ye i was watching LotR the other week and was laughing so much how much of the game was copied from it.

the designers obviously were fans of it.

Wait, so you made this post and now all of us need to agree with you? Can't we form our own opinions anymore? Never knew this forum became a dictatorship for you. Seriously if you don't want people disagreeing with you don't post things on a public message board.

I don't think they're the same. There are plenty of differences between Whiterun and Edoras.

I don't want everyone to agree with me, but I don't want people to think I'm insane for thinking the two are incredibly similar.

Don't think people actually think you are insane, they just disagree with you. Say why, you say why that's wrong and then an argument starts... It's the internet, that's just how it works.

People were comparing what I thought to thinking Markarth was Minas Tirith and Skyrim secretly meant 'Middle Earth', seems that certain people did think my post was insane, though I believe it to be quite logical.

Well damn, I've never seen this comparison made yet! +1 for you being so on the ball.

This... A Large part was made for real. Edoras was a real set, quite like Hobbiton, Helmsdeep and Minas Tirith....

Oh, no, that means my http://www.landsendjohnogroats.info/images/the_midlands/570/20_tewkesbury15.jpg must be a rip off of http://www.alquier.org/TES/images/Oblivion/chorrol-vanilla-ps3.jpg. How dare they, is nothing original any more?

You live in 404 Not Found?

How is the weather this time of year.

Nope, sorry but I don't see it. Apart from the fact that both places were built on top of a hill there is really nothing in this picture that reminds me of Whiterun or vice versa. It does not even share the same building style. I'm sure some people have sleepless nights thinking of all the possible ways Skyrim rips off this or that. I'm not one of them however.

Fixed, god the old 'insert link here' was so much easier.

I'll say, and now I can't even rip off someones template when they get it right either

Also, Chorrol never had so many pensioners in one place

Try the Fighters' Guild. No adventuring for you lad, Guildmaster is worried you may throw out your hip joint. [Notices need for smiley with zimmer frame]

Well Whiterun and the plains/mountains were around at the very least in lore at the same time LOTR films were coming out. This series was around before the films. Either way, both are super sweet, and personally, Whiterun is better.

P.S. *flamebait*, Tolkiens vision was in so many ways superior to Jacksons (although cool) vision of LOTR.

Whiterun hold isn't famous for it's cavalry in Skyrim.. so there's that. There's also the fact that Skyrim was the land of the Nords in 94, well before the LOTR films were coming out.. Also also, Dragonsreach is obviously based off of Nordic longhouses which Edoras was also based off of. They are similar, and guaranteed the developers were inspired by LOTR in design decisions, but it should be clear it's not a genuine rip off born out of laziness. Just sayin..

Edit: DOUBLE BUBBLE

Sorry

I never said it was due to laziness, I merely said it was at the very least an homage to LOTR, also LOTR was originall released in 1954 were you not aware? Also, Whiterun was not created before the films, oh and also, Theoden is not king of Whiterun and it is called Whiterun not Rohan, I guess that means they're nothing alike! According to your logic anyway. Whiterun lacks cavalry units (as does every other hold in Tamriel, since the game can't handle them) I guess that means Whiterun hold and Whitreun look absolutely nothing like Rohan and Edoras, thank you for clearly and logically debunking my argument. Wow, how wrong I was.

I wasn't arguing. I was just stating they aren't the same. I also wasn't referencing the books (since you didn't with your photo) I was referencing the movies (when talking about the look of Edoras). Sorry if I made it seem like I was putting words in your mouth with the "not out of laziness", but unless you're super new here, you've probably heard other people spam it. I'm fairly certain that the cities/concepts of Skyrim were at the very least in an early stage by the time the LOTR films were coming out (since they had already released two games by then, and released Morrowind the same year as Two Towers came out in theaters). Oh and since I referenced the fact that Tolkiens vision for LOTR was better than Jacksons adapted version (granted he obviously had to cut for the movies, but there WERE some things he simply changed or decided to focus on that weren't originally focused on in the 6 books, for example Aragorns and Arwens romance) you probably got that I have read the books, and I probably knew when the concept for them were originally put into motion. Which btw was before 1954.. But anwyays, my point simply was, Edoras was pretty cool, and so is Whiterun (although I personally like Whiterun better than Jacksons Edoras ) I also wanted to make the point that even though they are similar, they aren't the same, and Whiterun isn't a lazy ripoff. Even though, yes, you didn't say that.

Edit: Since this seemed to be a thing.. considering your response.. I wasn't trying to out logic you.. or debunk your points. I was just trying to represent Whiterun fairly

Thanks for responding in a friendly and a polite manner, I'm not used to that in internet forums aha
Also, before posting this I hadn't seen anybody else post about this, so sorry if I added to a topic that had been overdone here.
I have to say I highly doubt Bethesda had drawn up any plans when The Two Towers was released as they work on concept art when they begin a game, I also think that the similarities are too large for it just to be a coincidence, I truly believe they were inspired by Rohan and its capital and they made Whiteun hold similar as an homage for LOTR and a treat for LOTR fans; but, you are of course entitled to your opinion.

No, ancient Norse towns and buldings were the inspiration for both Edoras and Whiterun.

Oh without a doubt they drew inspiration from it. But I think they had to at least have some Skyrim lore SOMEwhere describing Whiterun before seeing the movie. Hey maybe not though. Oh and no worries about not seeing anyone having posted about it, but before the game came out and screenshots were all people were going off of, you had the "SKYRIM IS FOR CASUAL PLAYERS BLERG" crowd saying that Whiterun was literally a complete ripoff and thus, quite lame. You know what, that might even be true. I don't know the devs minds. All I know is Whiterun is the bees knees haha.

Edit: Also np on replying politely . Isn't it awesome to avoid confrontation on the internet? Honestly with the way things usually run on here, it's like achieving a brief world peace hahaha.

Whiterun has better walls imo.

It totally is man! Was a pleasure talking to you, even if it was an incredibly short conversation, I feel that maybe everything is right in this world now :')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNsEH1GD7Q

Actually, the architecture of Dragonreach and Edoras are not based on viking longhouses, but from early norweigan christian churches:
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Borgund_stavkirke.JPG[/img]