OOTS: Depressing Me

[Severus]

Am I the only one who finds the recent run of OOTS depressing?

Miko (who I disliked) cut in half. Roy failed and dead. The Pallies failed and dead. Cool old emperor guy dead. Bad guys overrun city and kill basically everyone.

We need to send Rich some happy pills.

[Tirian]

Heh, yeah. Between Miko and Strong Bad's printer dying, last week was kind of emotionally draining on webmedia fans.

Personally, I'm more than ready for a month of Roy wandering around an afterlife in which nobody can get more dead than they already are.

[Dolohov]

See, while all this is sad and demoralizing, I've never been so excited about the plot -- it's like the OotS equivalent of "The Empire Strikes Back". When it comes down to it, OotS was just not ready to take on Xykon. But one day they will be, and there will be trouble :)

[Ganurath]

Redcloak got his revenge. Tsukiko provided a lead for necorphilia jokes involving Miko's lower half. Xykon used the receipt line again. Belkar got to proclaim his glory atop a pile of dead bodies, as well as an intelligent magic item. If you ask me, things could only get better if V joins Team Evil.

[mohair_ninja]

It's only a consequence that the plot has to be resolved in such way. After the siege There will be at least 100 funny strips.

[Kreistor]

I agree with the above that this is much like the Empire Strikes Back. The bad guys haven't actually won, but they are ascendent. The good guys have fallen on hard times, but aren't out of the running. Xykon has turned out to be Roy's uncle, and... well, okay, maybe it isn't exactly parallel, but there are some.

[Voidhawk]

I haven't found the later strips that depressing, just really emotionly intense and draining (if that can be said about a web comic), not as light hearted as the earlier ones.

[nimby]

Wait, wait, Xykon and Redcloak aren't the good guys? I've been rooting for the wrong team!

[RobbyPants]

Yeah, this is what great comebacks are made of!

[Draz74]

How many good stories don't have a dark part like this in the middle of them, again?

[Puck]

And you thought it was called "Start of Darkness" because everyone would be happy?

[Shatteredtower]

Sometimes, it helps to remember that people have been dying since the very first strip: goblins, ogres, fruit pie sorcerers, chimerae, kobolds...

...What? Chimerae are people too, you know. You think it's limited to one head and opposable thumbs?

[Stormwolf]

Cheer up - all the greatest stories have the time when things are so bleak that the heroes have to find new levels of resolve and courage to win out in the end. Admittedly few go as far as to kill one of the main protagonists (but of course in D&D, death isn't the handicap it is for many genres). If there wasn't the low ebb the final victory wouldn't be as triumphant. I hope.

[nimby]

Btw, if you guys think this is bad, try and imagine what Tolkien fans must've been going through when The Two Towers (book) ended with Frodo being paralyzed and in the orc tower and Sam unconcious, while Return of the King wasn't out yet!

Vader being Luke's father? At least Luke was alive and got a new hand at the end.

[LordVader]

Yes, it's much like the original Star Wars. You have the triumph (destroying Xykon the first time/destroying Death Star) then the low point (right now, with AC in flames/end of ESB, with Han frozen and the Hoth base destroyed) and then the eventual triumph (saving reality/killing the Emperor and defeating the Empire).

[dehro]

Am I the only one who finds the recent run of OOTS depressing?

Miko (who I disliked) cut in half. Roy failed and dead. The Pallies failed and dead. Cool old emperor guy dead. Bad guys overrun city and kill basically everyone.

We need to send Rich some happy pills.

nah...I prefere to laugh about it..like the old man in the story, who laughed all the way uphill of a very steep mountain... when asked why he was laughing he answered "because I'm happy, since after the first part of the journey it will all be downhill"..

:smallconfused: though I admit that if the old man was to be Shojo, it wouldn't really be much of a good point..on account of being dead in "the second half"

[Forevergrey]

It's going to be even more depressing when we discover that Roy is still in the matrix.

[Oberon]

even in the moments of depest sorrow, we can still find humor. And so it is with Oots. Personally, I've never been more anxious for a webcomic strip to come out, so kudos to the Giant and the recents Ootses on that account.

[Ampersand]

I agree with the above that this is much like the Empire Strikes Back.

So the Giant is starting to go crazy, and while it's subtle right now by the time the next movie is released it'll be glaringly obvious when Xykon and Redcloak are defeated by teddy bears that eat people?

[Angela Christine]

I like that there is a serious element in the portrayal of the war. War is hell. It isn't supposed to be happy fun time.

[rosebud]

Hey, don't forget ... The best tea party EVER!! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0463.html)

One nice thing about this strip is Redcloak has his likable qualities, so even though they are the "bad guys", his victories and epiphanies have a plus side to them.

[WutAmI]

This is what I like about OOTS. Ripping on DnD rules, breaking down the fourth wall like every other week, making us laugh, yet still at times being serious and dramatic.

