| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So who else is spamming F5 on GITP ?I've been doing so spiritually.
Does anyone know if oots has an update schedule?
It had a regular update schedule nine years ago. Unfortunately, such a forced update schedule encourages rushed or 'filler' content. When the fixed update schedule was traded for an irregular one, the quality improved immensely. You read through the archives recently--compare what you thought of the first book-and-a-half to the rest of the series? That's the difference between a rushed comic and a comic going at its own proper pace.
Unfortunately, it also means that the only ways to read it are to wait several months and read a bunch at once, or to constantly refresh hoping that a new comic has arrived. I chose the latter.Over on the OOTS forum, talking about the update schedule (or lack there of) is out-right banned.
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one even planning for a regular update schedule for my comic.
Debating whether I want to color pages one at a time or do it all in whole chapter or partialchapter bundles.
Either way I'm storyboarding by the chapter long before I'm coloring the pages.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
It had a regular update schedule nine years ago. Unfortunately, such a forced update schedule encourages rushed or 'filler' content. When the fixed update schedule was traded for an irregular one, the quality improved immensely. You read through the archives recently--compare what you thought of the first book-and-a-half to the rest of the series? That's the difference between a rushed comic and a comic going at its own proper pace.
Unfortunately, it also means that the only ways to read it are to wait several months and read a bunch at once, or to constantly refresh hoping that a new comic has arrived. I chose the latter.Over on the OOTS forum, talking about the update schedule (or lack there of) is out-right banned.
Some webcomic creators respond better to a hard schedule than others; when Kaja and Phil Foglio were doing Girl Genius as a paper comic, Phil was (apparently) constitutionally incapable of keeping up with the artwork for their nominal publication schedule. Quarterly releases turned into semiannual and even annual issues. Since they went to 3 pages/week, with a very few exceptions he's been able to keep that steady pace for more than ten years now.
</digression>
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I've definitely been checking with some frequency. I've considered actually signing up for twitter just so I get pinged when he tweets that a new strip was up.
He still doesn't have a fixed or even rough schedule for posting. Apparently for some years now, Rich has been struggling with a debilitating (but not highly dangerous) illness. He's declined to say exactly what, but he's taken long breaks whenever it flairs up. I take this recent spate of frequent updates to mean that he is feeling well. And that is something I always hope for, especially for someone whose brought so much mirth to me over the years.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
OTOH, regular updates seem to really help for getting and keeping readers. People stop checking if they don't know when to look, especially if it's not often. That doesn't affect long established, very popular strips as much, but can be a death knell to new ones.
It had a regular update schedule nine years ago. Unfortunately, such a forced update schedule encourages rushed or 'filler' content. When the fixed update schedule was traded for an irregular one, the quality improved immensely. You read through the archives recently--compare what you thought of the first book-and-a-half to the rest of the series? That's the difference between a rushed comic and a comic going at its own proper pace.
Unfortunately, it also means that the only ways to read it are to wait several months and read a bunch at once, or to constantly refresh hoping that a new comic has arrived. I chose the latter.Over on the OOTS forum, talking about the update schedule (or lack there of) is out-right banned.
hmm, establish RSS feeds, email subscriptions and a following base on facebook, twitter and tumblr?
And when an update is coming I can always send an announcement out.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Where's the fun of checking the webpage irregularly for update in that?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Just to let you know, Rich tweeted about Strip 1000 coming out later tonight, but in the mean time, he announced the release of the books in PDF format !
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
...yep. Yep, it was DEFINITELY worth the wait! :D
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hel is off her rocker and YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GO ROYYYYYYYY
I cant wait for the next one what the f#&#
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
WOW!!!!!
This one lived up to the hype.
And from a plot perspective, the clues were there. Hel confessing her plan didn't tell us anything that wasn't mentioned earlier, but none of us guessed it, because we just didn't put it all together. That's a well built mystery.
I just love Roy's reaction. He might be smart for a fighter, but he's not smarter than a goddess with a well conceived plan and a very wise undead high priest.
I also loved the dwarven priestess of Thor recognizing Durkon's name, and Roy's comment of "And when did he learn to pronounce the word 'of' anyway?!?" I'm still not sure if Roy's put it all together, as far as Durkula not just being Durkon with a new evil attitude.
And that final panel... I just have to say WOW!!! again.
And am I remembering correctly that Roy has something special on his sword these days for use against undead? Or was that a temporary spell? Given that his life long quest is to take down a lich, being prepared for undead should help him in fighting a vampire.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
And am I remembering correctly that Roy has something special on his sword these days for use against undead? Or was that a temporary spell? Given that his life long quest is to take down a lich, being prepared for undead should help him in fighting a vampire.
