It's like watching Space Odyssey

[Aidjn]

This arc is taking forever and a day. I honestly hope the next couple of comics are like this;

1) Dinner with Tarquin, reveal what Durkon's up to and what Malack's condition is/food he eats

2) Games begin. Misc fighting, Roy/Enor do well.

3). Roy/Enor fight. Roy wins/gets saved by Elan interfering/etc.

4) General plot answering strip, Gerard.

5) Onwards!

They're not going to be at all because Burlew loves his gladiator jokes and while I can't blame him for doing what he likes, I wish he'd do them on the side and add them as promo comics in the next book than make us wait for plot.

[Tass]

Another one complaining about the pace of the comic, is it that time a month again?

Things will happen in good time. It feels a lot faster when reading the archive rather than waiting on updates. It has always been like that.

Its called webcomic time. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WebcomicTime)

[PopcornMage]

Just get Oracle powers so you can look forward in time to read the collections.

I'll do it right now...

OH DEAR NO!! NO! NOT THAT! THE HORROR!

Oh wait, sorry, that was my cable bill.

[rakkoon]

Well, every step brings us closer to the end so I have no problem with some dallying going on. As long as the quality stays and I'm thinking that it does

[Capt Spanner]

While we'd all love for a new comic to be posted hourly, we all know that to impose such a timetable would cause a massive drop in quality.

Irregularly posted comics, and long stretches between them are a price we accept if it means one of the best comics around.

The bits where no "plot" as such is happening are called "foreshadowing" and "exposition".

[apenpaap]

If you really dislike waiting ~3-7 days for the next comic, here's what you should do:
1: Go to http://www.futureme.org/
2: Send yourself a mail saying "Hello future me, I hope you're having fun. You should check out this webcomic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html)." and set it to send that to you on May 25th 2015.
3: Don't visit this site ever more, don't think about OOTS, just completely forget about it.
4: Wait a couple of years.
5: You receive an email from your past self advicing you a fun webcomic. By now, said webcomic has probably reached an end, or is near it.
6: Read the webcomic.

(BTW, this post is not meant sarcastically, it's an actual suggestion)

[Scarlet Knight]

Now, now. Let's not be hasty. I'm looking forward to several more comics of "Nearly invisible" Haley dealing with Elan's "18 charisma under the hood" ! :smallwink:

[Nilan8888]

Considering possible writing pitfalls at this point, it should be considered a good thing the comic updates as often as it does.

In my experience the longer your piece of work, the tougher new materials become. At every point along the way, Rich has to make reasonably certain his new material does not conflict with existing material. This is tougher than it sounds. If he has new ideas whether large or small he has to go back and double check with what's occurred and make sure there's no inconsistencies. He has to keep track of current character development and make sure a given character is acting consistently with any learned experiences.

It's a lot to keep track of. It was probably a lot easier in the early days when the story was simple with only a dozen or so characters to keep track of and a lot of the issues were open and shut.

[King of Nowhere]

Now, now. Let's not be hasty. I'm looking forward to several more comics of "Nearly invisible" Haley dealing with Elan's "18 charisma under the hood" ! :smallwink:

We could use some big art update before that... :smallbiggrin:

[PopcornMage]

Can I get the Oracle's memory charm first???

[Kish]

This arc is taking forever and a day.
There are always people complaining about the speed of each arc. It's not going to do any good. You're not going to get your wish, less because "Burlew loves his gladiator jokes" than because your concept of "onward" is essentially arbitrary.

[SPoD]

Considering 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely considered a masterpiece of filmmaking, I think the comparison reveals more about the OP's aesthetic failings than Rich's.

The plot is not defined as "those parts of the story that you like". Everything that happens is plot. This is an episodic series, there are small-scale plots and overarching plots. Think of this as Season 5 of a TV series...there are episodes that deal with the big picture and episodes that deal with characters and their development. We are clearly in the middle of a character episode about Elan right now. The overarching plot does not get addressed in every update because if it did, the comic series would be over.

Also, your proposed resolution to the arc WOULD be boring and pointless. The fact that you can't imagine a more interesting way to resolve the current issues means that Rich is a better writer than you are. Because I have confidence that whatever he has in store for the climax of this plot will be a lot better than "They fight, they get their answer, NEXT!"

[Nimrod's Son]

This arc is taking forever and a day. I honestly hope the next couple of comics are like this;

1) Dinner with Tarquin, reveal what Durkon's up to and what Malack's condition is/food he eats

2) Games begin. Misc fighting, Roy/Enor do well.

3). Roy/Enor fight. Roy wins/gets saved by Elan interfering/etc.

4) General plot answering strip, Gerard.