[Kreistor]

So the Giant is starting to go crazy, and while it's subtle right now by the time the next movie is released it'll be glaringly obvious when Xykon and Redcloak are defeated by teddy bears that eat people?

I blame marketing.

[Ithekro]

I'd blame inhuman resources.

[Requiem_Jeer]

"When all hope is lost, when the darkness riegns, just remember: It is always darkest before the dawn."

-A guy who makes up philisophical quotes off the top of his head

[The_Hunting_Enemy]

Or we could use that quote of dumbledore's from the third movie. Too lazy to type it.

[Recursive]

So the Giant is starting to go crazy, and while it's subtle right now by the time the next movie is released it'll be glaringly obvious when Xykon and Redcloak are defeated by teddy bears that eat people?
Just wait for the prequels. "The Snarl's midichloribabble count is unprecedented!"

[ThorFluff]

No .. i thought you'd realise this already..
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/ThorDUDE/vedar.jpg

[Charles Phipps]

No .. i thought you'd realise this already..
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/ThorDUDE/vedar.jpg

you sir, win the Internet.

[Baalzebub]

The greater the fall, the higher the heroes will rise.

[GKBeetle]

Well, all I know is that if the comic ends someday without any more Roy, either in the afterlife or after having been risen somehow, I will be really depressed about my spending so much time reading it. Maybe I'm just being a dork, but I've had a harder time enjoying OOTS since Roy died. A lot of strips have me going, "Yeah, that was pretty funny, but Roy is still dead."
Wow, I sound like an idiot. :smallannoyed:

[Agalyon]

WOW, wouldn't it be a fantastic story the giant is developing if the good guys won everything and the bad guys never got a win :smallyuk:, the good time will get a come back soon but the story line needs to evolve enough to allow it.

[Severus]

So what have our heroes achieved so far?

How about nothing?

The first gate got destroyed and all they did was delay Lich-boy. The Linear guild got captured... and got away. Good characters are dead, Azure city is in rubble, Roy is dead. Oh, yes, Roy got the starsword forged... which dind't

I can live with some setbacks and challenges for the team, but frankly, I'd like them to actually win something, sometime that actually sticks.

When the comic wasn't so grim, it didn't really matter that they really weren't going anywhere, but after this last lot...

So yes, I understand that things can't be all hunky-dory all the time, and I love the strip, but I wish Rich would cut our heroes a break and give them a real, sustained victory, even if its a small one.

[comicadv]

I'm not depressed. If I know anything about OOTS then there will be a complete turn-around soon.

[TheNovak]

They've had real and lasting victories against every challenge they've faced, except for those directly involving the Linear Guild or Xykon. The problem with a real and lasting victory over reoccurring villains is that they stop reoccuring.

As we saw with Trigak the chimera. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0021.html)

[BanjoTheClown]

Once Roy comes back and they Defeat Xykon, it wont be Depressing Anymore.:smallsmile:

[Twilight Jack]

So what have our heroes achieved so far?

How about nothing?

The first gate got destroyed and all they did was delay Lich-boy. The Linear guild got captured... and got away. Good characters are dead, Azure city is in rubble, Roy is dead. Oh, yes, Roy got the starsword forged... which dind't

I can live with some setbacks and challenges for the team, but frankly, I'd like them to actually win something, sometime that actually sticks.

When the comic wasn't so grim, it didn't really matter that they really weren't going anywhere, but after this last lot...

So yes, I understand that things can't be all hunky-dory all the time, and I love the strip, but I wish Rich would cut our heroes a break and give them a real, sustained victory, even if its a small one.

Elan and Haley have found lurve. . .

Just sayin'

[demona]

So what have our heroes achieved so far?

Elan became Dashing Swordsman :smallcool: :smallbiggrin:

[Arlanthe]

I'm on the "kind of a downer" side of the line on this one.

I'm assuming this siege thing will get resolved and the tone will change again. If not... meh. A year ago I always read the comic first and actually didn't even bother with the forums. Now, sometimes I forget to read the comics after perusing the forums.

I guess that was the original intent of OotS all along, to drive traffic to the site, so Rich wins. OotS is kind of losing though.

[Cifer]

So what have our heroes achieved so far?

How about nothing?
How about having thwarted Xykon's plans two times by now? The OotS played a crucial role in making sure the first gate is not opened and without their help with the city defense, the hobgoblin army might have won a lot earlier and Xykon would probably still have his pet dragon.

[Kilbia]

So the Giant is starting to go crazy, and while it's subtle right now by the time the next movie is released it'll be glaringly obvious when Xykon and Redcloak are defeated by teddy bears that eat people?

I smell an Erfworld crossover! =)

Oh, and avatar lurve there, Ampersand!

[drKarling]

Yeah, yeah, so Team Good hasn't the best track record so far.
Still it's no reason to whine.* There's a lot of story to go before Rich is finished with his work.

And face it, we get to see a story unfold one page at the time thrice a week. It's not like we have to wait two years between each installment. (Damn you, G R R Martin, write faster!)