Yes. The starmetal gives it bonuses against undead. I'm wondering if Durkon managed to keep that hidden from Durkula up until now.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, I remember Roy's sword being made of an alloy that's supposed to be super effective against undead. I don't quite remember if it's a disrupting weapon or not...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Drat. No revelations.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hel? What the hell?Your publication in a comic strip makes it very easy for us to see what you did there. We have recorded it in the International Registry of Puns.
The best part is it's basically the same word with the same etymology, so its like an über-pun.
The wyrd has a weird sense of humor.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm basically just wondering a) when/if Belkar will show up, and b) whether Durkon (real Durkon) will be able to exploit the apparent weakness he saw here.
Do we know what the deal with Thor and Hel is?
Do we know what the deal with Thor and Hel is?
Hell appeared once pages and pages ago, arguing with Thor about whether or not someone had died an honorable death.
This was long before Hel was confirmed to be Evil Norse Lady Satan.
Theory that I'm throwing out there: Hel is infected by the Snarl, or what appears to be Hel actually is the Snarl and the true Hel was eaten or something.
Seriously, Rich Burlew is much too clever a writer to just write Hel as Evil Norse Lady Satan. I am not satisfied with that characterization.
Oh, thank the gods that whole "it's not really Durkon" plot might finally be coming to an end.
I'm hoping that Durkon will eventually get to go home resurrected as his regular self (technically fulfilling the posthumously requirement as he has already died), but I get the feeling that it won't be that easy.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am not satisfied with that characterization.
I am satisfied with that characterization. It is internally consistent and meets the needs of the story.
Hel didn't play a notable part in the North myths I remember, so any differences there don't bother me at all.
Wow. Just wow.
|
|
Left wondering whether the Representatives can buff Durkula or buff/debuff Roy. Or if the rules prevent them from interfering.
I still do not understand why Durkula needed to get to the Godsmoot with the OotS in stride. Wouldn't he have been better served with getting there on his own since he knew where it was going to take place ?
I still do not understand why Durkula needed to get to the Godsmoot with the OotS in stride. Wouldn't he have been better served with getting there on his own since he knew where it was going to take place ?
It might have looked suspicious for him to take off on his own, especially with Belkar onto him.
He might also have known through Durkon's memories that asking to go to the godsmoot on his own would be futile since Roy cares about him and splitting the party in the past had devastating consequences. It would also provoke Belkar.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So moving on to predictions about what comes next...
On paper, this looks like a one sided fight. Roy's still down levels from having died, casters are more powerful than martials when you reach these high levels, and Durkula has vampire powers on top of Durkon's cleric levels. So in theory, team evil should win this easily.
So here's my prediction of how Roy not only wins, but relatively easily. Of course, the key word there is "relatively" - this still needs to be an epic fight on some level.
I'm not familiar with 3.5 rules, but I'm assuming "Summon Proxy" is a spell invented for OOTS, so we don't know the exact details of the spell. But it's safe to assume that it's a high enough level spell that Durkula won't have prepared it more than once for the day. And it probably requires concentration to maintain. That means that to keep Hel present for the Godsmoot, Durkula can't take any standard actions - he has to use them all concentrating on maintaining the spell.
So that's how Roy wins. He doesn't have to actually kill Durkula to save the world. He doesn't even have to wound him. He just has to trick/annoy him into fighting back, so the proxy disappears. Of course, Roy probably doesn't know this going in, so he might get some advice along the way, possibly from Thor's representative.
That's my guess anyway. We'll see how far off I am. :)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dang, the new art style is worth it just for that last panel alone!
I also like the detail that many of the high priests who voted against destroying the world are smiling that Roy is jumping down to confront Durkon. They've figured out what he's doing immediately. Specifically, Thor, Freya, Loki, the representative from the Western pantheon, and... Hel.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Fromper, don't forget that Roy also has a +5 sword that has a random chance of doing extra damage to undead AND Roy gained a feat (learned from his grandfather while he was in Heaven) that disrupts spell casting. Durkula may not know about the enhanced sword abilities from Durkon, and Durkon may not even know about the new feat.
|
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dang, the new art style is worth it just for that last panel alone!
I also like the detail that many of the high priests who voted against destroying the world are smiling that Roy is jumping down to confront Durkon. They've figured out what he's doing immediately. Specifically, Thor, Freya, Loki, the representative from the Western pantheon, and... Hel.
