700th strip is coming up.

[Oriz0r]

Do you think there will be something special to it? I think the traditional treatment of a regular strip with a meta-comment will be applied (though, I sure hope it doesn't).

[Temotei]

Do you think there will be something special to it? I think the traditional treatment of a regular strip with a meta-comment will be applied (though, I sure hope it doesn't).

I do not think it will be overly special, other than it being a new strip. That in itself is worthy of notation. :smallbiggrin:

[Forbiddenwar]

Do you think there will be something special to it? I think the traditional treatment of a regular strip with a meta-comment will be applied (though, I sure hope it doesn't).

traditional? doing it 2 out of 6 times makes it traditional? So, the multi page, sometimes splash pages, that occurred for 200, 300, 400, 500 are non traditional?

[ThePhantasm]

I think strip 700 will be when we cut from the OOTS to some other characters. Either O-Chul, the Linear Guild, or Team Evil. My bet is on the Linear Guild, since they are long overdue for an appearance.

[Silverraptor]

[quote]The 700th strip is coming up![/spoiler]

So?...:smallconfused:

[zql]

traditional? doing it 2 out of 6 times makes it traditional? So, the multi page, sometimes splash pages, that occurred for 200, 300, 400, 500 are non traditional?

600 was also multi page


200 is Miko's fight with the order
300 is the end of Book 2 (well, I think, I don't have the books)
400 is Hayley's and Elan first kiss
500 is when Roy scries on Durkon after spending three months in Celestia
600 is Roy saying goodbye to Eric and his mom

I don't know if this is because every -hundred strip has something cool on it or because EVERY strip has something cool on it :smalltongue:

[Thanatosia]

The commentary in Book 2 makes it very clear that Rich deliberately worked to put Miko's Reveal on strip 200. Even to the point where he altered the story and cut scenes (that he later included in the book) in order to make it happen. Since then however, he seems to have lost interest in trying to sync up significant events with strip numbers and things just fall where they lie, with an occaisonal 4th wall reference noting that the big round strip number didn't translate into anything meaningful.

[LuisDantas]

I could be anything. But I venture to guess that the timing is just right for #700 to be the first actual meeting of the Order with Girard (or his living allies, at least).

It could also be a montage with the "where are they now" of Team Evil, the Peregrine Team, the Order, O-Chul, Lien, and the surviving Azure City refugees.

Hmm, I just realized that, my personal favorable bias aside, the Azurites are indeed the first significant group of NPCs to survive and keep involved in the Order's adventures, so I hope and expect them to return to the spotlight sooner rather than later.

[Ron Miel]

I predict:

A normal strip, but one panel shows Elan in the background holding a cake and wearing a party hat, saying "Happy 700th strip, everyone"

[Killer Angel]

Do you think there will be something special to it? I think the traditional treatment of a regular strip with a meta-comment will be applied (though, I sure hope it doesn't).

50% will be a significant and special strip.
50% will be a "regular" one.

By bet is on the first, but you know, 50% I'm wrong. :smalltongue:

[Turkish Delight]

He already did the "Ha! Bet everyone was expecting something special for a divisible-by-100 strip!' last time. To do it again would be no fun. Neither would just pretending it's like any other strip and abandoning the tradition of either giving us awesomeness or lampshading the lack of awesomeness.

Moreover, there haven't been any really dramatically awesome scenes or twists in the Arc to date. Girard's revealing that the gate is false was a twist, of course, but it was more a frustrating one than an awesome one. Frankly, between the long trip to a dead end and the much-slower-than-normal update schedule, right now the storyline is moving at a snail's pace, if that snail were nailed to a floor covered in superglue.

Nope, I'm looking forward to something special for 700, if nothing more than the long, long, long delayed reappearance of the Linear Guild. I think the Giant has enough dramatic instinct to hit us with something awesome in a couple of strips and get things rolling at a suitably nail-biting clip.

[Gandariel]

Linear Guild. Totally!
Elan is walking into a city and.... bang!

[ScottishDragon]

I gotta say linear guild.(plz plz plz plz let it not be where belkar dies!!!!!)

[rewinn]

I gotta say linear guild.(plz plz plz plz let it not be where belkar dies!!!!!)

Belkar meets Linear Guild at a House of Ill Repute, where Sabine is "gathering information" ???

