Winterhold & the College

[Grumpen]

Whenever I reached Winterhold I was disappointed; It looked identical to Falkreath, Dawnstar, and Morthal. After I saw and explored the College I was crushed. It failed to meet any type of expectation, the art design was terrible, the story was bland, and the quest line was not only short but uninspired. After I became arch mage I remember thinking that I could do better, so here I am, ready to throw some ideas out there and hopefully get a few back for the solid foundation of a future mod. So here's the first suggestion, one towards overhauling the College itself. I'd love to eventually do a mod with Winterhold, making it look more like the remnants of a destroyed city, perhaps with a seedy yet flourishing smuggling operation hidden beneath the city, but I tell myself I better K.I.S.S.. So...

 

The College of Winterhold

 

The College would be placed onto of the ridge line next to Winterhold, reminiscent of a European monastery secluded from the rest of the world. A single staircase carved in the rock leads to the "monastery", a large squat three story building with a large enclosed yard. Aesthetic inspiration can be found looking at Tibetan monasteries and particularly the Potala Palace in Lhasa (Scaled down and using existing textures of course). Once screened by the warden and allowed through the gatehouse the courtyard opens up to show all the amenities of self-sufficiency; stables, crop garden, alchemy ingredient garden, smithy, a small mill, etc. The general condition should be of neglect, perhaps the smithy defunct and most of the garden left to the weeds.

 

The compound should have at least two buildings separate from the larger one. One should be the library, logically kept apart to minimize the risk of fire as well as being easier to police and contain. Something similar to the library in Vivec in Morrowind should be striven for, although certain aspects of the vanilla Arcanaeum could remain (Locked bookshelves, a overbearing concern for the books)

 

The other building apart should be the mess/kitchen/larders. The kitchen could be something similar to the one in the Thalmor Embassy, with a larger larder. The mess hall should be large, with multiple hearths and tables, but most of it unused (Unlighted hearths, chairs set on derelict tables that haven't been used for years).

 

The main building should open up into a large foyer, one that rest in the symmetrical center of the building and splits the building into two separate wings. The ceiling should extend to the roof where each story should have a balcony open up into the foyer. To avoid getting bogged down in the exact placement of what goes where a quick description will suffice. As everywhere on the grounds, portions should be neglected, barred off, and otherwise unused. The school's a shade of it's former glory. The hallways should be long and narrow, with slits for windows. The rooms should be modeled after a monk's cloister; small and spartan. The masters of the school (The arch mage and the masters of the individual magic schools) should have finer quarters, and they should be separated from the cloisters of the various journeymen and apprentices. Perhaps these can have a luxurious quality that provide a stark contrast to the rest of the bleak compound.

 

Aside from housing there could be a smaller library, workshops, alchemical rooms, rooms dedicated to enchanting, ritual rooms, solars for the masters and arch, a small prison, a main hall for meetings, etc. Not all of this is of course practical in a quest or story sense, but more of an attempt at immersion. It should go without saying that secret passages and rooms should exist. The college is suppose to be ancient so these sort additions should be assumed. Also I think a lot of the textures should be drawn from Solitude and Windhelm sans the bright and mood killing fluorescent mage lights that seem to be floating everywhere within the current vanilla version. Gone should be the weird glowing fountains, floating magelights, and church-like stained glass in favor of small window slits and dim candle light.

 

This proposal is very basic. I would avoid any major rewriting of quest and characters in favoring of attempting to first create the setting, and then create the story. I say basic but of course it's a huge task. Once the setting comes together the rest can be written in, a College with a more engaging storyline, more quest that are also more varied. I would ultimately love to see a College where the major story involved the intrigue and plotting that goes on in between a competitive enviroment, where the main character could ultimately rise to the top while working with and pitting the College's mages against themselves. But that's in the far and distant horizon.

 

 

So all of that said, what do you people think? Any other suggestions to add?

