They want to return TES universe to the state of Mythic Era, unmaking reality.

Of course, but there should be some instances where a faction isn't pitch black. For example, the Dark Brotherhood, while it murders people for money and worships a dark god, it is very kind to it's members and polite to it's patrons. So it's just very, very dark grey.

i like what they did with the thalmor, they are an invading faction, and it plays out like real life, they are rather like nazis, they believe themselves to be superior and will impart violence and propaganda to make you believe what they want, (the whole thing with talos worship) and if someone invaded your lifestyle and began trying to change everything how would you feel?? also thalmor are high elves granted, but not all high elves believe the thalmor are right, again like WWII nazis, not all germans believed in the campaign

Here's one:
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Legate_Sevan_Telendas

No other race is beginning a multi-racial elitist group to overthrow the Empire and claim rule of all of Tamriel.

That's fair.

I agree it's lame, though for different reasons.

I simply feel like the way they designed the Thalmor sends the message of "here, these are the enemies we picked for you." I feel like the game is telling me who I'm allowed to like and who I'm allowed to dislike, which bothers me. Every single time a Thalmor soldier walks by, I can't help but feel like he might as well be yelling "BY THE WAY, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DISLIKE ME."

Wow. 630+ hours of playing and I have never seen this. The only people I have ever seen in a Stormcloak uniform is a Nord (unless of course I have a non-Nord PC look in the mirror).

I have to agree with the OP though (Sorry, getting back on topic). I myself can't even play an Atlmer due to the Anti-Thamor sentiment in Skyrim. I thought about trying one as a mage, but even in the Mages Guild there a Thalmor agent who's a big dookie hole. I would have welcomed an Altmer based Thalmor resistance group or something. But no, it looks like they are all jerks.

Well, in their defense, they do hate everyone in Skyrim, regardless of your race. And they're trying to take over the world. Their hatred towards you isn't really direct. And it's only natural that hate is met with hate.

I like the snotty high elf personality. I RP my High Elf mage as being quite in agreement with the Thalmor. The problem is that NPC high elves seem not to recognize the player as one of them. I want other high elves to greet me as one of the superior ones, or at very least not quite as inferior as other races.

There's no oversight. Ulfric doesn't refer to you as the Dragonborn until after you complete Dragon Rising and are summoned by the Greybeards. Before that, he doesn't know and neither does anybody else. After that he will know and will refer to you accordingly; you also get new dialogue options regarding the Thu'um and the Greybeards. This is true whether you've joined the Stormcloaks or the Legion and I'm pretty sure it's the same if you've remained altogether neutral.

There are quite a few Altmers that are not Thalmor.

They are disliked too, but frankly the Nords hate any type of elves, they did not had a good history with them. The Great War did not helped matters.

They did a pretty good job, no matter what side you prefer, of making the Stormcloaks and Imperials fairly gray.

Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to any other factional group in the game...

Why Thalmor suits Altmer so haughty, arrogant and complete arses sry but it makes sense to me.

You get the same random encounter on the Stormcloak side, if you follow Hadvar. Dunmer or redguard farmer going to join the Stormcloaks. They say something like "the empire is in shambles, all we fought for and they surrendered anyway."

There are likeable Altmer in the game. The Altmer in Windhelm are nice, apart from Nurelion who's your typical arrogant type, and Nelacar is my favorite Altmer. The Thalmor are not sympathetic but they're meant to be the larger threat that allows the civil war conflict to be grey. So it's fine with me. There are Altmer who are against the Thalmor (like the author of The Rising Threat), so I played my Altmer as an anti-Thalmor agent. That was fun.

It seems as though bethesda is pushing for high elves to be evil in the future. The High Elf thieves faction encountered during the Thieves Guild main quest are made out to be "bad guys" like the Thalmor faction

Spoiler:










Aren't the psijics altmer?

The Thalmor are pretty evil, IMO. Aren't they trying to destabilize the Towers of nirn, starting by essentially destroying Talos by banning his worship? If they succeed in doing this, wouldn't they effectively be destroying the world if they undo the work of Lorkhan?

I dont think they are representative of most of the Thalmor. Think about it.

The ones who are there arent fighting wars. They arent holding territory. Instead, they were shipped off to a cold, hostile place that has little in the way of central government. Your task? To wander the countryside to attack people who worship Talos.

That is IT. That is your life. That is what they do day in and day out. Im guessing they were stationed there due to being rather lame soldiers. Its probably viewed as a punishment.

Ha. Didn't think I'd feel sympathetic for a Thalmor anytime soon. Not only are you in lovely Skyrim, but everyone hates you. Actually that's not true. I did find one Thalmor sympathetic compared to the others: Ondolemar. (Although to get on his good side you have to be...unscrupulous.) Like all Thalmor, I find him hilariously snobbish and awful, but I like him. He reminds me of the evil rich kid characters in '80's movies. So over the top.


Stormcloak questline made me sad though:

So not every Thalmor is a complete jerk either. 99% jerk. Regular Altmer come in all types, thankfully, like Nords vs. Stormcloaks.

Yes, but we have no idea what they're up to.

I found it interesting that there is a Book of the Dragonborn inside Saarthal, close to where you find the orb. It was written in the 3E so it must have been put in there fairly recently, but I doubt that any scavenger would take the trouble of getting inside, leaving the book, and then putting the amulet back in its spot. The Psijics could warp in, though. So what do they want with the Dragonborn?

I want my own Argonian faction then...

Wouldn't make sense for them to be nice while trying to eliminate men the culture of men.

nope

My characters don't like the Thalmor or High Elves in general so... yea no.