[NerfTW]

It will obviously be something. They've hit a dead end, are desperately searching for the gate or Girard, and a scrying eye JUST appeared. Not to mention this strip was extra long just to squeeze in a few extra bits of plot.

Clearly something is going to happen. Either Girard will show up, Serini will show up, or that scrying is Xykon.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

600 and 100 were a joke about nothing special happening. 500 was an extra long page of exposition. 400 and 300 were splash pages of a resolved plotline. 200 was an epic battle with Miko.

I say odds are that we see a splash page as a plot-line is resolved or just an extra long page of exposition.

[Totally Guy]

Maybe it'll a page about the journey of the phylactery.

It's been having an epic solo adventure.:smallsmile:

[BatRobin]

600 and 100 were a joke about nothing special happening. 500 was an extra long page of exposition. 400 and 300 were splash pages of a resolved plotline. 200 was an epic battle with Miko.

I say odds are that we see a splash page as a plot-line is resolved or just an extra long page of exposition.

Odds are we get an epic battle.


Why has no one said more TEAM PEREGRINE!!!

[LuisDantas]

I think I did... :)

[BatRobin]

Oh, right.


WHY IS THERE ONLY 2 PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE ELVEN CHUCK NORRISES?!?!

[NerfTW]

Yeah, I love that he set it up so the Order has allies already working on the big showdown. It seems like the final battle is going to be a bit more epic than just the Order vs Xykon. So far on the good guys side we have the Elves, the Azurites, Girard's potential army, and possibly the Dwarves when the battle reaches their doorstep.

[Forbiddenwar]

In truth, I'd rather the 700th comic to be a normal 1 page comic uploaded after a week, than a super special action packed mutipage affair uploaded to the site after a month. The bigger the extravaganza, the longer we will have to wait for it to come.

[Mystic Muse]

Oh, right.


WHY IS THERE ONLY 2 PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE ELVEN CHUCK NORRISES?!?!

you can add me:smallbiggrin:

and they aren't elven chuck norrises

they're elven O-chuls:smallwink:

[TheWerdna]

Ok im going to get his out of the way before anyone says that none of the 100s were special

100: nothing special, made a joke about this fact

200: four times the normal length, fight with and introduction of Miko

300: Splash pg with the end of a story-arc

400: twice normal length, Haley's and Elan's first kiss

500: three times normal length, Roy finaly scrys on Durkon

600: joke about nothing special happening again

since last time was a joke about nothing special happening, i doubt that will happen twice in a row... unless Rich realy decides to mess with us.

[Optimystik]

WHY IS THERE ONLY 2 PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE ELVEN CHUCK NORRISES?!?!

There is no part of that phrase that I like.

[Zevox]

Safe money is on something special happening - 4 of the 6 strips which fell on a "100" number thus far have been such, and commentary in Dungeon Crawlin' Fools revealed that the Giant had intended number 100 to be the strip where the Order finally begins their first confrontation with Xykon, but since plots preceding that ran too long he wasn't able to get to that in time and instead lampshaded the fact that he hadn't been able to do anything special for a landmark strip.

I'm expecting the next strip to cut away to whoever was scrying on the Order at the end of 698, and set up some dramatic plot-important reveal for strip #700, personally.

Zevox

[Acero]

400 is Hayley's and Elan first kiss


they kiss in 201

[Maximum Zersk]

Oh, right.


WHY IS THERE ONLY 2 PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE ELVEN CHUCK NORRISES?!?!

You kidding? When I saw them I was like, "Yeeeeaaahh!"

So there's four of us then. :smallsmile:

[Hurkyl]

Noooooo! Darn you! You spoiled it! You spoiled it all!

I bet giant was planning something big for #700, just because we were so used to special numbers having non-special comics. But now that we're expecting it, he's not going to do it just to spite us. :smallfrown:

Wait a minute... now that I'm not expecting it, maybe he'll do it after all? Oh ack, I've gone all crosseyed.

[Gamerlord]

I swear, if he does the "ha ha ha you expected something special" joke again I will rip out my brains and eat them, it was funny at first, but this time it would just plain be repetitive.

Do be honest, I don't have a idea what he is planning, but it better not be the aforementioned joke.

[Nimrod's Son]

they kiss in 201
You mean #200 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html). In #201, the only thing Elan has in his mouth is a kazoo.

But I don't think Haley giving Elan a quick peck on the cheek really counts as them "kissing". Elan is so startled by it he doesn't even respond, for a start.

