The hidden joke in the comic

[JonahFalcon]

I'm betting those people are so backwards that the water pump the camel is drinking from is priced in terms of electrum pieces.

[BatRobin]

:smallconfused: What?

[JonahFalcon]

You must be too young to remember EP.

[Porthos]

You must be too young to remember EP.

No, I'm pretty sure the ":smallconfused: What?" is over the presumption that these folks are "backward".

Quite frankly, that's what confused me about your post, tbh.

[Niley]

Wait wait wait, why exactly do you think this joke (if that's a joke) is 'hidden'?

[Berserk Monk]

Yeah, I don't get it either.

[JonahFalcon]

(sigh) If you can't get the joke, I'm not splainin' it. Let's just remember what the status of electrum pieces in AD&D is now.

[Haven]

Where's the implication that they're priced in electrum? It sounds more like you're trying to make a joke here, and it might have worked but, well, it's all in the delivery.

[Porthos]

(sigh) If you can't get the joke, I'm not splainin' it. Let's just remember what the status of electrum pieces in AD&D is now.

Ahem. I got the "joke" just fine. It's in the vein of "Yo Mama" style jokes. But, again, what I want to know is...


No, I'm pretty sure the ":smallconfused: What?" is over the presumption that these folks are "backward".

Quite frankly, that's what confused me about your post, tbh.

My question still stands. What makes you think that these folks are so backwards that they are using money that was neglected and laughed at as far back as First Edition?

PS: Besides, we already have evidence that electrum (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0330.html) isn't accepted in at least some parts of the world. And considering how "out of the way" The Oracle is, I can't see desert traders using it either.

[Milskidasith]

See, this isn't a hidden joke. This is you making a (bad) joke about the comic. There's a huge difference between the two.

[ZeroNumerous]

Actually it is a bit of a hidden gag for people who remember AD&D. And if you recall: AD&D stuff is considered old(Haley's dad is a 2e thief). So if an out-of-the-way desert trader stop accepts electrum then it means they haven't 'advanced' into the future.

PS: It's not a joke when you have to explain it.

[Bibliomancer]

Actually it is a bit of a hidden gag for people who remember AD&D. And if you recall: AD&D stuff is considered old(Haley's dad is a 2e thief). So if an out-of-the-way desert trader stop accepts electrum then it means they haven't 'advanced' into the future.

PS: It's not a joke when you have to explain it.

Where is the indication that the pump takes electrum pieces? The sign says Regular 3.489 etc.

[feltex]

(Haley's dad is a 2e thief)

2e or 1e? Was it ever stated?

[Porthos]

So if an out-of-the-way desert trader stop accepts electrum then it means they haven't 'advanced' into the future.

If there was actually any evidence that the oasis accepted electrum pieces, I might be tempted to agree with you. But since there is literally zero evidence of that... :smalltongue:

PS: The whole "The Past Equals Previous Editions" thing looks to have been put in the junk-pile by Rich*. But that's a topic that has been beaten to death, so I'm not sure I want to resurrect it here. :smallwink:


2e or 1e? Was it ever stated?

First Edition (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0008.html).

But like I said, it looks like that notion has been set aside by Rich. :smallsmile:

* Admittedly, Rich could always bring the idea back if he wanted to, or if he found a compelling story reason. Or if he just wanted to mess with his readers heads. But, for the moment, it looks like he isn't following that theory anymore.

[BatRobin]

See, this isn't a hidden joke. This is you making a (bad) joke about the comic. There's a huge difference between the two.

QFT, sooo much.

[JonahFalcon]

Where is the indication that the pump takes electrum pieces? The sign says Regular 3.489 etc.

There isn't. What's your point?

[Raging Gene Ray]

There isn't. What's your point?

Wouldn't that make the water cost 348 gp and 9 silver a gallon (and that's just for regular)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in a desert, that's unbelievable.

