What is the worst city in Skyrim?

[LordSarcasm]

Riften, the city of thieves. In the lore it's supposed to be one of the most dangerous, and worst places to live in all of Skyrim. Really, I don't think it's all that bad. The Thieves' Guild isn't exactly the Mafia. They aren't Robin Hoods to be sure but as far as organized criminals go they are pretty tame. Also Riften is nestled in the middle of a beautiful aspen forest. What's not to like about the scenery.

 

Then you have Markarth. The reach is one of the most boring looking holds in the province, and the city is rife with enough corruption to make Wall Street hide its face in shame. The beds are solid rock it's crawling with forsworn agents, half the citizens are cannibals, there are falmer in the catacombs, two of the most evil of Daedric princes have their headquarters there (or at least nearby), there's a mad scientist, plague stricken mutants wandering the hillside, and a convent that really IS full of hookers.

[AlienSensei]

Riften, the city of thieves. In the lore it's supposed to be one of the most dangerous, and worst places to live in all of Skyrim. Really, I don't think it's all that bad. The Thieves' Guild isn't exactly the Mafia. They aren't Robin Hoods to be sure but as far as organized criminals go they are pretty tame. Also Riften is nestled in the middle of a beautiful aspen forest. What's not to like about the scenery.

 

Then you have Markarth. The reach is one of the most boring looking holds in the province, and the city is rife with enough corruption to make Wall Street hide its face in shame. The beds are solid rock it's crawling with forsworn agents, half the citizens are cannibals, there are falmer in the catacombs, two of the most evil of Daedric princes have their headquarters there (or at least nearby), there's a mad scientist, plague stricken mutants wandering the hillside, and a convent that really IS full of hookers.

I always thought that too. I always disliked Markarth, for all of that. I don't even travel there anymore. I'm mostly in Whiterun or Solitude, possibly Riften. I would like a mod that makes it so that the Thieves Guild actually are those douchebags they are said to be, so that you may see on steal something, and more stuff like when Sapphire was angry at the redguard dude.

 

 

However, there's another city I hate. Windhelm. The people are racist and NPC's are douchebags, there's nasty looking ice everywhere and imo the textures are horrible even with High resolution texturepacks are they've mostly put all the bad textures there in game, and besides that the city is unwelcoming and ugly looking, except for the cool unique architecture, I hate it.

[LithiumPower]

The Thieves Guild pretty much is the mafia. They operate like like a close-knit family, use bribery, extortion and kickbacks to gain influence in cities and strangle competition. They are not above murder (though they don't prefer it) but they often associate with the DBH and have former assassins as members. Riften is steeped in corruption, from the Steward Anuriel, to the prominent families right down to the dirty cops but yes it's beautiful and one of my favourite cities to lay low in - I love sitting on the deck outside Honeyside and watching the sunset.

 

The Reach is gorgeous! The forbidding cliffs, the mists rolling in off River Karth, the winding paths and walkways around the city. Plus Vlindrell Hall has one of the best lay outs.

 

It's no more corrupt than Riften, arguably less. The Silver-Bloods own Cidhna Mine yes but putting criminals to work only makes sense and is far better than parking them in jail on tax-payer expense. Thonar is crooked I concede but he was trying to control the forsworn through Madanach. I really can't blame him for trying for a less violent solution. I feel sorry for the few decent Reachmen caught in the middle but as you said a lot of them are cannibalistic, daedra worshipping depraved cultists and the rest are the Forsworn, making it terribly hard to sympathise with them. They make it sound like the Reach was conquered by the Nords only yesterday when it's been a thousand years or more, they should have assimilated already. He's as underhanded as Maven Black Briar but at least his objectives have a slightly wider scope than Maven's pure self-service.

 

 

My favourite city is probably Windhelm. I love the ancient architecture, the ice and snow, Candlehearth Inn glowing in the centre. The city feels steeped in history, groaning under the weight of millenia - very atmospheric. The civil tensions also make it feel realistic and lived in. I love the Gray Quarter, with its quaint red banners and lanterns - little throwbacks to Morrowind and the delightfully snide Dunmer.

 

Winterhold is sort of a let down. I would have liked for it to have been a vast city with dramatic ruins hanging off the cliffs and a tiny population nestled in the middle but alas - lots of potential wasted there.