[Ron Miel]

But I don't think Haley giving Elan a quick peck on the cheek really counts as them "kissing". Elan is so startled by it he doesn't even respond, for a start.


See strip 199 "... or someone kisses someone for the first time"

It's their first time, all right.

[Nimrod's Son]

See strip 199 "... or someone kisses someone for the first time"

It's their first time, all right.
No, it's the first time Haley kisses Elan. That fits fine with what Elan said, but it's not the same thing as "the first time they kiss".

Elan's mouth doesn't make contact with Haley until #400, so that's their first kiss.

[Vemynal]

are we really arguing the first time they kissed?

[Nimrod's Son]

are we really arguing the first time they kissed?
I am. You want some? :smalltongue:

[Mystic Muse]

I am. You want some? :smalltongue:

some what? I could really go for something chocolaty right now. ooh. or maybe something deep fried. OOH. Deep fried twix bar!

..........I'm sorry please continue your conversation as if there wasn't an insane person in the room.:smalltongue:

[GooeyChewie]

OOH. Deep fried twix bar!

Well, I suppose there are worse sounding foods, such as... actually everything sounds worse than a fried twix bar, now that I think about it. Where can I get me one of those? :smallsmile:

[FoE]

Why is that fools never learn their lesson? :smallsigh:

[Poi Sorg]

Hmm I think that maybe a deepfried twix bar would actually be tasty. You know, give it like a greesy crunchy cover, deepfry it, and then cover it in butterscotch sauce. Mmm-mm! :biggrin:

...or maybee... I know! Cover it in chocolate sauce, and throw it in a pool!
Instant fun! Heeheehee! I am so evil'z :nale: :redcloak: :thog: :sabine: :roach: :belkar: :xykon:
And awesome!:cool:
_____________
POI SMASH PUNY FORUM!!!!!!!!!!

[TyCobb]

I think we see the elven assault force.

[Mystic Muse]

Well, I suppose there are worse sounding foods, such as... actually everything sounds worse than a fried twix bar, now that I think about it. Where can I get me one of those? :smallsmile:

probably a state fair. I've seen deep fried cnady bars at an annual thing around here called "junk food alley"

it's exactly what it sounds like. Lots and lots of junk food.

[Strawberries]

What I'd like to see is a cut to team evil. I've been wondering for a while what they were doing in the meantime, and if they managed to overcame the little inconvenience of losing Xycon's phylactery.

What I expect to see... probably the identity of whoever is scrying on the party in the last strip revealed.

Given my prophecy success record, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was c) none of the above :smallbiggrin:

[Tao the Ninja]

some what? I could really go for something chocolaty right now. ooh. or maybe something deep fried. OOH. Deep fried twix bar!

..........I'm sorry please continue your conversation as if there wasn't an insane person in the room.:smalltongue:

Make that 2 insane people:biggrin:. Permanent dibs on all chockolatey things.

[Zigg]

Giriad shows up, Belkar killed in a town by Linear Guild and the IFCC reappear with multiple strips and a splash page.

:-)

[Temotei]

A cheese float is gross. I saw one of those.

[Mystic Muse]

Make that 2 insane people:biggrin:. Permanent dibs on all chockolatey things.

no chance bub.:smallamused: YOU SHALL NOT KEEP ME FROM MAI CHOLATZ!

[ScottishDragon]

I think we see the elven assault force.
Now that would be interesting,it would be fun to have new people to discuss,crack pairing thread would go crazy.

OOH. Deep fried twix bar!
They taste better if i cook them with my fire.

[Kranden]

Biiiigggg Rounnndd Numbbberssss

[Darth Hunterix]

My guess is that something truly epic is gonna happen in strip #699 and strip #700 will be like great WTF to all relevant characters.

[Hatchet]

Considering strip #699 switched back to Team Evil, my guess is #700 will be the finding of the phylactery and teleporting out to somewhere unexpected.

[Fitzclowningham]

I'm thinking maybe a double strip with the phylactery being found and Team Peregrine in the background for the first one, and the Linear Guild approaching Kraggor's gate (and O-chul and Lien) in the other. I think we're done with the OotS for a while.

[Darth Hunterix]

Oh my, it seems I was wrong. What a pity. So I'm making another guess:

The Giant will smile on our hard work on O-Chul facts and it will be about his heroic (and succesful) attempt to save Lien from dirty clutches of Linear Guild at Kraagor's Gate with a little help from Serini in the end.

