I keep hearing one thing from everybody about why they side with the Stormcloaks... "THE IMPERIALS ALMOST CHOPPED MY HEAD OFF!"

It's not fair that Bethesda started you out with a negative view towards one of the only factions that you have to chose from. It pushes so many people to the Stormcloaks.

I really believe there should have been a neutral opening... or made the Stormcloaks do something just as bad.

Just because that one Commander at that stronghold was... a not to nice person... it influences the players judgement with the faction throughout the whole game. That is not right..

Or you could be angry at the rebels for getting you caught up in this mess to begin with. Or you could recognize that the other guy who is very nice to you and tries to save you after the dragon attacks is ALSO an Imperial so they're not all bad. Or recognize that the leader of the Stormcloaks simply murdered political rivals for personal gain so their organization is no better.

Etc, etc, etc.

There are a million ways to go from the intro.

if you choose to go the stormcloak route, you'll come to find ulfric crazy, manipulative, power hungry, the most villainous scum in the world (just by using religion as a reason to start a war and gain the throne).

and if you go imperial you'll find general tullius a bit ego-centric but he does have honor, and legate rikke is a very loyal and honorable figure.

I think its a bit ironic that the beginning portrays each side the complete opposite of what they really are. Im never going stormcloak on another character again, i hate the type of person that ulfric is too much. (picture every terrorist in the real world combined).

Darth, actually I see Ulfric like a virtual, soft-Hitler personality. On the other hand the Imperial Legion are arrogant and selfish.

Honestly Hadvar was such an obviously salt of the earth standup guy who was both a Nord and an Imperial supporter that after the intro I couldn't help but like the Imperials. If they're good enough for Hadvar, they're good enough for me.

I did kill that torturer though.

Stop trying to minimize the blame to just the Captain. It is everyone's responsibility to act morally. And it is the General's responsibility to ensure his subordinates are acting appropriately. It is far easier to say the General does not care about innocent lives than it is to say he's too incompetent to manage his own men.

The Empire does not care about the lives of its citizens. It's not just the intro that demonstrates this. Them letting the Thalmor murder Imperials does it admirably.

The opening scenes do not get me to run to the Imperials. However talking to the Stormcloak leader during the game has made me reconsider. I do agree that the deck is stacked against the Imperials in the first part of the game as far as first impressions.

I am glad that I did not pick a side right then and there. Still not sure who I am going to support.

well if general tullius and that captain knew ulfric like the main character gets to know him as the quest progresses. id have murdered anyone found near ulfric. his type of insanity is contagious.

I think it was a great way to start the game. The way the intro is set up can intentionally make you want to choose the Stormcloaks over the Imperials if you go based off just what almost happened to you. If you wanted to be more involved with what is going on in the world of Skyrim you could also read some of the books in game that covered the Great War and talk with people about Skyrim and its revolution. The Civil War has some very deep moral elements if you take the time to investigate the matter further then what happens at the intro.

As a Khajiit, I want the option to side with the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion. (If you haven't read the lore, you won't understand.)

People that would side with the Stormcloaks based solely on that single Imperial Captain are choosing them for foolish reasons. That's like choosing a political party based on the actions of a single person, you have no real idea of all the extraneous aspects you embrace by doing so.

If you feel the need to follow Ralof for the pleasure of slaying that corrupt Captain, by all means do so. But to not even give the other Imperials (for the most part, honorable individuals) a chance is a decision based on pure emotion and hatred, not reason.

People have a problem with the SC rebels, however I fail to see it. Even after doing all the quests for him/them. Its almost like the NCR VS legion all over again, and I liked the Legion.

Hadn't picked a side and just stuck with the dragonborn quest, there is a point where both sides come together in the quest line with this option, the stormcloaks showed their true colors at that point. Glad my nord fighter didn't go with them now. On the other hand i have started a thief who did and will back them up 100%...should be interesting.

It's only "biased" if you operate under the assumption that what you see there is factual evidence that "all Imperials are scum and all rebels are righteous". Hopefully most of you have enough real life experience to not think this way and know things are rarely as simple as they seem. It's these simplistic decision making processes that lead to all of the -isms in the world.

Hey...a person of X type just tried to rob me! I'm going to wipe all X people off the face of the earth because they're obviously all trash.

That's really the only reason to think that you have no choice but to go Stormcloak from the intro. Do you REALLY believe they will all be innocent victims of persecution just because the first guy you meet tells you they are?

And Hadvar. And General Tullius. Who were all witness and accomplice.

If you can't judge the group by it's representatives and commanders, then you might as well flip a coin.

They were just doing their job, I blame the stormcloaks for getting in that mess.

After the into I immediately wanted to join the Stormcloaks. Then I met Ulfric...

What a [censored] [censored]. I prefer to start a revolution against the empire under my own banner, than to have to listen to that thickheaded lunatic.

What the Stormcloaks like to forget is that the Empire is what's keeping the Dominion out of Skyrim.

sure, most people will join the stormcloaks. but the smart ones will look further than the message of Ulfric and they will realize the empire is needed if they don't want the thalmor to take over.

Ulfric and his stormcloaks are just tools that are allowed to exist because they weaken the empire.

divide and conquer is what the thalmor are doing.

What the Stormcloaks don't forget is that the Thalmor are directly controlling the Empire.

If the Empire is keeping the Dominion out of Skyrim, then who are all those Thalmor Justiciars?

not yet. why do you think this?

I sided with the stormcloaks with the (Unfortunately not possible in game) notion that I would have the DB "take care of" Ulfric. Ulfric is definitely power hungry and


If the empire isn't willing to fight back, then those that are will band together (See: Hammerfell)

I was just quoting the Imperial Soldiers. But if you want to go that route, I'll say this: If the Empire ever wants to be rid of the Thalmor, and I know Skyrim does, then they'll need to stand together, as they will surely fall to the Aldmeri separately.

Meh. On the one side you have the Stormcloaks--insular, some have claimed that they are racist, yadda-yadda. On the other hand, the Imperials, who seem to have no problem executing people without trial if they're in the wrong place at the wrong time, have no problem carrying out orders to execute people even if they seem to question it (opening scene, "By your orders, Captain") and have tried to wipe out the religious beliefs of the Nords, because...well, just because, apparently.

Both sides have a point about the other. To say that the Nords are "racist" strikes me as a little silly. They live in a part of the world where they don't have a lot of contact with folks of the other races, so there's some suspicion, but Ysolda was praising the (I believe) Khajiit that was going to help set her up in business. They don't much like being absorbed into the Empire, but I can't really fault them there. Listening to the people in the street and the loony preacher in Whiterun, the Empire not only wants to absorb their territory, but outlaw their religion. That, understandably enough, makes them a tad cranky.

On the Imperial side, they are, more or less, looking at the big picture. They know that a united land is more likely to survive than a fragmented one. They just seem to be going about it badly in that, instead of uniting the world diplomatically, they're attempting to do so at the point of a sword. They're trying to make too many changes too fast for people to accept. They've got military discipline on their side, if nothing else.

Again, meh. Both sides have good and bad points. What people tend to forget and as the game serves to remind us, there are very few instances of "good guys vs bad guys" in the world. There are, however, a metric boatload of shades of gray. Paraphrasing Shakespeare's Henry V here, but what king ever entered battle with nothing but unspotted men?