Place Your 10gp Bets: Title of OotS Book #4!

[HuntedWalrus]

Well, it looks like another story arc is wrapping up, folks, and you all know what that means: Speculation on the title of the next book! [Insert applause.]

Here's how Mr. Burlew appears to pick his titles:
1. Based on a classic/well-known title. His previous include (possibly):
Heart of Darkness
On the Origin of Species
Bottom Dwellin' Fools
No Cure for the Alabama Blues (or Summertime Blues, I've heard of both)
War and Peace

2. It (obviously) relates to the story contained within, not merely to OotS in general.

3. Really bad punnage.

So there we have it! Let's get those entries pouring in, and good luck!

P.S. I'll post my guess as soon as I have one.

[Skorj]

If Class-Feature-Haley-Named had succeeded in destroying Xyklon, I'd have bet on "To Mock a Killing Bird". Now? I got nuthin.

[Weimann]

Well, I got nothing on that format. However, I personally think that Scattered Twigs would be a good name.

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

Once again, "A Tale of Two Parties" sounds right.

[Meperson]

"Pair of Dice Lost"

[dps]

"A Good Man is Hard to Raise"

[Elfich]

Live and Let Die

[xyzzy]

Bothering Wights (this is a stretch as a pun, and also wights only appeared once in this arc. But still!)

V for Vaarsuvius.

You Miss Us?

The Rift of the Bad Eye.

Travels with Charred Body. (this is a stretch...)

A Mid-Cut Fight Team.

The Bungle.

On an unrelated note, if by chance the phylactery is burned shortly after Xykon's death, the name of that particular strip needs to be Sati Phylactery.

Also, if V's gender is ever once and for all settled as female, and the truth of the splice is revealed, the strip or book needs to be titled "Catch Her in the Lie".

[Morgan Wick]

Once again, "A Tale of Two Parties" sounds right.

This is probably my favorite at the moment.

[y2kyle89]

Xykon Shrugged

[Moogleking]

"Heartbreaker" playing off the broken relationships of Haley and Elan aswell as Roy and Celia or "The Broken Stick".

[Porthos]

Once again, "A Tale of Two Parties" sounds right.

+++
QFT
et etc.

[David Argall]

Once again, "A Tale of Two Parties" sounds right.

I'm not finding the needed pun. [Can you enlighten me?] A Tale of Two PC's would work in that sense, but more than two PCs have staring roles in the book.

[Porthos]

I'm not finding the needed pun. [Can you enlighten me?] A Tale of Two PC's would work in that sense, but more than two PCs have staring roles in the book.

No Cure for the Paladin Blues didn't have a pun in the title either (it was a clear reference to the song (Ain't No Cure for the) Summertime Blues).

In this case, the relationship to the title A Tale of Two Cities is more than clear enough linkage for it to be, by far, the best title I've seen suggested [Tho SPoD's suggestion of Two Party System also works].

We have two parties, of more or less equal importance to the plot. The title is perfectly evocative as to what Book Four is all about.

Plus it can lead to a kick-ass cover image. You can have a image split by a diagonal line (say the Familicide ray??). On one side of the line, you have a a styilzed boat scene starring Elan and co fighting sea monsters. And on the other side of the line, you can have Haley and co fighting in Azure City in resitance garb.

And for the pièce de résistance, you can have a ghostly Roy hovering over both scenes, observing things.

The title and the cover image describe the book, without giving too much away. Which, after all, is the whole point of cover titles and pages.

Realistically, we need something that points to the fact that the party is split without giving too much away. Thus anything that points to V's trip to Lala land probably wouldn't be a good idea.

I also suppose anything that suggests observations from heaven (and god knows there are plenty of titles to choose from in that department) would also work.

But I must admit to being extremely partial to A Tale of Two Parties. So that probably colors my thinking. :smalltongue:

[veti]

"Death of a Swordsman"

"Broken Stick" (already used as the title of a strip, but would apply to the whole book)

"V's Secret"

[Elfin]

Tale of Two Parties sounds great.

[Ertier]

It could really be based on anything; Rich has shown an amazing knowledge of pulp culture and assorted references.

"When a Man Hits the Ground?"
"Smells Like A Team Split"
"Dead Suede Blues?"
"Catch DC 2"
"Raising Private Roy and..."
"The Fresh Prince of Up There"
"The Brothers Greenhilt"
"Roy's In the Sky (WITH DIAMONDS!)"
"Here Comes The Fun?"
"Here's Rollin' A Two"

Or my personal favorite:

"You Can't Always Roll What You Want"

[Pun Pun]

If only V had beat Xykon then "The taming of the lich" would have worked.

[Porthos]

"Smells Like A Team Split"

Now this has possibilites. :smallcool:

Perhaps after playing with it a bit (Smells Like Team Splited) to make it scan closer to the original.

But... Yeah. I think I finally heard one (just about) as cool as A Tale of Two Parties.

Well done.