[SensFan]

There isn't. What's your point?
His point is that this isn't a "hidden joke". Just like how I can't say:

Hey guys! Hidden joke in the comic! Belkar was given a Kobald head LOL

[Da Pwnzlord]

Wouldn't that make the water cost 348 gp and 9 silver a gallon (and that's just for regular)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in a desert, that's unbelievable.

Except when there are adventurers in town! :smallwink:

[Shmigor]

2e or 1e? Was it ever stated?

Yeah, it's definitely 2e. I forget exactly which strip but Haley states "My daddy was a 2nd edition thief. It runs in the family." One of the early ones, I think.

[Kroy]

Yeah, it's definitely 2e. I forget exactly which strip but Haley states "My daddy was a 2nd edition thief. It runs in the family." One of the early ones, I think.

Or First Edition (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0008.html).

[Zevox]

Wouldn't that make the water cost 348 gp and 9 silver a gallon (and that's just for regular)?
Or 3 gold, 48 silver, and 9 coppers.

And yeah, if there's no evidence that the price is in electrum, there's no hidden joke, just the OP attempting a joke of his own. And failing, from my perspective, and apparently that of most other posters in this thread.

Zevox

[Deastorm]

I didn't find the joke terribly funny, but it didn't deserve the unnecessary rudeness. If you didn't find it funny, why respond? These forums are better than that. Well, I thought.

[Jackson]

It wasn't that the joke wasn't funny. It's that the joke wasn't 'hidden' (or, more precisely, that it wasn't present at all).

Well, that combined with the fact that when people started asking about the 'hiddenness' of the joke (i.e. 'what is it you think points to them using electrum?'), the OP responded as though they were either uneducated (in the realms of obsolete D&D currency) or foolish (for even wondering why there should be some instance of this 'hidden' joke in the text itself). Which is itself rude, and leads only to more rudeness, especially on the internet.

[Lissou]

Yeah, him saying "If you don't get the joke, I'm not going to bother explaining it" when there wasn't a joke in the comic, and he made one (well, tried to) wasn't very polite. Earlier posters only asked what he meant about it being a hidden joke, they weren't rude, just curious and surprised.

[JonahFalcon]

MST3K/Rifftrax humor seems to fly right over some people's heads.

Example: When you see Lumpy in The Star Wars Holiday Special, Kevin says, "Little known fact - that's Al Pacino in that suit - wait for it! - riding Paul Williams' back."

[rewinn]

Yeah, him saying "If you don't get the joke, I'm not going to bother explaining it" when there wasn't a joke in the comic, and he made one (well, tried to) wasn't very polite. Earlier posters only asked what he meant about it being a hidden joke, they weren't rude, just curious and surprised.
The REAL question:

"Was the rudeness morally justified?"

[Jamin]

MST3K/Rifftrax humor seems to fly right over some people's heads.

Example: When you see Lumpy in The Star Wars Holiday Special, Kevin says, "Little known fact - that's Al Pacino in that suit - wait for it! - riding Paul Williams' back."

What you said was not Rifftrax humor. It was not funny or clever and nothing in the comic supported it.

[Meg]

MST3K/Rifftrax humor seems to fly right over some people's heads.

Example: When you see Lumpy in The Star Wars Holiday Special, Kevin says, "Little known fact - that's Al Pacino in that suit - wait for it! - riding Paul Williams' back."

Naaaah... I was practically raised on MST3K. That's just sort of a pun that wasn't really all that punny, and really obscure.

[Raging Gene Ray]

This just confused me about Electrum. I thought it had always been part of D an D. In the 3.5 Ebberon campaign I'm in, Electrum is the denomination above Platinum (1 platinum = 10 gold, 1 electrum = 10 platinum = 100 gold).

What's ridiculous about that? Makes perfect sense in a world where the majority of the world lives off less than 1 gold piece a week while a whole separate economy is based on Adventuring and the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces that fund it.

[Solaris]

Wouldn't that make the water cost 348 gp and 9 silver a gallon (and that's just for regular)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in a desert, that's unbelievable.

