Is it me or of the three factions the Aldmeri Dominion have the best end goal?

The Altmer merely want an Empire ruled by elves which to me would be completely logical. Human leaders live short lives which commonly leads to power struggles which in turn tend to become wars. An Altmer Emperor or Empress should live hundreds if not thousands of years, would it not make more sense for them to lead or am I wrong?

The lifespan of typical Altmer is ~200 years. a 300-year-old mer is "a rare sight indeed", according to ZOS. So there's hardly any real increase in stability. TES mer are not the Tolkienesque immortal elves that are wise and aged and so on and so on. Mer can be just as petty, arrogant, shortsighted as any man/beastfolk.

Ah my apologies I was just assuming due to how long many dunmer lived (minus those who "cheat" with necromancy)

I don't know about that. I think it would be much more sensible to get rid of all elves on Tamriel. That would solve a lot of issues.

Hm. There's no real difference in lifespans between altmer/bosmer/dunmer.

Also, there's a bit of a conflict.

ZOS puts the age as 200/300ish (ref: http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2013/05/06/ask-us-anything-variety-pack-4 ). Then again, the wiki says that lifespan goes in thousand-year terms (ref: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mer#Lifespan ).

Personally, I never felt that Mer were thousand-year-ish at all... Or even 500-year-ish.

Not true at all, oldest mortal elf I can name (without necromancy) is Divayth Fyr at over 4000 but many members of house telvanni are thousands of years old.

So it seems my original argument still stands.

Isn't Telvanni a house of magicians?

Telvanni like to dabble in magic and necromancy. They actively seek to extend their lifespan.

Yes I know but Divayth Fyr seems to have no evidence of using it to extend his life , now the next two oldest member both are confirmed having used it Mistress Therana and Dratha.

In response to the OP, while I agree with the Aldmeri Dominion's views on the Empire and how it should be run, I'd have to say EP has the most weight to their cause, as they seem like really the ones that are trying to stop Molag Bal and save Tamriel, the fact that their shaky alliance is still standing seems to support this.

Well. What makes you think he would outright tell the player / etc. about his lifespan-extending means? It could be quite a valuable secret, or he could just be downplaying it to avoid gathering enemies / compromising himself.

Psh... the AD are just hiding the fact that they want to enslave man just like the Mer had done before.

Actually on the subject of elven lifespan, Zenimax's statement is quite accurate, from what i gathered. Phynaster taught the elves to live another hundred years. This would seem to imply a comparison between humans, who generally can live up to one hundred years. Most elves who've lived for 1000+ years all have been mages or had some affiliation with magic, implying that they've extended their lives through use of magic. Orcs are an interesting elf to note, genrally they live as long as humans do, but recall the story of Orkey summoning Alduin and eating the age of Nords down to 6, then Wulfharth throws the curse on the nearby Orcs. this would imply that Orcs once lived as long as other elves naturally(200-300 years), but had roughly 100 years shaved off by the curse, bringing their average age down to that of a human. Urag gro-Shub is a mage, while not explicitly implied in game, his connection to magic would lead to some sort of implication that he extended his life(he is at least 300 years based on his dialogue in Skyrim). If anyone has anything to add or dispute, please do.

Is there any data on Breton vs. imperial/nord lifespans? Bretons have a slight mer-blood in them, after all... (Also, obvious curiosity about the remaining two beastfolk)

Yes, however he is a Mage, and the rules don't apply to mages. A human Mage could also last this long.

Brief History of the Empire v2 Has an interesting quote on breton lifespans. "When Cassynder assumed the throne upon the death of his mother, he was already middle-aged. Only half Elven, he aged like a Breton. In fact, he had left the rule of Wayrest to his half-brother Uriel due to poor health. Nevertheless, as the only true blood relation of Pelagius and thus Tiber, he was pressed into accepting the throne. To no one's surprise, the Emperor Cassynder's reign did not last long. In two years he joined his predecessors in eternal slumber."

In my opinion, Daggerfall Covenant has the best goal.

Ebonheart Pact's official reason is to stop Molag Bal. Then why do they fight against the other factions?
Their ultimate goal is to rule the Empire of Tamriel. Of course.
But an Empire ruled by nords and the false gods of the Tribunal wouldn't be a good thing in my opinion.

And then the Aldmeri Dominion - they think the problem of the world are men.
They are in to stop future wars. A righteous goal, yes, but what do you think they actually do to stop the future wars?
They will rule with an iron fist!
Not over the elves, but they think the humans deserve no freedom - that they are not wise enough to make their own decisions.
I disagree.

Daggerfall Covenant wants "one land, one emperor".
They think there is peace when there is a united Tamriel, a strong and a loved Empire.
Now Emeric could be a little greedy for power, but if I would be able to support Daggerfall Covenant as a khajiit,
I would do it.

False Gods is a little harsh, they do a really good job of protecting their people. Also, the Ebonheart Pact is perusing the war in order to stop the Dominion and Covenant from succeeding and crowning their leader Emperor, because this would threaten their independent sovereignty.

And yet in the end, Morrowind is the first imperial province after Cyrodiil, if I remember correctly.
And well, one of the good things in ESO is that all the factions have good and bad things.

I actually think it was Skyrim that first joined Tiber's Empire. They joined before the Imperial city was even captured.

What do you mean 'first imperial province'?

Morrowind joined the Empire last, and never joined Reman's or Alessia's

Oh yes, I just read it in uesp, Morrowind was actually the first elven land to join the Empire.