Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-27007772-20140611204941/@comment-174.24.239.175-20150523084257

I just spent the better part of the day intermittently reading this thread (extremely educational for someone who's first TES game is Skyrim, thanks!), and will put my two cents in as a casual player. My choice to side with the Empire comes down to the fact that they're the least racist. It's well established that the Aldmeri Dominion is incredibly racist, and their taking control of Tamriel would result in genocide and overall bad times. The Stormcloaks are terribly bigotted, and a post-Civil War Skyrim in their hands would lead to worsening relations with/persecution of minority groups. It wouldn't be nearly as bad as with the Aldmeri Dominion, but it would be bad for the same reasons, and does nothing to prevent the larger evil as, either way, the second Great War is coming and short of deus ex machina, the Aldmeri Dominion will probably win. So, for within the scope of the game, I chose to side with the group I found more palatable. Yes, the Empire does dealings with the Thalmor, but it overall seems to be a case of tolerating them until the Empire is in a better position.