OOTS V.s. ....

[lokycat]

Well, for all we know Rich could borrow another page from 8-bit theater and simply not bring him back, just like black belt. Would be quite the surprise.
I wouldn't like it though. Personally, I consider Roy the funniest character in the entire comic. I'd hate to see him gone forever.


:smallmad:How dare you compare The Order of the Stick and Rich's writing to that second rate web comic?:smallmad:

8-bit is funny dont get me wrong, I reed it...but it lacks the sophisticated story and character development. Rich dos not need to take ANYTHING from that comic, The Giant is a mush bettor writer then Brian Clevinger.


How, in any way, is 8-Bit second rate? Dude, ask any ten people, and it's one of the best webcomics on the internet. It's better than OoTS. Yeah, I said it. :smallmad: But, neither of them are second rate at all.

I figure I start a thread before I end up ruining someone else's thread.:smalltongue:

My apologies to the 8-bit fans for calling it a second rate comic, is anything but. Yea I was wrong of me to call 8-bit a second rate web comic considering is close to it's 900th strip and has a large fan basis. The comic is very funny, I reed it but in my opinion there is no comparison....OOTS is MUSH bettor then 8-bit.
8-bit concentrates more on humor then anything els, it is very funny but it lacks the sophisticated writing and character development that OOTS has. The Giant in my opinion is mush bettor writer then Brian Clevinger.
Rich is not only a writer, he is an artist, 8-bit has a lot of humor but is not art and I don't think it has mush of a story. 8-bit can potentially go on for ever, The Giant is telling a epic story and like any GOOD story or novel it will have a climax and an end.

The reason the title of this thread is OOTS V.s. .... is because I want people to come in and talk about how OOTS compares to other web comics out there.:smallsmile:

List of other web comics. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4753)

:amused:Let the battle of the web comics begging!!!:tongue:

[Ravenatog]

I started a similar thread a few weeks ago where I claimed Oots to be the best web comic out there and still stand by that opinion. I have not taken the time to read 8-bit but it sounds like I should but I'm trying to get through Girl Genius right now which is another really well written and drawn comic I suggest you check out. But nothing touches Oots hail to the king. :smallsmile:

[ChopSticks28]

Any person who seriously compares OOTS to 8-bit is probobly insane. Only explanation I can think of.

[David Argall]

Everybody has to compare OOTS to 8-Bit, and to hundreds of other webcomics, and on a daily basis. You only have so much time to read so many comics and that means you have to compare them. You may not do it consciously, but you do it, and it is serious business.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I like Goblins almost as much as OotS.

But a problem in reading Goblins has might be about to start here at OotS:

There are two story lines going on at Goblins: Complains of Names and his team are in an extended battle while trying to infiltrate Brassmoon City, and rescue Fumbles. At the same time, Dies Horribly is hanging over a cliff, trying to save Saves a Fox. Since Thunt only posts once a week, and it can take several weeks between each plot to reach a cliffhanger, switching between the two is amazingly frustrating!

Now it looks like Haley, Belkar and Roy are going to be trapped in/near Azure City, while Elan, Vaarsuvius and Durkon are heading out to sea. I just hope OotS doesn't get as bogged down as Goblins can, or other stories where "Our Heroes" are forced to follow different paths.

[....]

I like Goblins almost as much as OotS.

But a problem in reading Goblins has might be about to start here at OotS:

There are two story lines going on at Goblins: Complains of Names and his team are in an extended battle while trying to infiltrate Brassmoon City, and rescue Fumbles. At the same time, Dies Horribly is hanging over a cliff, trying to save Saves a Fox. Since Thunt only posts once a week, and it can take several weeks between each plot to reach a cliffhanger, switching between the two is amazingly frustrating!

Now it looks like Haley, Belkar and Roy are going to be trapped in/near Azure City, while Elan, Vaarsuvius and Durkon are heading out to sea. I just hope OotS doesn't get as bogged down as Goblins can, or other stories where "Our Heroes" are forced to follow different paths.

I read Goblins! A lot, but the stuff with Dies bored me so much that I gave up about the time that Complains was with the others in Brassmoon.

[SITB]

"Reading stuff for entertainment purposes is serious business."

Besides, how can you honestly claim OOTS is the 'best webcomic ever' if you didn't read all of the other existing webcomics? The best you can claim is 'OOTS is the best webcomic I, personally, read' (which can be quite ludicrous if you only read OOTS).

[lokycat]

Goblins and Girl Genius are at lest comparable to OoTS. The 3 have a colorful story and great characters. They are not just humor, they all tell a grate story.


Any person who seriously compares OOTS to 8-bit is probobly insane. Only explanation I can think of.
My though exactly!!!:smallamused:

[Dalenthas]

OotS is better than PvP! It had to be said.
Also, it updates more often than Absurd Notions (that didn't need to be said).

[PaladinFreak]

My top three favorite webcomics.

1: OotS, because it blends character development, seriousness, and humor (mainly humor) in a way I have not found anywhere else.

2: Girl Genius, becase it is a much more serious comic, but with enough humor to keep it lighthearted.

3: Erfworld. I know I'm just asking for it in this forum, but I really like the whole thing, with the obscure references, the baby-style names, just about everything.

[Kurald Galain]

8-bit is on par with OOTS, as far as I'm concerned. They're like apples and oranges, but they're both great. OOTS has more character development, 8-bit is sillier and focuses more on parody.

Girl Genius is on my "to read" list; I haven't had time yet to read up on that, but have heard good stories about it.

Goblins I consider less interesting (although it is definitely above par for a webcomic) - in part because of the horrendously slow pacing, in part because the art is frankly rather sloppy, and in part because of the several ongoing story arcs the only two I actually found funny are the one with Minmax and the bastard DM, and the one about Tempts Fate.

Another one that fits in here is YAFGC (http://yafgc.shipsinker.com). It is well drawn, quite funny (hilarious at times) and has an ongoing storyline. There's also of course Nodwick (well-drawn but poorly written, I don't recall it ever actually being funny), and KODT (poorly drawn but well-written), and Dork Tower (nice in its criticism of society).

Erfworld I found really really stupid, to the point where I'm actually surprised that Rich would even consider hosting it.

[BRC]

All depends on your idea of quality. I'd say the OOTS story is much better, but 8-bit is much funnier, because thats what they focus on more.

[Callista]

OotS and Goblins are about equal in quality to me. OotS has more sophisticated storytelling; Goblins, more sophisticated art. But that doesn't necessarily mean "better"... the style is suited to the storyline in each case, I think.

Those two are tied for my favorite. 8-bit really isn't even in the top ten... I do read it, though, since I have time for about 20 web comics. I just stick it in a Favorites folder in Firefox, open them all in tabs, and read them all every day. Takes ten minutes, unless OotS or Goblins has a comic I want to comment on.

[yoshi927]

Sorry I was kind of angry there, but I stand by my statement. I enjoy 8-Bit more than I do OoTS. Ever since Roy died, it's been downhill. You never realize how integral he is to the humor up until he's gone. :smallbiggrin: I used to like OoTS better, but, like I said, it hasn't been the same since Roy died.

Well, just to get it out there, my favorite webcomic is the Fortuna Saga. It trumps OoTS easily, in my opinion, but then, that doesn't mean alot coming from me. Don't get me wrong, Order of the Stick is third place overall and second place for the story. OoTS was second-favorite (to Fortuna Saga) for me before Roy died, and it'll probably become so again in the future. Am I supposed to write a top five or something? What the heck;

1. Fortuna Saga
2. 8-Bit Theatre
3. Order of the Stick
4. Goblins
5. Legendary

[Knight_Of_Twilight]

Gentleman, we are comparing pie. Which seems reasonable, in till you realize that Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, and Chicken Pot Pie are all pies, but they are very different- comparing them is pointless, as is comparing web comics that are all trying to accomplish different things. 8-Bit and Oots are trying to do very different kinds of storylines.

