Imperials or Stormcloaks?

[Zeema]

Whe I went to Winterhold I wanted to join the imperials because of one guard he said

'you know I got to thinking maybe I. Dragon born'

and at least the imperials are less racist. Also I'm sick of Nord's honor

 

[Patrick Buck]

In all fairness, I disagree with both of them. Stormcloaks are racist, Imperials work with the Thalmor. Plus I don't like their arrogance.
I went for storm-cloaks though. Still not sure why.

 

[Kramcake2516]

I went with the Imperials quest but even after completing it getting to the rank of legate I still felt as if nothing had changed yes ok some of the jarls had changed but I didn?t feel any benefits from my rank or get and cool amour/weapons.
TBH a lot of the guilds also feel this way you feel more like the guild mascot rather than anything important, also another problem for me is the menu stuff like how you are not able to check you rank in guilds or the fact you don?t get an more info about quests you currently have apart from where you have to go and even that doesn?t work sometimes!

 

[darth.pixie]

I chose neither. Well, I prefer Stormcloaks but don't side by then since I like the Jarl of Whiterun.

The thing is, by choosing Legion, I also choose Thalmor. We may discuss what the Empire will do to clear them out and how they'll do it but nothing happens in game and it all depends on Bethesda. If you pick Legion you may as well find out, in the next game, that Skyrim is still free because an upstart of a youth took it back and fought off the armies. The Ulfric I saw in game was cunning so he'd secure his position by making alliances but Skyrim is defensible and deadly enough to throw back attackers. Imagine a Thalmor party encountering a giant. So it's all speculation that could go either way.

As for the racism, I played as an Altmer in the former playthrough and he never said a thing to me. He made me Thane. We never see him as a racist, just a man preoccupied with a war. You see him discuss the issue with someone about the dunmer and he basically replied "well, tell the grey elves that I'm preoccupied now with the whole of Skyrim". He may actually be a racist or not but we only saw him during the war so we can't judge things appropriately and whatever others say about it is subjective. And racism isn't as bad as having the answer for everything being "death". As soon as you enter Solitude you witness an execution not to mention your own. And Elisif would be a pretty bad queen, admittedly. (Just witness her court)

Also, remember that other races other than Nords are very rare in Skyrim so I see mistrust as natural. You can see examples of Dunmer and Argonians that struggle and then chat with the Altmer(I think) merchant that states she made friends and has a successful business because she took her time and proved herself reliable.

 

[Knight Templar]

I fail to see what you're not understanding, the Imperial Legion was practically decimated, they had driven the Thalmor out of Cyrodil, and out of northern Hammerfell. The Emperor agreed to the shitty terms (but completely ignored some of them for almost 30 years) because he knew the Empire could regain its strength whereas the Aldmeri could not.

I contend that the treaty prevents the Empire from regaining it's strength, and say that weak as they were, the Thalmor were weaker.

Now they can't even hold Skyrim properly, the Empire is doing more to help the Thalmor than it is to fight it.

Hammerfell could have easily been defeated by the Thalmor had they focused only on the Redguards.

You keep forgetting that the Redguards beat back the Thalmor after the treaty was signed, the elves were focusing on Hammerfell, they simply lacked the strength to keep it.

 

[Sandernista]

I fail to see what you're not understanding, the Imperial Legion was practically decimated, they had driven the Thalmor out of Cyrodil, and out of northern Hammerfell. The Emperor agreed to the shitty terms (but completely ignored some of them for almost 30 years) because he knew the Empire could regain its strength whereas the Aldmeri could not.

I contend that the treaty prevents the Empire from regaining it's strength, and say that weak as they were, the Thalmor were weaker.

Now they can't even hold Skyrim properly, the Empire is doing more to help the Thalmor than it is to fight it.

Hammerfell could have easily been defeated by the Thalmor had they focused only on the Redguards.

You keep forgetting that the Redguards beat back the Thalmor after the treaty was signed, the elves were focusing on Hammerfell, they simply lacked the strength to keep it.

They did not focus on Hammerfell, their armies were just as decimated as the Legion's.

And even then it took 5 years to get the Thalmor out of Hammerfell, and the cost was the entire south being destroyed.

 

[dark-mortality]

Imperials or Stormcloaks? That is the same as to ask between the idiotic morons or the racistic morons... I choose pie. Pie solves everything. If not, then I will simply destroy a city, teabag all the men and get myself an army of concubines with the children as my slaves... Did I mention the concubines?

