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[Trapezohedron]

But I just went to visit Ulfric, and my first impression of him is that he's a pretty awesome guy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Until you find out that he was helped by the high elves, is considered a valuable asset, might be open to thier further help, and helped weaken the empire for the elves

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Indeed. He was captured, then helped by them and was made to believe that the info they gave him, whatever that might be, was important. I assume he was brainwashed by the Thalmor, and he could be commanded to break the 'rebellion', to make Skyrim fit for Thalmor territory absorption.

Regardless, siding with either side means that the Thalmor win. They have the empire under control, and they know Ulfric is an asset they can use.

[Domenique]

But I just went to visit Ulfric, and my first impression of him is that he's a pretty awesome guy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Until you find out that he was helped by the high elves, is considered a valuable asset, might be open to thier further help, and helped weaken the empire for the elves

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Indeed. He was captured, then helped by them and was made to believe that the info they gave him, whatever that might be, was important. I assume he was brainwashed by the Thalmor, and he could be commanded to break the 'rebellion', to make Skyrim fit for Thalmor territory absorption.

Regardless, siding with either side means that the Thalmor win. They have the empire under control, and they know Ulfric is an asset they can use.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Didn't their dossier about Ulfric say that he might not cooperate?

Also, the funniest thing I saw in years.

[scriver]

Yeah, I haven't gotten very far in the war-quest yet but I get the impression that it's miles above the rest of the writing. I wonder who wrote it.

I don't think it's a very hard choice, though. I may not have interacted much with the Legion yet, but the Stormcloaks constantly comes off as using the same bullshit rethoric extremist narionalists do in real life (being viking expys makes it all the more uncanny) and it makes me rather uncomfortable. I don't like the Thalmor one bit, and so far I've killed everyone I've met on the road (what is up with prisoners you free never using the weapons you give them anyway?), but I'm going to enjoy bringing that raciste arsehole Ulfrich down for the glory of the Empire. And, like a true politician, I'm going to do it by nagging shouting at him until he gives in and sees the searing flames of truth and justice coming from my mouth light.

[Domenique]

Yeah, I haven't gotten very far in the war-quest yet but I get the impression that it's miles above the rest of the writing. I wonder who wrote it.

I don't think it's a very hard choice, though. I may not have interacted much with the Legion yet, but the Stormcloaks constantly comes off as using the same bullshit rethoric extremist narionalists do in real life (being viking expys makes it all the more uncanny) and it makes me rather uncomfortable. I don't like the Thalmor one bit, and so far I've killed everyone I've met on the road (what is up with prisoners you free never using the weapons you give them anyway?), but I'm going to enjoy bringing that raciste arsehole Ulfrich down for the glory of the Empire. And, like a true politician, I'm going to do it by nagging shouting at him until he gives in and sees the searing flames of truth and justice coming from my mouth light.

On the other hand, I thought that the empire is too weak to go on and that skyrim can give birth to a new empire.

[Flying Carcass]

In regards to nenjin's observation about the citizens of Markarth...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Due to its high cannibal population, Markarth's unofficial motto should be changed from "Blood and Silver" to "Blood and Silverware" 

[PTTG??]

I just love the fact that you get asked to help clean up some undead in a tomb in markarth, and from that point on,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the game assumes you're a cannibal. You aren't even given an option to refuse when asked to bring the priest over for dinner. I got a "quest failed" notification when I summarily executed the cannibal leader for being the leader of a group of cannibals. Yeah, I call that a win, sorry mr. narrator guy.

Spoiler: As for the Stormcloaks/imperials (click to show/hide)

, let's not forget that the first thing the Imperials do to you is try to behead you, for no crime, as soon as possible. The first thing the stormcloaks do is shelter you. We know that Talos is an actual "real" god, and yet the Empire/Thalmor are violently crushing down on the rest of the world to stop worshiping him. How can the Stormcloaks be extremists if when it gets down to it, the Thalmor are the ones forcing others to conform to them?

[LoSboccacc]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Regardless, siding with either side means that the Thalmor win.

?

[Gunner-Chan]

Spoiler: About the Civil war (click to show/hide)

At the heart of the problem both groups (Supposedly) have their own ideas about their version of how Skyrim should be without compromises. Since each of them either supports a racist, xenophobic dangerous group, or IS a racist xenophobic dangerous group. And there's almost no visible outright good on either side from what I see. All I hear in game about the imperials is them bullying their way around and throwing their weight everywhere that looks like it can support it, and the Stormcloaks are doing the same damn thing in their territory. BOTH of them are on damn witchhunts for the other side that I'm sure are killing tons of innocent people daily.

Really I don't want to help either of them. I might just limit my exposure to Solitude or Windhelm and forget the war exists. That's not something I wanna get wrapped up in.

[Trapezohedron]

Spoiler: As for the Stormcloaks/imperials (click to show/hide)

, let's not forget that the first thing the Imperials do to you is try to behead you, for no crime, as soon as possible. The first thing the stormcloaks do is shelter you. We know that Talos is an actual "real" god, and yet the Empire/Thalmor are violently crushing down on the rest of the world to stop worshiping him. How can the Stormcloaks be extremists if when it gets down to it, the Thalmor are the ones forcing others to conform to them?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well, for one, they don't like elven foreigners, Thalmor or not. For example, take Windhelm. A lot of Dunmer are segregated from the Nords, because of racism. It is made evident that only Nords benefit from the Stormcloak Rebellion if it succeeds.

The empire, is no better, with the Thalmor holding their leash and controlling them. Should the empire succeed in liberating Skyrim, everyone benefits, including elves, but the benefits are of course nullified a bit by the Thalmor.