[Aris Katsaris]

As long as we can *please* avoid all the "how dare you have a different opinion than mine" crap, anyone can prefer whatever comic they prefer.

Just please don't do the "how dare you" crap ever again, pretty please?

[Impikmin]

Ok, so I really haven't read any other webcomics out there. But I've read a hell lot of good books (and some bad ones), and watched some TV. From these comparisons, I can at least say Rich has a great talent for literature. He is also a excellent artist, and extremely funny. So I'd have to say this is at least in the top 10 on the net =]

Also...


Sorry I was kind of angry there, but I stand by my statement. I enjoy 8-Bit more than I do OoTS. Ever since Roy died, it's been downhill. You never realize how integral he is to the humor up until he's gone. :smallbiggrin: I used to like OoTS better, but, like I said, it hasn't been the same since Roy died.

Well, just to get it out there, my favorite webcomic is the Fortuna Saga. It trumps OoTS easily, in my opinion, but then, that doesn't mean alot coming from me. Don't get me wrong, Order of the Stick is third place overall and second place for the story. OoTS was second-favorite (to Fortuna Saga) for me before Roy died, and it'll probably become so again in the future. Am I supposed to write a top five or something? What the heck;

1. Fortuna Saga
2. 8-Bit Theatre
3. Order of the Stick
4. Goblins
5. Legendary

Yah, if your looking for comedy (even though I've never read 8-bit) it sounds like 8-bit would be a better choice. If your looking for an awesome story with comedy, but not as much, choose OOTS.

[Arameus]

I read a lot of webcomics, and I'd say Order of the Stick takes the top spot.

But 8-Bit Theater is great, too, and I check it whenever it updates. But the two are really incomparable; it's apples and oranges. 8-Bit is a farcical gag comic (based on a popular RPG) with sprites with an overreaching plot, and OoTS is a farcical overreaching-plot comic (based on a popular RPG) with stick figures and gags. They're really not at all similar, or at least I thought they weren't when I started writing this... :smalleek:

Honestly, though, to make a serious comparison of their quality is senseless. You may as well compare ER to Scrubs, not that I'm using either of those as corollaries for OotS or 8-Bit.

[explanetpluto]

Out of the stuff I read:

>OOTS beats everything.

>8-Bit is funny, but it lacks original storyline, since the main plot already existed.

>Erfworld has potential to become a really good comic, but I'm not going to pass judgment on it until the story gets some real direction.

>Looking For Group is interesting, but I can't ever figure out what the point is yet. Comes from being early in the story, like Erfworld. It does have good art.

>Everything else are single panels, so sometimes they're hilarious, but usually they're something to read while I wait for OOTS.

[Tharr]

First of all Phil and the Dixie kicked OOTS from the last page why because people like it better than OOTS and there are better pay adult comics that would make people laugh because unlike this web comic they can have super adult content plus racist humor. Beside soon WOTC might put own the new type of web strip cash in.

[CasESenSITItiVE]

i don't read that many web comics, so i won't go comparing them directly, but i must raise a point. every time i get into a webcomic, it will, on almost every occasion, die out into very few inconsistent updates or die out completely. its why i don't read that many anymore. People can complain about the new updating without warning policy, but OotS updates the most regularily out of a large majority of webcomics. if nothing else, i would say this comic is great simply for its consistency

[Winterwind]

While I enjoy Eight Bit Theatre greatly, in my opinion it doesn't hold a candle to The Order of the Stick. Its plot is much weaker, the characters have much less personality, being mostly reduced to their respective stereotypes, and the biggest problem: it is awfully repetitive. By now, everybody has understood that, yes, Black Mage indeed is evil, the Light Warriors are dysfunctional, and the Universe exists only to hurt Black Mage. Also, given the rant Brian has given in one of his essays, about how characters in comics are supposed to change, I wonder why he doesn't follow his own advise. From the beginning of the comic, the personalities of the Light Warriors, as shallow as they are, haven't changed a bit yet. Sure, Fighter got his sword-chucks, they all got a class change. But those are new powers, not character development. The closest thing to character development so far was Red Mage realising that casting spells did not decrease his versatility, and that was many strips ago.
It's also a personal preference: I take plot and story over comedy anytime.

Huh. That sounds much more negative than I intended it to. Unlikely as it may seem after such a rant, I do enjoy Eight Bit Theatre, and it's actually amongst my favorite comics, though far behind OotS, Erfworld and Goblins.

[Pastafarian]

I only read four webcomics, three of which are very good and one of which is decent if you get the references. Here's the ranked list:

1) Sluggy Freelance
2) OotS
3) Erfworld
4) Turn Signals on a Land Raider

Sluggy and OotS are a tough comparison, but in the end Sluggy wins because it seems to me that it just has more three dimensional and believable characters and plots. Sluggy might have a bit of an advantage because of its (nearly) ten years of archives, but still. In Oots, Roy and Redcloak have very detailed, believable pasts and motivation, but then you also have Xykon and Belkar, who are just psychotic jackasses without any reason for it. This adds to the humor, but in the end it also makes the difference between a great webcomic and a slightly better one. Also, Sluggy updates every day, without fail, no more than a couple hours late, compared to OotS' recent issues with consistency. (I would also like to echo the previous poster's disclaimer that while I may diss OotS in this comparison, it does not in any way imply that I think it isn't an amazing comic.)

Erfworld is a very clever and original comic, and I look forward to seeing the story unfold further.

Finally, TSOALR, while funny at times, and not really something I'd call bad, is probably not worth reading unless you either spend way to much time reading webcomics or lack the gumption to find something better (like me), even if you do know enough about WH40K to understand it.

[lokycat]

Another one that fits in here is YAFGC (http://yafgc.shipsinker.com). It is well drawn, quite funny (hilarious at times) and has an ongoing storyline. There's also of course Nodwick (well-drawn but poorly written, I don't recall it ever actually being funny), and KODT (poorly drawn but well-written), and Dork Tower (nice in its criticism of society).

YAFGC is really funny.:smallbiggrin:
First time i reed it and I think is way funny, I subscribed to the comic with my Fire Fox. I have the feeling is going to bring me hours of enjoyment.:smallwink:

[Megatron]

OotS is the best comic on the web, imho. Hell, I think the only reason 8-bit has a larger fanbase is because Final Fantasy is more popular than D&D.

[Setra]

Reading over 50 webcomics... I'd have to say I'm a decent judge of them.

Comparing 8-bit to OotS is a joke, if you ask me.

8-Bit has been doing almost the exact same jokes for the entire length of their comic. The characters are shallow, and never-changing, and the humor is fading. It's like Garfield almost, at this point.

OotS is more dynamic, the characters develop, and the jokes do too. It's still funny, and yet at the sime time is also a very entertaining story..

As an afterthought, I'd like to note OotS is in my top five. (After Inverloch, Misfile, and Questionable Content, and before Fanboys)

[David Argall]

I take plot and story over comedy anytime.


Not a good idea with webcomics. As noted by other posters, the lifespan of webcomics is quite short, meaning that plot and story are all too often never going to be finished. It's bad enough that you loses the daily dose of comedy, but to find out the last 20 pages of the detective novel are missing...

[Klev]

Well to the the truth I think both comics are great but both have its ups and down...

A few months ago I would say that OOTS was way superior to 8-bit, at the time 8-bit suffered a lot from dark humor sometimes to the point of complety forgetting the rest specially the silly humor, and OOTS was simply great, a lot of cliff hanger and humor.

