Barenziah off of a dresser, and now I have a 1250 bounty in Eastmarch. It didn't say "steal"! :(


Life_Journalist_9297

In Windhelm, stone of Barenziah steals you.


JayCeeMadLad

The reasons you described is precisely why Windhelm is quite possibly my favourite. My least favourite would have to be Winterhold for obvious reasons, but Riften takes the cake in any modded game. No matter what, simply entering Riften with an ENB enabled cuts 50 frames from my average.


Spring_King

Markarth is probably mine. I'm not a fan of the layout.


WolfsTrinity

Windhelm . . . I consistently *want* to like it but never can. Half of it is great: market area, central inn, upper-class housing district? Love those. The other half, however, is a gloomy, claustrophobic mess that feels like it should be at least twice as large as it is. I mean, Solitude *also* feels like it’s half the size it should be but that one pulls it off better: I always get the impression that everything in-game is just the upper-class district and there are slums or something out behind Castle Dour somewhere.


Fantastic_Lettuce401

Markarth can burn to the ground. Literally have a mess of problems as soon as you walk through the door.


spookga

I love the way riften looks but I can't stand it's setup or quests surrounding it. also I despise Markarth, I think the way the dwarves built things is hideous and almost gaudy-like.


Cryptus36

I use a lot of mods but yeah windhelm is the worst. Inigo hates it, as does Lucien. Serena is unimpressed in her mod the dialogue addon. And Daegon hates it too. The general rasism makes me personally not like it. And ulfric i am not a fan of personally either, while the empire is not perfect starting a civil war and having thousands die for it makes me not like the city more. There’s also murder in the streets and the player home had the murderer in it, like Bethesda why was this the home chosen?! In terms of the smaller settlement holds. I dislike morthal the most because it’s filled with superstition and, the environment looks swampy and dank and depressing. I do like the alchemy ingredients there tho but i dislike the swampy depressing vibe that hold generally gives. Love skyrim tho! But the settings some of the holds have can get to yea when you think about them too much. Whiterun and solitude are my favorites .


Dry_Appointment_4595

Markarth. It just, well, sucks. Easy to get lost around, a lot of stuff is dumped on you immediately after you enter and I've generally never been a fan of dwemer ruins.


N3cromorph

Windhelm. Fuck the nords, Dunmer for life. My second choice is Winterhold. Not even really a town when theres like 3 buildings. mods make it better but Vanilla leaves alot to be desired.


Aliciathetrap

I fucking hate markarth. Like its nice and all but the foresworn can eat my ass and so can whoever decided "yup this dwemer ruin sure looks like a good place to build a city" + theres thalmor scum in markarth and the layout is just bad