Poll: Warp in the North

[Souplex]

So a little bit ago, there was another topic asking which side of the Skyrim civil war people took.
This got me thinking about how Bethesda would handle such a decision in the next Elder Scrolls game.
The last time they handled such a matter was handled, it was done so witha writer's dodge handwave that rendered most of the ending choices valid except the choice where everybody dies.
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_in_the_West
There are a few ways I can see them handling this.

1: They pull a "Warp In The West" and say something like Eastern Skyrim seceded, while Western Skyrim stays with the empire.

2: They simply don't mention it, or say something noncommittal about who won.

3: They simply have the game take place at roughly the same time as Skyrim, so nobody has won yet.

4: Bethesda puts a poll up on the internet to decide how to handle the choice.

5. Bethesda just picks a side to have won.

6. The Thalmor take over Skyrim and render the Civil war moot.

More options will be added as you suggest good ones or I think of them, so if you don't see an option you like, be patient.

 

[Nickolai77]

A solution could be to have the player perform an inconclusive part of the Civil War. You could design the lore in such a way that says that the balance of power swung radically between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials throughout the conflict, with both factions appearing to be defeated only to make a resurgence later. So when the Stormcloaks appeared to have "won" and captured the whole of Skyrim the Empire sends in another legion under a new legate to re-capture it. When it appears the Legion have won, the Stormcloak's find a new leader and re-enter the civil war. The Dragonborn helped one faction to "win" but that victory was not permanent in this swings and rounderbouts of a conflict. You'd have to be ambiguous though as to which faction the Dragonborn sided with.

From a lore standpoint this makes the most sense to me, but i feel it may not be popular with some players who could feel that their in-game efforts to fight for one faction are being belittled by the writers. It wouldn't bother me personally though. I also imagine many gamers have sided with different factions in different play-throughs, so to call the Civil War inconclusive may be the best result.

At the end of the day, the seemingly inevitable war between the Altmeri Dominion and the Empire "wipes the slate clean" in a way. The Altmeri Dominion could have occupied Skyrim and been driven out by the Empire by the time the player enters the scene. I'd like the next Elder Scrolls game to be set during such a conflict- however there are centuries of lore that occurred before Skyrim that's worthy of being made into the next Elder Scrolls game.








Then the inevitable war between the Empire and Aldmeri Dominion breaks out and

 

[J Tyran]

I want to Dragonborn to help the Empire win then have a previously unknown Dragon priest resurrect Ulfric and turn him into a Lich to restart the war and try to win it for the Nords, this would allow the Dragons to re-establish the Dragon Cult.

Meanwhile the Dragonborn sucumbs to Vampirisim after his victory during the Tyranny of the Sun Prophecy and driven insane by Hermaeus Mora decides he/she has had enough of the Aldmeri Dominion and commands Odahviing to fly him to the Summerset isle where they wreck the place.

Then they fly to the Imperial City and take over the shreds of the Empire before returning North after seizing the Throne, then bends the will of the surviving Dragons and kills Paarthurnax for being useless and not preventing the rebirth of the Dragon Cult before finally killing Ulfric again but traps his soul in a black soul gen and sending him to soul cairn to make sure hes dead for good.

Then they put the sun out and raise an army of vampires and enslaves all of Tamriel because there is no one left to stop it, cue the next game where Akatosh sends another Champion to put a stop to the Dovahkiin's shenanigans.

 

[Doom972]

I'd rather Bethesda just pick a side. I don't even care which. There doesn't have to be a victor though, since the Dragonborn doesn't have to intervene. That would mean a stalemate, or a divide into two separate provinces.

 

[SajuukKhar]

There is a book in Skyrim that says that the Falmer's activity has grown increasingly to the point that it seems like they might try to invade the surface.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the next TES game, we find out the war ended, but before either side could really DO anything, the Falmer invaded, forcing The empire and Stormcloaks to work together, causing whatever sort of compromise Bethesda needs for the plot.

 

[Voulan]

What I imagine will happen is that, regardless of which side you've chosen (and whether they even mention it at all), there will be some mention in the next game that the Aldmeri Dominion occupied Skyrim forcing the hand of both factions, or just the Empire in general. Then all we'll hear about is this invasion instead of the result of the civil war, which means any decisions made are irrelevant to the ultimate invasion event, but are still known at least to each individual player. From reading their dossiers, it's what they were planning regardless of which side won anyway.

 

[F'Angus]

They could resolve it with another warp, perhaps caused by the reading of the elder scrolls messing up time.

Perhaps they may have the Aldmeri Dominion arrive and conquer immediately after. And have a difference of opinion with Imperials Claiming they won and Nords claiming victory themselves with noone quite sure.

 

[MetalDooley]

Thought this was going to be a thread about the Lord of the Rings game.I haven't played Skyrim yet so I'll just get my coat..

 

[busterkeatonrules]

It's a pretty safe bet that the Thalmor will attack Skyrim soon after the war, regardless of outcome. If the Stormcloaks win, it's pretty much a given, and if the Imperials win, allowing Skyrim to remain part of the Empire - well, who here does NOT think those pesky Thalmor are going to find some excuse to attack anyway? Let's face it, they're not going to stop trying to conquer new territories until they either rule the world or get wiped out.

In either case, it should be perfectly plausible that records of who actually won the civil war will have been lost during the subsequent Thalmor invasion!

Could make for a great running gag, too - every Nord aggressively insisting that the Stormcloaks won, most Imperials claiming it was the Empire, and everyone else just assuming it was a stalemate!