That info is really great, but I don't see, where is it from? PC Gamer official cite does not say Skyrim is in Feb issue. Do I misunderstand something?

Magazines name their issues after the first month that the magazine will be available for the entire duration of*, not the month of release. So the March issue actually comes out in February.

*Look, the English language has certain limitations, okay? Preposition stranding might sound weird, but it's the only way to express that concept.

This is fantastic information thanks OP! Welcome to the forums

We already knew about the holds from the lore and have posted it before and all the screenshots that you talk about were in the GI mag. However, some of the info given was more in depth than the other mags were about the information. Thanks for posting the info.

PC Gamer rocks!!! They always seem to ask/answer the right questions.

Thanks m8

So you can mine with local npc's? Are the mines in town or do you get to travel with the locals to find mines out of town?

Thanx, and I get what you mean, my english is not that bad
I misunderstood because the Feb issue is the last one mentioned on the site

There are 9 regions? Wow skyrim is going to be massive!

You can see all the different "holds" in this map: http://riftwall.com/images/skyrim_text.jpg

The Pale, Reach, etc.

Why do i only see 8?

Bcause I guess that the blue one (the north shore) counts too, and you didn't

EDIT: But it looks like that are "ecosystem" regions, not political ones

We haven't seen a map where the region between Solitude and The Pale is undistorted enough for us to make out the name.

Also, The Pale and Winterhold are part of the same colored blob because they're both snow-covered. The main difference is that The Pale is a valley while Winterhold is a coast.

They aren't "houses" like morrowind. They are more like counties from Oblivion.

Thanks mate....i've been looking for a skyrim map like that for bloody ages :thumbsup:
Also looking at that map,i wonder ,if at all,how far we can go into the sea?
There could be quite alot to explore,judging by that highlighted patch at the top...lets hope

that's a fan made map right?

Yes, it was drawn by someone on the forum from the brief glimpses of the map we got in GameInformer videos.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1163494-a-clearer-map-of-skyrim/

I believe this has been covered before. It's striclty gameplay-based. That is, there is a slot for each hand, and you can equip one (one!) thing to each hand. You can choose between a sword or a spell, but not both. Sheathing your weapons does not mean you unequip them, it just means you haven't readied them. In that same way, spells can probably be "sheathed", a la Morrowind. This same logic simply dictates why you can't use hand-to-hand attacks in Oblivion by putting your sword away.

What you can do is assign different loadouts. Hotkeys (Or however they're handled in Skyrim, at least PC gets hotkeys) can be used to equip or unequip entire sets of gear. On your Battlemage character, for instance, you could have a loadout that is dual-wielding swords and dual-wielding spells, and swap between them whenever you please. The recommended playstyle for a battlemage, though, would be a spell in one hand and a weapon in the other, but your possibilities are open. By having a spell, which gives you a bonus to your combat potential, you lose the ability to have a shield. It's a nicely-implemented system of balance that I'm looking forward to at least.

True, but it sounds like the Hold governments will be a lot more important than the county governments were, much like the Morrowind houses.

For the sake of being informative, here's a nice database of what we know about the Holds, including the information from this thread:

THE OLD HOLDS
There are four Old Holds. These are the most conservative, Nordic Holds. They're the most likely center of an anti-Imperial rebellion, are populated mainly by Nords, and are still ruled by kings. The Old Holds are:

Winterhold: Skyrim's long, icy, snow-covered northeast coast. The capital of Winterhold is a major city, also called Winterhold. The city of Winterhold contains the Ysmir Collective, a library supposedly rescued from the destruction of Morrowind, and is influenced by Dunmer culture. It's one of the major trade ports of northern Skyrim. Winterhold also contains the city of Dawnstar, and the ruins of Saarthal, the first human city in Tamriel.

Eastmarch: A volcanic tundra in eastern Skyrim, on the border with Morrowind. The only major city in Eastmarch is Windhelm, the ancient capital of Skyrim that contains the palace of Ysgramor, the possibly mythical culture hero and warrior-king said to have been the first King of Skyrim and the first human in Tamriel. Windhelm is also the location of the Imperial garrison that guards Dunmeth Pass to Morrowind.