[DreadSpoon]

No Cure for the Paladin Blues didn't have a pun in the title either

Of course it did. The paladins wore blue. That makes a reference to "Paladin Blues" a pun, as it can refer to either paladins inflicting sad-blue on the OOTS or to chromatically-blue paladins needing to be "cured" out of the PCs' way.

Not the best pun around, but still a pun.

[Porthos]

Of course it did. The paladins wore blue. That makes a reference to "Paladin Blues" a pun, as it can refer to either paladins inflicting sad-blue on the OOTS or to chromatically-blue paladins needing to be "cured" out of the PCs' way.

Not the best pun around, but still a pun.

When I said it didn't have a pun, I was referring to the fact that the title wasn't a pun on a famous piece of literature/art. It is a reference to a famous piece of art, yes. But not a pun of it.

I was well aware of the double meaning behind Paladin Blues however. :smallwink:

So I was drawing an analogy between replacing one word in a title in the case of No Cure for the Summertime Blues with a hypothetical Tale of Two Cities.

[Mitth'raw'nuruo]

All quite on the wizards front

[HZ514]

I love "A Tale of Two Parties" so much that I wish no one came up with it so that Rich could actually use it. :smallwink:

These are just some off the top of my head.
"Puncture in the Eye" (Way to specific, yeah.)
"Middler's/Meddler's Game" (Heh.)

[HuntedWalrus]

And now for the winners...
[Insert drumroll here]

3. "Smells Like a Team Split"

2. "A Tale of Two Parties"

But first prize goes to my wife, the one who told me about OotS, but not a forum member:

1. "Split Happens"

Congratulations, dear!

Choose to believe me or not, my findings are not biased, but I suppose the real winner will be the one who guessed what Rich will actually use, if anyone.

[Nimrod's Son]

Here's how Mr. Burlew appears to pick his titles:
[...]
Bottom Dwellin' Fools
No Cure for the Alabama Blues (or Summertime Blues, I've heard of both)
I've no idea where the title of Book 1 came from, but NCftPB is definitely a reference to Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". If you Google "Bottom Dwellin' Fools" or "No Cure for the Alabama Blues", the only result that comes up is this thread, so I think you're mistaken on those.

[rangermania]

"Fooling around NO MORE"

[derfenrirwolv]

Rise and fall of a Roaming empire

Rise and fall of the Varsuvian Vampire

Catch 666

Dearth of a spellman

I think i'm a soul now

[pflare]

I like " A Tale of Two Parties"

[whitelaughter]

Let's see:
We have a *lot* of talking dead people: the Greehilts, Shinjo, the Oracle, the Soul Splice. And those who aren't returning, especially Therkla.

How about Live and Let Dice? Possibly a bit too upbeat, though.

[Snails]

Dead Men Tell More Tales

[Altaria87]

I actually like the: "A Good Man is Hard to Raise" one

[Haarkla]

3. V for Vaarsuvius
2. Broken Stick
1. A Tale of Two Parties

[fangthane]

I'm going to spoiler these, not because I think they're as clever as Rich's prior titles but just in case he's so stuck for a name that one of these actually occurs to him as a good idea. :)


Have Bones, Will Travel. (Cover pic of Roy's corpse in the wagon)

Or...

All in the Familicide.

If I have to put my 10 gold on one of the two, consider it as being wagered on the second.

[Forbiddenwar]

both titles spoil the story though. there are people who just read the book.

[Raging Gene Ray]

How about we go with the "Mislead the Reader" route and name it something like "Heaven is Paradise!" with a picture of various scenes of misery and sadness.

[Kairamek]

The titles of the books generally fit into the over all theme of the contents. Thing's like V for Varsuvius, and To Mock a Killing Bird are clever, only only revelent to the last two dozen strips of the story.

This book's key themes are the party being split and the personal growth of the party members. I find it kind of sad that some of the biggest jumps in their personal development happend when Roy wasn't there (though I'm sure it wasn't him holding them back, it's the events that lead to his death also lead to their developments).

That being said, I got no ideas to add. 'Branching Out' is a straight pun with no references to make it actually funny.

[Elfich]

Episode IV: A New Roy

[Elfich]

That being said, I got no ideas to add. 'Branching Out' is a straight pun with no references to make it actually funny.

Well there is always Jethro Tull's "roots to branches" , but that would involve elan playing a flute or whistle instead of a lute.

[Pronounceable]

There also mustn't be a major spoiler like Roy has died on a book's title or cover. Some people will be buying the books after reading a little of online strip. You can't ruin the story for them.

[kpenguin]

I dunno... Roy died in the last book.

[Porthos]

There also mustn't be a major spoiler like Roy has died on a book's title or cover. Some people will be buying the books after reading a little of online strip. You can't ruin the story for them.

