A Long Day

[UtahBrian]

In one of the Belkar prophecy threads, I saw it pointed out that strip 922 takes place on the same day that dawned (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0836.html) in strip 836. That makes 87 strips and it's not even evening yet.

I believe that's the longest that the Order have spent in a single day.

But the previous two days were long, too.

Yesterday started (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0775.html) in strip 775 with the opening of Elan's honorary gladiator's games and ends in the night watch that starts strip 836. That's 61 strips spent yesterday. (Edit: But see more accurate accounting by Porthos below)

And the day before started -- at the very latest -- in strip 710 with Elan in the bar subtly ferreting out (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0710.html) information and ended in the dungeon with the gladiators (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0774.html) in 774. That makes 65 strips. And it may have been longer than that because it's not clear when the elfin business in Gobbotopia happens; I think the elves were probably there for more than a day, though.

I don't recall if any other days have been so long. I suppose Azure City fell in 67 strips that were all on the same day (418-484) but otherwise the past three days may have been the outliers.

In fact, 23.1% of the Order Of The Stick has happened over the past three days. The previous pace where months would pass in a few panels has been overturned with a tight focus on the now.

Probably this is going on to stretch out the fun; Belkar has a limited lifespan and the story is likely to be much less interesting without him. How long can OOTS go on without its star?

[Porthos]

Yesterday started (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0775.html) in strip 775 with the opening of Elan's honorary gladiator's games and ends in the night watch that starts strip 836. That's 61 strips spent yesterday.

Point: It took two days (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0817.html) to get to the Windy Canyon.

It takes another day for V & co. to get from where they Plane Shifted to where the rest of the Order is camping. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0835.html)

[Bulldog Psion]

Wow -- close to 1/4 of the comic spent on a couple of days. :smalleek:

[Porthos]

Wow -- close to 1/4 of the comic spent on a couple of days. :smalleek:

The Battle For Azure City lasted 67 strips (418 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0418.html)-484 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0483.html)) as well. That's a pretty decent chunk of comic time as well. :smallsmile:

(which, I now see was already brought up by the OP. :smallredface:)

EDIT:::

Anyway, the OP is sightly off. As I said in my pervious post, it took two days for the Order to reach the Windy Canyon. Then they had to wait around a day for V to return. That gives at least a two day gap for the events of the Azure City Rebellion getting crushed to occur, if it even occured simultaneously. Furthermore, there was one day inbetween the bar fight where Roy got arrested and the gladiator games.

The OotS Timeline is a pretty decent resource for all of this (http://oots.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline), though it hasn't been updated in a while.

It's not perfect, IMO, however. The OotS timeline cliams that Elan, Haley, V, and Blackwing meeting Tarquin and Roy, Belkar, and Durkon showng up in Bleedingham are on different days. But as I look through the strips, I think they're wrong. The Empress is eating breakfast when the bountyhunters arrive. The bounty hunters then leave, go to the bed and breakfast, have said breafast and then get into a fight with Roy.

My conclusions are based on the fact that in 727, Tarquin mentiones that V is trancing and that he'll call for them when dinner is ready. Presumably that dinner is the one seen in 742. V is seen finishing his trancing in 741, which makes it part of the same day. Since it is uncertain just what time Haley and co were captured (Aton sets its own hours after all :smallwink:), the start of day should probalby be 717.

So for the Empire of Blood strips we have...

Elan Meets Tarquin Day: 717 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0717.html)-746 ([url=http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0746.html) which is 30 strips.
Parade Day: 748 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0748.html) - 774 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0774.html) which is 27 strips.
Gladiator Day: 775 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0775.html) - 822 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0822.html) which is 48 strips.
<Two Days Pass> (presumably the fall of the Azure City Resistance occurs sometime during this time span)
Roy Waits For V Day:834 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0834.html)-835 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0834.html)
Pyramid Day: 836 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0922.html) to current strips, as noted by the OP.

So 206+ comics in a week then. Which is still pretty damn impressive. :smalltongue:

[Jay R]

The OotS Timeline is a pretty decent resource for all of this (http://oots.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline), though it hasn't been updated in a while.

That's OK. As we have just documented, time hasn't been updated in this strip in a while, either.


How long can OOTS go on without its star?

Don't worry about the star. Nothing's going to happen to Banjo.

[malloyd]

Don't worry about the star. Nothing's going to happen to Banjo.

What are you talking about? Isn't it obvious he's the wise old mentor figure whose being ripped to bits is going to motivate Elan to swear revenge on the Snarl?

[Sunken Valley]

Don't forget 623-670: Roy comes back/V sells soul/Haley and Belkar rescue Roy/O-chul is bad ass day.

[Bulldog Psion]

Well, I certainly wouldn't object if OotS continued for an in-comic year on the same scale of strips to days. :smallbiggrin:

[skim172]

Time in the OOTS-verse has already been established as following "The Laws of the Universe Exist Only For Purposes of Narrative" rules (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0155.html). :smallbiggrin:

[David Argall]

Don't forget 623-670: Roy comes back/V sells soul/Haley and Belkar rescue Roy/O-chul is bad ass day.
Technically, that is 623-671. 671 starts that night, and ends the next day. [Tho with some effort, we can stick in an extra day or two around 670 if we wanted.]

[Liliet]

Does anyone remember how long it's been in real life?

I've come somewhere around midday, and it seems to me that it was half a year ago, but I'm not sure...

[Cerlis]

Doesnt seem like a big deal....(to me)


Until you consider the fact that the Order is capable of skipping ahead in time if the current stuff isnt relevant.

Worst thing is you cant even try to test it out, cus you dont know if you could be experiencing imporant things that are just mentioned later and given as flashbacks.

[Diadem]

Well, I certainly wouldn't object if OotS continued for an in-comic year on the same scale of strips to days. :smallbiggrin:
So 87 strips per in-comic day (assuming the next strips starts a new day, which seems unlikely) for 365 days, that makes about 32K strips. Current update schedule seems to be about 1 strip per real life week, but let's give it a very generous 2 strips per week. So another 16K weeks.

Since I rather want to see the end of the comic, and I do not have high hopes of being alive in 300 years, I for one, absolutely do not hope that OOTS will continue at the current pace!

[Liliet]

So 87 strips per in-comic day (assuming the next strips starts a new day, which seems unlikely) for 365 days, that makes about 32K strips. Current update schedule seems to be about 1 strip per real life week, but let's give it a very generous 2 strips per week. So another 16K weeks.

Since I rather want to see the end of the comic, and I do not have high hopes of being alive in 300 years, I for one, absolutely do not hope that OOTS will continue at the current pace!

Or rather, that this story at the current pace will take so long O.O

[Jay R]

What are you talking about? Isn't it obvious he's the wise old mentor figure whose being ripped to bits is going to motivate Elan to swear revenge on the Snarl?

The Oracle said that there will be a happy ending for Elan. Therefore Banjo survives.

[Bulldog Psion]

So 87 strips per in-comic day (assuming the next strips starts a new day, which seems unlikely) for 365 days, that makes about 32K strips. Current update schedule seems to be about 1 strip per real life week, but let's give it a very generous 2 strips per week. So another 16K weeks.

Since I rather want to see the end of the comic, and I do not have high hopes of being alive in 300 years, I for one, absolutely do not hope that OOTS will continue at the current pace!

You raise an excellent point. :smallbiggrin: