StayFrosty05 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) I'm not a fan of either side....The Imperials are a repressive regime fixed on having everyone under their banner and obviously willing to send someone to the block without even knowing why that person is there and the Stormcloaks are led by a bigoted short sighted mad man...I really don't like Ulfric....I love how Stormcloaks are complaining about the very same thing they did to the Forsworn, the banning of worshipping particular Gods....among other things, slavery, social and economic repression, etc... But ultimatley I side with the Imperials, reason being a united Tamriel will be the only way to eventually defeat the Thalmor.....My Nord Warrior picks fights with and kills every Thalmor he can.... :devil: ....his not particulary religious himself, its the princible. I also have my PC run with Hadvar at the start, purely for the better start gear and help in Riverwood....I play it that his not going to sit there listening to Hadvar and Rogvir argue their differences in the middle of a Dragon attack, he just runs for the nearest door in line of sight, which just happens to be Hadvar's door....self preservation first, then worry about who's behind him. Edited January 24, 2012 by StayFrosty05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom21 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Imperials all the Way! P.S. Ulfric is a Bigoted A$$!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeudon Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I chose to be on the Stormcloaks side because the Imperials tried to kill me in the beginning, even though I was innocent. Probably in my next game I'll try being an Imperial just for the variety. Personally I'd rather be on the dragons side, because they saved my life in the beginning. And it would be fun flying around breathing fire on those dragon-slaying humans. Maybe there'll be a mod one day that will let me play as a dragon! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Brasher Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) My most advanced character has remained neutral the whole time, although he always kills Thalmor when he gets the chance. I was really angry that the Imperials were going to execute me without a trial, but then that one guard was nice and helped save me from the dragon and the Stormcloaks. So I just focus on fighting dragons and bandits and wizards and things. The civil war really isn't going anywhere and few people seem to be dying in it without me being involved. The battle lines never change because I didn't join either side. (In one of my later games, I joined the StormCloaks. I went on a one-man raid on Solitude with a plan to take out General Tullius. I racked up a bounty of like 10,000 Septims and when I finally got to General Tullius after several hours of hit and run attacks, it turned out that he was guarded by at least one essential character. So I gave up and went back to playing the quest. But I just had to try to end the war early, just to see if it could be done.) Edited January 24, 2012 by David Brasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom21 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 xeudon "even though I was innocent" How is it your innocent? It Never say's That at the beginning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheralynn Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 It's not high on my list anyway coss I have no fascination for ancient Rome or the legionnaires and I think the Empire is very repressive. Don't like em. For me the empire is much better resembled by Victorian Great Britain in the 19th century than Rome. Mutual Welfare through trade, albeit taking the slightly larger part, colonies with some independence, but if they get any ideas, and they consider the colony valuable, their force gets there. Also until Christianity very late Rome was very free and open to religion. Whenever they claimed a new region, they took the gods that the natives had as new ones and accepted them into their god-heaven. Thats why eventually they got multiple gods for the same thing. It only failed big time on Christianity, because of the very concept of Monotheism. In particular the problems started since in Rome, one payed his taxes as sacrical offering - which was refused, not accepting those gods, while Rome was pissed not what people believed, but because they didn't pay their taxes. One could probably find similarities between the TES Empire and the way ancient Egyptians run their empire. Or the Persians. Your pints are valid enough but outwardly the British Empire has not much in common with TES empire because there is a huge gap in technology. The main being gunpowder. It's hard to picture the British without canons and muskets. The Roman empire on the other hand fits rather well. With their onagers. And it's not just a more or less similar stage of technology but look at how the soldiers are dressed. They look like Roman legionaries. General Tullius, even a Roman name, is like a roman general. For at least the past decades the Roman empire has been a very popular theme for movies and TV series. Always very heroic, bloody and raw. The men are all strong and brutal and the women all beautiful and sexy. It appeals to a large audience. 300 takes the crown in that regard although that one is a few centuries before Rome but you get the idea. Just reading the boards the past couple of months gives me the impression many 'imperial-fans' project this image onto the TES empire. Thats my feeling anyway, could be wrong. Well I have just much less fascination for that national socialism thing Ulfric is up to. To me the struggle for freedom and independence is a much more appealing story, rather then that of a conquering empire. It's unfortunate that Beth made the Stormcloaks so stereotypical and hollywoodesque. We have enough of that already. The second WW is not the standard to measure all things with. They culd have taken a more 'Braveheart approach' or made some associations with the American Revolution, instead of this heavy handed racism. Reality is frustrating as it is wherein any valuation for anything white is deemed racist. Anyway, the logo of Skyrim also makes it rather clear who's side one is -according to Beth- supposed to choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sajuukkhar9000 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) The Empire all the way, Ulfric is too shortsighted and idiotic to see how he got played by The Thalmor and how Skyrim seceding only makes both Skyrim and The empire easier targets for the next Dominion attack. Edited January 24, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granreycero Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Imperial. Always Imperial. I'd LIKE, to join the stormcloaks once, but I just can't stand Ulfric. Cocksure, unworthy pissant. The day Skyrim bows to him is the day I rez Alduin and let him at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooker75 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I started off planning to join the rebellion. The game starts off with imperial soldiers summarily executing prisoners of war, a petty thief and you, who hasn't done anything at all beyond getting caught in the middle of one army ambushing another. Then you run into the keep and find a torture room in the dungeon. Yeah, nice people. Then you learn how the empire rolled over for the Thalmor, banned the worship of one of the gods and lets Thalmor soldiers roam about capturing citizens to torture them to death. Yeah, Windhelm here I come. Then I saw the Thalmor dossier on Ulfric and started having doubts. The racism in Windhelm was a turn off. Then I found one of the in-game books (whose name I can't remember) describing the Great War. The emperor had no choice but to accept the Dominion's terms, because the Dominion had the ability to crush the empire entirely. He preserved his army by fighting his way out of the capital, then later fought his way back in and completely destroyed the Dominion's main army. If you're going to ask the other side for peace, that's the way to do it. The Thalmor got what they originally demanded, but he made them fight a catastrophic war first. They even ended up losing all the territory they demanded in Hammerfell anyway, although that wasn't the empire's doing. It was classic bully management. They may be bigger and they'll probably win the fight, but you give them enough bloody noses and black eyes and they'll learn to leave you alone and go pick on somebody else. It may well have been propaganda, but it was nicely done. So I decided that the Thalmor are Tamriel's version of the Nazis, that they want to exterminate everybody who's not an elf and that they are the main threat. If Ulfric destroys the empire with his civil war, the Thalmor could swoop in and destroy what's left, one piece at a time. So I joined the empire. But I'm joining the Stormcloaks on my second run through anyway, just to see how their side of the civil war quests go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombomb Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Ulfric murdered High King Torygg. It's such a shame, seeing how Torygg had so much respect for Ulfric. If you have a conversation with Sybille Stentor, she opens up a lot of insight on why Torygg didn't declare Skyrim's independence from the Empire. Torygg understood it wasn't a realistic situation due to the fact the Empire's integration in Skyrim's governance and economy would jeopardize it's stability. Ulfric went to the extreme when he decided to kill Torygg, putting his own selfish desires ahead of his own people. However, that's just my opinion, and depending on how you role-play each scenario, you can justify joining either side. "The victor will never be asked if he told the truth ". Edited January 24, 2012 by bombomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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