Whoever it seems that after Sarda calling them and "knocking" (literally heh) some senses on the Light Warriors the 8-bit series have improved. In the opoosite side I think OOTS is on an down for me, since Xykon killed the Paladins, which was a very low point in OOTS for me, I don't remember one single comic where I laughed loud. And I am sorry to everyone that thinks that the story is great, but the humor is a necessity for OOTS, if you take the humor off the story is cliched and doesn't stand at all by itself, specially with actions scenes because of the lack of good Art. Well hopefull OOTS will soon recover his humor vein.

[Acyberexile]

My list:

1 - OotS
2 - Concerned
3 - Hellbound

[maitreyi]

I have tried to read 8 bit theatre but I can't get past the art for the characters. I like to see facial expressions, detail in the main characters and it is very frustrating to me. Rich must like 8 bit though, because he did a guest comic for it that you can read in the extras section.

Looking for group is very good due to the character Richard. He comes on strong at the very beginning of the strip and he hooks us into reading more.

[Winterwind]

Reading over 50 webcomics... I'd have to say I'm a decent judge of them.

Comparing 8-bit to OotS is a joke, if you ask me.

8-Bit has been doing almost the exact same jokes for the entire length of their comic. The characters are shallow, and never-changing, and the humor is fading. It's like Garfield almost, at this point.

OotS is more dynamic, the characters develop, and the jokes do too. It's still funny, and yet at the sime time is also a very entertaining story..

As an afterthought, I'd like to note OotS is in my top five. (After Inverloch, Misfile, and Questionable Content, and before Fanboys)Fully agreed.


Not a good idea with webcomics. As noted by other posters, the lifespan of webcomics is quite short, meaning that plot and story are all too often never going to be finished. It's bad enough that you loses the daily dose of comedy, but to find out the last 20 pages of the detective novel are missing...That's right, unfortunately, but I'm willing to take the risk.

[yoshi927]

Reading over 50 webcomics... I'd have to say I'm a decent judge of them.

Comparing 8-bit to OotS is a joke, if you ask me.

8-Bit has been doing almost the exact same jokes for the entire length of their comic. The characters are shallow, and never-changing, and the humor is fading. It's like Garfield almost, at this point.

OotS is more dynamic, the characters develop, and the jokes do too. It's still funny, and yet at the sime time is also a very entertaining story..

As an afterthought, I'd like to note OotS is in my top five. (After Inverloch, Misfile, and Questionable Content, and before Fanboys)Well, the only thing to say is I disagree. Frankly, I don't care how many comics you've read. I know what I like. :smallwink: 8-Bit is way more humorous than OoTS, that's what I think.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Everybody has what they consider to be "effective comedy," or what makes them laugh.

Some like Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, others like Three's Company.

"Jack? Why are my panties in the flower garden?"
"Gee Chrissy, I don't know!"
LaughTrak...

Me? I like something with a bit more substance. When does the next Discworld come out?

[Nathander]

First of all Phil and the Dixie kicked OOTS from the last page why because people like it better than OOTS and there are better pay adult comics that would make people laugh because unlike this web comic they can have super adult content plus racist humor. Beside soon WOTC might put own the new type of web strip cash in.

How is this substantial, at all, to the conversation? While Phil and Dixie is another comic, it's not a webcomic. Secondly, adult comics can really only appeal to a niche group, while a comic like the OOTS while, not being juvenile, can appeal to far more age groups. I also don't see how you think Wizards of the Coast will be leading webcomics. You're free to your opinion, but I really have to disagree.

As for the main comparison (OOTS and 8-Bit), I have to say that OoTS trumps 8-bit in every single way. While I still like 8-Bit, I think it's definantily jumped the shark recently with their quest to get the Orb of Air as, really, literally nothing has happened. While I find it funny, I find OoTS funnier, and a much better strip all told.

Really, my three favorites are probably:

1. Order of the Stick
2. Penny Arcade
3. Jack

[yoshi927]

While I'm at it, I might as well mention how surprised I am that so many people like OoTS better than 8-Bit... on the OoTS forum. :smallbiggrin:

[Setra]

Well, the only thing to say is I disagree. Frankly, I don't care how many comics you've read. I know what I like. :smallwink: 8-Bit is way more humorous than OoTS, that's what I think.
I won't disagree with your opinion. You may like 8-Bit more.

I'm just saying OotS is better, as a whole.

[WuanAnselm]

Although I like OOTS storyline overall more than any other webcomic I've read until now, few comics actually make laugh so much as The DM of the rings (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612), OOTS is damn good because of the storyline and the humor, but TDMOFT is pure humor at it's finest, it is the second web comic I look at everyday after OOTS :smallbiggrin: (having a bit more than average LOTR knowledge also helps)

[Winterwind]

Anyhow, someone started a OOTS V.s. 8-Bit thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53675) so this point is mute. Let me know how other comics compare to OOTS.Actually, this other thread is about who would win in a fight, comparing characters from the two comics. So, its content doesn't collide with this thread here, which is about the quality of the comics itself.

[maitreyi]

Although I like OOTS storyline overall more than any other webcomic I've read until now, few comics actually make laugh so much as The DM of the rings, OOTS is damn good because of the storyline and the humor, but TDMOFT is pure humor at it's finest, it is the second web comic I look at everyday after OOTS (having a bit more than average LOTR knowledge also helps)

Wuananselm, I love this one too, and I laughed hysterically at the comic where Aragorn confronts Haldir of the elves. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:

[Ravenlord]

My personal $0.02: I have been reading OOTS for a while, and though some time ago I really dug it, I think I have lost a lot of interest. I can't point out what exactly, but something feels amiss - there are a lot of things that simply annoy me (like Belkar going on his N+1th rampage for example: cool, yeah, he's a sociopath, we have seen him doing this N times already, could someone just stab him so it ceases finally?) Also, this paladin arc has been very long, and equally very boring. Except the end battle, where Rich tried to pull so many unexpected turns that in the end I didn't care anymore, because in almost every comic someone would come and pull yet another ace from the sleeve.

If I had to name my favourite webcomic, I'd probably say Dr McNinja. It manages to keep being quality whith all the sheer weirdness and ridicolous overuse of cliches - it's really awesome.

[WuanAnselm]

Wuananselm, I love this one too, and I laughed hysterically at the comic where Aragorn confronts Haldir of the elves. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:

So did I maitreyi :smallbiggrin: Theoden's following line "We should not turn aside help from friends no matter how...disturbingly attractive you find them" always cracks me up, it's hilarious the way Aragorn's player can't tell women from prettyboys :smalltongue:

[lokycat]

Although I like OOTS storyline overall more than any other webcomic I've read until now, few comics actually make laugh so much as The DM of the rings (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612), OOTS is damn good because of the storyline and the humor, but TDMOFT is pure humor at it's finest, it is the second web comic I look at everyday after OOTS :smallbiggrin: (having a bit more than average LOTR knowledge also helps)

Hahahaha...to funny to funny!!!:smallbiggrin:

[Kreistor]

I hate to say it, but Sluggy Freelance rules all. Sorry, but OotS and 8-bit aren't even close.

Art

OotS are stick figures. 8-bit are stolen from an old Final Fantasy game. Neither are art. Both are just copy-pastes over and over with minor changes to the mouth, eyes, or hand positions.

Sluggy is drawn, panel for panel. 7 days a week until about four years ago, down to 6 then, and due to a recent addition to the family, he's down to 5 for a while, with intentions of returning to 6 once his second child is older. Early sluggy was three-four panel strips, but that changed as Pete found he had too much story and that limitation was slowing down the story too much. Despite the more frequent updates, Sluggy often has as many or more panels than either OotS or 8-bit with their 3/week schedules. A friend of mine in animation is stunned by the sheer volume of work Pete churns out. You have to have respect for the tremendous work of this man, providing a completely hand-drawn strip daily, sometimes long stretches where every day is as large as a typical Sunday comic. It's not just volume, though, or the fact it's hand-drawn. In artistic value, the copy-pasters just don't match Pete for style: they aren't even close. Pete's art is much better than copy-paste.

