Skyrim talk:Winterhold

'Major'

Just to clarify, what constitutes a 'major' city? Winterhold isn't one of the 5 major cities, but is presumably one of the main settlements, and still a city rather than a township. Just checking --OblivionDuruza 04:39, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

The five cities that I've seen listed as major cities are Markarth Side, Solitude, Whiterun, Windhelm, and Winterhold, which I'm assuming means that those are the five cities that will be on separate maps. --Nephele^Talk 05:20, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

I was under the impression that Solitude, Whiterun, Windhelm, Markarth Side and Riften were the 5 cities, although I could be wrong. That seemed to be the general consensus on the Forums, and this article seems to confirm that. --OblivionDuruza 06:02, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

The list I gave comes from Xbox World magazine, among other places. I personally tend to trust printed articles more than on-line articles. And it doesn't help that the gameraccess article you linked has a seemingly large number of suspicious statements (e.g., "medium armor" is in direct contradiction to a Todd Howard interview). However, we really won't know until the game comes out. --Nephele^Talk 06:21, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

Of course. Personally, Winter Hold makes more sense as a Major city, although I do remember more articles on the subject, albeit a few months ago. The one I linked to was the most recent I could find, but if I do come across anything more reliable I'll certainly post again. In the meantime, it's not really that big a deal. There's a logical case for either city, each houses a Major Guild, and while Winter Hold has the 'backing' of pre-Skyrim lore (what with being the Capital and all), Riften would seem, at least from what I've read recently, to be the one that people believe is it. Still, no big deal either way, until the game is released. I'll be sure to check first thing :) --OblivionDuruza 13:12, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

Sinking or being eroded into the sea?

This extract from a French preview released today-yesterday sheds some interesting light on the city, but it is a translated piece of text and I don't have access to the original French to try and translate myself. Not the best source, but this 'sinking/eroding into the sea' aspect is interesting. "10- And what a city ! Guard are charging an old wooden house. They scream. I finally see Winterhold. Well, its ruins. Or to be more accurate, one ruin, the rest is under water. A road seems to lead to a fortress stuck on an eroded peak, frankly ready to sink into the sea. For once, I will follow the guards. They are in the lobby, going around looking for something, ready to attack. Everyone is telling me to speak to the jarl. Not a friendly one … people only seem interested in the Winterhold College (Skyrim mages guild)… And he thinks its because of the mages the sea submerged his city."--OblivionDuruza 14:46, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

The original french article can be found here (click on the second Elenwel link and go to point 10 to skip to the part translated here). The english translation mentioned above is provided here. --Alfwyn 16:36, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

One reservation I have is that I know I've read another preview where someone joined Winterhold College -- did the entry-level quest, and IIRC had to wander around Winterhold some in the process... and I don't remember "Winterhold-is-destroyed" as part of that preview. I'd have to find a lot of digging to find that article to double-check the details, but I suspect that it is possible to visit Winterhold pre-sinking, and that something then triggers the catastrophe. --Nephele^Talk 19:16, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

People

Should the Winterhold residents be split from the College of Winterhold residents? Since the two places have separate map markers, I think they should, but I don't feel confident enough about editing the wiki to do it by fiat. --Thistle 17:54, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

I agree here. Separate map markers, separate places ... and I suspect if you asked the residents themselves they would agree. Contrast the Companions building which is actually inside Whiterun, unlike the College. Revoran 18:35, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Smithing facilities

I'm having a hard time looking for workbenches and grindstones. Is there any in the hold? Might be useful for others as well if someone puts that down on the page. --Joshua.yathin.yu 06:00, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

It's probably especially worth noting if there isn't. I'm currently unable to offload my Alftand loot... Guess I'll have to trudge to Dawnstar. 213.100.90.101 19:03, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Correct, there are no smithing facilities in Winterhold. Nor any merchants except Birna... and the various merchants in the College of Winterhold, who only deal in magical stuff unless you have the Merchant perk. And Enthir, who becomes a fence and will thus buy anything, even stolen goods, if you complete the main-line Thieves Guild quest up to the part that involves him. JLE (talk) 01:43, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