[Zevox]

All right, so with #699 up, we've had a cut-away to another, non-Order group. But not to the guys scrying on them, as I had guessed earlier; instead, to MitD.

So, I'm now revising my guess. To quote myself from the strip's discussion thread:

Hm, now this is interesting. Cut-away to other characters as anticipated, but to MitD instead of the guys scrying on the Order or one of the usual major non-Order characters (Xykon/Redcloak/Nale/etc).

Wait. Assume for a moment that this strip was not filler, but set-up for the next strip and a new story arc. Anyone else see an obvious story it would be setting up? And an obvious, long-anticipated, extremely major event Rich could planning to start it with in strip #700?

Could easily be wrong, but... well, I think at this point it could actually be right, too.
To be clear, this means I'm guessing that, starting in strip #700, MitD will attempt to escape from Team Evil in search of his friend (O-Chul), and the big event of strip #700 will be the reveal of MitD's identity. Between the set-up of this strip ("escape"/concern for O-Chul) and the preceeding events with MitD (his time with O-Chul, and O-Chul's parting words to him), I think that may be what Rich is setting up here.
As I said in the quote, could easily be wrong, but given how far we've gone in the story now, and the events pertaining to MitD preceding this, I think it actually has a fair chance of being right, too.

Zevox

[Ted The Bug]

I agree with Zevox, chances are that
the MitD will finally come out of his box and show us all his true identity

[Asta Kask]

I don't think so.

His identity will be revealed when he's ordered to attack O-Chul. That's when the monster snaps.

[Fearabbit]

Are these spoilers necessary? (Serious question because I'm puzzled why they should be, but maybe even mentioning certain characters is considered a spoiler for people who don't read the webcomic?)

Anyway, what's interesting is that
a) there has been a cut to Team Evil
b) with a whole strip "wasted" on the MitD, there's just no time for Team Evil to find the phylactery in strip 700

So.. I really can't think of anything epic that could happen now. I mean he can't just cat away from Team Evil now, but Xykon can't attack the next gate without the safety of having found his phylactery.

One thing I could see happening is a huge rebellion led by the underground resistance of Azure City. The human slaves have been shown to be inspired by O-Chul's willpower before... so maybe we'll see Xykon looking out of his window and suddenly see a damn big crowd moving to the castle...
but I don't know. The guess is not that good, it's just that I can't see anything else "epic" happening in strip 700, even if it's multipaged.

About the MitD... don't know, his efforts didn't seem to get him anywhere, so I can't see him suddenly being able to make the teleport. And if he gets revealed, then to whom? Sure he could just decide not to listen to Xykon and Redcloak anymore and step out of the shadow, but that would be kind of boring.
Of course, one possibility would be that he's so fed up with them that he attacks them, and in the struggle he gets into the right "mindset" to perform the teleport.

[Asta Kask]

Are these spoilers necessary? (Serious question because I'm puzzled why they should be, but maybe even mentioning certain characters is considered a spoiler for people who don't read the webcomic?

They add a certain tone to the enterprise... :smallbiggrin:

[NerfTW]

It's an old rule about spoilering plot speculation so Rich wouldn't be swayed by it if he reads it. At this point though, the plot is pretty set in stone, so the need really isn't there anymore like it was when everything was still up in the air.

[Lupy]

I predict that Xykon will find his phylactery.

[DBJack]

I agree with Zevox. This wasn't just a random one strip deal with the MiTD. It could've cut to anything easily. Because the Order now has five days to get to Sandsedge and we didn't see who is scrying, we're going to be at Team Evil for five days or so. This is enough time for the Resistance to uprise with the elves (they've been together for presumably a week) and for Xykon to find his phylactery. I would assume that the MiTD will play a decent role in this because the strip cut to him to kick off the new arc, instead of the resistance or Redcloak. Maybe another ability of his will come up. I doubt he'll be revealed completely, but the focus on him must reveal something eventually, eh?

[RebelRogue]

With the shift to Team Evil in #699, it seems reasonable that we'll stay with them for some strips. So, yes I think phylactery action or an uprising are probable. And since it's been a while since there was a "special, divisible by 100" strip I think we might just get one this time.

Who's Team Peregrine BTW? The party of elves from strip #670 or someone else?

[Sanguine]

Who's Team Peregrine BTW? The party of elves from strip #670 or someone else?

That would be them.