I think it's a crack at gas prices.


This just confused me about Electrum. I thought it had always been part of D an D. In the 3.5 Ebberon campaign I'm in, Electrum is the denomination above Platinum (1 platinum = 10 gold, 1 electrum = 10 platinum = 100 gold).

What's ridiculous about that? Makes perfect sense in a world where the majority of the world lives off less than 1 gold piece a week while a whole separate economy is based on Adventuring and the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces that fund it.

It always hurts whenever I see electrum someplace other than its proper place between gold and silver. Kids these days.

[Lissou]

The thing is, it's way too much.
Imagine have a one billion dollar bill. Who's going to make change on that? You can't spend it on anything worth less than several million dollars.
Most people would have absolutely no need for it, so it would make sense for that billion dollar bill not to stay in use for extremely long.

[Porthos]

This just confused me about Electrum. I thought it had always been part of D an D. In the 3.5 Ebberon campaign I'm in, Electrum is the denomination above Platinum (1 platinum = 10 gold, 1 electrum = 10 platinum = 100 gold).

What's ridiculous about that? Makes perfect sense in a world where the majority of the world lives off less than 1 gold piece a week while a whole separate economy is based on Adventuring and the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces that fund it.

In 1e/2e electrum was worth 10 sp, or 1/2 gp. The fact that it was "in-between" silver and gold was what made it next to useless in most campaigns. And it quickly became widely mocked in most game circles. It was eventually dropped in "core" 3rd edition, hence the joke with The Oracle.

EDIT:::
BTW: In 1e/2e the conversion went like this:

10 copper = 1 silver
10 silver = 1 electrum
1 electrum = 1/2 gold
20 silver = 2 electrum = 1 gold (200 copper = 1 gold)
5 gold = 1 platinum (1000 copper = 100 silver = 10 electrum = 5 gold = 1 platinum)

---

And people wonder why parts of 1e/2e got a bad rap. :smalltongue:

SECOND EDIT.

Didn't catch this the first time around:


Wouldn't that make the water cost 348 gp and 9 silver a gallon (and that's just for regular)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in a desert, that's unbelievable.

I think you're missing the "." in-between the "3" and the "4". :smallwink:

The whole point is to compare it to modern day gas stations which post things like $2.95. So having each gallon be 3+ Gold Pieces (more for "high grade water") sounds about right.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

BTW: In 1e/2e the conversion went like this:

10 copper = 1 silver
10 silver = 1 electrum
1 electrum = 1/2 gold
20 silver = 2 electrum = 1 gold (200 copper = 1 gold)
5 gold = 1 platinum (1000 copper = 100 silver = 10 electrum = 5 gold = 1 platinum)
Uh, when I was in 2e…

1 gold = 2 electrum
1 electrum = 5 silver.

So it's been 1 gold = 10 silver since at least 2e. Never seen 1 gold = 20 silver. Part of the thing that made it unwieldy was that it lay entirely outside the decimal progression.


MST3K/Rifftrax humor seems to fly right over some people's heads.
That style of humor is jokes about the subject. Not "hidden" jokes within the subject. The latter requires the setup to be provided explicitly by the subject.

[TriForce]

johnfalcon: next time you post something, make sure its atually a joke, nevermind funny, just mjake sure its a joke ok?:smallcool:

[Porthos]

So it's been 1 gold = 10 silver since at least 2e. Never seen 1 gold = 20 silver.

That was 1st edition (which is where I cut my teeth on DnD oh so long ago). Having checked both my 1e and 2e sourcebooks, you are right. In 2e it was 10sp = 1gp. But I double checked my 1e sourcebooks, and it was indeed 20sp = 1gp.

However in both cases, 2 electrum pieces did indeed = 1gp.

And while I can't say for sure, the 20 sp = 1 gp thing probably came from the idea of 20 schillings = 1 pound, which was part of the pre-decimal usage of coinage in the UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilling).

