Out of all the nine holds in Skyrim, which city would you say you hate the most? I would have to go with Winterhold. A city that no longer posses its former glory, the only thing it literally has going for it is the College. It has 10 fully done buildings at best, the climate is fucking terrible, and the Jarl is really forgettable. I disdain every quest that has me go there (which thankfully isn't too many).
Rant over, your turn.
Falkreath. Just feels a bit naff really. There's not anything massively interesting going on, the surrounding woodland is nice but not necesarrily unique and the fact that it's in the south doesn't do it any favours. It just feels kinda forgotten really. It's a shame Helgen had to be destroyed because that would make it far more interesting, the relationship between the two and stuff like that.
Winterhold. Doubly so with Frostfall. If the cold doesn't kill you, the bears will. Or maybe the ice wolves. Or! Maybe the sudden drops around the city's edge. Or you could let the Jarl bore you to death with his boohooing about the mages and his poor city that he's clearly making no efforts to rebuild.
Yep Winterhold. I kinda wish it was just a complete ghost town except for the college. Maybe leave one beggar who squats in the ruins of the Jarl's house and claims he's the Jarl, and a horker. Just feel that if it's supposed to be a ruined town then go all out, make it a sprawling ruin that's haunted by wolves and maybe worse with the college looming over it all to the north.
Well, most of them don't really feel like cities at all, which is part of the problem.
Winterhold? Yeah, would probably be better as an uninhabited ghost town rather than a Jarl's Hall, Inn and, like, two houses. Sorry, but its barely even a village.
Dawnstar isn't a whole lot better, but Falkreath at least has that gloomy atmosphere, with the graveyard and such.
Markarth.
I hate surprises and betrayal, and I got freaking bushwhacked when I got there: betrayed by the guards and tossed into Cidhna Mines because of some forsworn drama that, to this day, I still don't fully understand... look man... I'm too pretty to survive in jail xD
Then the whole Abandoned House ordeal. One minute I'm helping a vigilant put down a supernatural threat in the house, then Molag Bal shows up and this guy I'm assisting tries to end me. Now I've got to kill some guy I initially tried to help, all because Molag Bal has decided to flex his muscles a bit.
Nope. I was ready to dust my feet off that whole town and let it all burn in the flames of Oblivion xD
Hard choice between Riften and Markarth. I'd say I hate Riften more because at least Markarth has the best bard in the game. Both are so corrupted that you can just shoot your bow anywhere and you're guaranteed to hit a criminal.
I enjoy every other city except Windhelm and I still like it after I conquer it for the Imperials.
ShinJin said:Markarth.
I hate surprises and betrayal, and I got freaking bushwhacked when I got there: betrayed by the guards and tossed into Cidhna Mines because of some forsworn drama that, to this day, I still don't fully understand... look man... I'm too pretty to survive in jail xD
Then the whole Abandoned House ordeal. One minute I'm helping a vigilant put down a supernatural threat in the house, then Molag Bal shows up and this guy I'm assisting tries to end me. Now I've got to kill some guy I initially tried to help, all because Molag Bal has decided to flex his muscles a bit.
Nope. I was ready to dust my feet off that whole town and let it all burn in the flames of Oblivion xD
These are all really good points. Winterhold may be a shanty town in the middle of nowhere, but in Markarth, things go from bad to worse in a hurry.
ShinJin said:BTW, this thread has graced the TV Twitter page ;D
Awesome to hear! Really interesting answers from everyone. And I thought I was the only one who despised Markarth :p
Did not see the amount of attention Markarth is getting coming, I thought everyone loved massive Dwarven stuff?! I guess I kinda like the corruption and the whole Forsworn deal, it gives the city more depth than the others, and although the city is filled with people you wouldn't want to meet in an alley at night, I think its awesome in it's broken kinda way.
Dang, definitely surprised with how many people hate Markarth. I absolutely love the city style and I think the whole corruptness forsworn business adds a lot of character.