 

[Eccentric_Jon]

I don't think either are evil, just one's the IN power, and another is a rebellion. I'll be going Stormcloaks (Fight the power!). That said, I have been ignoring the main story, because there's so much else to do, so I may find out something about both later to change my mind....

 

[Eccentric_Jon]

Stormcloaks? Imperials? Oh you mean the randoms I met at the start and have never spoke to since then Im at level 26 and 42 hours in havent started the main quest or payed any attention to either group at all.

This

 

[Ramare]

I have no desire for politics.

Also, I like Imperials. I like wearing Imperial armor. I like using a longsword, just like Imperials. I like using Imperial tactics. I like the Legion. I like that the Legion is called "The Legion". I will gladly fight for my life on a suicide mission for the Imperials, than buy all of the surviving Legion members I fought beside a round of ale.

FOR THE LEGION, AND THE EMPIRE!

 

[Gramzon]

I sided with the stormcloaks, mostly because i feel that the "empire" in skyrim is too much like the government here in Norway where the leader is a spineless crybaby, and with both my sapmi and norse heritage, i actually became angry at the game when i got word of the talos worshipers getting executed, so i went complete idiot and started killing every imperial i could get my hands on.
And yes, i'm a nord both ingame and IRL.
To the true sons of Skyrim!

 

[remulean]

i feel that one important point has not been made by the pro stormcloaks side and was actually more than integral in me joining them(despite my intense hatred of ulfric). there is a prophecy that as long as the humans of tamriel worship the NINE the walls between oblivion and tamriel remain strong. in ages past the elves used daedra armies to keep the humans as slaves and generally conquered tamriel. but thanks to talos and his subsequent covenant with the gods their power was thwarted.
so in essence, banning the worship of talos is basically the first step in a plan to summon daedra armies.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I support the Empire in the same way I think the EU is a good idea. Not a fan of jingoism, and the Stormcloaks seem to have a lot of that.

Fuck, I'm such a nerd..

 

[Machiavellian007]

Neither. I kill Thalmor when it pleases me, and side with them when they offer coin. I'm the sort of person who will do anything for money. Also, I heard there was a bug with the main quest if you choose a side before you finish it, so...

But if I HAD to choose, it would depend on my race. I generally play as Khajiit, Dunmer or Altmer, and a lot of the Stormcloaks' comments about, "those damn elves," and how they would love to slaughter my kind sort of rubbed me up the wrong way. So, Imperials!

 

[Lexodus]

Let me think. Stick with the empire and actually have a chance of defeating those bastard elves when they come knocking again, or break off from everybody and join a group of fur-clad white supremacists?

 

[Pandabearparade]

Not that most of them know that...but yeah, it is pretty clear the Empire is the good guy here.

Not quite.

Spoiler

If you read the dossier on Ulfric, you'll notice that he's an -unwilling- asset. Meaning he doesn't cooperate with the Thalmoor, they just view him as a valuable figure because he's tying up a large portion of the Empire's forces. The Stormcloaks clearly aren't a minority, also, as they hold just as much territory and have just as many in-game representatives as the Empire.

Further, the Thalmoor also don't want Ulfric to win. They are putting resources into keeping the war at a standstill, a decisive victory one way or another is viewed as counter to their goals.

Granted, -I- would side with the Empire. They are mostly in the right, it just isn't as overwhelmingly obvious as you assert.

As an aside, making Tiber Septim a divine in the first place was a fairly stupid idea, and I'm glad they've challenged it in lore. This is the Emperor who had an affair with a foreign ruler, knocked her up, and -forced- her to abort so the infant wouldn't compete with his 'real' children. Fucking asshole. (Maybe I'll make a thread ranting about that)

 

[Pandabearparade]

Let me think. Stick with the empire and actually have a chance of defeating those bastard elves when they come knocking again, or break off from everybody and join a group of fur-clad white supremacists?

Hammerfell managed to give the Thalmoor boot-to-ass after seceding from the Empire, so it is entirely possible that Skyrim being independent is a good idea. There is also a possibility the Hammerfell and Skyrim could unite, having a common enemy and a shared border.

 

[DustyDrB]

Ulfric is well-intentioned but shortsighted, and putting his thrall in power would give too much control to the many racists who happen to be among them.

If it comes down to religious persecution vs racial persecution, I'd side with the former. At least the religious people can worship in private. You can't hide the fact that your skin is blue, gray, furry, or scaly.

Not to mention that the Imperials aren't exactly fans of the Thalmor. It's a reluctant alliance, and the Thalmor could be fought off better united and without restructuring the politics and economics (trade would be severely hindered if the Empire was overthrown) of Skyrim (which is what would happen in a Stormcloak win)