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OITS
2009-06-29, 11:45 AM
Speaking for myself, I really don't know, what I want. I mean concerning the end of this wonderful webcomic. On on hand, the story shouldn't be too much stretched, and I absolutely want to know, how it will end. But the bad thing about the end is that it won't go on afterwards. I haven't been reading this strip for long time, about a year, maybe one and a half, and there was always this feeling of infinity, a natural sort of infinity - it went on in a reasonable speed, but the end was far far away. Now, after comic #0666 Roy said something about ending it within 7 weeks (still in game^^), which can easily be 500-1000 strips, but I was reminded that there will be an end, and I just don't know, if I want it to happen soon...or only in 3-5 years.

Am I standing alone with this conflict?

Optimystik
2009-06-29, 11:53 AM
Every end is a new beginning, they say...

Besides, I want to read a cunning comic that uses stick figures to satirize 4th edition rules!

NerfTW
2009-06-29, 11:56 AM
I want it to end when it ends. I'm not a fan of dragging things out for no reason other than nostalgia.

And I'll be able to look forward to Rich's next work, if there is one. Same as any book or story. I think fantasy fans get a little to used to these massive never ending epics, that they forget the value of just telling the story you want to tell, and moving on.

Super_slash2
2009-06-29, 12:02 PM
I want to see Girard's and Serini's Gates really badly. Especially since those two seem like real characters and even if they're old/dead, the statue of Kraagor seems like a decent plot point. And I'm a sucker for dungeons and traps.

NerfTW
2009-06-29, 12:13 PM
Well obviously they'll come up in the strip. And remember that short of another epic seperation and boat trip, they'll be getting things done quickly. The battle of Azure city took almost a year, I think, and that battle lasted less than a few hours.

Also, seven weeks doesn't mean the strip will end then. Belkar can always fulfill the "last breath ever" prophecy well before the end of the strip. We don't know what the exact outcome of the prophecy will be.

There's also a chance that Xykon himself isn't the final villain. He could be defeated at the next gate only to see Nale and his father heading for Kraagor's gate. We simply don't know what will happen.

DreadSpoon
2009-06-29, 12:24 PM
Every end is a new beginning, they say...

Besides, I want to read a cunning comic that uses stick figures to satirize 4th edition rules!

OOTS already has done that, and will continue to do it. Rich stated that while he isn't switching OOTS to 4ed, he will make both 3e and 4e jokes wherever they happen to work.

That said, satirizing 4e on a large scale doesn't require much cunning. Just create a new comic where every 1st level character is a magical-teleporting-holy-superhuman-ninja and where the PCs have to carry decks of cards around to figure out what the hell they can and can't do, and you've got yourself a 4e comic.

fangthane
2009-06-29, 01:21 PM
I think it's partially a product of living in a society as commercialised as ours has become - and I mean ours as humanity, not just the States, us here in Canada, or any other developed nations. (and let's face it, while there may be exceptions most of us come from and/or live in such nations).

Whenever any work of fiction becomes popular, there's a tendency for it to perpetuate itself, in a way. The fans want more because there's always something they found appealing about a story or element which the author didn't quite polish to their satisfaction, or the publisher wants more because it sells well, or the author has more to write about related but unconnected details. These basic influences hit all fiction - movies, books, games, you name it.

When the object is a serial entity in the first place, like a (web)comic, TV series or similar work, there's an additional influence at play; partly financial, partly emotional. Because of the periodic cliffhangers, there come to be emotional attachments to certain elements of the plot, elongations of some and return engagements with others (such as recurring villains like Khan, Magneto or Mr Myxlptlk) and sometimes expansion into subplots dedicated to those elements. Because it sells, there's a financial element to the motivation as well.

All of that being said, here's what I want. I want to see the Giant finish the story he intends to tell, complete with whatever embellishments he sees fit to add before it's done. I have faith in his continued ability to tell an engaging story and do it well.

I wouldn't be heartbroken if he announced another project in the same "world" as OotS, even if it involves some of them (assuming any of them survive) but I'd hope that whatever finale he reaches with these characters doesn't require any further wrap-up or continuation.