Of the other two, it doesn't quite come down to stick figures vs. final fantasy rip-offs. Backgrounds also play a part. Rich has gone for a minimalist style, using lines and solid colours. Brian (of 8-bit) does backgrounds, usually digitizing images and slapping them in. Which is easier to look at? Neither. Rich's backgrounds are single-colour and boring. Brians are copy-paste rip-offs and though more colourful, still boring. They're both simplistic and limited. I'm not going to favour either one.

Story

Long term storylines were things of the 30's. Flash Gordon. **** Tracy. These were the comics with long term storylines. There were no storylines anymore: they'd died in the 50's. There were a couple exceptions (Mary Worth and For Better or For Worse, and to a lesser extent Bloom County), but the most popular strips did not have storylines, just story arcs. Calvin and Hobbes had no storyline, while Far Side didn't even have the same characters two strips in a row. Then here comes the Internet, and now we have long term storylines and short term story arcs, and continuity has become expected. The story has returned to comic strips.

8-bit has a storyline? Ayep. They're hunting these orbs for this omnipotent guy. But the day-to-day humour trumps story every time. 8-bit is about the lack of resolution, or accidental resolution, not successful resolution. 8-bit is not about the story, it is about absurdity. So, 8-bit loses on story line.

OotS has a long term story arc, and it is clearly defined; however, this arc limits the scope of the effort. OotS is limited to a DnD world with DnD places to go. We can see, perhaps, too much of the future. We know how many gates and the themes surrounding them, and so there is less sense of surprise. The story is good, but perhaps too much foreshadowing has placed the story on rails.

Sluggy Freelance has a long term storyline, according to a recent post by Pete, but it is so long that we are only now seeing the beginnings of the set-up for the end-story. We're looking at at least 7 more years. The story elements are so broad and inclusive, that there is no clear end point, and so we don't know from day to day what might happen. It surprises us. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, or next week, much less a year from now.

Sluggy breaks down into a series of story arcs. Each arc has its own flavour and character selection. This provides for a unique opportunity every few months to complete change the look and feel of the strip. Here Riff and Sluggy go off into space. There, Bun-bun makes his final move to eliminate Santa Claus. And this time, Zoe and her sister are on the run from an insane assassin. Lacking the limitation of something like a group of DnD PC's, Sluggy is not inherently limited in which characters can participate in a particular story arc. This flexibility provides for a wider array of story possibilities.

I have to give it to Sluggy for story, simply because the wider variety of options provides Pete with a comic that does not ever seem stale.

Humour

Repetitive humour is inherently bad? Let's talk about the Simpsons. How many years for that one? It's as repetitive as you can get, and yet it is one of the longest running shows, ever. Clearly, the majority of human beings do not agree that repetitive humour is inherently bad.

I didn't discuss Erfworld because it fails in this subject. It often lacks humour, so I'm not going to bother ranking it.

I also did not include another new comic, Looking For Group, which is based on World of Warcraft. Its humour, especially in the early strips, was all the same: the warlock does bad things. Think of him like BM, except there's no Fighter to provide the straight man, just peasants to light on fire. Don't get me wrong: Sohmer does violent humour extremely well, even better than Brian's BM, IMO. He's getting better now, and relying on the violent humour less, but there's not enough sample space to pull it out of that old complaint bin.

8-bit is like the Simpsons. It has several major sources of humour -- BM's violence, Fighter's naivety, and Red Mage's arrogance. There are others, like the Dark Warriors' incompetence, King Steve's insanity, and so on, but the first three are the primary sources. That makes it much like the Simpsons. Homer's absurdity, Bart's carelessness, Marge's flakey-ness -- these provide the majority of repetitive humour in the Simpsons, but there's Barney's grotesqueness, Smithers homosexuality, and so on that flavour it. Some people don't watch the Simpsons because of the repetitiveness, but the majority seem not to have a problem, given its longevity. Such sources of humour provide that back-up laugh in case you don't think of something new. 8-bit, in the end, is regularly funny, and never serious.

OotS has many serious moments. Rich tries to get a laugh into every strip (with notable plot-point exceptions), and he does a great job of it.

Sluggy Freelance was initially all about the humour, but those that have read from the start realize that Pete changed that, as he added content, finding that he had story he wanted to tell that simply wasn't funny. At some point, he decided that he was going to have to let these serious story arcs out. Sluggy is no longer just about the humour. There was little to laugh at in the Fire and Ice story arc, but the story was rivetting. Humour still dominates the comic, probably around 90% of the time. The humour in Sluggy, though, is rarely repetitive. The story arcs are so long now that the sit-com style repetitive humour isn't common anymore, even when it is repeitive. (It's just been so long since the previous incarnation, that the repetition isn't as obvious.)

I do have to give it to OotS for this subject. 8-bit is perhaps more recognizably funny, but OotS has more flexibility in its humour. Sluggy, because it takes long stretches where humour is not inherent in the story, has to fall a little back here.

Overall

Sluggy Freelance. Better story. Much better art. Flexible humour. Unexpected storyline. It is just a better strip overall. I'm still going to read all three, mind you, but Sluggy is the one I check first every morning.

[TARINunit9]

OOTS V.s. .... Legendary!

Description of Legendary: The main charachters (not sic) Lionel Glenrose and his friend Antonio embark on a world-wide adventure. One small catch: they are in a turn-based RPG video game and they know it! The game is played by another (albiet rarely occuring) person, aparrently playing it on a Wii.

Outcome: OOTS wins this one, mostly because there are more comics and a more in-depth story line. Also, Legendary bases it's art style straight from OOTS.

Link to Legendary (http://legendary.comicgenesis.com/d/20060710.html) Note: all the current updates consist of nothing but filler comics until furthur notice.:smallfrown:

[TARINunit9]

I hate to say it, but Sluggy Freelance rules all. Sorry, but OotS and 8-bit aren't even close.

Art

OotS are stick figures. 8-bit are stolen from an old Final Fantasy game. Neither are art. Both are just copy-pastes over and over with minor changes to the mouth, eyes, or hand positions.

Sluggy is drawn, panel for panel. 7 days a week until about four years ago, down to 6 then, and due to a recent addition to the family, he's down to 5 for a while, with intentions of returning to 6 once his second child is older. Early sluggy was three-four panel strips, but that changed as Pete found he had too much story and that limitation was slowing down the story too much. Despite the more frequent updates, Sluggy often has as many or more panels than either OotS or 8-bit with their 3/week schedules. A friend of mine in animation is stunned by the sheer volume of work Pete churns out. You have to have respect for the tremendous work of this man, providing a completely hand-drawn strip daily, sometimes long stretches where every day is as large as a typical Sunday comic. It's not just volume, though, or the fact it's hand-drawn. In artistic value, the copy-pasters just don't match Pete for style: they aren't even close. Pete's art is much better than copy-paste.

Of the other two, it doesn't quite come down to stick figures vs. final fantasy rip-offs. Backgrounds also play a part. Rich has gone for a minimalist style, using lines and solid colours. Brian (of 8-bit) does backgrounds, usually digitizing images and slapping them in. Which is easier to look at? Neither. Rich's backgrounds are single-colour and boring. Brians are copy-paste rip-offs and though more colourful, still boring. They're both simplistic and limited. I'm not going to favour either one.

