Trying to decide where to live on my Mage. What do you guys think?

Arch-Mage's quarters is more practical if you're into alchemy but there's nothing around it besides the college. I'd go with Vlindrel Hall cause it has a more "homey" feel to it and it has shops around it but it all comes down to personal preference.

What about Proudspire Manor (he is loyal to the Empire)?

I don't want Breezehome, and I'm saving Honeyside for a thief.

which ever one has less loading screens/travel-time to get to both are rather bad in that regards.

I moved from the College to Vlindrel Hall mainly because I was being constantly attacked by dragons at the College. I needed a break. Vlindrel Hall does have three bookshelves, all in one spot (the best book storage I think). The alchemy station is decent, there's an alchemist's satchel and a barrel to put ingredients in, and it has an enchanting station. I don't like Proudspire as much for the alchemy, because there's no storage close to the alchemy station.

Archmage quarters is pretty good though, the dragons are just too frequent. For me anyway, not sure how they are in your game.

I really prefer Breezehome (with the mod which adds an Arcane Enchanter). I just.... Markarth gives me the shudders. And yeah, Winterhold.... every time I get NEAR the place there's a dragon. Or two. Once there were three....

Bad cess, Winterhold.

I've never encountered a dragon there.

Man, they're thick as cliff racers in my game. Three times I walked out of the Hall of Attainment and immediately got hit with a blast of frost breath. Dragon sitting in the courtyard.

^^ This. Only thing I can think of is that those who don't have this issue haven't really done much in the MQ?

I haven't actually done the College yet, so I haven't passed through too much. But I've finished the MQ, and I have been through a few times. Maybe 10.

Never seen one. Maybe it'll start when I join the College.

@ op, I think the archmage quarters are great for alchemy stuff and crystals. But you will have to deal with dragons.

Winterhold almost always has a dragon when I go there. They say dragons are random but in every game I play Winterhold is just infested with dragons. I love the look of Markarth and the general area but my noble knight would never live in such a place.

I actually like it for a mage. The Dwemer culture feels very... academic, I guess.

Yeah I agree. Personally from a design standpoint. It would've been nice for this area to be the place for the Mage's College. Seeing as a lot of the people there are Bretons. You'd think magic would have a history and be much more welcomed there

vlindrel hhall is my favorite home in the game quite honestly. the bookshelves rule too.

i think its once you get a bit furter in the main questline they start appearing more frequently and the college along with some others like dawnstar are very common places for thhem to trigger. a lot...

It's all personal preferrence and towards the later levels you'll come across enough money to buy everything you want to anyway.I'm always gravitating towards breezehome myself with honeyside a really close second.I'm not a dan of giant mansions and nonsense , although my mage has started using the archmage quarters more and more.But then again I'm getting to the point I want to start messing with the atronach forge etc.

Vlindrel Hall is my favorite house in the game. It's quicker to get to and more conveniently laid out than Proudspire Manor, but still has plenty of room, and to me it just feels more like a home. Most of the others feel like a kitchen+bedroom with storage area, Vlindrel Hall feels to me more like the person living there might have friends over once in a while. Proudspire Manor, though, just has a bad layout. It's not convenient, it's not cosy, it's just odd. If nobody already has a mod adding a forge to the basemant, I'll probably look into it once the CK comes out. Too much wasted space, and that house is expensive enough it ought to come with its own blacksmith shop.

Breezehome feels too cramped to me (I'm always knocking stuff over) in spite of it's very convenient location (Though I need to look into this business of a mod that adds an Arcane Enchanter to it... It might be worth having with one of those in it)

Honeyside is my second favorite house... It'd probably be my favorite if there was a container near the alchemy station (or had a nicer looking entrance... Front door opening directly into the kitchen just rubs me the wrong way). I haven't gotten Hjerim on any characters because so far I've refused to do the Civil War BS, but considering it's in the farthest corner of town from the main gate, I probably won't like it much anyway.

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2059

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2223

Check these out.

Vlindrel Hall for sure. Everything is in exactly the right place. The dev who made this area must have been a Virgo...

For me it's the house of Windhelm by a country mile , apart from the bugged dagger cases , everything's fine in it

The only exception is with my latest character which is a vampire , the only house that allows me to enter it without being inside a city is the house in Riften , Honeyside , you can access it from the outside of the city , so that's a plus for a Vamp

I hate the house in Whiterun , and don't like Proudspire Manor . I agree the house in Markath is decent , but compared to Windhelm , its smaller , less armour mannequins , and less storage space , so ....

Actually, Hjerim only has 1 more container than Vlindrel Hall (29 vs. 28). However, Hjerim does have more bookcases, display cases, mannequins, and weapon plaques. I guess it has more storage space if you want all your stored stuff visible.

BTW, those Proudspire basemant mods are full of win. I like the second one better than the first one, though.

I don't have the house in Markarth, and the Archmage's quarters don't appeal to me since I'm not an alchemist and the College is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

My thief/mage lives in Honeyside. It's a bit small, but it's also cozy and it has an enchanter.

I really like the houses in Skyrim a lot more than I did in Oblivion. The presence of a housecarl and/or spouse makes it feel a lot more lived in to me.

I love Hjerim, but I already have it on my Stormcloak warrior.

I guess having more than one house available per city would be the most awesome mod ever made in that respect.

1) a little starter type home like breezehome.

2) any combination of characteristics of the other larger homes.

It would actually make sense in this world of constant death that some poor sot would just simply not come bck from a trip and oh hey , looky-there!HOUSE FOR SALE!