FeAnPi
2009-06-29, 01:25 PM
I want, first of all, the comic to finish. Not soon, of course, but there are so many unfinished webcomics... or unfinishing comics.:smallwink:

Finwe
2009-06-29, 01:38 PM
Like every story, OOTS must eventually come to an end. If rest of the story holds up to the fantastic standard of the previous 666 strips, and the story is concluded with a satisfactory resolution, I will be extremely pleased.

Optimystik
2009-06-29, 01:43 PM
That said, satirizing 4e on a large scale doesn't require much cunning. Just create a new comic where every 1st level character is a magical-teleporting-holy-superhuman-ninja and where the PCs have to carry decks of cards around to figure out what the hell they can and can't do, and you've got yourself a 4e comic.

Well? Start drawing!

We probably won't see a large-scale 4e derivative work until they flesh out their SRD some more.

Gamerlord
2009-06-29, 02:10 PM
I still hope that after OOTS rich makes OOTS II

xyzzy
2009-06-29, 02:14 PM
I still hope that after OOTS rich makes OOTS II

Maybe another story in the same world, but not a direct sequel.

Linkavitch
2009-06-29, 02:15 PM
All I want is a space shuttle.:smallcool:

Weimann
2009-06-29, 02:25 PM
What I want? Well, ideally, I want OotS to continue indefinitely, with undiminished quality, novel plots and fresh jokes. That, though, ain't happening.

So, I'll settle for the story Rich has to tell. From evidence, he does it rather well, and I have faith he will end it on a satisfactory note.

After that, I will look forward to his next work.

73 Bits of Lint
2009-06-29, 02:46 PM
I want the survivors from Azure City to crawl into a deep, dark hole and die. Or at least quit intruding on the good A/B plots and characters with all their D-list nonsense.
That boring couple who got named/married/pregnant have had at least 10x more screen time than they deserve, and O-Chul just needs to hurry up and fail a fortitude save already. I had some small hope when Kabuto and Therkla were killed in short order, but even V twice handing the Azurites their deliverance on a silver platter isn't enough to sate their bottomless appetite for attention.

*ugh*

Anyway, once that's done the Order can finally get back to what they do best: Walking around the wilderness and various dungeons slaughtering anything that has an ideology they disagree with while making jokes about rules and RPG conventions.
The return of Nale, Thog and Sabine would be nice, too.

Meg
2009-06-29, 02:53 PM
I want it to be open-ended, so we can all have our own little grove of epileptic trees about the character's lives after the Order. I think Redcloak and V are going to die before the end of the strip, simply because they seem like the types to die epically.

They're my favorite characters, I'll be sad to see them go, but I think they'll have to, eventually.

Ichneumon
2009-06-29, 02:55 PM
I want it to end well and with a good conclusion. Although I wouldn't want Rich to stop making comics and maybe continue with a new comic, maybe even in this style, I think it would be best to close this story when it needs to end, to preserve the "special"-ness.

Meg
2009-06-29, 02:57 PM
I'd be interested in an epilogue that showed the Orders' children and maybe the Sapphire guard, but the main Order I want more ambiguity.

Ichneumon
2009-06-29, 02:59 PM
I'd be interested in an epilogue that showed the Orders' children and maybe the Sapphire guard, but the main Order I want more ambiguity.

Oh and please, don't let this be like the epilogue of Harry Potter, that destroyed so much... (although not much was left after going through the last book anyway)

Morgan Wick
2009-06-29, 03:07 PM
All of that being said, here's what I want. I want to see the Giant finish the story he intends to tell, complete with whatever embellishments he sees fit to add before it's done. I have faith in his continued ability to tell an engaging story and do it well.

Ditto.

I really don't see any sequel, direct or not, being anything more but a lame facsimile of the original.

Meg
2009-06-29, 03:07 PM
Oh ick, don't remind me of that. I meant more the offspring hanging out as adults, playing poker or something, not adventuring.

NerfTW
2009-06-29, 03:28 PM
I'd be interested in an epilogue that showed the Orders' children and maybe the Sapphire guard, but the main Order I want more ambiguity.

I hate those. Because they usually mean two things:

A) Nothing else interesting happened at all for the rest of their lives
or
B) We just got introduced to fleshed out characters we'll never meet again, or we just got introduced to cheap cardboard cutouts that served no purpose.

edit- and of course, that they somehow all wind up friends, just because thier parents were friends.

