Loving Skyrim but I hope...

[elias64]

I just started Skyrim for the first time yesterday and loving it so far but I hope I didn't get hoodwinked into siding with Imperials against the stormcloaks.

I just retreived the golden claw for the jarl of whiterun but haven't rought it back to him.I would've ran with Ulfric and his buddies but I kind of got railroaded into escaping with Helvor(?)

Is there still time to join with the stormcloaks and do I have to choose a side? If I run with the stormcloaks can i still learn magic from the winterhold college?

I like the cut-scene kills,I've seen 3 or 4 that were pretty cool.I'm wondering wether or not to keep cooperating and bring this dragon claw back to whiterun or pursue finding some stormcloaks somewhere.If Helvor was in charge the empire would be cool but between Tullius and Ulfric the stormcloaks seem like the way to go.

pretending to be neutral might give me the opportunity to help the stormcloaks better I'm not sure.I did take stormcloak armor as well as imperial so...

[Hanaisse]

Well, you don't *have* to choose a side in the Civil War, it's optional. Whether you go with Ralof or Hadvar in Helgen doesn't decide for you either.

However, you still have time to choose. Retrieving the Dragonstone (not the golden claw, that's a totally different quest) for the Jarl of Whiterun is part of the Main quest, not the Civil War quest so you can continue with that without worry.

If you want to join the Imperials, you can go see Tullius in Solitude. If you want to join the Stormcloaks, see Ulfric in Windhelm. You'll know when you've joined.

[Lanceor]

Save the civil war questline until later. You'll get to talk to many people who have different opinions on the Empire or the Stormcloaks, and that will help you decide which side has more merit. Also, as you can probably guess, the civil war quests are all about... war. There will be a lot of fighting. At low levels, you might be chugging a lot of health potions, but at a higher level, it's a good way to level up neglected combat skills.

Edit: PS - love the glowing multi-colour wolf!

Edited February 22, 2013 by Lanceor

[elias64]

I watched a youtube video of the beginning and caught what I had missed.I didn't hear what Ralof said and I couldn't tell he was a stormcloak even with all the chaos going on lol.I was paying attention to following Hadvar and watching for a dragon swoop!

That makes sense to hold out joining anything until I can fight and get some skills.I think I'll make or obtain some armor that isn't either side's and work on myself and explore the place.

One of these days I'm going to play through with an evil character just because it'll be something new and I'll see things I haven't seen before.I've never joined the dark brotherhood and usually once I get some power I tend to try and help the khajiit and argonians and oppose the bullies lol.I love the khajiit grins they make after a statement.

[Glaedr]

Yea, I joined straight away when if first started the game because it seemed like a good way to get my feet on the ground and get some experience for some quick leveling. Right and wrong. Melee based "baby" characters will have a harder time then mage oriented characters. I would suggest saving this questline for later simply because you can get better equipment as rewards for particular parts of the questline.

I personally went with the Stormcloaks 98% of the time. Tried Imperials twice. Kind of boring imo. That and I can justify the SC's reason for fighting more than I can the Imperials.

Without spoiling much for you, you could probably equate the SC's to the rebels from Starwars and the Imperials to... well... the Imperials.