Are the new landmasses that are being added going to seamlessly integrate into the world of Skyrim or are they going to be a separate land similar to the shivering isles and fallout DLC's?

We know Castle Dawnguard and Castle Volkihar are still part of Skyrim. In an interview with Matt Carafano (Spelling?), he hinted at the liklihood of additional lands that weren't related to the Soul Cairn.

My personal theory is that the borders to Skyrim might be extended slightly, but I don't think there's any "Going to a New Province" or whatever.

Apparently they're expanding the rift and the coast of the sea of ghosts, so there will be new land, but it'll already be in skyrim. Then there will also be soulcairn, as Mr _Scum has stated.

im thinking most of the dawguard area is going to be a small isolated area of high rock

Now, my question is, if this is true (Which I do kind of believe it is based on circumstantial evidence), how are they "Expanding" The Rift specifically. Are they just going to knockdown a whole mountain range? Or is there going to be like a valley leading into it (The gate near Riften that leads to the hard-invisible border, for example)?

They've said many times that everything will have seamless integration so you won't actually notice you're in the DLC. It'll just be like "sweet! Something new to do!"

That being said, if they add new land, they'll probably make it seem like it was there before, since those clouds at the edges of the maps don't line up with the physical map included with the game (unless my vision is especially poor today)

I was thinking about this. I think the most likely option will be that some form of pass will open up somewhere and we'll be able to get past the mountain range that blocks us off from the back of the rift. I dont know how they'll do it, but they could easily have a land mass shifting, some form of rock avalanche or a dragon knocking part of the way clear?

As for the bit around the sea of ghosts, i have no idea. I'm quite happy just to wait and find out to be honest.

well there is mention of avalanches blocking off a pass in the rift by the stormcloakes maybe this is where it will be expanded at?

Yeah, I just hope new area added is at least around the size of one entire region. There's a suspect screenshot I've seen on G4, that shows what appears to be a Basin that doesn't have any familiar landmarks. Initially, it looks like Eastmarch, but the direction is all wrong, the Mountains are sloping down to the East or West (Sun setting/rising, can't tell really), and things like Bonestrewn Crest, Mistwatch, Windhelm are all absent.

My guess is, if you've explored the actual borders of Skyrim, near Stendarr's Beacon, there's a gate that uses an invisible wall to block advancement. I'm betting that's where we'll get to Fort Dawnguard from.

http://e3.gamespot.com/image_viewer/6380876/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-dawnguard-screens/11/#site_nav It looks like he's coming in from the Southeast of Skyrim maybe into this new looking area. If anyone can pinpoint a known Skyrim Landmark in here, let me know, 'cause I don't see any.

In the game play some of the new places looked like places just on the skyrim map

I thought it was supposed to be a new realm of Oblivion? Wouldn't that imply a landmass that isn't connected to Skyrim?

Soul Cairn Is, but people are wondering if Castle Dawnguard and Castle Volkihar are in pre-existing locations in Skyrim, or if they're extending the borders, adding a new area, or whatever.

Soul Cairn is accessed from Inside Castle Volkihar I think.

This screenshot http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17opfv75isrkijpg/original.jpg most likely shows the coast of Skyrim to the right in the picutre, and to
me it looks like Castle Volkihar will lie just off the northern coast of Hjaalmarch... Which is really silly willy if you ask me, since it doesn't seem
likely that no one would even go and investigate that castle just off the coast.
It becomes even MORE silly willy nilly when we hear Harkon say, "You have found our fortress" in the trailer... Yeah, well... It isn't even that hidden, Harky.

I just hope that the two castles don't randomly pop up in already existing territory they like have been there the whole time so I'm hoping for extended barriers.

According to one of the E3 interviews, it was said that Fort Dawnguard was located in the mountainous region of Southern Skyrim. Based on the flora and landscape, I would say Fort Dawnguard is somwhere sound of Falkreath. And from what I could tell from the trailer, I would say that Castle Volkihar is located somewhere in the far North of Skyrim, possible among the icebergs on an island.

That's just my guess based on the trailers and what was said in interviews.

Yes, you'd be right about Castle Volkihar. In that same interview, he told us the castle would be in the far north.

I think the way to the vamps will be opened up by that dragon diving through the ice and the way to the dawnguard will be one of those "you cannot go that way" roads....as someone else said theres an invisible wall blocking a gate on the road to the south.

This makes sense to me because i've heard somewhere that volkihar hide under ice, so maybe they meant the path to their castle is hidden under ice and thick ice forms in the north. The pics of the dawnguard castle look like warmer climate so that blocked road in the south could easily lead to them

Most of the places in the trailer looked new. Atleast it seemed so to me.

I seem to remember him saying that the vampire castle will be 'off the coast' which would indicate an island or some sort.

When I was guessing with friend where the forts would be, I guessed that Fort Dawnguard had to be near Falkreath. Mostly because of the forested area in the trailer seeing as the Southern Skyrim is the one of the only places with lush green forests not covered in snow. I assume the Castle Volkihar is going to be North-East of Eastmarch, seeing as Immortal Blood hints at a race of powerful vampires in East Skyrim. Personally, I hope the Castle is extremely Northward or Cleverly hidden within an array of Icebergs and Islands in the Sea of Ghosts.

Well if you look at the map, to the south is a HUGE area that is unreachable and currently wasted space.. probably just throw it in there somewhere.

The Transition is seamless, if you were a new guy you couldn't tell the differences.

I wonder what happens if you are at the location of Castle Dawnguard before downloading the DLC, then download the DLC, and then start the game...

"Wtf, I'm buried under a building?"

Yes, that's the easy one, because making a new island in the ocean, and extending the borders as necessary is something they've done before. (Solsthiem)

But actually creating new land within the landlocked region is the tricky part, and where I come up with questions/skepticism.

A big part of Elder Scrolls to me is seriously just faffing about in the wilderness, if there isn't a significant chunk of non-oblivion land added to Dawnguard, I'll be mighty disappointed (Though by no means ignore the DLC).

My personal guess is that Castle Dawnguard will be put in the mountains in the Rift - surely there's a clearing up there to throw a castle in?

A for Volkihar, I daresay it's off the coast of Winterhold. There's an invisible wall quite a way north of Septimus Signus' Outpost, which displays the message 'You cannot go that way'. I'm guessing they're going to extend that border for the Castle.

And hopefully the Soul Cairn is big enough to count as its own land-mass, in a similar (but smaller) fashion to the Shivering Isles?