There's no reason they can't just wrap it up in the "present". We don't need to see Elan and Haley's children to know what happens, just that they are still in love at the end of the strip. We don't need to see Durkon as head cleric of Thor, just have it happen or show that he's on that path in the present.

Flickerdart
2009-06-29, 03:33 PM
Just create a new comic where every 1st level character is a magical-teleporting-holy-superhuman-ninja and where the PCs have to carry decks of cards around to figure out what the hell they can and can't do.
...Exalted? :smallbiggrin:

Llama231
2009-06-29, 03:42 PM
I want...

More rules jokes. :smallwink:

No seriously, they are funny! :smallsmile:

Optimystik
2009-06-29, 03:48 PM
Oh and please, don't let this be like the epilogue of Harry Potter, that destroyed so much... (although not much was left after going through the last book anyway)

...I liked the HP ending. :smallfrown:


...Exalted? :smallbiggrin:

KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Ceryan
2009-06-29, 04:05 PM
...I liked the HP ending. :smallfrown:


I did as well. It's an Epilogue, what do you expect from it? I thought it was to be expected, not entirely tasteless and just overall FINE.

I don't understand why everyone is moaning and screaming over it :smallannoyed: . At least it didn't end with Voldemort killing Harry or something.

Ichneumon
2009-06-29, 04:12 PM
I did as well. It's an Epilogue, what do you expect from it? I thought it was to be expected, not entirely tasteless and just overall FINE.


Personally, I thought the fact that all the friends were still together and all the couples were married and had children and were named after all the important people in Harry's life was a bit too much.


I don't understand why everyone is moaning and screaming over it :smallannoyed:. At least it didn't end with Voldemort killing Harry or something.

Didn't Harry die and started to live again?

hamishspence
2009-06-29, 04:14 PM
Sort of- I think the idea was Voldy's attack destroyed his own Horcrux- the Harrycrux- instead of killing Harry.

Optimystik
2009-06-29, 04:31 PM
Personally, I thought the fact that all the friends were still together and all the couples were married and had children and were named after all the important people in Harry's life was a bit too much.

Too much what? Plot resolution? :smallsigh:

And I thought the fact that Malfoy's kid was there too, and on his way to Hogwarts with everyone else, was a very nice touch. Proof that redemption does work sometimes.

David Argall
2009-06-29, 06:34 PM
I want to read a cunning comic that uses stick figures to satirize 4th edition rules!

Not much chance of that at all, and pretty much none of our writer doing it. Talk is that they are already working on 5.0, and they will be next year at this time. By the time OOTS is done, we will be well into 5th ed.

Ridureyu
2009-06-29, 07:07 PM
What do I want?


I want Gooses! Geeses! I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter! At least a hundred a day.

And by the way, I want a feast. I want a bean feast! Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts so good you could go nuts!

No, now!! I want a ball, I want a party, Pink macaroons and a million balloons, and performing baboons and ... Give it to me!

Now!

I want the world! I want the whole world! I want to lock it all up in my pocket! It's my bar of chocolate. Give it to me Now!

I want today, I want tomorrow, I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair, and I don't want to share 'em. I want a party with room fulls of laughter, ten thousand tons of ice cream, And if I don't get the things I am after I'm going to scream!

I want the works! I want the whole works! Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises of all shapes and sizes.

And now,

Don't care how!

I want it now!

Don't care how!

I want it NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!

Optimystik
2009-06-29, 07:16 PM
Not much chance of that at all, and pretty much none of our writer doing it. Talk is that they are already working on 5.0, and they will be next year at this time. By the time OOTS is done, we will be well into 5th ed.

Ugh. Glad I didn't run out to buy any of the books like the other suckers loyal fans.


*snip*

Oompa, loompa, doompa-de-doo...

NamonakiRei
2009-06-29, 07:25 PM
Well, I would want this story to stretch on forever and ever, but that's impossible. Maybe an undefinite ending, that says there's so much left to happen, but it just ain't happening today. I am guessing kinda like the end of the Chronicles of Narnia or His Dark Materials trilogy. But anything the Giant makes is OK for me! :smallsmile:

Cracklord
2009-06-29, 07:31 PM
I want to see Belkar die.

