Alright, since we know that Skyrim will be not only engaged with Civil war but an invasion of Dragons (Be it Akatosh being cruel or just lazy) there has to be some major factions within the region.

But the question is; how will they exactly play out and who shall be there? As we've seen in Morrowind, factions played a large part in you're "coming into power". But will it remain this way? I mean in Oblivion factions meant nothing but extra quests, which was a sad turn over.

And more importantly; who will be there in Skyrim? Besides the obvious rebellious nationalistic Nords and the fragile Imperial forces within the region there has to be some native factions as well as foreign. (Example; Morag Tong in Morrowind and Fighters guild, House Redoran, Imperial Cult, Tribunal Temple, etc) And usually it brought alot of story of the faction but it brought a good experience to it as well.

So what do you think which factions will be in there, and what factions do you want to be in Skyrim? I'd personally want something like a House Redoran-type faction within Skyrim, which is more than likely. Since the Nords usually are in hostile enviorments, there would be one faction (at least) to emphaize on strength and unity.

I would want an alternate assassins guild i just dont like the emo dark brotherhood

I just hope that factions don't take a role like they did in New Vegas, It made me feel I was missing so much of the game.

Am I right in thinking that the mages guild is no more? I'm sure I heard that somewhere and there's a "college of whispers" or something like that. Two opposing guilds/factions concerning mages could be good - maybe one for necromancers.

...I take the alternative view i.e that they should make the Guilds / Factions very much like New Vegas

Yes, you miss parts of the game on one play through. That's OK, and encourages replaying with a different character....

It depends. For this isn't the Infernal city, so they'll still have some power in the region but it'll be generally disliked. Like House Telvanni was the only other major magister organization besiders the Mages Guild, which was generally small. Though it would be good for a necromancer guild, Bethseda would have to do something to ther screw up in Oblivion (What ever happened to that "God of Worms" that was orn in Daggerfall..?) But Mages Guild shall still exist for another 250 years, and then it'll be as dead as everyone else.

But we gotta look at it on a political scale. It's been 200 years since Morrowind and Oblivion, so there has been some obvious changes to the factions. For example how the Morag Tong changed in Morrowind and Vvardenfall in the history of the Dunmer. They were once simply a daedric worshippers organization to keep peace within the Chimer, but now they are a legal assassins organization who can help in House Wars or revenge. So the Mages guild will have to change, especially on its Necromancer question. From Morrowind to Oblivion (a simple lapse of 6 years) it went from casting a glaring eye to a full out war against them. So the structure of the Mages Guild will change, as Necromancers are also within the Mages Guild to advance necromancy in different ways. When Hannible Traven out-lawed Necromancy, he basically started a war he couldn't win.

So there might be an "Old" Mages Guild that refers to strict principals on the main magic studies and the 5 elements, and a "New" mges guild that will expand their studies and learn the 6th element in order to learn more and have a more friendly position to the vast necromancers in various areas.