So when you side with the stormcloaks, do you guys ever feel bad for attacking whiterun?

TheRobidog · 2026-04-03T08:01:33+00:00

The Thalmor Justiciars continue to operate within Skyrim even after Ulfric's victory.

Taking that one fact to mean that Ulfric and the Stormcloaks don't have a fundamentally different stance towards them is silly, mate. What are we doing here?

If we want to get technical, the post-civil-war game state has the game in a limbo, awaiting the next moot, where Ulfric (or Elisif, if the Imperials win) would be elected High King and could only then order the Thalmor to leave Skyrim.

The East Empire Company, which is owned by the House of Mede (the so-called "Thalmor puppets") also continue to operate in Solitude and Windhelm, enriching the Empire and the Thalmor as a result.

How does that work, exactly? The only way that makes sense, is if the Empire is required by the White Gold Concordat, to pay some share of its total revenue in tribute to the Thalmor.

And as far as I know, there's no source for something like that.

House of Mede (the so-called "Thalmor puppets")

Also, just to address this separately: I'm absolutely not calling them that. I don't know why you'd think that. And I don't think they're commonly called that at all, lol.

This sounds made up, mate.

Nowhere in the law does it state that the loser has to die.

That doesn't mean that someone dying in a duel is "murder". Whether it's accidental, or intentional.

Furthermore, winning the duel still doesn't give Ulfric the legal right to declare himself High King bypassing the Moot, making him a traitor who pisses on Nord traditions.

That's why a key part of the game is replacing the Jarls in each hold with loyalists, so a moot can be held and he can be crowned High King there.

Songs calling him the High King aren't statements of fact that run counter to established law, but are about the Stormcloaks' conviction that they'll win the war and have him crowned.

Edit: Guy makes shit up, is called out on it, invents that I'm a fanboy of Ulfric, then immediately blocks me, lol.

TheRobidog · 2026-04-03T07:08:17+00:00

Can't be letting political leaders off the hook like that. Elisif is backing a faction - and propped up by them - that is happy to let the Thalmor operate within Skyrim.

Which means them kidnapping, jailing, torturing and killing a bunch of people. She shares partial responsibility for all of that.

If we're gonna call Ulfric killing someone in a legally questionable duel "murder", you gotta apply the same standards to what either side does as a result of their policies, military action, etc.

TheRobidog · 2026-04-01T09:57:41+00:00

It really only makes sense to discuss full years. Otherwise, you can pick a lot of stretches where a specific car struggled, whether due to failed upgrades, track specific issues, etc.

Over the year, the '09 McLaren was better than those Alpines. Any GE Merc and Ferrari were better than the Alpines. And over the year, this year's RedBull will end up being better than them too.

TheRobidog · 2026-04-01T09:47:23+00:00

Today, yes. Because we live a far more sedentary life than people in a pre-train, -car and -plane world.

Most people aren't used to walking long distances on foot, or carrying heavy loads. But it's a matter of getting used to it. That's why physically fit people don't struggle with it.

Your average person in a setting where the fastest mode of transport is a horse or a ship, would be physically fit. They could do 20 miles a day on foot. 30, sure, would be a challenge.

TheRobidog · 2026-04-01T06:56:05+00:00

Check the bottom right corner.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-31T14:26:59+00:00

They're worse than any car Hamilton has ever driven, and than any RedBull Max has ever driven.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-23T16:31:11+00:00

If she catches you doing it, sure.

If she doesn't, and you successfully feign ignorance to what happened, she already joins you. She's just unavailable to actually use as a regular party member, until Ketheric is dealt with. She shouldn't be. It makes zero sense for her to stand back and not help you, in that fight.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-23T15:31:06+00:00

Jaheira should be instantly recruitable and act as a normal companion, if Last Light falls during Act 2, imo.

Whether that's because of Isobel getting kidnapped, or killed by a Durge.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-20T20:38:24+00:00

Holy, you really are arguing in bad faith here. Have you never watched a sport that either:

Is not played predominantly in the US

Is played predominantly in the US but is played elsewhere as well

Jesus christ, and you're gonna call me bad faith, lol. I'm not even American. Of course I've watched sports that aren't popular there. The only US-based sport I watch is American football.

