High Hrothgar isn't a hold.

So are we not going to have all of the towns/cities from the Lore? jw I saw on UESP they had:

Dawnstar
Falkreath
High Hrothgar
Karthwasten
Markarth Side
Rifton
Haafingar/Solitude
Whiterun (already shown?)
Windhelm
Winterhold

Maybe Highrothgar wont count since they have only refered to it as The Throat of the World. (Considering thats where it is... Right?)

High Hrothgar is a mountain, not a city, but otherwise those cities have all been confirmed from the various maps we've seen glimpses of. Solitude, Markarth, Whiterun, Riften, and Windhelm are the 5 majors, but the others will be there in some fashion as well.

ah ok, I thought maybe thats just the name of the Graybeard village at the top. Plus I wasnt sure about the others being in since they had Riverwood. I thought it had taken the place of one of the others

I'm pretty sure the settlements are large ones, like Riverwood. I'm sure theres also small towns here and there too, but they aren't part of that 9.

I'm pretty sure the settlements are large ones, like Riverwood. I'm sure theres also small towns here and there too, but they aren't part of that 9.

ive never played morrowind but the imperial city is very tiny for being the number one world(Tamriel) powers capital.I always lost myself in the sewers and caves and ruins below it though

Oh man, Vivec. So awesome! I always got/get lost, even though I've played that game for more than 8 years now. Man, that game is great.

A few misunderstanding here.

They never said they were dramatically larger than Oblivion cities.

I can tell you now they won't be vivec sized. Here's one of them. http://www.play-mag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1265WhiterunExterior011.jpg

That picture of Vivec is modded.

The quote about the number of settlements is very ambiguous. I think there are two likely cases. One is that there are 5 main cities and 8-9 other towns, some of which are large towns that rule holds and some of which are smaller towns like Riverwood (which appears to have approximately 8 buildings). The other possibility is that there are 9 large towns/cities, one for each hold, including the 5 "major" ones, and an additional 8-9 smaller towns. It's possible these numbers do not include really small settlements like 2-4 building towns that were so common in Oblivion.

I don't want a bunch of smaller settlements (2-4 houses) if it means that they will be filled only with generic NPCs that offer no services, unique dialogue, or quests. If you're going to build a community, give it some life.

Is http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/117/1172982/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110607051227935.jpg a big main city or a settlement? :unsure:

Big main city. It's Whiterun.