Nah, Roy's death has to be mentioned on the back cover. Roy's death (and absence) drives the entire storyline. To do the book any justice, it has to be referenced in some way. I mean, after all, it's not a spoiler if the death is referenced on the very first page of the book. :smallwink:

To put this in perspective, would you not include a reference to Capt. Picard being turned into a Borg on a DVD of Best of Both Worlds, Part II? Of course you would. Various Harry Potter blurbs mentioned that Voldemort had returned, and that would have been considered a fairly major plot point. My opinion is if something drives the story and it's mentioned in the first couple of chapters, then it's fair game. No matter how "backward spoiler" it is.

And if someone is reading cover blurbs deep into a series that they're just starting out... Well those people deserve to get spoiled. That's what you get for reading ahead. :smallwink:

To do otherwise would just get the most bland copy possible.

And bland copy doesn't sell books. :smallwink:

As an aside, I am slightly worried that "A Tale of Two Parties" won't be chosen as a title, as I found out that Rich already used that reference. Specifically a chapter heading in one of the commentaries in DCF (discussing the Linear Guild and comparing them to the OotS, natch).

Still, this means that the joke has occured to him before. So maybe he'll reuse it. :smallsmile:

[Altaria87]

Episode IV: A New Roy

Ok, that's my new favourite, besides, you can't say it's not to do with the story, the whole book revolves around the characters trying to get Roy rasied and the other half of the team trying to find them.

[Puns de León]

Well, this one is the mother of all catch-alls, but it certainly covers the whole series of events, and then some.

1184 and All That. :smallwink:

[Carteeg_Struve]

"The Breaking of the THAC0ship"?
Yeah. Only would had worked in the 2nd Edition days.


"Stairway to Seventh Heaven"
Too obvious.


"V: The Almost Final Battle"
Too revealing.


"The Stick of Time: Book 4 - A Memory of Life: Part I - The Re-gathering Party"
Okay. I apologize for that one.

[Deuce]

Things to do in Celestia when you're dead.

[Acero]

OotS: book 5 6? we're at 7 already! 4. really? okay.... book 4
:thog:

[SadisticFishing]

I always liked "A Brief History of Crime".

Which is not mine, I read it on this very forum.

[Magnema]

I still like "Death of a Swordsman," said earlier.

[Green-Shirt Q]

"Pair of Dice Lost"

By far my favourite entry. :smallbiggrin:

I got nothing, though. :smallfrown:

[Tyrrell]

Travels with Charred Body is hilarious it gets my vote.

[Moogleking]

"Pair of Dice Lost"

Clever =P

(make comment go now!)

[Trickywiggy]

"Pair of Dice Lost"

sounds like a better one when Belkar dies

[Serebii]

Well, it's a little pun-less, but how about "I'm a soul man! (buddadumdumdadumdum!)"

[Scarlet Knight]

Well there is always Jethro Tull's "roots to branches" , but that would involve elan playing a flute or whistle instead of a lute.

I LOVE Tull! But wait,...I hated that album....

How about "Dead & Back Again: A Party's Tale" ?

[Porthos]

I always liked "A Brief History of Crime".

Which is not mine, I read it on this very forum.

I think we want to save that for a proposed Linear Guild book. :smallwink:

[twerk_face]

"Pair of Dice Lost"


Hahahaha! Kudos to you, sir.

[armourer eric]

If only V had beat Xykon then "The taming of the lich" would have worked.


Your post made me think of "Season of the Lich" a play on an old Donavan tune

[Rin_Hunter]

Well there is always Jethro Tull's "roots to branches" , but that would involve elan playing a flute or whistle instead of a lute.

He has a kazoo...

Anyway... I can't think of anything, but most of these are pretty good.

[Oshirokita]

Haley at the Bat: No Roy in Stickville

How Can You Mend A Broken Stick

Around the World Awaiting "Raise"

Lost Without a Greenhilt

Flaw and Disorder

[Lupy]

I think Pair of Dice Lost will make more sense when Belkar dies as a chapter title.

I like A Tale of Two Parties the best of the ones given.

[Deuce]

Heaven Can Wait.

[Itamarcu]

I like "Broken stick", as though it was used as a strip name... :smallfrown:

Maybe:
- Roy Story (based on Toy Story), even though it's not so focused on Roy.
- Beyond good and EEEEEVIL!!! :smalltongue:

[Boaromir]

"The Fresh Prince of Up There"



This gets my vote so hard.

[Ron Miel]

The trouble with her Roy.

[lothos]

How about:
Sticks Degrees of Separation

[Draz74]

Around the World Awaiting "Raise"

Very clever.

[orrion]

Watchin' The Plot Fall Down.

[Roberto]

"A Good Man is Hard to Raise" is my favourate so far.

[skim172]

So I officially suck at puns.

Here's what I got:

Roy of the Flies

A-Raisin' in the Sun

All Quiet on the Azure Front

The Party that Roy Built

Gone with the Saving Throw

The Class Menagerie

For Whom the Die Rolls (It Rolls for Thee!)

Twelve Angry PC's (or, Eleven Angry PC's and One Roy)

Men Are From Mars, Haley's From Venus, V's from Saturn

======

I gotta say, "Tale of Two Parties" sounds the best so far. Though "Death of a Swordsman" is pretty good.