There's one smelter reasonably close to Winterhold at the Whistling Mine. However for full smithing facilities, there is nothing closer than going to either Dawnstar or Windhelm. The Alftand ruins hold forges and a workbench, but without a smelter to convert all the dwemer scrap, those are of little use. Driftshade Refuge has everything but a smelter (Fort Fellhammer has one), but at that point you might as well just continue to Dawnstar. --Olaus (talk) 09:09, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

Disambiguation

I wonder why Winterhold isn't eligible for a disambiguation page. It seems to me that the city doesn't constitute as a primary article, as Wikipedia puts it. Winterhold is rather small compared to its hold and I can speak from personal experience that I've more often found myself searching for the hold page than the city. I had already set up a disambiguation page, but that got reverted without a reason. Apparently it's against standards, but I wonder which standards we're talking about. While we are at it, I think the disambiguation page for Morrowind:Vivec is less clear-cut than this one, as players are far more likely looking for information about the city than the god. Wolok gro-Barok 19:11, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Fight, fight, fight, fight! The Blocker versus The Bureaucrat: who will win?!

I don't see a problem with it. The disambig for the lorespace seemed appropriate. Not sure why Krusty reverted this one. Minor Edits^{Threats•Evidence} 19:40, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

The rule/standard would be WP:PRIMARYTOPIC, but there are no rules whether there is a primary topic and which it is. Personally I'd prefer the city as primary topic, with a hatnote referring to the hold - no disambiguation page needed in this case. For me the city is more important, it's were quests start, people live and services are offered. It is the hold which is likely named after the city, and not the other way round (before Skyrim there wasn't even a lore page for the hold). But personal judgement is part of all this of course. I see no problem with the disambiguation page for lore, it won't be the target of searches often. --Alfwyn 21:26, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Jail

If you're taken to The Chill when you opt to go to jail, where do your stolen goods end up? The Chill does not have an Evidence Chest, nor did I find one in e.g. the Jarl's house, and there doesn't seem to be guard barracks. edit: seems that stolen goods are not actually confiscated, contrary to what the guard says. I just stole the armor off a guard, and after submitting to jail, I still had it in my inventory. WooShell 16:57, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

I can't find one in the CK. There's two different chests: EvidenceChestPlayerInventory and EvidenceChestStolenGoods. There's one of each in every city's jail except Winterhold. It wasn't removed by a patch, either. Did you lose any of your other items when going to jail? Vely^{►Talk►Email} 17:28, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

Confirmed, stolen goods are not actually confiscated through the bounty or going to jail. I still have all my stolen keys. PrometheusTheElf (talk) 00:50, 12 October 2012 (GMT)

I just lost my stolen keys when paying bounty. All 3 expansions and fully patched. 24.118.108.114 05:42, 21 February 2014 (GMT)

When I paid my bounty me and afollower lost a ton of stuff and I cannot get it back. — Unsigned comment by 64.251.92.66 (talk) at 18:57 on 5 March 2015

I paid a low 5 septim bounty and did not have any stolen goods confiscated despite the fact the guard said he would take stolen goods. I also was not teleported outside the prison for such a low bounty. I have the Xbox360, original game release not Legendary. Perhaps you lose stuff on the patched or expanded version but not the original? As far as I know, Winterhold is the only hold that doesn't confiscate stolen goods. 71.10.177.123 06:06, 23 January 2016 (UTC)

(←) In Skyrim Special Edition, nothing was confiscated when I chose to go to jail in Winterhold, I just broke out of The Chill. When I came back, I just paid my bounty and my (tiny) collection of stolen items disappeared from my inventory. Winterhold has no Evidence Chest: I went and checked in the nearest Evidence Chest in Dawnstar, and there it was. Looks like you DO now lose your stolen items when paying off your bounty, and Dawnstar is the closest evidence chest. JLE 13.38, 19 May 2018 (UTC)