5) Onwards!
Sounds a bit longwinded to me. I want the games wrapped up within the next couple of panels (with Belkar dead, natch), which leaves enough time for Xykon to teleport in with the corpse of Girard, kill Durkon, and then get smashed into oblivion by Roy. There are a few more loose ends, sure, but as long as Rich stops fannying about with these daft conceits like "character development" and "jokes" and "nuanced plot" then we can be done within five strips, max.

[PopcornMage]

Let's just have Superboy punch a hole in the universe. That's never been done before, right? :smallsmile:

[Hardcore]

I prefer the quality of the one-a-week strips of the OotS to that of the Girl Genius more fast paced comic.

Hands up; who want the OotS become more like GG? Anyone?

Didn't think so.

Better Rich take his time to make a comic we can read, re-read again and again and again... all the time mumbling "awesome!"


Or to put it another way; anyone here who want to see the strip end SOON?

No? Big surprise there, NOT:smallsmile:

[Felhammer]

The fun is in the journey, not the destination.

[Kastanok]

Hands up; who want the OotS become more like GG? Anyone?

I don't know, the Jagers could be kinda fun in the OotS-verse. :P Jagers vs Lizardfolk, Jager vs Belkar. The dialogue opportunities alone!

And, hey, do you think we could talk Haley into trying out Agatha's costume? :smallredface: :smalltongue:

[JonestheSpy]

Considering 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely considered a masterpiece of filmmaking, I think the comparison reveals more about the OP's aesthetic failings than Rich's.



Uh-yup. White characters because of minimum length requirements.

[Astrella]

I prefer the quality of the one-a-week strips of the OotS to that of the Girl Genius more fast paced comic.

Hands up; who want the OotS become more like GG? Anyone?

Didn't think so.

Better Rich take his time to make a comic we can read, re-read again and again and again... all the time mumbling "awesome!"


Or to put it another way; anyone here who want to see the strip end SOON?

No? Big surprise there, NOT:smallsmile:

Why do people always feel the need to go bash other comics. To bad I can't downvote posts on this forum. :smallannoyed:

[PopcornMage]

Mistaken belief that there's only so much liking you can do??

[Red XIV]

Every arc seems to drag when you're reading it one update at a time. The battle of Azure City took up most of a year in real time (but less than a day in-comic). I'm sure lots of people felt it was going way, way too slow at the time. Not even the fact that it's such a pivotal moment in the main plot could prevent that. But it seems perfectly paced if you go back and read it now.

[Kareasint]

Why do people always feel the need to go bash other comics. To bad I can't downvote posts on this forum. :smallannoyed:

Especially when the target of that bashing is someone like the Foglios.

[Hardcore]

Kastanok, the Jagers are fun. But I was not talking about the characters or the setting (steam punk is quite fun!).
I am talking about how publishing a new strip every second day is not good for the strip. I bet the quality would improve if Kaja cut it down to two, or even one, a week.

[Scarlet Knight]

Kastanok, the Jagers are fun. But I was not talking about the characters or the setting (steam punk is quite fun!).
I am talking about how publishing a new strip every second day is not good for the strip. I bet the quality would improve if Kaja cut it down to two, or even one, a week.

We get at least one comic a week?! :smalleek:

The reason OOTS fans dissect the same threads over and over again is because there aren't new comics to read.

[BridgeCity]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the OP seemed to be saying that the current arc was taking too long in that each strip was not furthering the plot enough - not that the comic was not updated often enough.

[Gift Jeraff]

Never thought I'd live to see 2001 being used as an insult.

[Marnath]

If you have problems with the pacing of OoTS, I suggest you read Goblins. We just got back to the protagonists after like 1-2 years catching up side plots. O.o
And you know what? It's an awesome story that I don't regret waiting for. That holds for this one too.

[King of Nowhere]

We could solve it even faster:
one single panel bak in azure city, with an aged girard and an aged serini standing over the bodies of Xykon and redcloak, with Girard saying "well, I'm glad those fine 'order of the stick' guys warned us, so we could solve this little gate problem quickly".
And serini answering "yes, could you imagine if they had to actually vanquish the lich? It would take FOREVER!!!"

And so the story would be end in one single panel. It can be done in any moment.
And it would be an award-winning ending.
The award for the crappiest ending ever

[zyborg]

We could solve it even faster:
one single panel bak in azure city, with an aged girard and an aged serini standing over the bodies of Xykon and redcloak, with Girard saying "well, I'm glad those fine 'order of the stick' guys warned us, so we could solve this little gate problem quickly".
And serini answering "yes, could you imagine if they had to actually vanquish the lich? It would take FOREVER!!!"

And so the story would be end in one single panel. It can be done in any moment.
And it would be an award-winning ending.
The award for the crappiest ending ever

He should totally do that as a joke. Don't know how, but I think it would be awesome.

[PopcornMage]

Somebody eats too much D&D Gorgonzola cheese.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: Discussion of narrative pacing is fine, but discussions of the comic posting schedule are specifically prohibited by the Forum Rules.