[Grumpen]

Also important to bring up an important clarification of how I see the college and how it differs from 'Hogwarts':

 

From Merriam Webster:

 

Not

a self-governing constituent body of a university offering living quarters and sometimes instruction but not granting degrees <Balliol and Magdalen Colleges at Oxford> —called also residential college b : a preparatory or high school c : an independent institution of higher learning offering a course of general studies leading to a bachelor's degree; also : a university division offering this d : a part of a university offering a specialized group of courses e : an institution offering instruction usually in a professional, vocational, or technical field <business college>

But

company, group; specifically : an organized body of persons engaged in a common pursuit or having common interests or duties

Or

a group of persons considered by law to be a unit b : a body of electors — compare electoral college

 

Learning certainly is implied. But it is not the focus. The focus is on research, furthering knowledge, and in limited apprenticeships transmission of said knowledge. Mage's go to the college to learn, but they receive no diploma or accolades. What they gain is prestige along with the ability to sharpen the pursuit of magic and to hope that the luminaries that made up a college would rub some of their knowledge off on htem. The idea of a college similar to contemporary standards didn't exist until around the renaissance, far away from the setting the TES games draw heavily upon (Antiquity, Early and Middle Medieval).

 

For a better understanding, one that understandably spilled into the medieval concept of what a 'college' is, see:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegium_%28ancient_Rome%29

 

 

Sorry for dorking out there, but the distinction is important.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Grumpen

[havefunwilltravel]

No doubt someone is eventually gonna remodel the area into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or even it's predecessor 'Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches' - the school attended by 'The Worst Witch.' [a series of children's books written back in the 70s latter made into an 80s TV movie and latter as a TV series a little before Harry Potter hit the big screen] Anyone not familiar with the later can look it up on youtube.

[PsxMeUP]

The College does suck. You have to go through various doors to get to the library when it should be close to the main entrance. I would assume the library would be the focal point of the school, where everybody hangs out. The living quarters are oddly positioned. There should be a large garden (indoor?) for ingredients gathering, like in Oblivion. Now only the Arch Mage has ingredients. I always have to chase down people to buy spells and get training when it should all be in a single location (maybe the library). Alchemy and enchanting kits should be more accessible. And it should look like a college, not a lame aqueduct. It just sucks.

[Grumpen]

No doubt someone is eventually gonna remodel the area into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or even it's predecessor 'Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches' - the school attended by 'The Worst Witch.' [a series of children's books written back in the 70s latter made into an 80s TV movie and latter as a TV series a little before Harry Potter hit the big screen] Anyone not familiar with the later can look it up on youtube.

 

Thankfully I'm not going to do that. No reason to feed people the easily digestible. As the Harry Potter books challenged the laymen's taste on soft fantasy, interesting and engaging content should strive to challenge the players conception.

[havefunwilltravel]

No doubt someone is eventually gonna remodel the area into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or even it's predecessor 'Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches' - the school attended by 'The Worst Witch.' [a series of children's books written back in the 70s latter made into an 80s TV movie and latter as a TV series a little before Harry Potter hit the big screen] Anyone not familiar with the later can look it up on youtube.

 

Thankfully I'm not going to do that. No reason to feed people the easily digestible. As the Harry Potter books challenged the laymen's taste on soft fantasy, interesting and engaging content should strive to challenge the players conception.

 

Lol, but some fans will. Though the only upgrade I will be looking for would be to make it a little more populated. As in a small private academy, not a major university.

[IxionInc]

The College does suck. You have to go through various doors to get to the library when it should be close to the main entrance. I would assume the library would be the focal point of the school, where everybody hangs out. The living quarters are oddly positioned. There should be a large garden (indoor?) for ingredients gathering, like in Oblivion. Now only the Arch Mage has ingredients. I always have to chase down people to buy spells and get training when it should all be in a single location (maybe the library). Alchemy and enchanting kits should be more accessible. And it should look like a college, not a lame aqueduct. It just sucks.

 

Um. The library is right by the front door. It's called the Arcanaeum, you get to it by going through the doors on the right in the Hall of Elements.

And its not like you can't go into the arch-mage's quarters to get ingredients. I mean, there's no bloody locks stopping you, and I don't think you can "steal" harvestable things. Hell, people lounge in it when I'm the arch mage all the time and it really creeps me out.

