Things We Miss [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

AKA_Bait

2013-09-12, 01:13 PM

DiamondHooHaMan

2013-09-12, 01:22 PM

I have to say I miss Roy's Father haunting him. he hasn't left the story, but I ADORED the old scenes where he would show up and start snarking at Roy.

Also, I love "wacky old dude with the cat" i can't spell his name. shame he's dead and gone.

Angel Bob

2013-09-12, 01:32 PM

I am all for the complex, gripping, and dramatic story that OotS has made its main focus for the past 600 strips or so.

However, I do appreciate the unbridled comedy of the early days, most especially the whole Girdle of Femininity episode.

Anarion

2013-09-12, 01:35 PM

Not much honestly. While the old story had many charming moments, I think it has progressed well and has many new sources of charm and humor. We still get to see all sorts of interesting monsters and settings, despite the focus on more recurring characters. And the art style has improved a great deal over the comic's run.

And I definitely do NOT miss being saturated with the color blue.

AKA_Bait

2013-09-12, 01:48 PM

Not much honestly. While the old story had many charming moments, I think it has progressed well and has many new sources of charm and humor.

Oh, don't get be wrong, I'm a big fan of the direction the strip has gone in and the vastly improved artwork. Still, a little nostalgia has its place.

NihhusHuotAliro

2013-09-12, 03:02 PM

I miss explosi-nevermind I'm not saying it.

Also, I liked how everything was blue. I never got tired of it.

I also miss the flumphs, who have been basically forgotten and hardly used.

JBiddles

2013-09-12, 03:10 PM

Very little. I consider OotS to be one of the few works that not only got enormously better over time, but has continued to do so. OotS has always been good, but in the early strips the art style is awkward and the dialogue is a little stilted.

F.Harr

2013-09-12, 03:15 PM

I wonder how Frudu and the Ming are doing.

And I miss that most awesome of random characters, Fruit Pie the Sorcerer.

O.K., I don't, but it was a cool strip he was in, in particular since I remember the ads it's a parody of.

By the way, "Soda, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Oh, and I'm looking forward to the spin-off of OotS, "Flumphland".

ti'esar

2013-09-12, 03:33 PM

I don't know if I can really say I "miss" anything, because things that are gone forever from the main story can still appear (and have) in bonus material.

Rakoa

2013-09-12, 03:36 PM

I miss Wizard Guy.

Deliverance

2013-09-12, 03:40 PM

I do not miss anything from the early OOTS, really.

It has been a pleasure to watch the Giant grow as an author and I prefer to look forwards, not backwards.

F.Harr

2013-09-12, 03:42 PM

The Corredore that Takes Five Strips to Go Through".

Kilo24

2013-09-12, 03:59 PM

Hmm... I miss Lord Shojo, the unnamed cleric of Loki, and O-Chul's interactions with the MITD. I've no complaints about them being gone, but I quite enjoyed them while they lasted.

There's nothing about the tone or overall focus of the early strips that I miss, though. There's still superficial jokes about the D&D rules that crop up, but they're incidental to each strip instead of being the focus. And the wacky, inconsistent comedy parts are handled similarly. They're a bit of flavor to the excellent narrative, instead of being the whole point of the strip as they were at first.

Xelbiuj

2013-09-12, 04:02 PM

I reread many of the old strips recently and discovered that I miss the occasional Mail Call (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0033.html) and Brief Intermission (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0301.html) type strip.

Well, he did do a recap. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0864.html)
That's not entirely dissimilar. Probably going to get us some bonus pages in the book or at least 2 pages of writing otherwise that will be awkward as hell.

Uh, I miss the jovial tone, phat loots, and multiple parties. Thinking back on it, splitting the party was the best thing Rich done. He had 3 locales to show off and a ton of things happening. It would be nice if we got some pages of the Azurites.

Tiiba

2013-09-12, 04:39 PM

The flumphs are something I wish made another appearance.

And Explosive Runes. V might never use this hilariously sadistic spell again. :(

Ted The Bug

2013-09-12, 05:48 PM

I miss the Azurites. The Azure City under Redcloak/Jirix arc was such a fun one. I hope we get to see it further progress.

Gift Jeraff

2013-09-12, 05:50 PM

The single digits.

The real Durkon.

Zz'dtri.

Cizak

2013-09-12, 05:58 PM

I also miss the flumphs, who have been basically forgotten and hardly used.

The flumphs are something I wish made another appearance.

The flumphs are a running gag. Overuse it, and it ceases to be funny. On top of that, each version of the gag should have some sort of new twist to it. They were last used a little over a hundred strips ago. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html) It might be time for a re-appearance soon, but now is hardly the time, with the current events.