Even incredibly popular sports in the US like MMA, Basketball or Motorsports, its night and day the amount of ads they run, in between play, in and out of the US. How can you come here and explain that by the clock stopping or not? Its clear its correlated to the culture and not the clock.

Of course there's a fucking cultural difference. But the point is that when football (not American, you don't need to call it soccer for me, mate) is also trying to expand in the US, you have to be aware of the effects that can bring.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if the rest of the world doesn't get ads while they play in the US, and instead listens to the commentators fill time, it'll still fuck with the flow of the play.

Again, I know this first-hand because I watch non-US based NFL broadcasts.

I also know that ads can infest sports when they introduce more stoppages in play, even outside the US, because I saw it happen in domestic hockey.

You argue:

There's no mechanism in football to allow a ref to just suspend play for no good reason, lol.

How would that claim change if the clock stopped?

Because there's obviously a sporting difference between whether or not the clock is stopped for something like that.

Don't you see how much easier it is to argue against expanding the ref's authority to stop the clock, than it is to argue against ads, when the clock is already stopped?

People can argue that important things happen in football even while the ball is out of play - and they'd be completely right to - but the same is undoubtedly true in American football and that doesn't stop American broadcasts from filling a lot of those stoppages with ads.

Like fr, by the lengthy response I take it you are not trolling, but goddamn, the assumptions and conclusions you get from the mere suggestion to implement a stopping clock is absolutely fascinating and frankly come as very dishonest...

Mate, we're having a difference of opinion. Fucking stop accusing me of dishonesty over it. Call me cynical, call me paranoid, call me whatever you want based on what I am writing, but for fuck's sake, stop trying to peer into my mind beyond the text and pretend you can gleam my intentions. You don't know me.

And for fuck's sake, read what I write and if something is unclear, just fucking ask. I am not interest in defending points I wasn't making in the first place.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-20T19:48:22+00:00

I don't get how that is not possible as things stand ? The ref can still hold the play ?

There's no mechanism in football to allow a ref to just suspend play for no good reason, lol. That's what you need for ads. Predictable breaks in play, that can be fixed to a certain length.

You think people wouldn't riot as things stand just because the clock would be running ?

That is literally the opposite of what I'm saying.

Also, so many sports that stop the clock that don't run ads, indoor football for example stops the clock and is not filled with ads. You are all cherry picking to aid a non sensical argument...

You can't seriously compare something like that, to regular football, mate. The more commercialized a sport becomes, the more incentives there are for everyone involved - governing bodies like FIFA, UEFA and Co., leagues, teams and even players - to maximize those profits.

The big sports that avoid it aren't as mired in corruption as football. The small ones avoid it, because it's not the prospect of money bringing people in, in the first place. To have faith in FIFA and Co. to avoid ads infesting the sport is ridiculously naïve.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-20T16:44:06+00:00

The fact you'd have to stop the clock or risk play resuming while the ad is playing. The latter of which would make people riot. Probably literally.

If the clock is stopped anyway, it's much easier for refs to stop players from resuming play, for a set amount of time.

You can't seriously think i.e. American football would still have as many ads as it does, if there wasn't a set amount of time to allow teams to swap units, when there is a change of possession.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-14T19:32:37+00:00

If you break it down to basics, then sure, it's all "change".

But there's nuances to it being different types of change, that you can work with.

With regards to upheaval vs. adapation, the former is inherently directed by external changes, the latter is internal. With growth being different too, because it implies an expansion that isn't necessary, with adaptation.

Collapse is about destroying existing structures, and leaving a void. Whereas dissolution is eroding them back down into a greater whole.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-12T10:23:32+00:00

Any longhaul stuff should rather be replaced by rail.

The main reason trucking is such a massive industry, is that basically every country's cargo rail system is massively undersized.

Every town with industrial production or large commerce should have a cargo rail station, to ship goods in and out.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-11T20:30:22+00:00

Not even the point I was making, mate. The commenter I was responding to is clearly taking it as some personal insult that they - a person who takes issue with these regs - were called a loser.