My least favorite city of Skyrim would probably have to be Winterhold. While I hate to be part of the Winterhold hate-train, it was really disappointing. It has maybe 3 buildings you can walk into, and one of them is the Jarl's building, so that's just plain bad. Great Collapse happened in 4E122, that's 79 good years to rebuild. Riften was set on fire and burnt to the ground in 4E129, but the book Of Crossed Daggers says they rebuilt it to what we see in game in 5 years. No excuse, Winterhold. Your college is cool I guess, but even that was underwhelming
(The same could I guess be said for Morthal or Falkreath, but at least they have cool side quests, like Laid to Rest and Ill Met by Moonlight. Those are fun. Winterhold is not)
If you only include the big five, actually fleshed out and walled cities, then I guess I'd have to say, maybe... Whiterun? I think the big cities are all really good, I like the character each of them has. Markarth is scummy and rough, Riften is secretive and still kinda scummy, Windhelm is bleak and harsh, Solitude is all fancylike and bright. Whiterun I would say is the most bland or least stylized, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. I just spend the least amount of time there and I think it has some of the less interesting side quests? I don't know, I just end up around other cities more.
I think Riften? I'm going with Riften. It's in a nice hold, lots of history. Gorgeous scenery, a temple to Mara. Even multiple shrines to Dibella in the form of Haelga. It's just that I can't do anything with it. Thieves Guild or bust seems to be the options. So we have this Doom Driven force of change, the Hero of prophecy, like the only goddam person on the face of Tamriel who can change what is written... but simply making Riften a more upstanding little town is utterly beyond the character's capabilities.
Paws said:Actually, a quest that allows you to shut down the Thieves Guild would be pretty boss! When you think about it, there really is a missed opportunity there, especially considering Mjoll's dialogue about sticking around to try to straighten Riften out. Seems like the natural progression for that town would be either to make the TG king, or do the opposite and shut the guild down entirely. Kind of a shame.... but simply making Riften a more upstanding little town is utterly beyond the character's capabilities.
ShinJin said:You can kill a good chunk of themPaws said:Actually, a quest that allows you to shut down the Thieves Guild would be pretty boss! When you think about it, there really is a missed opportunity there, especially considering Mjoll's dialogue about sticking around to try to straighten Riften out. Seems like the natural progression for that town would be either to make the TG king, or do the opposite and shut the guild down entirely. Kind of a shame.... but simply making Riften a more upstanding little town is utterly beyond the character's capabilities.
But uhh, my least favorite would have to be Dawnstar. I just...there's nothing about it that I enjoy really, Morthal has the cool atmosphere, Falkreath has the puns, Markarth, Solitude, and Whiterun are all fucking awesome cities, Winterhold at least looks unique and interesting and Riften is just kinda cool. Dawnstar...well it has a lighthouse I guess, but really I just don't care about it at all.
I think I'm tied between Markarth and Dawnstar. From a purely aesthetic perspective, Markarth gives me these quasi vertigo sensations and the same looking grey, rock formations always just get visually tedious to me... I just prefer a less vertical, more visually diverse city, I guess. Not to mention the fact that, as Mercurias noted, the city is sort of fucked in terms of class divide, conflict associated with The Reach, and particularly unsavory daedric happenings. Dawnstar is always just sort of 'meh' to me pretty much every playthrough too. Just feels kind of unremarkable.
Oh boy, where to start...
I like Whiterun; the layout makes sense, it has companions (a proper side quest in my books) and a lot of other intersting things. Riften has that cool corrupt sense about it where you wouldn't know who to trust. Winterhold and Markarth I'll get to later. Dawnstar was ok (some neat side quests). Morthal, well it had a bit of a bland side for me; suppose that the vampire hunting and all is decent. And Windhelm has an opressive feel, but proves the point the city is suppose to I'd think (which is nord supremacy). Solitude has a ton of quests and business happening within it though I wish some had a bit more to them (Bard College). Falkreath is a nice visual with all the trees, and is fairly quiet (except for Sinding).
Wish Markarth had a differnt layout, maybe a bit more grandiose (I feel like dwemer built structures above ground would look a lot nicer than the ones seen underground (I mean come on you're the Jarl and you aren't gonna spice up the entrance to the Understone Keep! :P)
Winterhold would've been so much better if it was at least a tad expanded (and maybe having some quests to get the Jarl to recognize the college?) or if it was a ghost town like many others said (think they wasted a good oppertunity to make the College something a bit more special)
Anyways, I'll get back to the topic of the post... I probably hate Morthal the most because it has so little that I find interesting about it (visually and questing)