Jay R

2013-09-12, 07:40 PM

Obviously, we're all enjoying the direction the strip has taken[citation needed].

But where's Baron Pineapple? When will we get back to Baron Pineapple?

Cuthalion

2013-09-12, 08:02 PM

I also miss the flumphs, who have been basically forgotten and hardly used.

He did put them in the wallpaper, at least.

Demolator

2013-09-12, 08:22 PM

I miss Wizard Guy.

This. Also Zz'dtri and Hilgya. Thank goodness we might be seeing O-Chul relatively soon because I'm starting to miss him, too.

MoonCat

2013-09-12, 09:02 PM

Ted The Bug

2013-09-12, 09:24 PM

I miss the OoTS interacting with eachother outside of plot and combat. They still do, but the whole portions of strips related to their interaction with eachother, or miniplotlines about it like Belkar and V's prank war, those were sweet.

Ooh, this! Also this! I love watching the short mini plots between the characters, and it's sad that there aren't as many.

LadyEowyn

2013-09-12, 09:27 PM

I don't miss anything that's permanently gone from the strip. I've liked Books 4 and 5 the best of any so far (the first one was dreadful; the second one was better but mostly middling and the last part of it was a massive chunk of exposition, and I got tired of Haley's cryptograms; the third one was good but I got a little tired of the colour blue) and think the strip keeps on getting better. Even the funny parts are funnier now than they were in the first book, even though the outright comedy is more spread out.

For temporary absences: I miss O-Chul, and his interactions with the MitD, but I'm confident he'll be back in the next book.

I'd say I miss Gobbotopia, but it hasn't really been that long since we've seen it; it's just that I could read an entire book about Gobbotopia and enjoy it.

Nimrod's Son

2013-09-12, 09:41 PM

I also miss the flumphs, who have been basically forgotten and hardly used.
By my count they have one direct appearance (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html) and two (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0680.html) references (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0695.html) in the current book, so that's not exactly "forgotten and hardly used". Plus they're in the new wallpaper.

jogiff

2013-09-12, 10:30 PM

I miss Miko. She should have executed the Order of the Stick and slain Xykon and Redcloak herself and the comic should have been renamed "Order of the Miko"

Synesthesy

2013-09-13, 05:38 AM

I reread many of the old strips recently and discovered that I miss the occasional Mail Call (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0033.html) and Brief Intermission (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0301.html) type strip. While I understand that the OotS has moved past the need for the occasional filler comic and that the tone of the comic as a whole has also shifted over time to a place where this sort of strip may no longer fit, I enjoyed them nonetheless.

So, what else about the comic has changed that you miss?

Do you know what I think? I started reading oots about at 850. When I read all the old strips, I really enjoied that strips. But... Now, when everything is near to happen, when we don't know who'll live and who'll die.... If I saw a strip like that instead of one that make story go on, I would say a lot of italian word you don't want to know :smallbiggrin:

AKA_Bait

2013-09-13, 06:19 AM

Do you know what I think? I started reading oots about at 850. When I read all the old strips, I really enjoied that strips. But... Now, when everything is near to happen, when we don't know who'll live and who'll die.... If I saw a strip like that instead of one that make story go on, I would say a lot of italian word you don't want to know :smallbiggrin:

Don't underestimate my vocabulary there pal. I was at the feast of San Gennaro yesterday. :smallwink:

More seriously, I know what you mean. I started reading around seven and a half years ago or so and when those sorts of strips came up I was honestly a little annoyed at the time. I wanted the story to progress! Looking back now, though, I feel differently.

F.Harr

2013-09-13, 09:07 AM

The flumphs are a running gag. Overuse it, and it ceases to be funny. On top of that, each version of the gag should have some sort of new twist to it. They were last used a little over a hundred strips ago. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html) It might be time for a re-appearance soon, but now is hardly the time, with the current events.

I thought the lawyers getting smushed was neat. Especially that one guy.

He did put them in the wallpaper, at least.

Did he? I missed that.

I'd say I miss Gobbotopia, but it hasn't really been that long since we've seen it; it's just that I could read an entire book about Gobbotopia and enjoy it.

The Hobgoblins should use their own language to name it. They should use the ancient world for citty "A" and goblin (a whole mess of) in the genitive, "Corunya". O.K. A Coruña (or Corunna) was the first city I could find with anything like a similar geographic relation to its river like Azure City does to the Blue. I was going to go for New York, but they have a VERY different relation to their river (the Hudson). And then I thought of Bombay/Mumbai, but that's just too political and then when I got to A.C., I got lazy.

It's really not funny if you overexplain it, is it?

