Cool page. I browsed through it a bit but my question still stands... of what consequence is any of the lore in regard to the choices a player must make in the game? If I know the lore is it going to help me in any way? Is it going to change the outcome of what happens in the game? Am I going to be able to make different choices with different outcomes because I took the time to read the lore? Or is it all just there as something to read to pass the time? As "fluff"?
Can't really answer that fully until we see the effects of the stormcloaks and Imperials in the next game. But one effect that is immediate is the presence of the Thalmor in the game, who carry off victims for torture and also attack you. Also, if you like heimskr in Whiterun, it wouldn't be smart to side with the Imperials, because they have to enforce the talos worship ban, and he's a talos priest. A very loud and outspoken one. So he'll be carried off obviously, and arrested.
Siding with the stormcloaks besides getting rid of the thalmor also restores talos' statue in the capitol of Skyrim. The jarls change, and the soldiers are displaced, which the townsfolk and jarls themselves express their pleasure or anger with. Stuff like that.
Knowing the lore doesn't somehow open up new paths just by knowing it, but it gives better context to what the heck you're doing and how it will effect the world, or could effect the world. In other words, someone who knows the lore like myself will likely do things differently than someone who doesn't, because they know how that would effect their character. Me knowing the lore is the main reason why I never become a vampire or stay a werewolf. Because my character's soul will become damned to their respective daedric lords.
I also kill this priest of Boethiah instead of giving him to Molag Bal as the daedric priest asks because of a related quest with a woman named Serana, as well as the fact that I know the lore behind Boethiah and have a better idea than most as to why she dislikes Molag Bal. That and the poor bastard would be forced to submit to Molag Bal's will with my help, and I'm not a fan of helping someone named the "King of Rape" get his late night booty scratch.
edit: In other words, it gives the game and what you do in it meaning. It's the very reason I'm able to roleplay. This is an example of how I do that, and how characters can be different. Where that story and narrative comes from. I wouldn't likely be playing this game if it didn't have that kind of purpose in what I was doing.
Some may call this fluff, but to me, I can't play a game without knowing lore behind it, or I won't care about anything I'm doing.