I think Whiterun is my new Balmora. Dunno why, but I get the same enjoyment/satisfaction as I did back in Morrowind. I like rainy, smaller towns. But if I had to compare, I think the cities in Skyrim by far beat out those found in Morrowind, and I REALLY enjoyed Morrowind, a lot >.>

The cities are smaller in order to fit them all within a single cell. This is properbly the main reason for their size.

I was very disapointed that there are no large cities, but Im sure modders will fix it.


I think the reason's Morrowind's feel better is that they are more intergrated into the landscape, nearly all the cities in Skyrim have specific "This is city zone", "this is wilderness zone" around them, where as if you look at Morrowind's they seem very intergrated into their surroundings.

Morrowind's cities aren't "great ot see from a distance" because when released, Morrowind couldn't render distance....comparing Morrowind and SKyrim on graphics is simply unfair.


EDIT: As a modder I myself fell into this trap.
Many of Skyrim's cities are 'flat', they have been built in an area, only the entire city is all 'one level' and rather boring.....the best cities in all the game have been the ones where you could travel upwards/downwards aswell as across the city.

I suppose beautys in the eye of the beholder then, because I found such places as Balmora, Sadrith Mora, Caldera, Maar Gan to be highly evocative cities that stick in the mind. The quality of graphics is obviously better in Skyrim, but the quality of graphic design?

Having said that, I actually think Vivec is poorly designed, its too big, repetitive and became an annoyance.

Skyrims cities are light years ahead in NPC A.I which adds so much to a cities immersion. But then again, I was more immersed in Morrowind in a different way. Possibly because its an RPG, Skyrim does rather feel like an action adventure game with perks at times.

In skyrim only Markath is "unique" in design, solitude and windhelm a little too, the other towns have the same house design and we are talking of capital cities

In morrowind we have five capital cities with their unique houses.

Console limited all.

Markath, Solitude, and Riften were simply amazing for me. Beautiful cities. That being said I feel like Skyrim was certainly more rural. I don't picture Skyrim having huge cities and I feel for the most part they reflected the kind of wilderness you would expect.

Yeah, the cities in Skyrim are small, take a look at Morthal and Dawnstar, even the biggest cities such as Markarth and Windhelm only make it to the town-size level.

I really enjoy how you can get lost in Markath.. Winterhold is the same way. It is so awesome that they seem so realistic to medieval sprawl.

Morrowind scale was perhaps bigger. But in terms of detail and design? It's antiquated by modern standards. It's a trade off.

OK, now I've heard everything. People have blamed consoles for a lot of things but this takes the cake. Explain, please, how this is the fault of consoles?

I think the cities are the right size as they are now. I dont need to spend 15 minutes to find something in any given city nor do i care about 50 extra houses that may be added that i never will visit.

Been saying this since 11/11/11, Skyrim's cities need FILLER, people who you don't run errands for and houses to croud the cities, have some alleys or streets. They have as much content as MW's cities, but they completely lack filler: several shops and inns, some more streets... It's impossible to get lost in a city even the first time you visit It, and that is something I love in RPGs.

I don't know, I feel like there are no streets in Skyrim, just main avenues and plazas.

Oh, and Winterhold is way beyond stupid (Barracks, a Jarl's house and an inn for just a single [censored] house, YAY!).

I must admit, though, that way much work has been put into making Skyrim's cities: while in morrowind they're big It's mostly due to copy paste, and in Skyrim almost every building is unique, not to mention the clutter and all the other eye candy.

My character loves Markarth, and that's where he and his wife brought their first house (And still live in it to this day). The place is beautiful, with the overlooking mountains, mist included, and the streams that run through it. Its no wonder he enjoys it so much, as he's an Argonian (ex fisherman). Personally I think they are better then Morrowind, but only because I couldn't get into Morrowind.

Why don't people just put these Morrowind V THE WORLD threads into the morrowind section, they are becoming tiresome.

I'm pretty sure that no DLC is going to 'fix' the cities by adding to them (maybe couple of quest npcs here and there), so I wouldn't hold my breath. We have mods for that

What impressed me the most with Morrowind's cities was happening upon them for the first time. With no fast travel, discovering or reaching a city was truly light at the end of the tunnel, especially after a long dangerous trek. Or when a biting dust-storm that reduced visibility to nearly zero fades away, revealing the archway into Ald-Ruhn. If Bethesda can bring back this sense of accomplishment, I think we'd have a lot more city lovers

Size-wise, I'm on the boat with Skyrim. They are better designed, and has less dead space.

To the OP: your perception is old now. From the begining many folks were dissappointed with the sizes of towns/cities and of Skyrim world size itself as well. If you are playing on pc then you're in luck because there's no question that there will be a mod to expand the towns and cities. If the modders decide to expand the cities I hope they do it on a different plane sort to speak. Like opening a door somewhere within Whiterun, for example, and enter into another section of Whiterun.

If morrowind was remade for this generation, it would destroy anything skyrim has to offer in terms of its environments and cities.. personally though, its not something I pay much attention to.

I do understand your opinion though, they are rather small.

Solitude is the only really good city in Skyrim imo.

I got worried when I heard NPCs describe Whiterun as the best city in Skyrim.

They're as underwhelming as the so called cities in Oblivion. Places like Riften and Winterhold are nice, but these "cities" should be a lot bigger and be a lot more active.

I'm curious as to what happened to Dawnstar. It doesn't even have a wall.

My thoughts are that Skingrad is the finest city I've ever visited in TES.

Many of the Morrowind houses were also very small and basic in design. The Balmora and Vivec interiors were mostly just a hall or tiny single wroom with a bed crammed in one corner and a table and shelf in another with little room for anything else and because of the little work required the houses could be spammed to create a largish exterior city.
The major towns in Skyrim have many more unique buildings and spacious interiors most of which have a unique feel.
I prefer quality over quantity.

Mournhold and vivec<3
I want bigger cities too,but i still like the small cities in skyrim,i dont know but,every city has their own story to tell.
and what about some small dlc "rebuild Winterhold"?
or build a new town.simmilar to raven rock,but bigger.

Mournhold? The only way I could explain that city is by keep giving myself the excuse that most of the city was outside the gates you couldn't go through... That city was way to small...

Mournhold isnt that small...I love it,

There is no point comparing skyrim cities with morrowind cities, its much better to discuss if the cities match the region geography and culture, by this thought i find skyrim cities very interesting and well made.