I'm a huge fan of the empire, it makes me feel like living in cyrodiil is similar to living in the ancient roman empire. The only thing i think could have been improved is the presence of the empire. Now i realize at this point the empire was a little battered at this point in history (oblivion gates, assassinated emperor) but it would have been nice to see more of the empires military strength, especially in/around the imperial city.

Whether it be just groups of soldiers patrolling or MORE individual soldiers patrolling it would've been a small detail greatly appreciated.

Thoughts?

Personally, as a player and a human being, I dislike and oppose all Empires. I would like to love in a world in which Empires are no more. And I feel the same way when I encounter an Empire in a video game. I tend to shudder when I see guards. I shudder when I see police in real life also. I guess I am basically anti-authoritarian at heart. The word 'Imperial' alone is enough to give me the willies, lol.

For me one of the most annoying things about the main quests in the Elder Scrolls games is that they continually force the player to side with the Empire. If I played a game that was based in ancient Rome I would want to play on the side of one of the forces fighting against Rome. If I couldn't do that I would lose my interest in the game. Fortunately, the Elder Scrolls games allow me to side-step this whole issue by avoiding those aspects of Imperialism that I dislike.

My characters are a different matter, however. Some of them are not against the Empire.

The Nine know my decrepit avatar is a firm upholder of the Empire and its institutions, service to Empire is his raison d'etre. Being on computer as I am I have added mods that make my Oblivion install somewhat Empire-centric: The Elder Council, Temple of the One, Voice of the Imperial Legion Amalgamated (VOILA), Fort Akatosh Redux. Even Ayleid Steps has ties to Empire. As most here know my avatar himself patrols roads and gathers taxes-due for the Council. He even holds an honorary seat on the Council and has private chambers in the Palace, neither of which see much usage. He takes some little pride in his Imperial Dragon armor and in any case must wear it while on patrol, it being officially sanctioned for that purpose by the Legion.

-Decrepit-

More tavern traffic would have been nice for the guards. You know, shaking down "real" trouble like "real" cops.

For your entertainment; The http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkZUjXbTLqo




Odd. I always thought of Cult of the Ancestral Moth to be the real power in Tamriel. The Empire only being the cab driver for the player along a thread of greater prophecy. The Moth having no interest in the transient nature of mortal political machination but instead moving on the direction of fulfilling the divination's they receive. There is something more to me in the title "The Elder Scrolls" than the superficial Septim Dynasty.

One of the legion-centric mods I mention above actually touches upon this. VOILA creates squads of Legionnares, mounted, on foot, or a combination thereof, who patrol various Cyrodiil thoroughfares. They actually pause at many wilderness inns and even some city inns on break. Here's http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn303/Decrepit_Waste/ESIV%20Oblivion/Crowded_Inn_2.jpg when my avatar, at rest between Gates whilst tackling the Crisis in the guise of Divine Crusade, ran in to what might have been two patrols resting at a wilderness inn.

The soldiers are of course not sophisticated enough to perform 'shakedowns' but it does add welcome atmosphere.

-Decrpit-

The more I go on these forums the more envious I get of you PC players... I WANT MODS!! :flame:

OT: Yes, I've always wished for more military presence and was perplexed by the fact that they have no working garrisons besides the tiny Imperial Prison in all of Cryodill. :confused:


Oh also, Wyrd,
The Roman Empire was so sophisticated! Why would you root for the barbarians? :c

Again, my pen is ready. Where do I sign?

Fight NWO!

While the Roman Empire brought order and lots of big stone buildings, it also brought slavery, destruction, and death. It annihilated other cultures like those of the Celts, and even destroyed its own middle class - turning them into a vast proletariat as its super-rich squeezed them out of their farms while they grasped for ever more wealth and power. Then of course there was the simple brutality of Roman culture. The father of the family - The Pater Familis - literally had the legal right to kill any of his children. This was often done with unwanted babies, who were left to die on trash heaps (where the Ancient Greeks left them on hilltops instead). For example, a Roman man wrote his wife: "...In the meantime, if (good fortune to you!) you give birth, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it."

It was the so-called barbarians like the Celts who ironically cared about what we would term humans rights, such as women being people rather than objects, children and the elderly being cared for, etc... I would be prefer to be a Sarmatian, Celt, German, Pict, or any of Rome's other enemies rather than a Roman myself. My life would be far better, as was every woman's.

I don't mind the Empire so much from Oblivion because it is reminds me of the Western Roman Empire of the late 4th or early 5th Century C.E. A house of cards on the verge of collapsing. I can see the entire thing falling apart in just a few years after the events in the game.


http://web.archive.org/web/19970720001227/http://www.nwowrestling.com/ :mohawk:

The empire, like all empires, has it's ups and downs. I believe they brought unity, which seemed forced to me, to most of the continent. I've not heard one bad thing about the Empire ingame, and that results in the majority of my characters being either indoctrinated into believing its good, or succumbing to peer pressure. A few sympathise with the Mythic Dawn to the extent that they want to bring about the collapse of the Empire, but completely disagree with the idea of bringing back the Daedra.

All my character knows is that when she is scared and alone in the wilderness, or on a road and is attacked, the only aid she has ever received comes wrapped in Legion steel. She cares not for the empire, or any organization for that matter - she is a people girl, and such matters as the running of empires and cities are well beyond her ability to grasp or even lay claim to her interest. But she surely does understand and care about the brave souls who have selflessly come to her aid and even died trying to protect her.