By my count they have one direct appearance (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0805.html) and two (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0680.html) references (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0695.html) in the current book, so that's not exactly "forgotten and hardly used". Plus they're in the new wallpaper.

Dratit, I didn't know about the new wallpaper. Sorry.

CletusMusashi

2013-09-13, 02:33 PM

I miss V being fun. I understand it's a character development issue, but Belkar, for example, getting character development has made him funnier. V just mopes around in a comedy vacuum.

I miss Xykon and Recloak being onscreen as much as they used to be. When you add villains for the main cast to interact with, it takes time away from the villains you already had, and The Empire is just not as interesting to me as Team Evil. Especially now that it's really just Tarquin we're seeing. Malack and Tarquin were enjoyable. Still not as good as Xykon and Redcloak, but not bad to read. Tarquin by himself... not so much. So I guess I also miss Malack.

And I miss the surviving Azurites. I understand why they're elsewhere, but I do still miss them.

Mammal

2013-09-13, 02:51 PM

I miss characters, mostly. And character interactions. For some reason, I've always really liked Julia-I was very happy to see her on the summer wallpaper.

I hope there's some downtown in the next arc, so we can just see the characters interact for a little while-I think we could all do with a breather.

Goosefarble

2013-09-13, 03:57 PM

As others have said, I really enjoy the comic, its direction, and everything it's become and grown into, but I do find myself looking back at those lighthearted early strips, like the Wooden Forest mini-arc, with great fondness. Things were simpler then. But, of course, you can't remain in Happy Fun Sunshine Land forever, and I think it's important that the plot has become a lot grittier as the story's progressed.

Zmeoaice

2013-09-16, 06:21 PM

I kind of miss the Medieval European fantasy settings, with lush forests and small towns. After Miko took the Order to Azure City, they've been in an East Asian setting, some larger cities (Cliffport, Grey Sky) and now in an ANE one. Although I feel that it will return to that when they go to the Dwarven homelands.

Solara

2013-09-16, 11:00 PM

I also miss the flumphs, who have been basically forgotten and hardly used.

I hope the next strip features Tarquin being accidentally killed by a falling flumph from out of nowhere.

And I'm with the poster that misses V being fun.

I feel like we haven't seen Hinjo and O'Chul and the Azurites in awhile. I know O'Chul is everybody's favorites but I actually really like Hinjo, I feel like 'straight man' characters are always underappreciated.

Also, I never realized how much I missed Shojo until I saw him in Belkar's dream sequence...I hope we get at least one panel of him chillin in the afterlife before the strip is done.

Ted The Bug

2013-09-16, 11:08 PM

Agree about Hinjo. I like the fact that he doesn't have some big quirk, or some amazing skill or anything. He's a moderately competent guy, trying to do what's best with what he has. It's nice to have a character like that in a world of Mikos and Belkars.

Valanarch

2013-09-16, 11:12 PM

Other than a few various dead characters (Thog, Lord Shojo, The Wight with the Shoes), I miss Haley's Self-Loathing. She was right about almost everything. She told Haley that she needed to act and she recognized that Elan was Nale in disguise. However, we only saw her once since Haley got her voice back. I also miss Odin and Roy's Bag of Tricks.

F.Harr

2013-09-17, 09:04 AM

I feel like we haven't seen Hinjo and O'Chul and the Azurites in awhile. I know O'Chul is everybody's favorites but I actually really like Hinjo, I feel like 'straight man' characters are always underappreciated.

As one of nature's straight-men, I've got to say, "Thank-you". sNow someone is going to do something important so I can react to it, aren't they? Sigh.

Other than a few various dead characters (Thog, Lord Shojo, The Wight with the Shoes), I miss Haley's Self-Loathing. She was right about almost everything. She told Haley that she needed to act and she recognized that Elan was Nale in disguise. However, we only saw her once since Haley got her voice back. I also miss Odin and Roy's Bag of Tricks.

What about Haley's vanity?

JSSheridan

2013-09-17, 09:55 AM

I can see it now; Tarquin doing a mail call strip.

F.Harr

2013-09-17, 10:00 AM

I can see it now; Tarquin doing a mail call strip.

Oo, wouldn't THAT be exciting!

Gift Jeraff

2013-09-17, 11:00 AM

Nale and Z can do it, now that they have nothing better to do.

Maybe they are damned to do mail calls for all eternity.

Ramien

2013-09-17, 12:33 PM

Nale and Z can do it, now that they have nothing better to do.

Maybe they are damned to do mail calls for all eternity.

Nale, maybe, but Z? Unless they're set up just right, one-word answers do not a good mail call make.

Now Nale and Thog, on the other hand....

Yeah, Thog might not be dead yet, but one can hope.