Should I go Legion or Stormcloaks?

[xEspada]

Just curious to see what you guys think has better rewards and plot line.

[amd64gamer]

Truthfully, except for the main players of the quest lines, the ending of the Legion and Stormcloak campaigns--much like the missions--are pretty much the same. Even with the resulting "changes in management," there are no dramatic changes in the way most NPCs aligned with one side or the other will behave towards you.

 

Which is kind of a shame, because the game would have been much more immersive...

[BrettM]

I concur. Nothing really changes by the end of the campaign no matter which side you pick.

 

The rewards from the quest line are very minor, consisting of a couple of sets of armor (Imperial or Stormcloak ordinary armor when you join and later a set of officer's armor for the chosen side) and a couple of reward weapons as you move up through the ranks. There is no significant loot to be had from the bodies of foes, and it isn't even worth the time to check the pile of bodies, IMHO.

 

For the Imperials you will defend Whiterun and later attack Windhelm to end the campaign. For the Stormcloaks you will attack Whiterun and later attack Solitude to end the campaign. The missions in between mostly consist of reporting to a camp and then attacking the nearby fort with a squad of NPCs, after which your side owns the hold and the jarl is replaced.

[ElricOfGrans]

Personally, I think the game is subtly better not doing either of them. Both result in some minor damage to several cities and several NPCs becoming crabby. If you do not do the quests, no issues. Besides, both quest lines are awful: badly-designed, dull quests with no real reward. *yawn* Probably the worst factions of the game.

[YsmirNord]

I think this might help you if you're an american or European who knows a little about american politics:

Democrat - Imperials (my personal choice)

Republican - Stormcloaks

I know, there are exeptions and both have a lot of down-sides (Stormcloaks way more).

[Omeletter]

I have heard that the assault windhelm/solitude quests are so shallow it involves killing a couple guys respawning a dozen times. I suggest installing Warzones for real war.

[RedRavyn]

My take with reference to Imperial and Stormcloak soldiers (and Thalmor, Vigilants of Stendar, and Silver Hand operatives) is simple, and I couldn't say it any better than the Archbishop of Narbonne, Arnaud Amalric, myself: "Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius." ("Kill them all. For the Lord knoweth them that are His.") We don't need any of them in Skyim, anyway. That's what I think as a character, at any rate, and I'm not even playing a Nord.

 

Really. As I've said about this on other threads, there's plenty of mud to sling in both directions. Neither side is "right" and neither side is "wrong". I can see the point of a unified Empire, but not as a puppet of the Thalmor, which it is, now. I can see the point of a "free" Skyrim, but not at the expense of the rampant racism which will rule with Ulfric in charge.

 

From a purely practical standpoint (point of view of the player -- not the character), doing quests with essentially no real reward for the time and effort you put into them is a useless addition to the game. As has been pointed out, things get broken and Bethesda's developers made no attempt to fix them within the game. They don't get a third strike from me for this poor game design. You're OUT! Go sit on the bench until the next game. And study up on game design principles in the meantime.

 

Bottom line -- the Civil War questline is a questline that should never have been included because Bethesda doesn't have a writer capable of understanding politics and the ability to carry through player decision about that to their logical conclusions. That much was obvious to me in the Main Quest when the Dovahkiin has to act as a negotiator for a truce between the Empire and the Stormcloaks (contrived enough to already be ludicrous, and the end results are even more so).

 

It's a shame that when the game forces a new quest into our journal without our knowledge (except for briefly flashing a notice in the upper left of our screen) or permission that we don't have a dialog window with several options:

 

Accept

Ask me again, later

No, just ... NO!

 

At least that way we could decisively and permanently remove "Join the Stormcloaks" and "Join the Legion" from our journals and never, again, see it entered there.

[Kohdi]

Like the others have said, the quests are nearly identical, but there are political issues at play which influenced my choice heavily.

 

If you love Skyrim and wish to save all men from destruction, I'd go Stormcloaks. True, a united Empire may be better for everyone, but the Empire is still weak and caters to the whim of the Aldmeri Dominion. The Stormcloaks, on the other hand, are young, strong, and may be just what Skyrim needs to avert the inevitable attacks of the Thalmor. Why is there so much Thalmor interest in Skyrim anyway, you ask?