Hel herself isn't smiling at Roy. The gods can't see him.
But I do like that Durkula is smiling. He looks like he wants this fight, and was planning for it all along.
And I completely forgot that Durkula made minions before coming into the room. They should be along any time now.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dang, the new art style is worth it just for that last panel alone!
I also like the detail that many of the high priests who voted against destroying the world are smiling that Roy is jumping down to confront Durkon. They've figured out what he's doing immediately. Specifically, Thor, Freya, Loki, the representative from the Western pantheon, and... Hel.
Hel herself isn't smiling at Roy. The gods can't see him.
But I do like that Durkula is smiling. He looks like he wants this fight, and was planning for it all along.
You're right. But I was listing the other smiling characters by their gods, so I did the same for Durkon.
And I completely forgot that Durkula made minions before coming into the room. They should be along any time now.
Ooh, good point. That's a definite advantage for Durkon. Maybe he sent them to take care of the rest of the OotS? Maybe wishful thinking.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I still wonder why the gods have to vote via the priests, when the comic has shown the gods communicating with each other directly several times?
Is it so that the priests can bear direct witness to the gods' discussion and vote?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I still wonder why the gods have to vote via the priests, when the comic has shown the gods communicating with each other directly several times?
Is it so that the priests can bear direct witness to the gods' discussion and vote?
Because if they didn't the PCs couldn't get involved? :)
There may be an in-world reason too, but that's the real one.
Actually, has the comic shown the different pantheons communicating directly? In recent history, post flashbacks to world creation or the Snarl or some such.
I don't know about between different pantheons but there are definitely panels of different northern gods talking to each other.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I don't know about between different pantheons but there are definitely panels of different northern gods talking to each other.I still wonder why the gods have to vote via the priests, when the comic has shown the gods communicating with each other directly several times?
Is it so that the priests can bear direct witness to the gods' discussion and vote?
Because if they didn't the PCs couldn't get involved? :)
There may be an in-world reason too, but that's the real one.
Actually, has the comic shown the different pantheons communicating directly? In recent history, post flashbacks to world creation or the Snarl or some such.
Yeah, but not all in one place. It's usually just 2 or 3 at a time together. Maybe this is their way of holding a meeting without having to physically get together - make their followers do the work on getting together physically.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think it is the matter of pantheons communicating on middle ground - since the creation of the world pantheons seem to have more or less clearly defined zones of influence.
The other pantheons could have a similar summon proxies scenes where each major member of particular pantheon voted through priest. Or they might have assembled in their respective outer realm abodes and voted without priesthood knowing.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
And I completely forgot that Durkula made minions before coming into the room. They should be along any time now.
I was thinking that the minute I read the line "the priests of the demigods break the tie" followed by Hel's "I do seem to have a certain rapport with some of them, I must admit."
That would definitely explain the need for minions.
Which maintains what I have said, that I would give a hard coin for Rich to write an AP.
And would give 1/3 my soul for him to DM it for me.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And I completely forgot that Durkula made minions before coming into the room. They should be along any time now.
Question is, though, do the minions maintain their previous status as hosts of the moot? If not, they won't have any protection against the other clerics and their bodyguards, and they've burned most or all of their high-level spells making the hall--even high-level cleric vampires aren't going to last very long.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I don't know about between different pantheons but there are definitely panels of different northern gods talking to each other.I still wonder why the gods have to vote via the priests, when the comic has shown the gods communicating with each other directly several times?
Is it so that the priests can bear direct witness to the gods' discussion and vote?
Because if they didn't the PCs couldn't get involved? :)
There may be an in-world reason too, but that's the real one.
Actually, has the comic shown the different pantheons communicating directly? In recent history, post flashbacks to world creation or the Snarl or some such.
Thor got in trouble with a southern tiger god for adding a little extra omph to durkons Thors might while durkon was in azure city.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Question is, though, do the minions maintain their previous status as hosts of the moot?
They don't have to attack the OotS or the high priests at all.
They simply have to turn the priests of the demigods into vampires and have them vote in favor of Heimdallr/Hel to break the tie.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Question is, though, do the minions maintain their previous status as hosts of the moot?They don't have to attack the OotS or the high priests at all.
They simply have to turn the priests of the demigods into vampires and have them vote in favor of Heimdallr/Hel to break the tie.
I'm not sure--after what happened to Durkon, I think that if they're turned into vampires they become clerics of Hel, and no longer qualify as representatives of their previous patrons.
ETA: Ninja'd by thejeff!