Story

Long term storylines were things of the 30's. Flash Gordon. **** Tracy. These were the comics with long term storylines. There were no storylines anymore: they'd died in the 50's. There were a couple exceptions (Mary Worth and For Better or For Worse, and to a lesser extent Bloom County), but the most popular strips did not have storylines, just story arcs. Calvin and Hobbes had no storyline, while Far Side didn't even have the same characters two strips in a row. Then here comes the Internet, and now we have long term storylines and short term story arcs, and continuity has become expected. The story has returned to comic strips.

8-bit has a storyline? Ayep. They're hunting these orbs for this omnipotent guy. But the day-to-day humour trumps story every time. 8-bit is about the lack of resolution, or accidental resolution, not successful resolution. 8-bit is not about the story, it is about absurdity. So, 8-bit loses on story line.

OotS has a long term story arc, and it is clearly defined; however, this arc limits the scope of the effort. OotS is limited to a DnD world with DnD places to go. We can see, perhaps, too much of the future. We know how many gates and the themes surrounding them, and so there is less sense of surprise. The story is good, but perhaps too much foreshadowing has placed the story on rails.

Sluggy Freelance has a long term storyline, according to a recent post by Pete, but it is so long that we are only now seeing the beginnings of the set-up for the end-story. We're looking at at least 7 more years. The story elements are so broad and inclusive, that there is no clear end point, and so we don't know from day to day what might happen. It surprises us. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, or next week, much less a year from now.

Sluggy breaks down into a series of story arcs. Each arc has its own flavour and character selection. This provides for a unique opportunity every few months to complete change the look and feel of the strip. Here Riff and Sluggy go off into space. There, Bun-bun makes his final move to eliminate Santa Claus. And this time, Zoe and her sister are on the run from an insane assassin. Lacking the limitation of something like a group of DnD PC's, Sluggy is not inherently limited in which characters can participate in a particular story arc. This flexibility provides for a wider array of story possibilities.

I have to give it to Sluggy for story, simply because the wider variety of options provides Pete with a comic that does not ever seem stale.

Humour

Repetitive humour is inherently bad? Let's talk about the Simpsons. How many years for that one? It's as repetitive as you can get, and yet it is one of the longest running shows, ever. Clearly, the majority of human beings do not agree that repetitive humour is inherently bad.

I didn't discuss Erfworld because it fails in this subject. It often lacks humour, so I'm not going to bother ranking it.

I also did not include another new comic, Looking For Group, which is based on World of Warcraft. Its humour, especially in the early strips, was all the same: the warlock does bad things. Think of him like BM, except there's no Fighter to provide the straight man, just peasants to light on fire. Don't get me wrong: Sohmer does violent humour extremely well, even better than Brian's BM, IMO. He's getting better now, and relying on the violent humour less, but there's not enough sample space to pull it out of that old complaint bin.

8-bit is like the Simpsons. It has several major sources of humour -- BM's violence, Fighter's naivety, and Red Mage's arrogance. There are others, like the Dark Warriors' incompetence, King Steve's insanity, and so on, but the first three are the primary sources. That makes it much like the Simpsons. Homer's absurdity, Bart's carelessness, Marge's flakey-ness -- these provide the majority of repetitive humour in the Simpsons, but there's Barney's grotesqueness, Smithers homosexuality, and so on that flavour it. Some people don't watch the Simpsons because of the repetitiveness, but the majority seem not to have a problem, given its longevity. Such sources of humour provide that back-up laugh in case you don't think of something new. 8-bit, in the end, is regularly funny, and never serious.

OotS has many serious moments. Rich tries to get a laugh into every strip (with notable plot-point exceptions), and he does a great job of it.

Sluggy Freelance was initially all about the humour, but those that have read from the start realize that Pete changed that, as he added content, finding that he had story he wanted to tell that simply wasn't funny. At some point, he decided that he was going to have to let these serious story arcs out. Sluggy is no longer just about the humour. There was little to laugh at in the Fire and Ice story arc, but the story was rivetting. Humour still dominates the comic, probably around 90% of the time. The humour in Sluggy, though, is rarely repetitive. The story arcs are so long now that the sit-com style repetitive humour isn't common anymore, even when it is repeitive. (It's just been so long since the previous incarnation, that the repetition isn't as obvious.)

I do have to give it to OotS for this subject. 8-bit is perhaps more recognizably funny, but OotS has more flexibility in its humour. Sluggy, because it takes long stretches where humour is not inherent in the story, has to fall a little back here.

Overall

Sluggy Freelance. Better story. Much better art. Flexible humour. Unexpected storyline. It is just a better strip overall. I'm still going to read all three, mind you, but Sluggy is the one I check first every morning.

And now, a rebuttal :smalltongue: .

OOTS is NOT just copy and paste. Rich spends 2 to 3 drawing one strip. If it was just copy and paste, Rich would use Paint and would have one a day for us. In reality, he uses Adobe Illustrator and spends a couple days getting everything just right. And personally, I have not liking for hand-drawn webcomics anyway; I'll take Rich's style over Pete's anyday!

As for story, OOTS has the most unexpected plot twists I've ever seen! (and I've seen quite a bit!) I seriously doubt Sluggy could give me a more intriguing story (I don't read it, but I still doubt it can).

:tongue:

[Setra]

Sluggy... just... I don't know what it is, but I stopped reading it. It's just.. Too.. something anymore.

It stopped being funny and dramatic.

[yoshi927]

It is a bias discussions, I agree. I have started a thread on the Wizards of the Coast forums and I get the same response over all. OOTS is a work of art, 8-bit is nothing but humor, like Penny Arcade. I reed both PA and 8-Bit (and enjoy them very mush)but they both always have a punch line at the end, Rich dost not have to have a punch line at the end because of a cliffhanger or surprising climax, over all is just bettor writing.

You mite enjoy 8-bit bettor then OOTS, I enjoy 8-bit but still think it dos not hold a candle to OOTS, I like reeding stuff like "Angels and Demons", "Stranger in a Strange land", ext....you mite like Harry Potter books or mite not enjoy reading at all.

Anyhow, someone started a OOTS V.s. 8-Bit thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53675) so this point is mute. Let me know how other comics compare to OOTS.Wait... did you just say that I can't appreciate good stories or something? Now I'm all confused. :smallbiggrin: But, I will tell you this. Order of the Stick is a D&D based webcomic. Have you guessed it buy now? Wizards of the Coast. D&D. Now, what do those have to do with eachother? :smallbiggrin:

If you ask on the 8-Bit boards or a Final Fantasy themed board, I'm willing to bet the farm that you're going to get the answer that 8-Bit is better. What I'm saying is that we need neutral ground. I'm not trying to discount people's opinions because "they would say that", but what we're polling here is a minority group with a gigantic bias.

Edit;

Okay, on a second reading, I am astounded by the comparison you try to draw between liking 8-Bit over OoTS and a failure to recognize good literature. I have one question to ask: ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO YOURSELF ANYMORE? Zero ranks in knowledge whatever the heck you're talking about indeed.

I can only trust that readers will have at least a bit more intelligence than you, in drawing a comparison between having an opinion diverging from yours and having bad taste. This is really one of the most outrageous, not to mention completely and utterly stupid, things I've ever read. Really, try Song of Ice and Fire, anything by Robin Hobb, Wheel of Time series, anything by Shakespeare, in webcomics the Fortuna Saga, and then come back here and insult my grasp of good stories. 'Kay? :smallfurious:

If anything in this appeared to be a flame, I won't lie. It probably was. I don't mean to anger anyone, but I am not going to allow a statement like that to stand.

Please note, if I misunderstood your purpose in that comment, I apologize.

[Firestar27]

>OOTS beats everything.
Yes. Yes is does.


