I'm curious what's the near-equivalent to the imperial city in skyrim? The big capital city with lots of people, a shop for everything, and so forth.

Thanks!

There is no huge capital city like in Oblivion and I'm under the impression that all other cities are way smaller than they were in Oblivion.

cities... SMALLER than in oblivion?

Whiterun is supposed to be the biggest hold, and I'll swear it's smaller than Cheydinhal or Skingrad.

The cities all feel bigger than the cities in Oblivion (apart from the Imperial City). I have only been to Solitude and Whiterun so far though.

Because there are less open spaces, cities are far more clustered.

There is no city remotely as large as IC or even Skingrad, but I guess it would be Solitude in that it's heavily Imperialized and is technically the capital.

This is a bummer for sure, I was hoping to play my thief like I did in oblivion, but there doesn't seem to be any suitable urban place for him >.<

Solitude and Whiterun are the biggest. The cool thing is the major cities have large communities around them outside of the walls. For example Whiterun has the large farming community on the plains surrounding it. These included makes them far larger than any of Oblivion's cities.

I've only been to Whiterun and Riften, but neither seemed overly massive.

Personally, I felt the Imperial City was way too big.

Riften is a pretty seedy place I imagine it would be great for a thief, think Bravil but without the class. Plus there will probably be a sizable city in an expansion pack at some point, Oblivion had New Sheoth and Morrowind had Mournhold and both were great.

solitude is the capital of skyrim

Well the 'towns' are actually interesting in this game compared to those in oblivion, even if the actual cities aren't worthy of the title 'city'. I guess we have to hope we get a real urban city in an expansion pack.


...


With argonians!
They just look too good in this game to be ignored

Have you been to Solitude? Its the capital, and looks/feels like a traditional medieval city. Not to mention it'd be great for a thief - its one of the wealthiest cities in the game.

I've heard that there is five http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Skyrim#Cities:
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Markarth_Side
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Solitude
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Whiterun_%28City%29
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Windhelm
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Winterhold_%28City%29

Don't know how big these cities are but those who can visit those cities can tell us.

( !! Don't know what all things are taken as spoilers but if these are then admin can remove/edit this post. If you dont wanna take risk don't click those links. Those links goes to elderscrolls.wikia.com webpage. !! )

( PS. It would be nice if there would be cities like http://www.columbiagames.com/resources/5611/5611-tashal-sample.pdf in Harn. )

I think it's a matter of immersion. The Imperial City was always this really safe place that made you feel like nothing wrong could happen inside. Now you're constantly in danger and there's an increased feeling of urgency with all these dragons flying above flimsily protected mountain towns. I like it.