[nenjin]

I just love the fact that you get asked to help clean up some undead in a tomb in markarth, and from that point on,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the game assumes you're a cannibal. You aren't even given an option to refuse when asked to bring the priest over for dinner. I got a "quest failed" notification when I summarily executed the cannibal leader for being the leader of a group of cannibals. Yeah, I call that a win, sorry mr. narrator guy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Should have followed the quest all the way through to its zenith. Granted, 1250 gold and the thanks of a stupid Priest of Arkay isn't much compared to Namira's Ring.....but you do get to fight like 5 cannibals at once if you wait til the feast to do the "wrong thing." That kind of made it worth it. Particularly because there were a few non-coms among them

I have to share this. Hands down the best set of quest rewards I've gotten in this game.

Spoiler: Do not look if you ever have any intentions of doing the Thieves Guild Quest (click to show/hide)

And here's my gem pile. It continues to grow and spread across the dinner table. I'm toying with the idea of wasting an hour and just dropping gold coins into a huge mass and then diving into it.

Spoiler: Moneh! (click to show/hide)

[Glowcat]

Spoiler: Empire and Thalmor (click to show/hide)

Despite being forced into a bad position due to the conditions in a one-sided peace treaty, the Empire does not serve the Thalmor. Both Dominion Elves and Imperials (such as General Tullius) admit that the current peace is temporary. The Imperials are in a bad spot and trying to recover, making some poor moves with regard to Skyrim/Hammerfell, but ultimately they're still enemies of the new Aldmeri Dominion.

[irbis]

okey a little change of the subject

Spells
Em i the only thinking they are rather poor? I havent seen the highest tier ones aside from casting them from scrolls but... the very first pure dmg spells ice/fire/lighttining are propably the coolest one. I belive it was a major mistake to place them as the lowest level ones. Fire flamethrower, Dark Side-like lightinig ray, frost breath... and such a low dmg. then theres firebolt which has a very small impact point and zero AOF, the lightining one feels like a railgun from quake... they should be the first level ones. with lower dmg maybe. chain lightining looks just lame and which is absurd - hits also your companions. and how many spells there is per element? 4? 5? and they are rather uninteresting. and the scaling is just a joke... when you hit the new tier the previous one is like wourthless dealing almost no damage to new scaled powerfull enemies. and why the heck the everything moves sooo slowly? fire antroch for example. thx god it has a ranged attack. they always fall behind me. and the light spells really should have a longer duration. i can understand to cap duration of summons at 60sec. but harmfull mage light? i hate torches and being forced to cast mage light spell every minute feels almost like a job not wizardery. in terms of spells my number one is still the one from Gothic 1 and 2. in that games i really FEELT like a wizard. and that spells charging is just terible. it just should be one click and then the animation plays. i could at least get used to timeing but here in skyrim i aften "release" the charging just to fast and the spell ends up being canceled. this is also the time when most enemies shoots my head to the moon. it just feels so unresponsive.

but still - i love this game now i just have to wait for modders and their mods to carve all those ugly edges the game devs have left.   
 

[zehive]

Spoiler: Civil War Quests (click to show/hide)

I'm not sure who the good guys or the bad guys are. The Empire is in desperate need of reform, they haven't had a Dragonborn emperor since the Oblivion Crisis, the Thalmor are mucking everything up. But the thing is, if the Empire completely holds Skyrim, they are totally free array all their power against the Thalmor. Now I've done a lot of book-reading in Skyrim so far, but I haven't done as much research as I probably could have about the civil war. I don't remember Ulfric being in the pocket of the Thalmor, or accepting aid from them except in indirect manners. He comes across more as unaware to the fact that the Thalmor are secretly keeping both sides balanced, and to do that they need him.

Until you come along and tip the scales either way, of course.

Now the Empire is corrupt, no dragonborn emperor, Thalmor manipulating them, outlawing gods for the Thalmor, ignoring the plight of the Nords who have shed blood for the empire and at the same time are aware of all of this.

Then you have the Stormcloaks, who are suspicious and racist of anyone non-Nord AND are also being helped, unknowingly, by the Thalmor. In addition, their winning cuts off a sizeable chunk of the Empires strength and overall power, leaving the Empire a weaker target for the elves.

It's hard to really pick a side. I think the writers were looking for this too. So that players can realize that they have two horrible sides fighting eachother in Skyrim, and no side is at right. Furthermore, this fits in neatly with the prophecy for the return of Alduin and the Dragonborns fate.

[Glowcat]

See my previous post on the subject of spells. The Master tier spells are practically useless and, from my experience, out damaged by the Expert/Adept tiers. One of the biggest handicaps for a mage in vanilla Skyrim is the lack of spell-crafting, so your spells will always be limited to the power which they were obtained at with the slight exception of Fortify Destruction potions.

I've also had more than annoying trip-up with releasing a spell charge that resulted in my being mauled by bears. Tembra has earned a permanent ally in her crusade...

[LoSboccacc]

Spoiler: Empire and Thalmor (click to show/hide)

Despite being forced into a bad position due to the conditions in a one-sided peace treaty, the Empire does not serve the Thalmor. Both Dominion Elves and Imperials (such as General Tullius) admit that the current peace is temporary. The Imperials are in a bad spot and trying to recover, making some poor moves with regard to Skyrim/Hammerfell, but ultimately they're still enemies of the new Aldmeri Dominion.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

also, from what I got from the lore wiki, the empire fought back the thalmor, even if weakened by their surprise attack. The legions battered them enough that even if the empire renounced hammerfel the thalmor couldn't invade it.

if hammerfel get past his bitternes of feeling abandoned by the empire and skyrim remains loyal, the thalmor could be very well driven back by an allegiance between them. the empire won't probably reunite, but it's not that weak.