To Giant...Could We Pay You?

[_Arioch_]

Giant,
I want to thank you for a great comic. I sacrificed two days of work reading all the comics, bought all the books, and I still check the web site every day just in case something new gets posted. I know I'm a junkie now, but is there a way we could get more frequent updates if we threw money at you? I'd like to think you make a living off the books and other goods, but would some cash make you write faster?

Just being greedy...but...I need a fix. :smallbiggrin:

Arioch

[basilisk 89]

What he said.

[Grumlich]

I'd expect a pretty sharp drop in quality if we got faster updates. I say have him keep at whatever pace he feels comfortable with. It's been fantastic lately.

[Arnen]

I have to say, while I would not be opposed to paying for OotS (if I had money with which to do so; so technically I am), I really do prefer having higher-quality comics spaced further apart. I know when I get rushed to produce anything, it usually ends up not being as good.

[_Arioch_]

Too true, I guess I don't want to see a quality drop off. But I do want to make sure that Giant is free to write at his own pace and not distracted by the demands of something as petty as personal finances. I'm totally ok with subsidizing his writing habit if I can, especially if that increases the number or rate at which the cartoons come out.

Arioch

[evileeyore]

The only problem wioth this idea is this:

Entitlement. Too many wold then come to believe that "I pay"="I have the right to complian vociferously about missed updates".

Yes, even more so than now.

[Grod_The_Giant]

well,
A. how could it get better? The man is working himself pretty hard, as evidenced by his recent illnesses, and the stuff is great.
B. I think he already gets lots of money from books, games, t-shirts and other OOTS products.

but, if you just want to mail him some dough, I'm sure he'd be happy.

[Kreistor]

B. I think he already gets lots of money from books, games, t-shirts and other OOTS products.

That isn't a certainty. Pete Abrams, author of Sluggy, kinda forgot to do stuff with merchandising for a while and then discovered his bank accounts empty. He set up a PayPal thing for anyone desiring to offer him money, and had to shut it down in less than four days due to an overwhelming response.

Do we expect a comic/day from him? Heck, no! He does his best to maintain that standard, but it's way too much work. Pete has had to carve back to not doing Sat and Sun, because he has a second child now. You'll not see me complain: he's still the best in the business. (Sorry, Richard, but it's true.)

Ultimately, if the Giant ever goes that route, you are not going to have any say in when the strip appears. You'll give him money because you love what he has done, not what he will do in the future. Pay for past entertainment, not an expectation of future entertainment.

[Bunny]

I certainly agree that Rich deserves a reward for all his excellent work. The Order of the Stick is a story that people all over the world follow. We worry about the characters, get mad at them, laugh at them ... In short, we care about them. By extention, we also care about Rich, who is not just the author of the comic, but the host of this website and a valued figure in the gaming community.

OOTS has become an important part of my daily routine (drink coffee, feed cat, read e-mail, check www.giantitp.com ...). It's one of those small-but-important things that help make my day happy (or help cheer me up when the day is not happy in spite of my efforts). While my life would certainly go on if OOTS did not run, I would miss it, just as I missed Calvin and Hobbes when Bill Watterson decided he was ready to move on.

Because of this, it's hard not to jump up and holler, "Please, Sir, I want some more!". Wild enthusiasm seems like it ought to be a compliment, but I've learned that even compliments can make a person feel pressured.

Still, I think Arioch has asked a valid question. Rich, if you are reading this, is there anything your adoring fans do (or refrain from doing) to give you less :smallfurious: and more :smallbiggrin: ? Money? Hugs? Chocolate chip cookies? Not whining so much? :smallwink:

Bunny

[Impikmin]

Aha!!! That is the answer! Let's all make a thread that says "Less stress = better comic! Sign to support!" and everyone who signs it is taking a pledge not to complain. I know, ranting about the death or Skullsy or the, erm, not un-death of Miko is sure fun (just kidding:smalltongue:, at least, in my opinion) but if you didn't argue with Rich's decisions he would be happier! And happy cows, um, Rich's, come from happy readers! I forgot to quote it, but someone once said something like:

An author who writes for himself is a better author than one who writes for his fans.

In short, he meant the author should make their own choices and it should be their own story. That way it's better in the end.:smallamused:

[Eladrinstar]

I applaud Mr. Burlew for his excellent work, but should the schedule perhaps be moved to Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. The comic has not had a strip on time for a month, and I find myself not even bothering to check for it when it is expected.