The Pale: A snowy valley, south of Winterhold. Contains no major cities that we know of. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Dragon.jpg.

Rift: A valley in southeastern Skyrim, home to a forest of birch trees that supposedly resembles "rural New England in fall." The only major city is the city of Riften. We know basically nothing about Riften. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Ranger-Hunting.jpg.

THE WESTERN HOLDS
These Holds are more cosmopolitan, and are ruled by elected Moots rather than hereditary kings. They're also the most likely to be loyal to the Empire.

Solitude: Also known as "Haafingar," Solitude is a major city in northwestern Skyrim that appears to be the capital of a Hold we don't know the name of yet. Solitude is the northernmost city in Tamriel, and a major trading rival to Winterhold. The city is home to the Bard's College, a famously liberal institution, and has a tradition of burning effigies of a mysterious "King Olaf," one every year. Their main exports are lumber and fish. Solitude, unlike the other western Holds, seems to have had a monarch as late as the end of the Third Era. The most important ruler of Solitude was Potema Septim, the Wolf Queen. The daughter of Emperor Pelagius II, she overthrew her niece, Kintyra II, in order to put her own son, Uriel III, on the Imperial Throne. She was eventually defeated by her brother Magnus. Potema is a legendary figure and there is an underground movement to restore her bloodline, called the H?rme.

Whiterun: The central tundra of Skyrim is named after its capital, also called Whiterun. The city of Whiterun lies at the base of the Throat of the World. Once known as "the Imperial City of Skyrim," it was devastated toward the end of the Third Era by H?rme and frost troll attacks and a bitter dynastic feud. It is now ruled by a coven of witches, founded by the Witch-Queen Jsashe, who are supposedly priestesses of Lorkhan. At the peak of the Throat of the World is the settlement of High Hrothgar, home of the Greybeards, the world's greatest masters of the art of Thu'um (a.k.a. dragon shouts).

Falkreath Hold: A valley in southwestern Skyrim, home to a boreal forest. Falkreath Hold was actually once considered part of Cyrodiil, and was the land ruled by King Cuhlecain, whose armies were led by Tiber Septim to forge the Third Empire. Falkreath Hold's capital is the city of Falkreath. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-River.jpg.

The Reach: The most cosmopolitan Hold, in western Skyrim, the Reach is a land of canyons and mesas. The largest city in the Reach is Markarth Side, a city mostly known for being the home of Tiber Septim's Imperial College of the Voice, established to promote the study of thu'um (it didn't work). http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Tower.jpg.

It also looks like there's another Hold southeast of Solitude, but we don't know anything about it, other than that it's probably a "Tundra Marsh."

This is great, sort of brings an MMORPG to it where in MMORPG you can go mining, woodcutting, etc. and craft your own things. This is deffinently going to be Betheseda masterpiece of 2011.

Yes , It says specifically " 2 handed Polearms ''

And when you cross reference - Polearm's - with either of the other's, there is a big red X , meaning you cant duel wield either Magic ,Swords or Shields with them.

yes spells are supposed to look like in Bioshock in that they impact what the hands look like when they are readied. I suppose you don't need to sheath to open doors and interact with objects but you need to sheath your spells so you don't greet villagers with flaming hands... I have a problem with quarterstaves not allowing spell casting though. One suggestion is allowing spells in the off hand with two handed weapons and just letting the character cast the spell but not allowing him to attack or parry while casting. Or if weapons still have power attacks the power attack of a staff becomes the charged spell that is equipped in off hand... ( provided a spell is equipped ) Very easy to handle interface-wise, not sure how easy it is coding-wise.. could be cool for magical weapons in general too..

thanks :thumbsup:

Yeah that shout i guess, maybe has something to do with the college of whispers .
It would be good if the distnce you can teleport is somehow dependent on how well you have learnt the shout.

''Magazines name their issues after the first month that the magazine will be available for the entire duration of*, not the month of release. So the March issue actually comes out in February''.


yup as sleign said above - Its in the March issue

I'm very skeptical on this line information. 2 shields? you sure you read that right?

Well you can shield bash. I'd like to run around as a giant untouchable turtle myself