It was the Civil War, for me - should I join a faction, which one I should support, indeed whether to get involved at all. I ended up as a sort of Stormcloak supporter, without actually joining up. If I see an Imperial patrol escorting a hairy prisoner, I always free him and kill them; I never trade with Imperial camp quartermasters, and usually leave spare arrows and armour in the chests in Stormcloak camps; and I pretty much stay on the east of the map whenever possible, out of Imperial territory. I agonised for ages about what policy to take, but I'm content I made the right choice. Even knowing a certain fact about a certain someone doesn't change the reality of the situation: the Legion serves the Thalmor, and the Thalmor are the enemy of all Mankind. I could not ally with them or their lapdogs.
Hi Kged,
Very interesting... i used to think like that at one point of time, however, let me offer a different, if not overstated point:
Faction Anaylysis
Aldmeri Dominion Stance:
Imperials and Empire
Nords & Stormcloaks
Question: Won't it more sense for Ulfirc to side with the empire, seeing as how they already have an army? Just a question of leadership and utilizing the manpower that covers most of tamiel?
Taking into the consideration of the above,
The Empire Outcome
The Rebellion Outcome
Question: Given the options and analysis above, which do you think logically makes more sense? to me it seems like imperial questline. However, take your pick...
So far? Definitely choosing who to side with during the Forsworn Conspiracy/Cidhna Mine quests. On one hand, I really sympathize with the Reachmen's plight. They've been majorly taken advantage of and faced a lot of prejudice.
But at the same time, their tendency towards blind aggression towards anyone who ISN'T Forsworn (even other non-declared Reachmen, from the sound of it?) isn't a tactic that appeals to me. I'm playing a character of the Neutral Good variety, and indiscriminate killing and stealing isn't ok with him.
Plus there was the sense of being manipulated by both sides through the whole thing... Dak (my character) has a big problem with that stuff.
In the end I initially chose to side with the Forsworn out of sympathy for their cause, but when I realized what they planned to do, Dak couldn't stand for it, and took them down u_u So although from the game's perspective I chose the Silver Bloods, as far as Dak is concerned, he's staying on whatever side will protect innocent bystanders, Nord and Reachmen alike!
If the Imperial outcome was as you describe, then yes it would be preferable - I don't like the thick-headed Nord xenophobia. But realpolitik remains the same: whether they want it that way or not, the Legions are in effect fighting to establish Aldmeri supremacy over humanity. I can't have that. I can't even go with the Legions temporarily in the hope that things go as planned. So I go with the side that fights the enemy, not the one that serves them.
My hardest decision was when we were fighting mages and Lydia died. I could have reloaded the game and had things back to the way they were before, but instead I decided to trek through it, and make it a reason why my character decided to go through the path of necromancy. It ended up making that character a level 67 (don't really remember, but that's the last screenshot I have) master necromancer, with an undead Lydia by his side.