 

Warning - heavy stuff to follow.

 

After much research for a project I am a part of, I have discovered bits of "hidden lore" which outline the greater political machinations of the Thalmor. They began as a minority on Summerset Isle, but after the Oblivion Crisis they took credit for banishing the daedra and so gained the respect of the Aldmer. A key point of their advance was the destruction of the Crystal Tower, which may have been orchestrated by the Thalmor using the daedra attack. After a while they invaded Valenwood, which fell without much resistance, thus gaining them control of the Tree Sap Tower, which is mobile but undescribed. Skip ahead to the Void Nights, the two years in which the moons disappeared. When the moons finally returned the Thalmor took credit for this again, thus gaining the respect of the Khajiit people. With their allegiance the Thalmor gained control of the Khajiit Tower, which is thought to be the combination of the people themselves and the moons. From their seat of power all along the southern border of Cyrodiil, the Thalmor sent an emissary to the Imperial City with a cart full of the heads of all Blades agents in Summerset Isle and Valenwood. The emissary demanded surrender, taxes, and a large part of southern Hammerfell. The Emperor refused, starting the war between the Empire and the Thalmor. Eventually the Thalmor gain control of the Imperial City, and with it the White Gold Tower. The Empire then surrenders and agrees to the terms of the White Gold Concordat, which were essentially the same as the emissary's demands.

 

Now, the important part - The Thalmor have gained control of Tree Sap Tower, Khajiit Tower, and the White Gold Tower. The Crystal Tower in Summerset Isle is destroyed, along with Orichalc Tower which sank with Yokuda, Red Tower which was Vvardenfell before the Red Year, and the Brass Tower, Numidium, which was cast out of reality. One tower remains, the Snow Tower, which is the Throat of the World in Skyrim. Now, what does this all mean?

 

The Eight Towers served as supports which uphold reality, each powered by a Stone, and together they comprised what the Aldmer called the Doom Drum, from which Lorkhan gets his name. With the destruction or control of each Tower the Thalmor come closer to pulling down the fabric of reality, after which they can unravel Time by destroying the Adamantine Tower (Akatosh's spike of creation, located on the island of Balfiera in the Iliac Bay). This series of acts will serve to free the souls of the Aldmer, who were creations of the Divines but were tricked out of immortality by Lorkhan's creation of Mundus, the world.

 

The importance all of this has to Skyrim is twofold - First, the Thalmor outlawed the worship of Talos, who took part of Lorkhan's place as an Earthbone, in hopes that this would weaken his supplementary support of reality, making it that much easier to pull the world down. Second, the last standing Tower, essentially the one pillar holding everything up, is the Throat of the World in Skyrim. If the Thalmor gain control of the Tower or its (unknown) Stone, all mortals will be lost in the ensuing metaphysical chaos.

 

So, I chose the side of the Stormcloaks because they have the best chance of defending their homeland, as well as Talos, from the onslaught of the Thalmor. Without a strong hand keeping the Aldmeri Dominion away from the Throat of the World, everything could be lost forever beyond any hope of redemption.

 

Of course, if you side with the Thalmor this might be exactly what you want, in which case you'd better start killing the Blades again because their Prophecy outlined this whole kit and kaboodle from the start.

 

Hopefully this helps your decision, or it might confuse you so much that the decision becomes meaningless. Regardless, it's always helpful to see the whole picture before deciding which side to take.

[kradus]

Yeah, but the thalmor armies are only getting into skyrim after they've dealt with the legions, that's the "strong hand" that holds them back, along with the concordat. You'd better believe that the stormcloaks dont stand a chance on their own against the dominion. And if you make skyrim independent, you're basicaly declaring war on the thalmor and inviting their armies in. I dont understand why people dont get this.

[worldofscotty]

Depends who you play as.

 

Currently I'm playing as a companion living in Jorrvaskr.

 

We have strong ties with the Grey-Manes so when a certain kidnapping happened I went to Solitude and requested they be returned. When the response was that it was too much trouble our hands were forced.