[RyQ_TMC]

Definitely not a good idea.

I don't know if Rich lives off comics or has a day job (I think there was a time the former was true, it possibly still is), but I think that the important thing is that he's doing it because he WANTS TO, not because PEOPLE WANT HIM TO.

Sometimes, he gets ill. Sometimes, something else happens, totally unexpectedly. He skips the update then (with an apology) and we all wish him best and faithfully wait for the next one. It's not as though he's PAID for it, we say.

Now, if he got money for doing strips, he would possibly feel OBLIGED to do regular updates (not that he's skipping them a lot now). If you successfully bribe him into doing more frequent updates, that would be even worse. Writing would suffer, with an increase in tempo. Just look at PvP. It was brilliant once. Now it's only 1-2 times a week that I laugh reading it. And mind you, it's SHORTER.

I wouldn't mind donating some money via PayPal. But the important word here is DONATING. Not expecting anything in return.

And last thing - paying for a webcomic is against the very idea of it, I think.

Uh, my post looks a bit chaotic. But I think I managed to convey the idea.

[Ellisthion]

From the FAQ:


I might be able to, but I choose not to. See, I have a limited capacity to come up with OOTS jokes, and my fear is that should I attempt to craft a new strip every day, the quality will drop rapidly. However, I will be using the extra time to work on other writing projects, including a new comic strip for the RPGA and additional game writing for Wizards of the Coast. And keep on the look out for all-new print projects as well, some OOTS-based, some all-new.

[Zeb The Troll]

This topic is tangentially addressed in the FAQ, here (http://www.giantitp.com/FAQ.html#faq12). Short answer is that while he could update more frequently, he's concerned about the aforementioned drop in quality if he were to do so. I don't think any amount of money would be able to negate that concern.

EDIT: ninja'd!

[YPU]

I agree, the giant cant go any father. Or he could but he should not. On the other hand, a paypal icon on the website would have a very positive effect on his bank account I am sure.

[skyclad]

The only problem wioth this idea is this:

Entitlement. Too many wold then come to believe that "I pay"="I have the right to complian vociferously about missed updates".

Yes, even more so than now.

How is anyone complaining about missing updates now? The giant misses an update say once a week, sometimes more and somtimes none. Rarely someone makes a topic about the comic beeing late, and they're always posting half a page about how they're not complaining, don't demand anything from the giant etc. Just so the fanboys wont jump on him. But they still do.

[gobla]

Well should the giant need more money then I think i'd be better to instead set up more stuff to sell.

This way you avoid the whole 'I pay = I'm allowed to complain' disaster.

Offering poster sized prints of your favorite episodes for example could work. Stuff like that would be relativly easy to set up and, provided there's enough demand for it, should return a high margin of profit.

[Snake-Aes]

...Mecenate?


Feels a bit odd =D
I can't tell if a subscription would be better for him, for the non-subscribers wouldn't be reading his ads(as much as they're mostly his own)and would maybe drop also the sells of his books.

[Ronsian]

You can't pay him to get new strips in. Be glad for all of them, although I'm sure he would appreciate choco chips and dough (I made pun of you :smallamused:).

[LordCaelvan]

I pretty much agree with what people have been saying. Set up an optional donation service, fine. But don't expect that donation to mean:

1) More updates (three times a week is good enough for me)
2) Funnier updates (they are funny enough already)
3) Any sort of entitlement (the money is a gift)

[The Giant]

Thanks, but I prefer not to accept cash unless I can provide something in return OTHER than the comic (I've done wallpaper donation drives in the past, but not recently).

The truth of the matter is, finances have nothing—less than nothing—to do with late updating. It has only to do with a.) my medical issues, and b.) the nocturnal schedule I sometimes acquire as a result of them. For example, today, I got up and went right to work on the comic; it just so happened that I woke up at 2:00 am and finished at 9:00 am. That's because I came home from the doctor wiped out yesterday and went to bed at 7:00 pm instead of starting the comic immediately.

So, yeah, if you want to support the comic, buy the books, but it won't have any impact on the schedule or my ability to update.

[evileeyore]

Pete has had to carve back to not doing Sat and Sun, because he has a second child now. You'll not see me complain: he's still the best in the business. (Sorry, Richard, but it's true.)Ehhh....

Pete has his moments of PURE UNADULTERATED AWESOME!!!! followed by months of "Meh". Overall I think OotS routinely delivers a better presentation, not hitting quite the same high notes, but never falling below "Good" either. More consistent.