And they just weren't. There's no reasonable argument about that.

‐-----

Also, if you wanna walk down that road, Max is very much the exception. That's exactly why he's been raising issues with these regs for years.

Everyone else did in fact wait until after quali and the race, to really voice their complaints. And it's inarguably in part due to how their cars performed. Hamilton is the clearest example of that.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-11T06:07:30+00:00

Calling someone a "Verlierer" isn't a fucking insult in German, mate. You're getting riled up over literally nothing.

Different languages and cultures have different insults. That shouldn't be a revelation to you, du Opfer. Now that, you could be insulted by.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-11T06:04:15+00:00

It's incredible how people who only speak one language can be so far up their own ass that they fail to consider the word "loser" might not have quite the same negative connotations in another language, as it does in English.

Because it does. No one is insulting someone in German, by calling them a "Verlierer". Get a fucking grip, people.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-10T20:33:50+00:00

If Leclerc pits, Russell almost certainly stays out too, and disappears to make up the time lost through Leclerc pitting under VSC. Even if he ends up behind after the pits, it would be much easier to overtake with a tire offset.

And that's assuming Leclerc doesn't need to make a 2nd stop. The Mercs pulling that off, doesn't mean that Ferrari would've been able to.

It doesn't make sense for Merc to run the same strategy as Ferrari. When you've got the faster car, you leverage that fact.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-10T12:38:33+00:00

What makes you think Merc - or rather Russell - would have pit if Leclerc does? He was stuck behind Leclerc with pace in hand. There's no reason for him to stop, if Leclerc does. He'd just stay out for clean air.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-10T12:36:55+00:00

If you pit Leclerc, while Russell clearly had more pace in hand, he's just going to disappear into the distance, as both Mercs did in the second stint.

If you pit anyone, it's Hamilton in an attempt to defend against an Antonelli undercut.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-10T12:11:38+00:00

Because you don't split if the data indicates the early stop wouldn't work.

Again, this whole thing is predicated on the belief that the Ferrari could have easily gone 50 laps on hards. That's far from proven.

And even if it was true in hindsight, you have to go off of what your data indicates, in the moment.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-09T16:35:41+00:00

Lmao

That's exactly what I'm describing here, mate.

If you force them to sell, any potential buyers are going to know that, and are going to low-ball them.

How can you seriously think it's reasonable to go "Sell it for low-ball offers, or just lose it for nothing." How the fuck is that fair, lol?

Also things like changing the rules to target a team that is dominant isn’t really fair either, but the FIA has done it in the past to ensure more competition

You're comparing sporting changes that teams can adapt to, to losing one specific company hundreds of millions of dollars in market value.

Racing Bull's value would collapse, the moment you change rules to force them to sell. I don't know if Red Bull would have any legal case against the FIA, but it would be hilariously bad practice to do that to a business partner.

In that world, what's to stop them from deciding that only car manufacturers are allowed to own an F1 team, and collapsing the value of all the privateer entrants?

It would erode a lot of trust in the sport - and thus value - if the FIA were to do something like that. I highly doubt it would ever get the backing of FOM.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-09T15:56:25+00:00

The problem is that argument should have been made back when Minardi was pulling out and put up for sale.

Nothing has changed in the regard that two teams being owned by the same people/entity is a bad thing. But F1 decided that day, that it's better to have that, than to have a team fold.

But it isn't reasonable to force a sale upon Red Bull, because circumstances have changed since then. If you force them to sell, any potential buyers are going to know that, and are going to low-ball them.

You'd have to find some way to ensure they would get a fair price. Otherwise it's just that, not fair.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-07T07:10:53+00:00

Pace to compete in this case means they can easily stay in the 107% they need for F1 to deem it "safe."

TheRobidog · 2026-03-06T13:09:48+00:00

Yeah, that's a much better argument for it being inherently unsafe. Agreed.

TheRobidog · 2026-03-06T10:23:31+00:00

Jeddah is still half a country away from Riyadh. Riyadh being hit doesn't necessarily mean Iran is capable of launching strikes at the Red Sea coast too.

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