[Puns de León]

The joke is alright - not great, mind you, but alright - it's just that the delivery and medium of delivery didn't quite suit it. It would have gotten along just fine if posted at the #687 Discussion Thread, but to create a whole new thread for it and label the joke as "hidden" confused some people and took away from its effectiveness.


Naaaah... I was practically raised on MST3K. That's just sort of a pun that wasn't really all that punny, and really obscure.

Er, it's actually not a pun at all. I don't see anything that would qualify it as such. It's sardonic humour; comparable, like Porthos said, to Yo Mama jokes. A pun would have to involve wordplay, while this is just a quip.

[feltex]

EGG said it best:


The Monetary System
The basic unit of exchange is the gold piece (g.p. hereafter). There are coins of lesser and greater value, and these are shown on the table below. It is also common to use gems of various sorts and values as coin.

10 copper pieces (c.P.) = 1 silver piece
20 silver pieces (s.P.) = 1 g.p.
2 electrum pieces (e.p.) = 1 g.p.
1 platinum piece (p.p.) = 5 g.p.

Thus:
200c.p. = 20s.p. = 2e.p. = 1 g.p. = 1/5p.p.

It is assumed that the size and weight of each coin is relatively equal to each other coin, regardless of type.

Your character will most probably be adventuring in an area where money is plentiful. Think of the situation as similar to Alaskan boom towns during the gold rush days, when eggs sold for one dollar each and mining tools sold for $20, $50, and $100 or more! Costs in the adventuring area are distorted because of the law of supply and demand - the supply of coin is high, while supplies of equipment for adventurers are in great demand.

[Mystic Muse]

Er, it's actually not a pun at all. I don't see anything that would qualify it as such. It's sardonic humour; comparable, like Porthos said, to Yo Mama jokes. A pun would have to involve wordplay, while this is just a quip.

yeah this is a pun. "one face two face red face blue face."

at least I think it's a pun.

makes more sense in context but that just makes it a BAD pun.

[Joerg]

The whole point is to compare it to modern day gas stations which post things like $2.95. So having each gallon be 3+ Gold Pieces (more for "high grade water") sounds about right.

And just for the record, there's no sign that the water is measured in gallons here.

[Bogardan_Mage]

This just confused me about Electrum. I thought it had always been part of D an D. In the 3.5 Ebberon campaign I'm in, Electrum is the denomination above Platinum (1 platinum = 10 gold, 1 electrum = 10 platinum = 100 gold).

What's ridiculous about that? Makes perfect sense in a world where the majority of the world lives off less than 1 gold piece a week while a whole separate economy is based on Adventuring and the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces that fund it.
What's ridiculous about it is that electrum is an alloy of gold and silver. There is absolutely no reason why one should be able to make gold 100 times more valuable by diluting it with a less valuable metal.

[Berserk Monk]

His point is that this isn't a "hidden joke". Just like how I can't say:

Hey guys! Hidden joke in the comic! Belkar was given a Kobald head LOL

Kobald? Is that anything like a kobold?

[Ave]

>Kobald? Is that anything like a kobold?
It is a ferromagnetic kobold.

348 gold would be too much, i prefer 3 gold 48 silver 9 copper.

[Ancalagon]

MST3K/Rifftrax humor seems to fly right over some people's heads.

Example: When you see Lumpy in The Star Wars Holiday Special, Kevin says, "Little known fact - that's Al Pacino in that suit - wait for it! - riding Paul Williams' back."

Alone quoting the Star Wars Holiday Special makes you seem... I do not know... not a good authority on humour. Good summary of that "thing": http://www.xkcd.com/653/

[Thanatosia]

There is absolutely no reason why one should be able to make gold 100 times more valuable by diluting it with a less valuable metal.
Logicaly it's up there with making a tougher monster by taking a dangerous predator and diluting it with a smaller weaker animal (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0322.html).