[RebelRogue]

That would be them.
Ok. I just couldn't remember seeing the term before.

But I'd love for them to get some screen time. They seem pretty badass!

[Katana_Geldar]

I think it will be Xykon finding his philactery, but it could also stay on the MitD.

[Gift Jeraff]

Since we have cut to Team Evil, I am personally betting on something dramatic for Redcloak/Left-Eye, or maybe the biggest hint ever for the MitD's identity (like we see a very small portion of his body, confirm that he does/doesn't have magic, learn of his colour, et cetera). Or a completely filler gag episode without the lampshade like in #100 or #600.

[Hurkyl]

confirm that he does/doesn't have magic, learn of his colour
His magic looks yellow. Or, I suppose it could be black.

[Bibliomancer]

I agree with Zevox. This wasn't just a random one strip deal with the MiTD. It could've cut to anything easily. Because the Order now has five days to get to Sandsedge and we didn't see who is scrying, we're going to be at Team Evil for five days or so. This is enough time for the Resistance to uprise with the elves (they've been together for presumably a week) and for Xykon to find his phylactery. I would assume that the MiTD will play a decent role in this because the strip cut to him to kick off the new arc, instead of the resistance or Redcloak. Maybe another ability of his will come up. I doubt he'll be revealed completely, but the focus on him must reveal something eventually, eh?

I doubt that a major revolt will occur in the next strip, primarily because the elves are intelligent long-term strategists who suspect that they will not be able to accomplish anything with an epic-level sorcerer in the city. They might immediately mobilize the slaves after Xykon leaves, but even then they would probably favor waiting a few months to ensure that he's gone.

If the elves revolted while Xykon was still in the city, he would probably be happy to get some easy xp before going to the next gate.

I think that the spotlight will stay on Team Evil, possibly including them locating the phylactery, but I doubt that there will be any incredibly important plot advancements.
Although, if you go by precedent, we're on a 500 strip cycle (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0600.html)for these things, implying that a new major character would be introduced who attacks Team Evil and then proceeds to temporarily ally with them. Optimally, this new character would have only appeared a few times in comic under mysterious (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0120.html) circumstances. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0189.html) Bonus points if their identity is obscure. Girard switching sides would be an interesting twist, though.

[Katana_Geldar]

Well, looks like we were all wrong.

Change that, I wasn't wrong!

[Harr]

Heheh... one upside to all this, it's now downright entertaining re-reading this thread from the beginning after having actually seen #700 :smallsmile:

[Poi Sorg]

Guess this thread's moot now, seeing as 700 just came out. Man, I'm dissapointed. No 3x length, no splash page, not even a "its #700 and nothing's happened" gag!

[The Pale King]

I think he might have intended 698 to be the 700th strip, being double length and all. But maybe it didn't work out so he decided he'd just run it then instead of making two more strips before it.

[AlexanderRM]

Have people seriously not figured out that nothing special ever happens for the hundreds strips, except sometimes to make fun of the people who thought something special would happen?

And even that only happened twice in 6 such strips, one of the them the latest such, so it wasn't very likely to be used again just now.

[Kish]

Have people seriously not figured out that nothing special ever happens for the hundreds strips, except sometimes to make fun of the people who thought something special would happen?

Nothing? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0400.html) Really? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0300.html) Yes, I'd say some people haven't figured that out. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html)

[FabuVinny]

Rich does seem to have dropped the scale a tad since those three.

#100 - A joke cop-out since he originally intended the showdown with Xykon to be there.

#200 - Big battle with the "assassin" that has been following them, revealed to be Miko.
#300 - End of the book. Big splash page of doom.
#400 - Haley and Elan have their first kiss.

#500 - A big segue between Roy's time in Celestia and finding out what the others have been up to as he confronts his dad after seeing his family. And there's a wedding at the end.
#600 - Roy says goodbye to his family and leaves Celestia.
#700 - Lots of intrigue surrounding Tsukiko.

I'd say they're still significant, we just shouldn't expect timed epically big moments in future.

[Harr]

Have people seriously not figured out that nothing special ever happens for the hundreds strips, except sometimes to make fun of the people who thought something special would happen?


Heh, saying this would have been a tiiiiiiiiny little bit more impressive IF you had said it before 700 came out.

Saying it now is just kinda lame, sorry. You had no idea what was gonna happen just like everybody else, and now you're pretending that you did. Right...