Altmer was one of my favorite races to play in Oblivion since I like a pure mage build and I like elves, but I find playing one a lot more awkward in Skyrim since almost the entire race is depicted as the enemy in the game. Sure there is an Altmer here and there in Skyrim that is not a part of the Thalmor, but the vast majority of the high elves I have met so far are the enemy and just there for me to slaughter. I obviously hate the Thalmor since the game depicts in evil light, but I don't like killing mass amounts of my own people. It is certainly interesting that Bethesda decided to make one of the races the bad guys this time around, but it does make it difficult for me to play as a member of that race. And all of this doesn't even mention the fact that no NCP will treat you differently despite the fact that you look like their hated enemy. Why should anyone (especially a Nord) trust an Altmer to help with their most personal quests especailly the ones against the Thalmor? There is not even a question in their minds that you might be a spy. And of course not...why would one race out of ten get special dialogue? Still there are quests that take some serious suspension of disbelief because of this. On the flipside why does every Thalmor automatically assume I am an enemy and attack me...even if I am dressed in their own clothes?

Resource limitations. It is pretty bad though.

Reminds me of playing Dragon Age 2 as a Blood Mage and yet no one reacts to you. Kind of immersion breaking.

Altmer are a race I take great pleasure in slaughtering, and have since Morrowind. I think we can all agree Bethesda wasting development time to make the quests believeable for the worst race would have been a waste.

I don't think that every single Altmer is with the Thalmor. From what I can gather they are a powerful faction, but no the entire race as a whole.

In the ES games there is a lot of individuality among the races, people do their own thing despite what their 'people' are up to. Hence all the immigration to different lands, and such.

What bugs me is this overbearing setup for the 'decline' of elves in ES as a whole. If it becomes more of a human based series of games then I'm going to lose interest fast. >_<

Its not the Altmer race, just the Thalmor.
You dont judge a people solely by what political faction is in charge in their country.

Ive played an Altmer since Daggerfall.
In Skyrim, my Altmer crossed the border to get further away from Cyrodiil, the Dominion and the Thalmor.
He does not agree with them at all and is rather fond of the human races.

Sans the Thalmor and other officials from Summerset Isles, most Altmer in greater Tamriel are either social outcasts exiled from their homeland, or descendants of Aldmer that kept close-knit communities when their kingdoms fell, but both groups more or less assimilated into their parent nations with some Aldmeri culture remaining. Chances are, you and your family probably haven't seen a "true" Altmer from Summerset for generations, and the said Altmer of Summerset see you as lesser because of that. Think on how the Dunmer treat Dark Elves born out of tradition or Morrowind, but with a Nazi-esque twist to it. If you're not with them, Altmer or otherwise, you're to be exterminated for your own good.

This.
Perfect valid reason why you would play an Altmer in Skyrim.

This time round? They were the enemy in Oblivion too, they're generally the bad guys.

I think they and the Bretons are the best races though.

My character's an Altmer, which I like

Oh my character definitely isn't a part of the Thalmor (even if it was a joinable faction, I never would) and likes other races too. I know not every Altmer is and this is mentioned in some books and such. My problem was more with being a member of the "evil" race where just about every member of your own race is there for you to kill. Yes, in Oblivion there are a couple of evil Altmer (the main baddies come to mind), but there were a LOT of other Altmer that were not evil and were friendly and nice. I guess my character feels a bit isolated from everyone. None of the other races like his race (for good reason) and yet the vast majority of his own people hate him too. It's kind of depressing.

As mentioned not all Altmer believe in the same ideals of the Thalmor. In fact the Thalmor has even been hinted at policing their own people ruthlessly too.
Alinor is not supposed to be a nice place to live if you don't share the views of the Thalmor.

Yea, I wish they would have included a race specific quest line for all the races somewhere in the game, because I also felt like people were way too accepting of my altmer character. Like you can just walk into Ulfric's castle and be like "Hi, I almost got killed near you once, so I'm obviously not a spy".

Other than that, I like playing an Altmer even better now, because not being a Thalmore is like being underground resistance against an evil Empire, so that's cool.

Wow, I totally didn't assume all Altmer were evil. The same way I don't assume all humans are evil just because there are human bandits everywhere. I just assumed it was a fanatical faction. You know, like the Dawn and all that.

not all elves are part of the thalmor
met this thalmor bunch who said i was unpure and whatnot
that right there solved any moral problems I may have had with killing them

does seem a bit weird for an elf to joing ulrich and his struggle to take back skyrim for the nords
what would happen if he succeeds, they kick you out, or what?