Pronounceable
2009-06-29, 09:47 PM
I want a proper ending to the story. I want Xykon and Reddy be defeated, Order having accomplished its mission and the world saved from Snarl threat forever.

I also want Reddy to sacrifice himself for Dark One, Xykon to be imprisoned in an inescapable small bubble under the earth with nothing to do but go mad with an eternity of boredom, Nale to die by falling off a cliff, Thog dead, Sabine alive attached to another adventurer with eeevil potential, Elan and Haley married, perhaps a kid named Roy, Belkar in his afterlife, no seeing of Miko ever again, V back to his family, some awesome illusions and tricks at Girard's, epic battles in Kraagor's, further awesome atrocities from Xykon... List goes on.

But the single most important thing is: I want A PROPER ENDING. And no continuation in any shape or form.

Cleverdan22
2009-06-29, 11:19 PM
I want the survivors from Azure City to crawl into a deep, dark hole and die. Or at least quit intruding on the good A/B plots and characters with all their D-list nonsense.
That boring couple who got named/married/pregnant have had at least 10x more screen time than they deserve, and O-Chul just needs to hurry up and fail a fortitude save already. I had some small hope when Kabuto and Therkla were killed in short order, but even V twice handing the Azurites their deliverance on a silver platter isn't enough to sate their bottomless appetite for attention.

By the gods, I can't tell when people are joking on the internet or not. If you aren't, however, then let me offer you this: Daigo has appeared in 34 strips. In that time Rich has managed to develop an interesting peripheral character with just enough development and well-roundedness so that many people have really liked this character. Rich didn't make the Azurites (at least not Daigo, Kazumi, and O-chul) to be hated. As far as I can tell, if you are going to flame characters and direction of story that has been around for more than 200 strips, you don't need to be reading the comic.

If you are in fact joking, then let me offer you this instead: Lol.

NerfTW
2009-06-30, 03:36 PM
As far as I can tell, if you are going to flame characters and direction of story that has been around for more than 200 strips, you don't need to be reading the comic.

You need to understand that not everyone is going to love every character, and what he said was hardly "flaming". It was a legitimate criticism. Daigo and Kazumi's entire purpose seemed to be to give us an idea of time flow and to add a fighter to the squad on the boat.

Not enjoying one aspect of the story does not mean someone should stop reading it completely.

Ancalagon
2009-06-30, 04:40 PM
Too much what? Plot resolution? :smallsigh:

And I thought the fact that Malfoy's kid was there too, and on his way to Hogwarts with everyone else, was a very nice touch. Proof that redemption does work sometimes.

I fear this will lead to a discussion that blows this threat out of proportion, but the ending sucked. Bigtime. It was all fluffy rose coloured and in one case did not make any sense at all.

Malfoy behaves in the end like... Malfoy. Which, after his character development, makes no sense at all. You see the chapter was written before all the important things. And it was all... ugly, sticky, fluffy... usually, I love epilogues, but the one of Harry Potter simply sucked and was the worst chapter in all seven books.

73 Bits of Lint
2009-06-30, 04:49 PM
By the gods, I can't tell when people are joking on the internet or not. If you aren't, however, then let me offer you this: Daigo has appeared in 34 strips. In that time Rich has managed to develop an interesting peripheral character with just enough development and well-roundedness so that many people have really liked this character. Rich didn't make the Azurites (at least not Daigo, Kazumi, and O-chul) to be hated.
Wesley Crusher wasn't created for the purpose of having people dislike him, either, but many people did. I'm apparently in a minority here (and worse, Rich seems to love the blue bastards), but I really just don't like the Azurites (with the exception of Miko and Hinjo).

As far as I can tell, if you are going to flame characters and direction of story that has been around for more than 200 strips, you don't need to be reading the comic.
I like the Order (Yeah, think about it! Someone reads a Webcomic in order to follow the activities of the title characters). I like the gags about D&D rules/mythology/history, and the random references that crop up. I like Xykon so much that I actually bought Start of Darkness.
OotS is good, but I would prefer it with less blue hair.