Well, here we are again people, and for the last time, we visit our friend Zippertrain85, on his blogs, which, if you have been following, is a mixed blessing for me.
Well, after this, no longer will Zipper be subject to my reviews, lucky for him, and we will move on to someone else. But, get ready for the finale of the ZIPPERTRAIN SAGA!
Alright, so this review will review the final refutation by Zippertrain85 of the infamous JoshofBlades "Why the Empire will prevail over the Stormcloaks" blog, which, in itself, I think deserves a review, but since I have done Zippers refutation, I don't see much of a point. Rating? Terrible. JoshofBlades's blog on this was god-awful. How Zipper faires remains to be seen. Remember, normal text is my review, italics are JoshofBlades original blog, and the bold text is Zippers refutation blog. Here we go. Well, it's Christmas Eve, and I am sad to announce that this will be my last blog of the year 2013. But to finish off this year let's refute the third and final part of JoshOfBaldes's "Why the Empire Should Prevail Over the Strormcloaks!" series. Let's begin! "Another reason the Stormcloaks shouldn't be allowed to come to REAL power in Skyrim is a matter of Economics. First off let's focus on Whiterun Hold, specifically the City of Whiterun, home to everyone's favorite Jarl (maybe) Jarl Balgruf the Greater. Whiterun Hold and the City specifically, are where the majority of Skyrim's trade with Cyrodiil comes in should the Stormcloaks control such a pivitol point trade with Cyrodiil would cease therefore hurting the local economy and the economy of Skyrim as a whole. A well known fact is Nations run on Currency something like that would severly cripple Skyrim's." He's certainly not my favourite Jarl, but that's beside the point. I have no idea where he got the idea that Whiterun trades the most with Cyrodiil, for I have never seen any in-game evidence of this. To answer his question, yes Skyrims economy may not be AS good without the help of an Empire, but that's hardly something to consider when the Empire is doing nothing while the people are oppressed. Anyway, Skyrim does have a lot of natural resources like Iron & Steel, so I think they'll manage either way. "Another well known fact is that the East Empire company (after re-opeing) creates alot of work and productivity and cash flow for Skyrim and being an Empire funded company it can easily be removed from Skyrim by a snap of the Emporer's finger. Do you really wish to damage Skyrim's economy and force the people into a poverty and sickness stricken life all for the sake of Talos Worship? A noble cause it may be, but highly un-nessesary."Now when I think of it, why would the Empire STOP trading with Skyrim? They rely on Skyrim too. If they stop trading both sides will loose important things, the Empire will loose the Iron & Steel in Skyrim, while Skyrim will loose the food from Cyrodiil. It would be down-right stupid for either nation to stop this trade simply because they are two different governments. And it's not just for Talos Worship, it's for freeing the people of Skyrim from tyranny (possibly even all of Tamriel too). Ok, let's get started. Zipper announces its his very last blog, (Yay) of 2013. (Oh). Then JoshofBlades busts out an argument that, props to him, does not show up in a lot of places, and thats Economy. Plus, Balgruuf does happen to be my favorite Jarl. So good job JoshofBlades for that too. Anyway, he makes the argument that because most of the trade that goes on in Skyrim happens within Whiterun, severing all ties to the Empire would cripple Skyrim's economy. Alright, two things. 1) When is it ever mentioned in Skyrim that Whiterun is the most pivotal point of all trade? 2) I thought this was an argument on why the Imperials SHOULD win, not HOW they are going to win. If you wanted to make a blog on HOW the Imperals will overcome the Stormcloaks, make the godd*mn title "Why the Imperials Will prevail over the Stormcloaks," not "Why the Imperials Should prevail over the Stormcloaks," but that's just nitpicking. My respect for the boldness of the argument is great, even if it is matched by the admiration for the amount of stupid bluntness it has, basically saying that the Imperials will win period. Way to cause some backlash guy. And what does Zipper respond with? His usually pointless arguments? Well, not so much, to my surprise. He actually calls Joshofblades