[sisterof]

I'd go with Winterhold for greatest disappointment too, for the same reasons Lithium Flower mentioned. It's simply a non-city. Dawnstar follows pretty close.

The other cities may be troublesome but the mere fact of having so much personality makes them great. As for worse city to live in, disregarding wall/non-walled status, I'd choose Riften and Markarth too. Both are controlled by different kinds of mafia that make the common citizen either extremely oppressed or simply a target. The previous posters pointed all that I would already.

And the best city? Whiterun! Pretty, walled, Jorrvaskr, awesome Talos statue, Grey-Manes, Jon Battle-Born-Yet-Chill, beloved crazy priest Heimskr Talos bless his soul, and the Jarl with the most swag that ever swagged.

[imperium999]

Definitely a toss-up between Markarth and Windhelm. I just hate the way both cities are layed out. No matter how many times I visit, I still get lost and think to myself "Gad, I hate this city."

 

And yes, I think calling Dawnstar and Winterhold 'cities' is playing fast and loose with the word...

[AlienSensei]

I also think Winterhold was a major disappointment. As said above, I think it would be great to have huge ruins in unique architecture, but then again there's a great mod for that. I also think Winterhold should be extended and make a lot of small houses outside the city and make Grey Quarter more populated, like it would have a lot of Dunmers living in small apartments with their families. (Would be great to have Dunmer children...)

I'd go with Winterhold for greatest disappointment too, for the same reasons Lithium Flower mentioned. It's simply a non-city. Dawnstar follows pretty close.

The other cities may be troublesome but the mere fact of having so much personality makes them great. As for worse city to live in, disregarding wall/non-walled status, I'd choose Riften and Markarth too. Both are controlled by different kinds of mafia that make the common citizen either extremely oppressed or simply a target. The previous posters pointed all that I would already.

And the best city? Whiterun! Pretty, walled, Jorrvaskr, awesome Talos statue, Grey-Manes, Jon Battle-Born-Yet-Chill, beloved crazy priest Heimskr Talos bless his soul, and the Jarl with the most swag that ever swagged.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-G8w02ZX1c


Swag, (oww!), swag (oww!), swag, swag, swag! Edited March 13, 2013 by AlienSensei

[LordSarcasm]

It's no more corrupt than Riften, arguably less. The Silver-Bloods own Cidhna Mine yes but putting criminals to work only makes sense and is far better than parking them in jail on tax-payer expense. Thonar is crooked I concede but he was trying to control the forsworn through Madanach. I really can't blame him for trying for a less violent solution. I feel sorry for the few decent Reachmen caught in the middle but as you said a lot of them are cannibalistic, daedra worshipping depraved cultists and the rest are the Forsworn, making it terribly hard to sympathise with them. They make it sound like the Reach was conquered by the Nords only yesterday when it's been a thousand years or more, they should have assimilated already. He's as underhanded as Maven Black Briar but at least his objectives have a slightly wider scope than Maven's pure self-service.

Thonar practically has a terrorist in his pocket.

[Jaradin]

I've always loved Markarth! The architecture and high-rise platforms are great! Sure, the stones are made of stone if you're a beggar, and the corruption was bad at first, but then you clear it out and the place is great. As for Riften, I actually find it to be quite a nice place, even if it's a little dull.

 

For me, my least favorite city is definitely Winhelm, but that's not to say that I hate it.

[TheLoreSeeker]

Gonna have to go with Winterhold as well. IMO, a "one time capital of Skyrim" should at least have more stone architecture, maybe a wall surrounding the city...I mean...the college is impressive....unless the Jarl's longhouse is a newer addition and the old Jarl keep fell into the sea. But in that case there should be a LOT MORE rubble in the ocean. The collapse was only 75 years ago or something right?

Dawnstar is also kind of sparse for "one of Tamriel's most important ports".....it has 1 dock. If they had added a few more ships...maybe some extra houses. Then yeah...but at this point I rarely EVER go to Dawnstar.

Edited March 13, 2013 by TheLoreSeeker

[Kayyyleb]

Worst city I'll say is Windhelm.

 

Worst town is Dawnstar by far. Entire town plagued by nightmares and no one sleeps? Plus it's frozen over all year, has a "port" with ONE ship, gets attacked by dragons more than anywhere else I fast travel and has a senile old idiot of a jarl.