[Itamarcu]

"The Party that Roy Built"

Wow, that's SO clever!

Am I missing a joke in the name?

[skim172]

Aw, thanks! My ego is so fragile that your sincere compliment really boosted my spirits. I really appreciate that you cared.

Of course, if you were, in fact, being sarcastic, I'd fail to see the purpose - the self-admission of "I suck at puns" seems to be more deprecatory than "Ha, your words lack a creative edge." And since neither you or I have any reason to approach one another with hostility, having never interacted before your above post, this would simply be an utterly jerk-like, if somewhat trite, statement, either intended to damage my reputation in an wholly ineffective manner or to impress your internet buddies who might happen to scroll by this post, in which case, all power to you.

But of course, that's not what you intended at all. Once again, your kindness and compassion win out the day. And don't we all feel better?

[Topus]

I like very much "A Tale of Two Parties".

Btw, other ideas:

-Resurrection Song (from Redemption Song)
-Grave Expectations (from Great Expectations)
-Song of Innocence and Experience(no puns from Song of Innocence and Experience)

[Moogleking]

The Meaning of Deff. (or the Deeper Meaning of Deff).

I tried dammit :smalltongue:

[Hann]

I'm liking the "Grave Expectations".

But, as I suggested back in February, "A Tale of Two Parties" would work the best.

Now we just need to figure out if the book'll be green (for Belkar) or purple (for V). I would have said green, up til this last arc.

[Elfin]

So far there's been red, blue, orange, grey, and brown. Both purple and green would work well in the way of a balanced spectrum.

[Ted The Bug]

I'm sure that there's already a thread for this, but I can't find it, so I'll just submit a suggestion here: Suvie's Choice.
Anyone else have some potential titles?

[Gift Jeraff]

Here's the previous thread like this:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116653

[Wormwood74]

"The Son Also Rises"

"Waiting for Hinjo" (Waiting for Godot)

"A Grid too Far"

"A Riot in Western Font"

"Last of the More Chic Laas"

[rainbowjo]

2 problems, 1 is that all the books titles thus far have been parodies, and 2, that was only the last story arc in this book, we cant just ignore the resistance, Greysky, and Kubota

[mizzim]

"Roy's In the Sky (WITH DIAMONDS!)"


oh, god. this. this.

[Berserk Monk]

I'm going with V for Vaarsuvius.

[Ron Miel]

2 problems, 1 is that all the books titles thus far have been parodies, ...

It's a parody of Sophie's choice (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084707/)

[Ron Miel]

Roy Story
About a Roy

[y2kyle89]

A Song of Ice and Sapphire.

See, because they need diamonds to raise Roy and they need to find the Sapphire Guard okay I'll shut up now

[Liwen]

I believe 'V for Vaarsivius' would be a great name for one of the chapters of the book (or rather one of the rounds, from the moment we see V of the island to the moment she Epic Teleport's to Xykon.)

Then the next round should be 'Wrath of the Lich Clown'.

For the book's title, I got nothing.

My vote goes for 'A Tale of Two Parties'

[Rad]

I stay in the "A tale of two parties" field.

[Thanatosia]

that was only the last story arc in this book, we cant just ignore the resistance, Greysky, and Kubota
No cure for the paladin blues seemed to have no problem ignoring Bandits, Starmetal side-quests, etc. Its not like Miko was the only story arc going on for book 2 - I dont think its unreasonable to suppose a title that emphasizes one particular arc out of many.

A Tale of two parties seems like the best option i've heard, but Suvie's choice is not bad.

[Ted The Bug]

I stay in the "A tale of two parties" field.

That's already the name of a chapter in Dungeon Crawlin' Fools.

[TheBibliophile]

"Sticks Degrees of Separation" gets my vote.

[GooeyChewie]

20,000 Lieges on the Sea

[TheBibliophile]

I'm gunning for "Sticks Degrees of Separation".

[Elfin]

I stay in the "A tale of two parties" field.

As do I.
Gah! Stupid 10 character minimum!

[Starscream]

I'm gunning for "Sticks Degrees of Separation".

I like that one.

Ghosts (or at least disembodied souls) were kind of a theme in this book. Roy, Eugene, Roy's other family members, Ganonron, Haera, Jephton, and arguably Lord Shojo all qualify. So maybe some sort of ghost pun.

Like "The Sticks Sense". Actually, that's terrible and I apologize.

[Forbiddenwar]

Like "The Sticks Sense".

You hit, roll for Pun damage!
That might be the title after all.

[Topus]

"Sticks Degrees of Separation" gets my vote.

mmm i don't think he will be making puns about the stick, and besides the phrase does not make sense, in contrast with previous titles, lexically correct.

[Puns de León]

It's a pun on Six Degrees of Separation, a theory that any given person is only 6 acquaintances away from any other given person on the planet. There is also a play and a movie based on the theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation

[Topus]

It's a pun on Six Degrees of Separation

oh sorry, maybe i didn't make me clear; i know the six degrees of separation theory, but what i was saying is that the phrase, by itself, is not lexically correct (i didn't want to contest the meaning), thus constrasting with the previous titles.