out on the fact that its not mentioned anywhere that Whiterun is the foremost economic powerhouse of Skyrim. Good work Zipper. He continues to say that Skyrim would still be able to support itself and that it has bigger problems anyway from the way it is being oppressed and the Empire is doing nothing. Now back up a moment here. Besides having a religious figure banned from worship and maybe some Thalmor goons strutting around, please tell me about how much of Skyrim's citizens are really that oppressed. I don't see any slaves besides maybe Argonians in Winterhold, and those arn't really slave looking, I don't see anyone getting whipped, I don't see anyone look extremely miserable in the holds besides a few. Plus, I am down with belief being important, but I think the economy of a country is a pretty big problem that outmatches the needs of the spirit. Don't rule as a religion hater or anything, but the Talos thing can wait. He's immortal. He has time. Get the country sorted out first. Once you do, Talos it up in this B*tch, I don't care. Sorry, I'm getting offtrack. I'm supposed to be telling you if this is an intelligent argument or not. Well, it's...Meh. Kinda in between. But I do think Skyrim could support itself. They are allowed to trade with each other. Moving on. JoshofBlades explains that the East Empire Trading Company is a also an important economic factor to consider, as it belongs to the empire, and if taken away, could disrupt some serious Sh*t. I'm cool with that idea, but seriously, where's the evidence? He say's its a well known fact. Great! Prove it. Sorry, i'm a bit of a stickler for that sort of thing. Then, Josh asks if we are to sacrifice the well being of the nation just for getting religious freedom. I am cool with religious freedom, sure, but he poses a fair point, poorly as he backs it up. Will we sacrifice the needs of the many for the needs of the few? Granted, most of the populace in Skyrim worship Talos, but that's besides the point. Will we have religious freedom but live in poverty? Or will we learn to live with oppressed feelings but live in the middle class? It is an interesting question to ask oneself. I don't even know the answer. Depends on what you believe. I admire blogs that are thought provoking like that. Let's see if Josh keeps it up. Doubtful. Alright so Zipper says it would be stupid if both nations stopped trading simply because of two different governments, and that both governments rely on one another. Alright, two things. 1) Uh, Zipper, one of these governments tried to rebel against the other. I think the Imperial have more things to worry about than trading with Skyrim. Something like, I don't know, putting down the rebellion? 2) Where does it say both governments rely on one another? Evidence dude! Evidence! Plus I think both nations could handle themselves on their own. They're run by adults. On with the rest of the blog. "Now let's be theoretical and say the Stormcloaks prevail. Who will they trade with? Cyrodiil will cut them off so that dooms Whiterun, and High Rock still belongs to the Empire, so Markarth, Solitude, and possibly Falkreath can kiss all that money and matieral bye-bye. Hammerfell has all but fallen apart and is to busy dealing with the Aldmeri Dominion too worry about giving resources to Skyrim. Black Marsh and Elsewyre are too far, Morrowind is no-more and assuming it was operational would never lend aid to the Nords (due to their long rivalry)."This argument is extremely one sided for the reason I explained above. Josh basically acts like Skyrim has nothing valuable, and can't survive without Cyrodiil. It's survived for thousands of years without Cyrodiilic help, it can manage. It addition, there's no reason for the trading to stop, even if they do succeed. You're argument as to why Hammerfell won't be able to trade with Skyrim makes no sense. If they were hurt by the Dominion, wouldn't they NEED resources like Iron & Steel? And Morrowind doesn't have a "long rivelry", sure they've fought before, but every race in Tamriel has.
"So where does that leave Ulfric? It leaves him with a free Talos worshipping Nation full of hungry, poor, sick, and angry vagrants who want answers he isn't able to provide. Thus starting a revolution in the name of the Empire. It'll all come full circle people so save time, lives, and money and just go enlist in the Imperial Legion to crush these foolish usurpers."
