User blog comment:IceFireWarden0/Elder Scrolls VI- An Analysis/@comment-110.238.7.116-20130527121602

The game has to have the player start as a prisoner. It just feels like tradition and gives a really good way of having the player take the role of a character if you know nothing of their backstory and have been imprisoned. Making them an Imperial Operative or Thalmor Agent just forces people to take that role which is not something people want, I want to build my own backstory.