Well it was that and every thread in the spoiler and main boards pretty much devolved into a "Imperial vs Stormcloak vs Thalmor" argument, to the point that the entire spoiler and main boards pretty much became one giant "Civil War" thread. It wasn't so much that they were talking about it, it's that every single topic was about that.

I don't see it that way. Just because there's a biological relationship doesn't mean you have to agree with him or what his "nerd Illuminati" (like it was put in the https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Y90uj8hs78c#t=148 ) are doing.

In fact i find it surprisingly easy to justify going against them despite the revelation.

The Institute is not good. Shawn didn't changed my mind. The Institute is the only faction which sents out Killer Droids and Synths. They kill People and replace them with Synths. They kill People who only help others. It's not like the Railroad steals the Synths. Some Synths want to escape by free will while other Synths are happy in the Institute.

Only good stuff was about the Synth who became a Raide, but you see on a Computer why the Synth turned into a Raider and the most Raiders are humans. Same Problem the Brotherhood has. The bad guys are not the Synths - The Humans are the bad guys. It haven't been Synths who startet a Nuclear War.