Why does Markarth have to svck so bad? I HATE navigating the place. With all the stairs, ups and downs, little allys - I can't get from point a to point b without checking my map 10 times. I don't expect everything to be as the crow flies, but it's like navigating a maze just to get somewhere. Becuase of this, I've spent as little time as possible there and I know there's a lot that I'm missing from the place.


Does anyone else feel this way, or have I just not spent enough time there?

I personally don't feel like that for Markarth, Solitude is my burden. Maybe you haven't spent enough time, or maybe you just dislike it and will never outgrow this.

King.

Well.... it's actually pretty straightforward. If you go in the gate, you have the inn and the trader, plus the couple of stalls for meat and jewelry, and to the left downhill you can get to the Warrens if you're doing that questline. If you fast travel to Understone Keep, you can get to the blacksmith (to the right down the hill), the Dibella and Talos temples (head down toward the blacksmith but go straight up the stairs instead of right down the stairs), and the Treasury House (left from Understone before you get to Vlindrel Hall). It might be just that you haven't spent a lot of time there yet - and once you've done the questline a few times it gets easier.

I have a mod that adds fast travel markers to the buyable houses, so I tag Vlin Hall too, which is a nice quiet safe place to land, if you just need to run into the keep to see Calcelmo or the Jarl - from the front door, turn right and stay on approximately the same level - couple of little sets of stairs, but still not far.

Never had much of a problem, the cities are smaller compared to Oblivion. I can see why it would be easy to get lost, lots of turns and twist.

Stone beds.....Make me feel uncomfortable using them.

I'm pretty much in the same. Markarth is not my favorite city in the game

The stairs do bug me, having me look up and down quite a lot. I do not get lost, but the stairs combined with the "evil incarnate" in the city with litle option to "correct" it has me leaving Markarth at best, last on my list of things to do, at worst, completely ignored.

Try to simplify and imagine the town as a circle and then divide the circle in half.

In the left half you have the first blacksmith, and an alchemist. In the right you have the Inn, a general store the temples and the keep.

Inside the keep you have a second blacksmith and a magic vendor. Simple as that, you just need to spend some more time within the city.

Markarth is my favorite city. It's one of the few cities in all of the Elder Scrolls games with an actual vertical dimension. I love standing on the front porch of Vlindrel Hall and looking down on the city spread out far below me. There's nothing like it in any other city in any other Elder Scrolls game.

And besides, I have adored Dwemer architecture for 13 years.

Buffy is constantly traveling a circuit that includes all the cities. Markarth and Windhelm are her least favorite to visit.

Markarth. Although the architecture is interesting - beautiful in a way even - I do admit it can be confusing. Her problem with the city though is that it simply makes her feel unwelcome. The inn is horrible, between the ominous Silver Blood talk and constant bickering within. Her business there is with the court mage so she'll set up her camp in his area or sometimes even out with her her mare at the stables rather than sleep at that horrible inn.

Windhelm. Showcase for what life would be like under rule of Ulfuic and his elf-hating pals. And Buffy is an elf. . . . Again, an unwelcoming place. She does her business with the court mage, then tries to quickly continue on to the friendlier settlement of Kynesgrove to spend the night.

My gosh are you kidding? I love Markath for all the reasons you hate it! It's the only town which I can truly feel lost in.

Join the club, sweetheart. Oh, wait, I hate it for different reasons, but still.

It actually didn't take me long to get the hang of where everything is in Markarth. Probably due to my insistence on cleaning the place up. With murder. I hate it so much.

Initially, I felt similar. However, after a few visits I had the jest of it. I actually had a tougher time navigating Windhelm and still to this day.

I only hate Markarth when I'm in a hurry.

I'll just spend some more time there. I'm doing a quest there now, so maybe once that's done I'll just hang out there for a bit and see what I can come up with. I think the key is whether or not one truly appreciates Dwemer architecture. I think becuase of the whole Dawnguard DLC, I have a negative bias towards anything to do with the Dwemer or Falmer. I hated that DLC, but since I'm ignoring it this time around, (yes - Serana will remain in her tomb indefinitely as far as I'm concerned) I might get over it. It just seems like there was so much of the Dwemer in Dawnguard. I can appreciate the lore, but not the actual items. Gyros, scrap metal, levers, stone beds, mechanical robotic enemies, etc. I do like the filled soul gems that can be looted though.


Now what I WOULD appreciate is a new Elder Scrolls that allows us to live during the times of the Dwemer. That would be awesome.

Well, the other key is whether you can get past the general malaise of the place. I like Vlin Hall, so I always get in good enough with Igmund to be allowed to buy it. After that, I fast travel in and out there, and don't bother to buy or sell stuff there at all, it's just a "way stop" generally. The city's populace is pretty awful. I infinitely prefer Whiterun to any of the other hold cities - even Solitude doesn't make me happy (though again, I do enough to get Elisif to let me buy Proudspire, and then ignore everyone....)

For sheer obnoxious, Igmund, Skald, and Siddgeir are in a tie for first place IMO. Ick to all of them.

Now, as to a game set in the Dwemer era: I don't think that would be sweetness and light, considering that the reason the Snow Elves are now the Falmer is because the Dwemer enslaved them for centuries. I think a game set at that time would probably be pretty depressing.... maybe more so than many people find Skyrim.

I Both love it and Hate it... I Love the architecture, I love Vlindrel Hall..Argis ... I actually like some of the people... The Reach is my 2nd favorite Hold.

I hate the general feel of the town, because of some of the quests ( two to be specific) You can't escape one of them...( seeing it anyway), the other just makes my characters want to stop eating meat... Not to mention the Haunted House...he's annoying and I always say I will help him...watch him walk in...then walk on by....

I'm not a big fan of Dwemer ruins in general. I think navigating in any Dwemer ruin for me is an exercise in frustration. Markarth is no different. That said, architecturally, they're beautiful.

I just did this one again last night. Ughh - I know what you mean. I'll take your advice next time. It's not worth it.

I have a love/hate relationship with Markarth. I like the look of the place with the waterfalls and Dwemer architecture. The temple of Dibella is there... you know, just saying. Many of the people who live there though... well let's just say I wouldn't be overly upset if they fell down the stairs or had other accidents.

it's one of the hold over thing's I always do, from when I was playing on 360... cause I am sure their is a mod that makes the man leave you alone... I just haven't bothered to find it. The other btw is leave the Redguards standing at the gate in Whiterun, they help with vampires and dragons.

I agree with the "vertical feel" to it. Looking at Markarth from the balcony in the Mage's Tower(?) is one gorgeous view. The waterfalls are beautiful, too. For some reason, I'm not a fan of Skyrim's Dwemer architecture, but loved Morrowind's.

Yep, there's a mod for that. I'll edit this tomorrow with a link. Just finished the second of the LotR movies and on the way to bed, waiting for an email, so foruming a bit....

I don't like Markarth either because I often get lost in its beautifulness.

I love Markarth. Before the game was released and seeing concept art of it, it was my main goal to travel there first before dealing with dragons or anything else. For some reason I find I still get disorientated in Falkreath

I don't, Falkreath is my home!