[Puns de León]

Ah, ok. I see what you mean. I like it, but I agree it wouldn't really roll off one's tongue.

[Squider]

The Broken Fellowship

[Berserk Monk]

Roy Story
About a Roy

But, Roy barely had any impact on this story.

Also, I still say it'll be V for Vaarsuvius.

[Topus]

I still say it'll be V for Vaarsuvius.
V for Vaarsuvius is a great joke, and i like it, but i think that the name of a character shouldn't be in the title of the book.
Put his name in the title and it will look like a volume about the life of Vaarsuvius. I think the title should be more, choral, let's say (i don't find the right english word ;P)

[Porthos]

That's already the name of a chapter in Dungeon Crawlin' Fools.

Well, part of a commentary section in DCF at any rate.

OTOH, Rich has been known to reuse titles before (cf "Bite the Hand that Feeds Me") so it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that Rich will reuse this one.

Especially since it is SO appropiate. :smallsmile:

[Berserk Monk]

While we're on the topic of titles, can someone explain to me what "Dungeon Crawlin' Fools" is supposed to be a pun on? It's the only title I could figure out the joke of.

[Elfin]

"Bottom Dwellin' Fools"

[Berserk Monk]

"Bottom Dwellin' Fools"

Cool. Thanks.

[Elfin]

No problem. Took me a google to figure it out after I got the book.

[Janmorel]

I'm gunning for "Sticks Degrees of Separation".

Man, all I could come up with was "A Separate PC." Yours is much better.

[waterpenguin43]

There's something about Xykon.
That's my guess (though the tale of two parties seems likely)

[Vaarsuvius4181]

Live and Let Die

Goooo mccartney!

[Nimrod's Son]

"Bottom Dwellin' Fools"
What's that, then? Google's got nothing. (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22bottom+dwellin%27+fools%22&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2RNFA_enGB211GB211&aq=t)

[armourer eric]

Put an illustration of Belkar spewing on the cover and call it...........

"The Fountainhead"

[Ron Miel]

Dead man haunting
Dead men don't hair braid
Greenhilt: Dead and hating it

[Janmorel]

He could just run with the song lyric motif, and call it "Saints, Sinners and Prisoners: After Roy's Fall."

That's kind of wordy, though. And kind of '80s.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I just want to point something out:


"Pair of Dice Lost"


By far my favourite entry. :smallbiggrin:


Clever =P


Hahahaha! Kudos to you, sir.

Check the username. Been there, punned that. :smallwink:

[Night Monkey]

O-Chul-man-did-he-kick-ass? No.

The Curious Incident of the Rogue in the... no I think not.

Knocking on Heaven's... no.
Paradise Ci... no.
Sweet Child of... no, no, no stop.

Stick Trek: The Next Ge- No!
O'Chul Potter and the Sorcerer's Phy- NO!

Seriously, I reckon The Party that Roy Built wins it for me.

Although the next book after this needs to be called- This Ain't a Snarl, its a Gods Damn Alternate Reality (get it? It's gods damned because of the gods' bickering over the first world which created the Snarl which caused the... oh dear, I think I went too far *casts meteor swarm on self*).

[V Junior]

"How To Raise A Life"? Meh, it's all I can come up with.

[Katana_Geldar]

I really like, A Tale of Two Partys, the opening paragraph sounds VERY like the story arc we have been through:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

[The Hop Goblin]

How to Make Parties and Influence Alignments.

[Rhone1]

Catbutt..not sure why, it was the first thing I could think of.

[jogiff]

I like "LOLita" as a title.

You know. Since there were so many "LOLs."

It's a completely valid guess.

[Janmorel]

Running with the Deva?
Ninjas, Sylphs and Thieves?
The Five People You Meet In The Celestial Realm?
These Wounds Are Elf-Inflicted?
I'm Being Held Hostage In A Publishing House. Send Help!?

[Jagos]

Has "Rifts of the Order" been taken yet?

[Duras]

Hey guys, is a new book of OOTS in next time possible?

[Conuly]

I would say it's inevitable.

[NerfTW]

Hey guys, is a new book of OOTS in next time possible?

What?


Answering what I think is your question, yes, there will be another book, short of Rich dying in a horrible skydiving accident involving flying dolphin assassination squads.

When is another question altogether. It could be anywhere from six months to a year, depending on how much he has done and can get done.

[FabuVinny]

Damn you flying dolphin assassination squads. :smallfurious:

...

There's no reason to assume there won't be a book 4. Just don't expect it too soon - War and XPs took about a year to be published.

[factotum]

I have to wonder why this question is being asked less than a month after the book ending scene in the online comic... :smallconfused:

[NerfTW]

Well, I think when he said "next time", he meant something else. I'm guessing "in the next year/month/whatever"

[David Argall]

Book 4 is not going to be out this year, but by this time next year...