How is anyone complaining about missing updates now? The giant misses an update say once a week, sometimes more and somtimes none. Rarely someone makes a topic about the comic beeing late, and they're always posting half a page about how they're not complaining, don't demand anything from the giant etc. Just so the fanboys wont jump on him. But they still do.See post 11 above for what I mean. Not "exactly" a "Oh noes, Burlew are lated agins!" but a very much passive-aggressive swipe nonetheless. But your correct. Reviewing the threads for the last bit, the frequency has dropped back off. Granted The Giant has been more consistently "late" lately, so it has becoem the "standard".

Far as I'm concerned, long as there are 3 comics a week, or atleast a note saying "I r sicked, no comix" it is okay. Hell, at one point I seriously suggested he drop back to 2 comics a week for a few months to get a handle on his other stuff. I recall he did so like last year or the year before for a few months, and there was no real stampede for the door then.

However as I said, the "Entitlement" aspect would likely increase both the frequency and amplitude of "Comix R Late Whinging".

[_Arioch_]

I guess my original post did lean at a donations = more comics theme. My thought was if Rich needed to do things outside of OOTS to generate cash maybe we could help offset some of that through donations, this in turn yielding more time to work on the strip and therefore more comics. I don't think the work can be rushed, and my sincerest apologies if I came out sounding like a demanding fan.

Since the strip is free online, we shouldn't pressure Rich to perform by a certain date, and if strips are missed that's disappointing but it sure isn't a deal breaker. I think we'll all be back for more anyway. It isn't cool to flame at him for any missed updates.

I guess it's fair to say that the team I work with at (big company name here) likes the comic enough to want to help support the author, and maybe help get him into a porsche if we can (or cover a house payment). It's the least we can do for the enjoyment we get from the comic strip several days a week. Keep up the good work, Rich, and let us know if we can help out.

Arioch

[Kilbia]

Ask any of the horde of Something*Positive fans who donated to cover Randy's salary for a year. It still didn't guarantee a daily update, since while it did relieve him of his need to spend hours per day at a job, other things still happened such as illness and family emergency, and there might have been a move thrown in there too - I forget at this point.

EDIT: I keep wanting to ask if you're *that* Arioch, but if you are, then you recognize my name too, so it doesn't matter. :smalltongue:

[chibibar]

Thanks, but I prefer not to accept cash unless I can provide something in return OTHER than the comic (I've done wallpaper donation drives in the past, but not recently).

The truth of the matter is, finances have nothing—less than nothing—to do with late updating. It has only to do with a.) my medical issues, and b.) the nocturnal schedule I sometimes acquire as a result of them. For example, today, I got up and went right to work on the comic; it just so happened that I woke up at 2:00 am and finished at 9:00 am. That's because I came home from the doctor wiped out yesterday and went to bed at 7:00 pm instead of starting the comic immediately.

So, yeah, if you want to support the comic, buy the books, but it won't have any impact on the schedule or my ability to update.

Thus far I have purchase every book (some more than one) and will continue to do so if you churn out more stuff :)

[Sir_Norbert]

One thing no-one's mentioned yet is that we know OOTS has a finite lifespan. More updates per week would just make the end come sooner, and that would be a very sad thing.

[Krytha]

People might not have been noticing so much, but the comics are more often coming in double and triple pages as opposed to the single pages thrice weekly in years past. So right now, I'd estimate we're wellll ahead of schedule with us getting approximately one strip for every day of the week including weekends. Life is good buddies.

[GrayMatter]

Point to consider, remember, and live by at all times:

Creative work is a pain in the @ss. If you rush it, it only gets to be more of a pain, until you finally give up and ship something that you are hoping won't quite get you fired, just so you can go take some aspirin and a nap.

My vote is for quality vs quantity. I check every scheduled day, but then I go find something else to do. If I could stand to, I would only check every week, and only read them once so I could enjoy the books more :)

[elliott20]

Yeah, the best way you can help the giant is by purchasing his products. I've bought every single book except Start of Darkness and I'm still waiting on my chance to pick up a copy.

My thinking is if the giant were to get regular donations from people, he might feel too much guilt and work on the comic out of obligation.

I definitely don't want to see him do that.

On the flip side, I do think Rich could stand to have greater distribution though. Judging from the previous books and all that, it looks like he could sustain a large volume of sales.