 

Minor tick aside, the college does need more "zazz". Like a cool dome around the college to keep snow and dragons out, or maybe some renovations that stretch out unsupported like the bridge.

Edited January 5, 2012 by IxionInc

[Grumpen]

No doubt someone is eventually gonna remodel the area into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or even it's predecessor 'Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches' - the school attended by 'The Worst Witch.' [a series of children's books written back in the 70s latter made into an 80s TV movie and latter as a TV series a little before Harry Potter hit the big screen] Anyone not familiar with the later can look it up on youtube.

 

Thankfully I'm not going to do that. No reason to feed people the easily digestible. As the Harry Potter books challenged the laymen's taste on soft fantasy, interesting and engaging content should strive to challenge the players conception.

 

Lol, but some fans will. Though the only upgrade I will be looking for would be to make it a little more populated. As in a small private academy, not a major university.

 

I guess what I would be aiming for, after getting the groundwork down for a larger and better physical college, is to expand the number of people and questlines. Each master of each school could have their own questline, and the main questline expanded considerably. While I would like a lot more of the focus to be with the internal dealing of the college (Competition between the members) the main college questline could deal with something as big as the vanilla version.

[Darksun45230]

I'll refer you to the suggestions I posted more than a month ago.

 

Don't get me started on the Mage College.

 

* Students of magic should be hustling and bustling their way through the hallways and corridors (be they court mages-in-training for the Jarl or Imperials looking to apply their skills when rejoining the army.)

* The teachers should have their own homes off campus, not sleeping in their small rooms like a sleepy-time village.

* The students should have to sleep in those cramped facilities.

* NPCs should be randomly giving lectures, demonstrating magic, and generally experimenting with spells (basically what's been going on during your quests but practiced by others.)

* Conjuration students should be walking with Atronochs or their Dead Thralls.

* Destruction students should be practicing their spells on Restoration students using Wards.

* Illusion students should be turning invisible, provoking guards, and calming them again.

* Alteration students should be practicing their Skin spells with Conjuration student's Bound Weapons.

* Tests should be handed out by facility or student-to-student quizzing Players on random spell names/facts and are awarded skillpoints for passing (or decay for failing.)

* The Nords should be petitioning the Mage against abstain from raiding their burial grounds, this could lead to conflict and high quality quest material.

* The researchers should be launching excavations to ancient Dwemer ruins, Nord burial grounds, and sites of interest.

* The researches should be tasking students to hunt local animals (or Werewolves and Vampires) for their projects.

 

Yes, massive suggestion, but right now the Mages College doesn't feel like a College -- it's more like a hospice for practitioner's of magick.

[Grumpen]

I'll refer you to the suggestions I posted more than a month ago.

 

Don't get me started on the Mage College.

 

* Students of magic should be hustling and bustling their way through the hallways and corridors (be they court mages-in-training for the Jarl or Imperials looking to apply their skills when rejoining the army.)

* The teachers should have their own homes off campus, not sleeping in their small rooms like a sleepy-time village.

* The students should have to sleep in those cramped facilities.

* NPCs should be randomly giving lectures, demonstrating magic, and generally experimenting with spells (basically what's been going on during your quests but practiced by others.)

* Conjuration students should be walking with Atronochs or their Dead Thralls.

* Destruction students should be practicing their spells on Restoration students using Wards.

* Illusion students should be turning invisible, provoking guards, and calming them again.

* Alteration students should be practicing their Skin spells with Conjuration student's Bound Weapons.

* Tests should be handed out by facility or student-to-student quizzing Players on random spell names/facts and are awarded skillpoints for passing (or decay for failing.)

* The Nords should be petitioning the Mage against abstain from raiding their burial grounds, this could lead to conflict and high quality quest material.

* The researchers should be launching excavations to ancient Dwemer ruins, Nord burial grounds, and sites of interest.

* The researches should be tasking students to hunt local animals (or Werewolves and Vampires) for their projects.

 

Yes, massive suggestion, but right now the Mages College doesn't feel like a College -- it's more like a hospice for practitioner's of magick.

 

 

Good stuff, although something that's down the road. After a new College is built then NPC's need to be created and storyline's and dialogue written. Then the polishing and small touches could be added.