>Looking For Group is interesting, but I can't ever figure out what the point is yet. Comes from being early in the story, like Erfworld. It does have good art.

The story is a little winding (and the Sword of Truth thing is ripped off), but its humor is comparable to OOTS. (and the sword of truth thing is the ONLY thing that is ripped off.)
Warning: Spoilers
An Explanation of the LFG plot.
The story thus far:
Aelloon is after Benny, and the only ways to stop him are to kill him or to give him the Sword of Truth. Cale refuses to kill him, so they all search for the sword of truth. The Sword of Truth is located in Kethenecia (they learned this from a scroll that the Gnome Leader gives them). Kethenecia is an ancient city of good elves, that is now destroyed. The shriek showed Cale another good elven city from the past, and he found out that by dipping his swords in blood, a map to Kethenecia will appear. They followed the map, and they found a good elf from the first good elven city. He showed them a statue of the group that was made a long time ago. It was prophesized that they would come. Richard opened to portal, and they have entered Kethenecia. Currently, they are in Kethenecia.

[Firestar27]

I also did not include another new comic, Looking For Group, which is based on World of Warcraft. Its humour, especially in the early strips, was all the same: the warlock does bad things. Think of him like BM, except there's no Fighter to provide the straight man, just peasants to light on fire. Don't get me wrong: Sohmer does violent humour extremely well, even better than Brian's BM, IMO. He's getting better now, and relying on the violent humour less, but there's not enough sample space to pull it out of that old complaint bin.
The humor in Richard (the warlock) was not the random violence. It was how he treated the random violence. In this comic (http://lfgcomic.com/page/6), the joke wasn't that Cale almost became a monstrous bug because of Richard, it was that Richard said "Good times?".
Or later on, the joke wasn't that he was killing gnomes and thought they looked like children. The joke was that he said "It's hard to kill just one".
And of course, his battlecry is great as well: FOR PONY!

[lokycat]

Art

And now, a rebuttal :smalltongue: .
OOTS is NOT just copy and paste. Rich spends 2 to 3 drawing one strip. If it was just copy and paste, Rich would use Paint and would have one a day for us. In reality, he uses Adobe Illustrator and spends a couple days getting everything just right. And personally, I have not liking for hand-drawn webcomics anyway; I'll take Rich's style over Pete's anyday!
:tongue:
Art is more then a a good drawing or a good story, I personally think that OOTS is Art because is original drawings (witch are stick figures but look at some of the stuff that is called art wen is just a dot in the middle of a canvas:smalltongue:)and original writing witch tells a great story.



Overall

Sluggy Freelance. Better story. Much better art. Flexible humour. Unexpected storyline. It is just a better strip overall. I'm still going to read all three, mind you, but Sluggy is the one I check first every morning.
I read it a wale back and didn't like it mush, I honestly don't remember what I didn't like about it but it lost my interest fast.:smallannoyed:

[Alex Kidd]

Sluggy Freelance for me too. Just seems better overall, OotS was competing with it but the updating randomness has pushed it down. After that it goes

1. Sluggy Freelance
2.OotS
3. 8Bit
4. Gunnerkrig Court
5. Scary Go Round

Bit surprised no one's mentioned the last two on my list yet.

[Setra]

It seems to me, Sluggy and OotS are roughly equal, and in the end it all depends on the style you prefer.

For example, I can't understand why people like it, but I understand that they do. The fact I don't like it, doesn't make it any less better.

However, despite this rational train of thought. I want to be irrational and say Inverloch is better than both. Mostly because I forgot what I was saying... and I'm tired.


Also. A list. Because I felt like it.
1. Inverloch (http://www.seraph-inn.com/index.html)
2. Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/index.php)
3. Misfile (http://www.misfile.com/)
4. OotS
5. Fanboys (http://fanboys-online.com/)

[Kreistor]

Art is more then a a good drawing or a good story, I personally think that OOTS is Art because is original drawings (witch are stick figures but look at some of the stuff that is called art wen is just a dot in the middle of a canvas:smalltongue:)and original writing witch tells a great story.

I don't think I said that OotS wasn't at all art. I just meant that it was not as good art as Sluggy.

Andy Warhol copied a picture or Marilyn Monroe and colourized copies of them, and that was considered powerful art. So I won't say that OotS isn't art. Copy/paste is an accepted art form.

[doliemaster]

I love OOTS, but I have to say that as of late, I know of one webcomic that, if it gets its updates in order, will be my new number-one. That Webcomic is Captain SNES[search it, its great.] I like it because it can have many plots going on, it actually does get a funny joke off, even in the most dramatic point, without ruining the tension, unfortunately it has a bery erratic update schedule[and not the best record]. By no means am I going to stop reading OOTS, but SNES can get its humor off better, while maintaing a serious plot.

[yoshi927]

You are right,so I took your advice, I posted in a video game fan forums.
There was a section called WebComic to.:smalltongue:



1) I don't know who you are, how old you are and what you like, I have friends that don't like to reed any kind of serious literature but love to reed comics and web comics and I have friends that reed Harry Potter, one of them in Fact turned me on to the Wheel of Time series(oddly enough it was my 16 year old cousin who thanks to the Harry Potter craze found out he loves to reed:smalltongue:).
As for Shakespeare...is defanatly not me, I read half way throw R&J and lots of other small plays he wrote, one of the greatest pieces of literature and it bored me to tears.:smallfrown:
I did finish end enjoyed Hamlet tho.

2)I like reeding 8-bit but I don't consider it to have any kind of real story, it has shalow characters and is far from smart, I enjoy the stupid humor but is nothing but entertainment and it dos not pretend to be anything els.
Is like comparing DC to Marvel...8-bit being DC has shallow characters, cliche storys(how many times have aliens invaded earth?) and completly out of this worls situations and is not the best writing in the world.(for the exception of Batman)
OOTS being Marvel has 3D characters that go throw endless moral trials and some of the best cy-fi writers in the world work for Marvel of got there start in Marvel comics.

I still reed both Marvel and DC but prefer Marvel.

3) It was not a "shot at you", You can reed what ever you want and find entertaining what ever you want, you have the right to post your opinions, I just don't want this thread to be oots V.s. 8-bit, there are hundreds of web comics out there and I want to hear what other people think about them and how they compare to OOTS sins OOTS is my favorite so there for I want to find others that compare to OOTS. I want to hear people bash on OOTS or any other comic, I don't just want to hear about 8-bit.:smallfurious:

That is way I said:

and gave a link to a list of just about every web comic in the internet. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4753)

P.s.
I still say 8-bit sucks compared to OOTS:smallamused:(all tho I do reed 8-bit)

1)OOTS
2)Girl Genius
3)LFG
4)YAFGC
5)Penny Arcade
6)8-bit
7)The DM of the Rings
8)RPG world

Please if you know of any other web comic that compares to OOTS bring it in and compare it, discus the pros and cons.

That is what this thread is for.Well, the way I understood it you were equating liking 8-Bit more than OoTS as being stupid or somehow inferior to you. It still seems that way to me, actually, but if that wasn't your intention, like I said before, sorry.

Also;

DM of the Rings forever, dude. :smallbiggrin:

[Heliomance]

I'd have to nominate QC (www.questionablecontent.net) and Mindmistress (mindmistress.comicgen.com) as two of my favourite webcomics, along with OOTS.

