One thing that irked me in Oblivion, even more in Morrowind, was all the generic stores.
*Walks in town* *Sees generic general store, black smith, inn*
While it was better in Oblivion than in morrowind, it still is just annoying.
I mean, why can't they replace some stores with those that specialize just a litte bit?
Maybe in Riften, a coastal town, you find some argonian dive shop.
Sells Water walking/breathing spells/scrolls/amulets, and maybe pearls and alchemical ingredients from aquactic creatures.

If I ever want to do underwater exploring, or find a flooded dungeon, or need some alchemical ingredient from some big list someone gives me (why are these quests so common?), or anything to do with underwater, -BAM-, go to lizardface's dive shop instead of all these countless blacksmiths I ignore because Morvayn has the most gold anyways.

Totally agree!

Definitely agree on this one, and it's an easy way to add more buildings to cities without too much redundancy. I'd also like to see more "signature" items made by specific smiths, potion makers, etc. I'm tired of every blacksmith having the exact same "iron sword" as every other blacksmith in the game.

Although I don't necessarily agree about it being more of a problem in Morrowind, probably because there was such a larger variety of items in the game than in Oblivion.

Couldn't agree more. I really hope to see at least a couple of these.

Maybe not in your exact example. But Yeah, I'd like to see "Local specialties" for the towns, and I think we might get them, considering the focus on independent economies. It gets a little too far into TL:DR territory, but let's just take a generic example, areas closer to Orsinium (High Rock), should have Orcish armor and weapons available as a constant, while towns closer to Morrowind, might have more Glass and Ebony items, though Morrowind was kind of destroyed, it makes sense that what survived would be in the likely refugee areas around Riften and Windhelm. That said, a little "Random" shops that have set slots to cycle various items should be available so the stores aren't boring and static like Morrowind's, naturally the "Region Specialty" should be cheaper than the imported goods.

but a lot of stuff was such a pain to find, I had to do join the mages guild and search all the different cities before I could find a fortify attribute spell

And you can't find that spell at most generic magic shops, can you? The beauty of this is herp derp, go to shop that specializes in restoration, rather than going to generic shop and hope its on the random list.

The hints in the loading screen actually tell you which city of Oblivion specialise in what kind of spell. So one could say you are well-informed.

Totally agree as well. I hope they do it in Skyrim. :ermm:

I would love shop like like if all they sell is is single handed weapons
or
a marksmanship shop


isnt HIgh Rock the real name not Orsinium since thats just and area of High Rock

Orsinium is one of the four member kingdoms of the High Rock province.

But yeah, this sounds like a fantastic idea, and I hope they've done something like this already. They've stated that they're using a much better compression format so they can pack on as many voices as they need, so each shop owner can proudly state their specialty. They shouldn't replace general stores, obviously, but they'd add a lot.

I agree.

I'd also love to see a few more sketchy shops . Shops that specialize in dark spells, evil items, etc, etc. It could be off in the corner of town, or in an isolated area of Skyrim, and it could be full of creepy, suspicious NPCS. Think Knockturn Alley, in Harry Potter.

And don't forget the Skooma!

But of course!

It could also have black soul gems, dark weaponry, dark armor, suicide rings, Daedric weapons/armor, poisons, etc, etc, etc.

I hope a dev see this and just goes make a speciality store and makes it approved.

Yep, it would be very cool if the cities were large enough to have a "bad part of town." Especially if it's actually dangerous to go there, like if you're wearing expensive cltohing and don't look too intimidating someone might try to mug you.

I'd be content with just one of the cities having a bad part of town. Hell, I'd probably be content with there just being a small, distant outpost of dark shops.

But I'm especially fond of the first idea.

Just like Bravil in Oblivion. bliviongate:

What was that like? I don't remember.

It wasn't really shady. They didn't do a too good of a job with Bravil. However, there was a skooma den in some house. And it looked gloomy...sort of.

Look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEwWLi_bItE. WARNING:Turn the music down! :rock:

Oooooh, there!!! Haha, ya, that area was a bit sketchy.

At least one town in Skyrim needs to be like that...but a lot more sketchy (if by sketchy you mean thieves, skooma addicts, etc.).

Better cities with blood & mud helped a lot to make bravil feel like the slum of the game.

Love the idea, but just sayin, an argonian wouldn't have a dive shop because they can already breathe underwater

I basically knew them but that spell was so hard to find, I think I actually got it at the arcane university