That's what would happen with the Empire. People are oppressed by the Dominion, and nothing is being done about it. So in order to stop that join the Stormcloaks and free Tamriel! And that's it. All three of Josh's blogs refuted. I might do something similar to this in the future. But for 2013 I am done with Blogging. Have a wonderful Christmas (Or what ever Holiday you celebrate in December) and a happy New Year. Feel free to comment on this blog. So, Josh gives the argument that if the Stormcloaks do succeed in making Skyrim free of the Empire, they have no one to trade with, (Ahem, themselves? Not all profit comes outside of the country), as all known territories and nations are either within the Empire, too far, and too illogical to trade with, all the while giving no proof as to why they couldn't trade with them. It's what you come to expect from old Joshyboy. Zipper responds with surprising intelligence. He states that the argument is pretty one-sided, which I agree with, and that Skyrim has survived thousands of year without help from the outside. (Thank you! Oh man, what other stuff will he tell us?) Zipper says that there is no reason to stop trading if the Stormcloaks do succeed!....Um, Zipper, the Empire would probably be to busy trying to win Skyrim back than focus on trading. Just a thought. Anyway, Zipper says that the argument against Hammerfell not being able to trade is utter nonsense, (like the rest of the blog) and asks if Hammerfell was in dire straights with the Dominion, wouldn't they need Skyrim's abundance in iron and steel? Good question, good question. However, economic science 101, if Hammerfell wa in trouble and devoted its economy to the war effort, and the fact that they are IN TROUBLE, they must not have the funds to pay for the things they need, thus ruling them out as a trading target, unless Ulfric is generous enough to do a little Lend-Lease Act and just give the Redguards the weapons they need to borrow until they are finished. Can you really see this happening? Yeah, I didn't think so. I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to refute the arguments, just judge the quality of them, but it was wide open. Josh goes on a final propaganda speech on how if the Stormcloaks win, they are left with a broken nation with starving peoples, and we would all save time and money by joining the Legion. Zipper responds with yeah yeah yeah, yada yada yada Stormcloak Imperial fight crap. Yes, we get it. Zipper wraps up by saying he might do something like this again in the future, (Please don't) and he wishes us all happy holidays. Mr. Zipper, I would like to respond by saying, GOOD RIDDANCE!And the verdict of this blog is(Drumroll please)....AVERAGEFinal thoughts: Alright, so the argument given by Josh, again, was a five year olds work, no offense against five year olds, and Zipper did respond with some intelligence and asking good questions. To bad the foundations in which they were asked upon were complete crap, but this blog was a little better than the last ones because of Zippers improved responses, leading me to believe he is not a lost cause after all. But the final verdict on the Zipper Saga as a whole?(Drum roll please)...With four Average Ratings and three Forgettable ones, AVERAGE beats out forgettable. But seriously Zipper, get it in gear man. Where's the A-Material? I don't want to put up with this all day! But like all of your blogs, the real culprit here was JoshofBlades for the Imperials over Stormcloaks segements. His blog was terrible, and your refutations were less than good. And, the blogs you made on your own were almost as forgettable. Almost. Ladies and Gentlemen, Zippertrain85 is one of our most prominent users for a reason. His godgiven talent to stir up a riot simply because he supports the Stormcloaks. I think he really put himself on the map with his blogs and reputations, so I couldn't write him off as a forgettable blogger. Unfortunately, he's not a super good blogger either. I can't give him a good rating, I can't give him a bad rating. So, we settle on average. Be thankful Zipper, it could have gone a lot worse. And finally! We are done with the Zipper Saga, six whole blogs of forgettable writing and Average repetative tripe, (No offense Zipper), and I will sit through more next time when we move on to our second victim of the show! You all know him, the Draconian Steak, the god of Derpiness himself, MAN OF STEAK!!!! I'm not all that excited to be honest. I hear his are terrible too. Blog Critic out.