[lokycat]

Also. A list. Because I felt like it.
1. Inverloch (http://www.seraph-inn.com/index.html)
2. Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/index.php)
3. Misfile (http://www.misfile.com/)
4. OotS
5. Fanboys (http://fanboys-online.com/)

1)I think I fell in love with Inverloch.:smallbiggrin: I haven't reed mush jet bit I have a feeling I will keep reeding it.
2)Questionable Content:smallconfused:...didnt like so mush, I have reed it befor but didnt remember up until the 10th strip. Kind of like Sluggy, I lost interest real fast.
3)Misfile, never heard of it but I like the MANGA type stile so I will continue to reed it.
4)Fanboys is a lot like Penny Arcade, Ill keep reeding it but I don't see mush of a story anywhere. I go and check it out every time I reed Penny Arcade.


I'd have to nominate QC (www.questionablecontent.net) and Mindmistress (mindmistress.comicgen.com) as two of my favourite webcomics, along with OOTS.

I don't know what to think of Mindmistress:smallconfused:, I don't know if I like it or don't.:smalltongue: It seems to be a super hero comic, not my stile but Ill give a chance but super heroes is not my thing.

[theKOT]

8 bit is funnier, OOTS has a plot.[/nutshell]

[Setra]

8 bit is funnier, OOTS has a plot.[/nutshell]
I don't see it.

Black Mage can only attack fighter so many times before it stops being funny.

Thief can only steal so much before it stops.

Fighter can only be stupid til it gets old.

I like Red Mage though.

I'd say OotS is funnier AND has a plot.

1)I think I fell in love with Inverloch.:smallbiggrin: I haven't reed mush jet bit I have a feeling I will keep reeding it.
2)Questionable Content:smallconfused:...didnt like so mush, I have reed it befor but didnt remember up until the 10th strip. Kind of like Sluggy, I lost interest real fast.
3)Misfile, never heard of it but I like the MANGA type stile so I will continue to reed it.
4)Fanboys is a lot like Penny Arcade, Ill keep reeding it but I don't see mush of a story anywhere. I go and check it out every time I reed Penny Arcade.
1. It's very good
2. Well I suppose it's humor style. Really though, I didn't like it much at first either, it gets better over time.
4. Fanboys does occasionally have a small story here and there. But it's my favorite place for videogame based humor.

[Deepblue706]

I think both 8-Bit and OoTS are quality comics. They both appeal to me in different ways. Honestly, I'd say that OoTS was fairly lame at first, but as it developed things have turned around. Though, that's also how I felt about 8-Bit. True, 8-Bit is very often stale (whereas OoTS seems to have pushed itself out of its crappier days, for the most part) - but I appreciate the humor to be found very much, simply because of my own life experiences. I greatly appreciate OoTS too, sure - but sometimes it too shows weak points, and is just as far from perfection. Really, I'd rate them to be equals.

It's interesting, because I absolutely hate all the other webcomics everyone else is mentioning. Well, DM of the Rings is alright.

Penny Arcade? Goblins? Erfworld? Ehh....

Actually, I don't think I'll explain why. People will want to hurt me.

[lokycat]

Actually, I don't think I'll explain why. People will want to hurt me.

Please do :smallsmile:

Thats way is called OOTS V.s.....("blank")

Is for discussing pros and cons of the comics out there.:smallsmile:

This is a free discussion and no one should feel like they should not say anything...for exception of "personal shoots" at anyone in the forums.:smallamused:

Feel free to "take shoots" at the comics, even OOTS if you feel like it.:smallbiggrin:

[SteveDJ]

I like Goblins almost as much as OotS.

But a problem in reading Goblins has might be about to start here at OotS:

There are two story lines going on at Goblins: Complains of Names and his team are in an extended battle while trying to infiltrate Brassmoon City, and rescue Fumbles. At the same time, Dies Horribly is hanging over a cliff, trying to save Saves a Fox. Since Thunt only posts once a week, and it can take several weeks between each plot to reach a cliffhanger, switching between the two is amazingly frustrating!

Now it looks like Haley, Belkar and Roy are going to be trapped in/near Azure City, while Elan, Vaarsuvius and Durkon are heading out to sea. I just hope OotS doesn't get as bogged down as Goblins can, or other stories where "Our Heroes" are forced to follow different paths.

I agree completely with your assessment of Goblins. And, I fear that another aspect of Goblins is soon to befall our beloved OotS -- once-a-week updates. :smallfrown:

As for the best - for me, my favorite is DMotR! It is the only one that has literally had me in tears. :smallbiggrin:

[explanetpluto]

The story is a little winding (and the Sword of Truth thing is ripped off), but its humor is comparable to OOTS. (and the sword of truth thing is the ONLY thing that is ripped off.)
Warning: Spoilers
An Explanation of the LFG plot.
The story thus far:
Aelloon is after Benny, and the only ways to stop him are to kill him or to give him the Sword of Truth. Cale refuses to kill him, so they all search for the sword of truth. The Sword of Truth is located in Kethenecia (they learned this from a scroll that the Gnome Leader gives them). Kethenecia is an ancient city of good elves, that is now destroyed. The shriek showed Cale another good elven city from the past, and he found out that by dipping his swords in blood, a map to Kethenecia will appear. They followed the map, and they found a good elf from the first good elven city. He showed them a statue of the group that was made a long time ago. It was prophesized that they would come. Richard opened to portal, and they have entered Kethenecia. Currently, they are in Kethenecia.

ah, it makes more sense when I remember the whole sword of truth bit, thanks.

[Nomadic]

There is a quite extensive list of comics that I read on a steady basis. For now I will just post my top five favorites.

1. OOTS
2. Ctrl Alt Del
3. Penny Arcade
4. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
5. Sinfest

Yea, yea...8-bit is good and all, and I do read it on a steady basis, but those five are better for me than 8-bit in certain ways. OOTS and CAD both defeat 8bit in terms of story, while the other three have what I feel is better humor. And they all beat 8bit in terms of art (well ok, except for SMBC).

[yoshi927]

Well, I might as well go with OoTS vs. Fortuna Saga. I don't know if anyone's heard of it, but hey.

I hate to say it, but Fortuna Saga trumps OoTS in any way imaginable. The story is better, the jokes are better, if further apart. The characters are more involving, and the suspense and/or mystery is kept at just the right level- not so little that you can guess, not so much that it's annoying. The dialogue is awesome.

That being said, I love OoTS. It's one of the best things I've ever read, which ought to show even more how much I love FS. I do not mean to belittle OoTS in any way when I say that; for me, Fortuna Saga would be what you might call a god-tier webcomic. Completely made of awesome, unbeatable in my eyes. :smallbiggrin:

Well, I also like Goblins, but Dies Horribly needs to die horribly already so that we can stop worrying about his part. :smallsmile:

[lokycat]

There is a quite extensive list of comics that I read on a steady basis. For now I will just post my top five favorites.

1. OOTS
2. Ctrl Alt Del
3. Penny Arcade
4. Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
5. Sinfest


1)#1 :belkar: :vaarsuvius: :durkon: :haley: :elan: :roy:

2)Blahhh:smallsigh: At list the first 20 strips, I cant say Ill give it mush of a chance considering I have so mush to reed and only so mush time. I do like that they make it obvious about them being a "cliche" but that type of humor is a dime a dozen.:smallannoyed:

3)I'm subscribed to it on my FireFox.:smallamused:
It has large fans basis from every corner of the gaming/geek world.

4 & 5)Completely wrong humor...I like it :smallbiggrin: I'm a nice guy, I'm a gentleman, would hurt a fly kind of guy but I find evil humor very funny, I love dead baby jokes, abused children jokes, ext(as long as is a joke), you know...the kind of humor that makes you feel like your not human by laughing at it, so this are defanatly up my ally and I recommend them to anyone who likes evil humor.:smallamused:

[doliemaster]

Oh wait a list sorry:smallbiggrin: .
For the point of a list 8bit goes behind OOTS
1.OOTS
2.Captain SNES.[Soon to be Number 1.]
3.8bit theater
4.Something Positive
5.DM of the rings.