[NerfTW]

Actually, if he's been working on the material for it and gets it out for printing by October, he could conceivably just barely make an initial run in time for Christmas.

[Felixaar]

I wouldn't be expecting it before Gencon '10. I hope Rich is attending Con's again, then. I'd love to meet the legend.

[[TS] Shadow]

You can probably expect the announcement to take place by Christmas-timeish.

[HuntedWalrus]

But first prize goes to my wife, the one who told me about OotS, but not a forum member:

1. "Split Happens"

Congratulations, dear!

Choose to believe me or not, my findings are not biased, but I suppose the real winner will be the one who guessed what Rich will actually use, if anyone.

Boy, did I put up the results too soon!

Okay, we've had a few more ideas since my supposed "results" post, but I'm still liking "Split Happens." Brevity being the soul of wit and all, it's perfect. The team is split, hence to pun, but the original phrase, "XXXX Happens," is also perfectly applicable.

Sub-bet, worth 5gp: What's the cover going to look like?

My bet, which I think I got from someone else, but I can't for the life of me remember who, is:

Roy, at the top, with the heavenly background, which is surrounded by clouds. From one of these clouds comes a lightning bolt to the bottom of the picture. On one side, we see Durkon and Elan fighting sea trolls, while a tired-looking Vaarsuvius reads "Finding Plot Holes for Dummies" off to the side. On the other side, Haley and Belkar are running through Azure City as part of the Resistance, looking at something behind them off-picture. It has the excellent balance of showing what's going on without giving anything away, much like to title.

Thoughts?
Or at least words written anyway?

[Kingweasel]

Rich has enough tomes under his belt that putting book 4 together should require very little work than what he's put in before; especially because it isn't a changing format. He's writing strips with the book in mind.

I'm really hoping for an Xmas release, if for no other reason than my father in law seems bothered by my "simple tastes" with relatively low price tags.:smallyuk:

[Fitzclowningham]

I live in fervent, deluded hope that Rich has been in rude health all of the past year, and has been using every moment to create the third prequel, to be published in October 2009. Oh, and that it's even better than SOD. Yeah.

[David Argall]

Actually, if he's been working on the material for it and gets it out for printing by October, he could conceivably just barely make an initial run in time for Christmas.
Book three was also hoped to be ready for the Christmas trade, and missed it by months. So there is little hope he can make it this time.

[factotum]

Rich has enough tomes under his belt that putting book 4 together should require very little work than what he's put in before; especially because it isn't a changing format. He's writing strips with the book in mind.


You missed all the bonus material in the previous books, then? Rich isn't just publishing all the online stuff, and we have no idea if he's done the bonus material as he went along--I suspect it's more likely he has that yet to do.

[Kingweasel]

Didn't miss the bonus stuff; I was just saying that each new book (in theory) should be a little easier to prepare than the last, because at a certain point you have the format dialed in, and after that it's pretty much solely about content.

Not that coming up with extra stuff is easy--I'm just selfishly confident that Rich pours forth his genius as easily as tipping a pitcher of water:smallbiggrin:

[Jackson]

I don't have any of the previous collections, just the prequel books, but it seems to me that Rich is adding more and more material to each book. References to the travel guide to Azure City (or whatever) and so on seem to indicate we're getting more and more supplementary material with each book, so I'd expect that, while he may be getting 'better' at putting out trades, he's also taking his newfound skills and making each trade a little more full than the last. Which should even it out, except that Rich also seems to be spending more times on non-OotS things of late, which may delay the book still further.

Which is all fine, so long as the product is good. Hopefully the dolphin assassination squads will remain in the pages of Dr. McNinja.

[Berserk Monk]

I assumed Rich would announce it comes out the 31 when he gets back to work. Also, I say the next book will be called V for Vaarsuvius. I've been saying it for a while and I hope I'm right.

[Kish]

Considering that would announce that Vaarsuvius is the main character of the book...ten gold says that's not it.

[Berserk Monk]

Considering that would announce that Vaarsuvius is the main character of the book...ten gold says that's not it.

Let's look at the past story arc. V's gone through a lot in terms of story and character development. So I'll take that bet.

[Wormwood74]

How about:

"The Great Splatsby"

[Puns de León]

The Giant's never actually referenced a specific character in his titles, though, adn I doubt he's going to start now. The closest he's come is NCftPB, but of course there's really a whole order of paladins involved. Even though the Vaarsuvius arc is the freshest thing in our minds, a lot more has gone on, so he'll probably choose something that takes care of the overall situation the party's been in. V will likely be the character walking in the background of the cover, and I'm betting Haley or Celia will give the preface. Maybe Roy.

[Berserk Monk]

The Giant's never actually referenced a specific character in his titles, though, adn I doubt he's going to start now. The closest he's come is NCftPB, but of course there's really a whole order of paladins involved. Even though the Vaarsuvius arc is the freshest thing in our minds, a lot more has gone on, so he'll probably choose something that takes care of the overall situation the party's been in. V will likely be the character walking in the background of the cover, and I'm betting Haley or Celia will give the preface. Maybe Roy.