*Not directed at anyboy in particular, but it seems like every time things tip in favour of either Team Good or Bad, the forums alternate between crying "Mary Sue" and "OMG! Nerfed!"

[Thrall_Of_Ao]

To be honest, I've laughed all the way through the series.

The only thing that dissapointed me in the last 20 strips was that the crystal necklace thingy that Roy took out before hitting the ground didn't BREAK and summon his little extraplanar lawyer GF who would have cried her little pixie heart out over Roys corpse! THAT would have been FUNNY!...

Hello?...Anybody?...

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp*

-TOA

[Gales]

Belkar got a new toy. EoFaF.

And damn I wish I had something like that.

[kirbsys]

Judging by the depressing ness Id assum we're about two thirds through. Thnk about it, at the end of ESB, Luke gets his hand cut off, and Han is captured. At the end of TT Frodo is captured and Sam is knocked out. At the end of TOD Indiana Jones hooks up with the lady who couldnt act to save her life. At the end of AOTCs the Jedi are all but killed off and the Clone Wars have started. It happens man, then it get sup lifting and they win.

[Gefangnis]

Judging by the depressing ness Id assum we're about two thirds through. Thnk about it, at the end of ESB, Luke gets his hand cut off, and Han is captured. At the end of TT Frodo is captured and Sam is knocked out. At the end of TOD Indiana Jones hooks up with the lady who couldnt act to save her life. At the end of AOTCs the Jedi are all but killed off and the Clone Wars have started. It happens man, then it get sup lifting and they win.

I agree with all those except the Clones one. The Jedi didn't die (order 66) until the end of ROTS, which was the END of the clone wars.

The end of Clone Wars was decently uplifting - Padme and Anakin got married, for one. The Count escaped, but Yoda kicked a lot of ass, and the good guys won the first battle in the Clone Wars.

[Scutatus]

Except of course the good guys weren't actually good guys because they too were being manipulated by Palpatine and were "batting for the wrong side". Watching the Emperor pulling his many strings, fooling and "playing" everyone and anyone so cleverly -even the Jedi - is just about all that makes those films bearable at times.

The Padme/Anakin "romance" of Clone wars - in fact any scene with brat Anakin (still a brat after ten years of jedi training? I don't think so) - all the stuff that should have really made Clones a good film - are terrible, truly cringeworthy. The only "uplifting" ending Clones has for me is the relief that it's over.

(FAR to much emphasis on rushing to the next fight and not enough on what matters: good dialogue, good characters and GOOD SCRIPTS).

[Aloona]

Naaaaa... I know Roy's gonna come back soon!
On the contrary, what I like most of OOTS is really the way comics can be so intense (as someone else said before) and the story can evolve so seriously without ever loosing its high ironic touch. If all the plot was only about moking D&D characteristics I don't think I'd have liked it much longer. I think that good balance of all elements makes the Difference between the story you'll remember and the one you laugh on just for one day or two... that's why second trilogy of SW (just to recall what you said about it :P) would have much to learn from the first.

P.S.
And then... the important is Haley and Elan are still alive! :P

[Mournblade]

You think THIS is depressing? What would be depressing is if Belkar died. :belkar:

[Stormwolf]

You think THIS is depressing? What would be depressing is if Belkar died. :belkar:

You better lay in supplies of anti-depressants then because we know he's going to pop his clogs (metaphorically - he doesn't use footwear) at some point if the Oracle is accurate. Hopefully not until the climactic final battle though. He's safe for a while yet though - at least until after his birthday.

[Scatman]

{Scrubbed} Yes, it has become somewhat depressing. I thought Miko getting cut in half was funny though.

[Forevergrey]

To be honest, I've laughed all the way through the series.

The only thing that dissapointed me in the last 20 strips was that the crystal necklace thingy that Roy took out before hitting the ground didn't BREAK and summon his little extraplanar lawyer GF who would have cried her little pixie heart out over Roys corpse! THAT would have been FUNNY!...

Hello?...Anybody?...

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp* *chirp*

-TOA

Utterly with you on this one. Was heartbroken she wasn't heartbroken.

Bonus points though, if she was summoned at the exact moment of climax as she was cheating on Roy.

Goddamn, I'm an allround joykiller.

[FdL]

I agree with the above that this is much like the Empire Strikes Back. The bad guys haven't actually won, but they are ascendent. The good guys have fallen on hard times, but aren't out of the running. Xykon has turned out to be Roy's uncle, and... well, okay, maybe it isn't exactly parallel, but there are some.

Wait a minute. Did I miss that fact or you're just joking? Is Xykon Roy's uncle? Which strip did you get that from?

(I'm confused and possibly embarassed for missing something that important)

[Ariko]

And you thought it was called "Start of Darkness" because everyone would be happy?

:confused: I believe that it is the Azure City war that is being discussed here..Start of Darkness is an origins book about Xykon, Redcloak, and MitD