[Thajocoth]

Do the older systems use Astral Diamonds for currency? In 4e, 1ad = 100 pp = 10,000gp = 100,000sp = 1,000,000cp (Though silver & copper are almost never used.)

[Lissou]

If you think the electrum system was bad, look at the old British system :P
It's so confusing I don't even want to copy-paste it.

[Keris]

Do the older systems use Astral Diamonds for currency? In 4e, 1ad = 100 pp = 10,000gp = 100,000sp = 1,000,000cp (Though silver & copper are almost never used.)
I don't believe so, I for one cannot recall hearing of an Astral Diamond before 4E came out.


If you think the electrum system was bad, look at the old British system :P
It's so confusing I don't even want to copy-paste it.

It made perfect sense at the time!
1 pound was 20 shillings (£1=20s), each shilling was 12 pence (1s=12d) (hence, £1s=240d), and each penny could be divided into ha'pennies (half a penny) and farthings (a fourth of a penny). You also your thruppeny-bit (3d), sixpence (6d, half a shilling), florins (2s) and half-crowns (2s 6p, 1/8 of a pound), with the occasional crown (5s, 1/4 of a pound) thrown in for good measure.

@V: Ah, but they stopped minting them in the early 19th century. :smalltongue:

[MickJay]

You forgot about guineas, which were worth a pound and a shilling (21s, or 260d).

[feltex]

Not really wanting to hijack this thread any further but, in defense of electrum:

From the every day living peasant/commoner perspective, electrum made a lot sense (no pun intended). You had a base 10 coinage, 100 cp = 10 sp = 1 ep. Easier to understand for even the simplest of minds.

For normal daily trade people weren't walking around with a lot of "flash cash" ie gold and platinum. Those coins would be reserved for big ticket items and transferring large sums, and therefore more likely to be used by adventurers and other extremely wealthy.

But for the purposes of a realistic currency/coinage system, the ep was very valuable (again no pun intended).

[Shhalahr Windrider]

That was 1st edition (which is where I cut my teeth on DnD oh so long ago).
There we go.

Edition snag. :smallcool:

[derfenrirwolv]

.....

its not a hidden joke, its not there. This is just a random applique of something that ran through your own mind. That's not insight into the comic or finding something hidden. Its like the hidden link between the girlscout cookies and the Bilderburghs.

[JonestheSpy]

Where's the implication that they're priced in electrum? It sounds more like you're trying to make a joke here, and it might have worked but, well, it's all in the delivery.

Really, I don't think the joke worked because there is no evidence at all that the people at the OASIS are at all backward. It's like trying to make a joke based on everyone knowing how people in Luxemborg drink tequila all the time.

[LtKillroy]

If you have to explain a joke, it isn't a good joke.

[Ancalagon]

This topic died with the mentioning of that Star Wars Holiday Special. No, it's even worse than death. And, actually, it's even worse than even "worse than death".

[Nimrod's Son]

This topic died with the mentioning of that Star Wars Holiday Special. No, it's even worse than death. And, actually, it's even worse than even "worse than death".
The tragedy is, the Star Wars Holiday Special needs to be seen before anyone can understand just how bad it is. People (myself included) assume that it can't possibly be as bad as everyone says it is, and everyone is just rating it lower because it compares so unfavourably with the movies.

And then you see it, and it all becomes clear. Jesus wept, it's awful.

[daggaz]

The thing is, it's way too much.
Imagine have a one billion dollar bill. Who's going to make change on that? You can't spend it on anything worth less than several million dollars.
Most people would have absolutely no need for it, so it would make sense for that billion dollar bill not to stay in use for extremely long.

Never heard of a little country called Zimbabwe (http://images.google.dk/images?hl=da&q=zimbabwe+inflation+pictures&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=SP7lSo2eM4SG-Qa4oJHJCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQsAQwAA), have we?? :smallwink:

I also did not get the joke that was not there, and opened this thread to find out what said joke was, if any. And left feeling a little bit disappointed and poorer for the experience.