Well, I do hope at some point something Rich does make that connection because there is one:

-Both characters are referred to as V.
-They have similar hairstyles (Vaarsuvius's old hairstyle before it got long and codename V's wig).
-They speak in a dialect displaying an advance vocabulary.
-They're both have above average intelligences.
-They're alignment is unknown (Vaarsuvius: good or evil, codename V: hero or villain).

[factotum]

Let's look at the past story arc. V's gone through a lot in terms of story and character development. So I'll take that bet.

As has Elan, but I don't notice anyone suggesting the title of the next book should be Dial B for Bard... :smallwink:

[Katana_Geldar]

I'd buy that book, as well as "Dial N for Ninja Girl" ;)

[donkyhotay]

I think the name will somehow reference the fact that the group is seperated from each other for almost the entire book.

[Elfin]

I'm still putting my money on "A Tale of Two Parties".

[Gamerlord]

Answering what I think is your question, yes, there will be another book, short of Rich dying in a horrible skydiving accident involving flying dolphin assassination squads.


Mind if I attempt to sig that? (If my sig isn't to large yet....)


Also I bet it will be a year as well, the more we have to wait for it the quicker we will buy it.

[Gamerlord]

I say that thog should, nay, MUST do the foreword for the next book.

[Kaytara]

Thog in this book. Thog happy! Thog still feel emotional need of puppies and ice cream.

[Cracklord]

thog like wordy paper. it say lots, like talky man and not-nale. nale talky too, but thog know what he say. thog not so sure what wordy book say.
thog not in wordy book much. thog hope that because he have ice-cream and puppies, but thog not to sure about that.

[Kaytara]

Thog in this book. Thog happy! Thog still feel emotional need of puppies and ice cream.

...Huh. For some reason, when I heard "next foreword", I though "foreword for the yet unwritten book 5", rather than the one we just finished. I should probably just go to bed.

[BatRobin]

Not Thog, because only the Order can do official (not OotPC or SoD) book forwewords so far. My bet goes to Haley.

[Acero]

...Huh. For some reason, when I heard "next foreword", I though "foreword for the yet unwritten book 5", rather than the one we just finished. I should probably just go to bed.

book 5 will most likely be Hinjo, bing able to communticate to everyone

[Katana_Geldar]

Belkar doing one would be fun.

Anythoughts on which member of the order would do the "story so far"?

[Kish]

book 5 will most likely be Hinjo, bing able to communticate to everyone
Might I venture that speculating about who will narrate a book of which the very first strip has not yet gone up on the website is very pointless?

Ahem. Now. Looking at who's narrated the forewards for previous books, I'll put five gold on Durkon for book 4.

Belkar did the Dungeon Crawling Fools one, and therefore, I would say, is unlikely to do another.

Edited to make it clearer what I was replying to.

[factotum]

Might I venture that speculating about who will narrate a book of which the very first strip has not yet gone up on the website is very pointless?


I think it was reasonably clear that when the OP mentioned the "foreword for the next book" he meant the next one to be PUBLISHED, e.g. book 4, not the next one in terms of online strips.

[kpenguin]

It appears that for all of the previous books, the forewards have been done by members of the Order of the Stick.

Belkar, V, and Elan have done forewords, so one would assume that we would not have a repeat. This leaves Haley, Roy, and Durkon.

Of those three, I feel Durkon's would be the most funny, simply because of the accent.

[Rhydeble]

My own geuss would be Roy, as he's the only person who knows about what happened to all of them (except V-man/woman)

[Necropie]

A tale of two parties is the best in my opinion but I have one humble sugestion

"Make like a stick and branch"

Just a thought.:smallsmile:

[Zolkabro]

Choose to believe me or not, my findings are not biased, but I suppose the real winner will be the one who guessed what Rich will actually use, if anyone.

If that decides the winner then their is no winner. Once it's said, Rich won't use it. He's a bit like me in that sense. Both me and the Giant go out of our way to be origonal.
Although that is the only similarity I know of, apart from his sense of humour, but everyone on the forum shares that with him, else they wouldn't read his webcomic.

[ref]

Nah, Roy for the "Story so far" bit. Foreword by Haley.

[mr.fizzypop]

It hasn't always been one of the order. In SoD it was Miko, and in "On the Origin of the PCs" it was Redcloak.

But, anyway I think it will be Durkon, because he has had the least to do with the storyline.

[Kish]

I think it was reasonably clear that when the OP mentioned the "foreword for the next book" he meant the next one to be PUBLISHED, e.g. book 4, not the next one in terms of online strips.
Yes, I know. I should have quoted Allonon, since that was what I was replying to.

[Optimystik]

I vote Crystal, complete with poor spelling/grammar.

[kpenguin]

It hasn't always been one of the order. In SoD it was Miko, and in "On the Origin of the PCs" it was Redcloak.

