Via theskyrimblog.com:

• there isn’t  anything at all in Skyrim that is ‘procedurally generated’. Every little detail has been lovingly hand-crafted  and placed into the world
• the reputation system has been developed and enhanced from Fallout:New Vegas. You can curry favour with the heads of Holds by doing quests for them, and thus being liked by the local guards to the extent that they will even turn a blind eye to your misdemeanours. That sounds awesome!
• Even more exciting is that you can turn the Holds against one another. The article reports that the player character ended up starting a war between two rival militias!
• New perks revealed were one which enables you to run through a group of enemies whilst bashing them with your shield. The perk was decapitation was also confirmed, and was described by Todd Howard as ‘not super gory’
• The Thieves Guild is based in the sewers beneath the City of Riften, and there is a Shrine of Talos in Whiterun.
• Creatures are described as being more diverse than ever before, and a brand new creature is revealed – an Ice Golem.

Isn't an Ice Golem the same as an Atronach?

I was wondering if they'd take anything out of Obsidian's playbook, New Vegas had some great changes over Fallout 3, so it's good to see Bethesda using some of their ideas.

@AlexW00d: The name "Golem" would suggest it's been created through magical means, not merely summoned from a plane of Oblivion.

11/11/11 is the day I say farewell to my regular life as I now know it.

@AlexW00d: It's true that the series has used "Golem" and "Atronach" interchangeably in the past, but the traditional D&D style of "Golem" (Body constructed by mundane means, animated magically) has never been truly represented except by Dwemer Animunculi.

EDIT: Whoops, just checked the internet.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Bestiary_G#Golem

Apparently Arena had proper Golems. Whaddaya know.

Thanks for the info Storms.

God, November can't come fast enough.

I suspect stuff like starting wars between rival holds will be strictly scripted and quest-based.

Anyway, I really like that they're making an effort to make everything more functional in Skyrim, which the shield charge is an example of. That perk opens up an entirely new combat maneuver to use as a shield-carrying warrior upon unlocking it (as opposed to every Block perk just being essentially "you can block better"), and that's the kind of thing there needs to be more of. The way they've redone the magic system is further exemplary of this focus on functionality, but I've already gone over that before.

I'm personally really curious to see what kind of perks the magic skills will have. We already know conjuration has a perk that allows you to have two summons out simultaneously, which is also very functional, so I can't wait to see what other ways you can juice up the magic skills.

God, November can't come fast enough.

@JP_Russell said:

I suspect stuff like starting wars between rival holds will be strictly scripted and quest-based.

Yes this is exactly what I would expect. It's not ususual to see this sort of this reported in a not entirely accurate way and then have people read far too much into it. It doesn't make me want the game any less.

@ShadowMoses900 said:

All though the thieves guild being based in the sewers is a little funny IMO, I was hoping they would have a hideout in the forest somewhere

How many pockets are to be picked in a forest, how many shops?

But yeah, I'm really anticipating this game as well.

Shield charging?
 
Sold!
 
Again.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

Shield charging? Sold! Again.

I'm chargin' mah...shield!

@ShadowMoses900 said:

Sounds awesome, this is my GOTY with Uncharted 3 being the runner up. All though the thieves guild being based in the sewers is a little funny IMO, I was hoping they would have a hideout in the forest somewhere....Still it's going to awesome no doubt!

How is it your GOTY you haven't even played it.

@Cincaid: 11/11/11 is the day I say hello to my normal life.

Fallout 3 wasn't my favorite game in the series but I'm glad Bethesda developed it since it gave them some good ideas for their own games. Really looking forward to this even if Todd Howard thinks it's not a generational leap in comparison to the previous titles.

Sounds like whoever posted this info went to the same Journalist session that the Edge magazine crew went to - this is literally all the info I just read after finally getting round to reading my most recent issue (which I've had for a couple weeks).