But those were both prequel books, not of the main series.

[David Argall]

Since he has the least to do with this book, this might be a good time for Roy to have a say.

[mockingbyrd7]

Who do you think will be the character featured on the cover of Book 4?

Book 1 was Elan.
Book 2 was Roy.
Book 3 was Haley.
Origin of PCs was Durkon.
SoD was Redcloak.

Personally, my bet is Vaarsuvius. The next book will probably be Belkar, since it's probably going to be his last story arc before he dies. What do you guys think?

[Joerg]

I also think Roy would be a good choice, because he's a pure observer in the whole book.

"So here you've got a book in which I do virtually nothing. Apparently, that means I have to write the foreword. ..."

[Ancalagon]

Belkar, since it's probably going to be his last story arc before he dies. What do you guys think?

Who told you that? No one, your guess? With that out of the window, the rest of the reasoning follows. So it's hard to predict who will be on book five.

[Kish]

Vaarsuvius. Belkar will be on the cover of Book 5 because then each of the Order will have been featured on the cover of one book. He will probably die in Book 5 because (bids at dodging the Oracle's prophecy aside) he'll be dead within six weeks, though, depending on how action-filled those six weeks are, they might stretch out into a Book 6. Book 5 will probably either be the last one (since there won't be any more of the Order to put on covers without duplicating after it comes out), or, perhaps there will be one more after it, with Xykon on the cover.

[Zerg Cookie]

Xykon, Nale, Tsukiko, Thog, Snarl, IFCC
We have enough characters for many books to come

[Optimystik]

If it is Roy, I hope he makes more ironic commentary on his own death...

[Kaytara]

Definitely Vaarsuvius.

DCF centred largely on Elan and his brother.
Blues, in Rich's own words, is Roy's story of becoming a better person through his hardships with Miko, his father, and his reasons for pursuing Xykon.
War and XPs was were Haley overcame her complexes.
Origins was the only book where Durkon actually changed.
Darkness was Redcloak's story much more so than Xykon's.

Short version: The character on the cover is the one who gets the most development in that book.
So book 4 will surely feature Vaarsuvius. I mean, I could see Rich deciding to screw with us and throwing, say, the demon roaches onto it, but still...

[Kish]

Xykon, Nale, Tsukiko, Thog, Snarl, IFCC
We have enough characters for many books to come
Uh, yeah. If you think Rich plans on scraping the bottom of the barrel so thoroughly as to put the IFCC in the most prominent position on the cover of a book...

[Porthos]

We have two choices here, thematcially.

The first half of the book was dominated by Belkar and his Mark of Justice. Heck, the first 75% of the book really was dominated by it.

Go back and look to see that, even though we occasionally looked in on The Boat Party, it was definietly Belkar's show. Yes, The Boat Party was interesting. But most of it was Elan/Therkla stuff (with foreshadowing of V thrown in). And, really, in terms of the Meta Plot, Belkar and his Mark of Justice was more important when all was said and done. They had Roy's body (for a while at least) and that what was stopping the plot from moving forward.

The resolution of Belkar's Mark of Justice arc had been over 300 strips in the making. It was a huge event for the comic.

If you had asked me then, I would have absolutely bet on Belkar.

However, V's... Little "Episode" completely took the book by the teeth the last 25% or so. And raised in importance, retroactively, the time spent on The Boat Party.

So while Belkar showed amazing character development (for him at least), I'd say V is going to be on the cover. Simply because of how much he was focused on in the last stage of the book.

And since Belkar is (presumably) going to die in the next book, then he gets on the cover then. :smallwink: If we didn't have The Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, I'd give better odds to Belkar. But since he does...

So to put it in Oddsmakers Terms:

Vaarsuvius: 80% chance.
Belkar:15% chance.
Therkla: 3% chance.
Some Other NPC: 2% chance.

And I'm being really generous with the percentage chances on Therkla or other NPCs. Consider them "The Field", in betting terms. :smallwink:

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Four threads on Book 4 have been merged. One is quite sufficient.

[kpenguin]

If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could either the OP or a mod change the title of the thread to reflect how it is now about Book #4 in general, not simply the title?

[lothos]

Since he has the least to do with this book, this might be a good time for Roy to have a say.

This makes a lot of sense. I can see Roy saying something like "Well since there was so little to do up on the cloud for this whole book and I wanted to get away from my father... I agreed to do this forward".

Also I don't think Roy has done a forward before. From memory I think the forwards are:

Dungeon Crawlin Fools - Belkar
No Cure for the Paladin Blues - V ? (not sure, will have to check when I get home)
War and XPs - Elan
On the Origin of PCs - Redcloak
Start of Darkness - Miko

[Cire II]

"The Stick of Time: Book 4 - A Memory of Life: Part I - The Re-gathering Party"

I know this was a while back but that is hilarious!:smallbiggrin:

I actualy laughed out loud.:smalleek:

[Berserk Monk]

V for Vaarsuvius