[SquirrelKing]

I used to read Sluggy fervently every day for a couple years. Then something happened to the comic that just turned me off to it. I really can't place that "something", but I think that part of it is the alternate reality where Bun-Bun was a pirate ship captain (I can't recall the name of that reality, presently). That whole thing just turned me off completely and after that, I just...stopped reading. I tried to pick it back up now and again, but just found that I couldn't bear Pete's new 'style', I guess.

Be that as it may, I do know that there is a huge, rabid following of Sluggy and I will readily agree that it is a finely done comic in many regards...it's just lost its appeal to me. (However, I do have to admit to being a die-hard fan of Bun-Bun. He farking ROCKS!)

As for 8-bit theater, I never saw the humor in it from the outset. The occasional comic made my chortle, but it never produced the guffaws that OOTS, Goblins, or DMotR gives me. So, after reading around 100 of their comics, I decided to not follow it any longer.

A few people have mentioned Inverloch, and I used to read it very regularly, but there towards the end, when Sarah took her little emo break, I lost any and all taste for the comic. It's a beautifully drawn and colored comic (to where I'd readily nominate it as possibly the best drawn/colored comic) but I guess Sarah's actions sullied it for me. That, and the story started getting predictable (at least for me).

So, in the end, I still read OOTS, Goblins, and DMotR. But that little sicko inside me also loves Hellbound...that comic is so crazy it makes me cackle. Too bad der Wolfmeister is starting to lose interest in drawing it.

And while they may not be technically comics, you can't go wrong with Neurotically Yours or Ask a Ninja. Pure comedic genius, in completely different ways. (just a word of warning, Neurotically Yours is NOT work friendly, so I wouldn't consider checking it out while in the ol' cubicle)

In the end, you can argue about which comic is the best until your voice goes the way of the dodo and your fingertips are worn to the bone, but everyone has their opinion (and associated bodypart). The above is merely mine (opinion that is. I'll keep the bodypart to myself, thank you very much). I enjoy a good discussion as much as the next person, in fact I welcome them, but please refrain from saying things like, "Hey idiot, how can you say <insert comic here> is better than <insert other comic here>??? You're dumb." At least offer a viable reason behind your opinion. Otherwise, it just perpetuates the forum flaming even further, and heaven knows we would rather not see that.

Anywho, I think I'm done. For now. :D

Until next time...

-SK

[theKOT]

I don't see it.

Black Mage can only attack fighter so many times before it stops being funny.

Thief can only steal so much before it stops.

Fighter can only be stupid til it gets old.

I like Red Mage though.

I'd say OotS is funnier AND has a plot.


I dunno, I really enjoy how Clevinger has his typecasts and just lets them run wild. The jokes are a bit repetitive, but I still find it to be the webcomic most likely to make me laugh out loud. I can't explain it any better, but I really, really like it. Almost as much as I like OOTS.

My top five, for clarification of my tastes:
1. OOTS
2. 8bit
3. F@NBOY$
4. AWKWARD ZOMBIE/Basic instructions
5. Penny Arcade.

Also, I really like the DS and Wii, remember? We have VERY different likes.

[VanBuren]

I hate to say it, but Sluggy Freelance rules all. Sorry, but OotS and 8-bit aren't even close.

Yeah, I can't argue with that.


Sluggy Freelance was initially all about the humour, but those that have read from the start realize that Pete changed that, as he added content, finding that he had story he wanted to tell that simply wasn't funny. At some point, he decided that he was going to have to let these serious story arcs out. Sluggy is no longer just about the humour. There was little to laugh at in the Fire and Ice story arc, but the story was rivetting. Humour still dominates the comic, probably around 90% of the time. The humour in Sluggy, though, is rarely repetitive. The story arcs are so long now that the sit-com style repetitive humour isn't common anymore, even when it is repeitive. (It's just been so long since the previous incarnation, that the repetition isn't as obvious.)

I can see why Fire and Rain is always cited as the epitome of Pete's serious arcs, but I was always partial to the second half of That Which Redeems. Something about that final standoff with Horribus just seemed to outdo everything else in the comic for me.

[lokycat]

1) Foturna Saga dos and Cap.SNES both have good storys but I cant get over the visual art...there is only so mush I can reed before my eyes begging to hurt.:smalltongue:

2)F@NBOY$ is very funny, It mite just take Penny Arcade's plase, there both very similar but I have to reed more of it to make my mind up about it. Both me and my girlfriends like it, because of one fact...The Gamer girl....There is a lot of that geek girl V.s. geek boy humor.(which me and my girlfriend are famous for in our circle of friends) :smallbiggrin:
Id dos lack the "gaming political" humor that made me fall in love with Penny Arcade...I like that they not just make fun of the games but they also make fun of the gaming designers, distributors and gaming companys but F@NBOY$ has bettor and funnier characters and less "gaming political" humor. (I don't know if Gaming political humor is the right thing to call it but I hope it gets the point across)

3)AWKWARD ZOMBIE I will keep an eye on it...I like the the gaming humor in it. I believe it a original comic with original and funny humor. Apparently is just starting so Ill give it a chance and see if it develops in to anything.

[ZombieWomble]

(Ow. My eyes. Spell check, for the love of god, spell check!)

On topic: Hasn't it been long established that comparing entertainment media is a fruitless task? Although it does lead to wonderful statements like:


I won't disagree with your opinion. You may like 8-Bit more.

I'm just saying OotS is better, as a whole.

"I won't disagree with you. I'll just state that you're wrong." Ah, rational debating at its finest.

Also. Angels and demons as an exemplar of your reading habits? Oh dear oh dear.

[YohanLeafheart]

I set a bunch of webcomics as my home in firefox

1. PvP - was much better, but still has the occasional good strip
2. VG Cats - disturrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrbing. If only he updated more often I would be a happier reader
3. Penny Arcade - enough said. Any self respect gamer and geek should read and prais.
4. 8 bit theatre - How can't you love that 4 misfits? It is funny. Specially after 14y playing RPG
5. OotS - Best storyline of all of them
6. Sinfest - Read it. Love it. Dig it. Devil rules. God's Puppets rules.
7. PhD Comics - for the nerd in me. I know the feeling expressed there. Going to grad school next year.
8. The Noob Comic - If you played any MMORPG you need to read this

Still have to get through Girls Genius, and Gunnerkrigg Court (http://www.drunkduck.com/Gunnerkrigg_Court/index.php?p=15544)

[lokycat]

On topic: Hasn't it been long established that comparing entertainment media is a fruitless task?
I don't think it is and many people posting also disagree with you.:smallconfused: I for one have learned about other web comics out there throw this thread and why people think they like them or are funny. We are discussing the pros and cons about the web comics out there, we are discussing way people like this comics.

Think about independent movies or underground music, the corporate media will not advertise it because they are not making any money of it....so there is Word of mouth advertising and references. People express way they like this movie or music artist that no one has ever heard of before. This thread has given people the chance to express there opinion about other web comics and because this is the OOTS forums we compare them to this comic.


(Ow. My eyes. Spell check, for the love of god, spell check!)

"I won't disagree with you. I'll just state that you're wrong." Ah, rational debating at its finest.

Also. Angels and demons as an exemplar of your reading habits? Oh dear oh dear.



1) Before you go taking shoots at anyone or taking what they say and warping it, reed carefully what they say...

I won't disagree with your opinion. You may like 8-Bit more.
I'm just saying OotS is better, as a whole.
So is nothing like your interpretation...

"I won't disagree with you. I'll just state that you're wrong." Ah, rational debating at its finest.
He is not debating, he is making a statement and expressing his opinion.
2) Don't be a spelling natzy...I speak 4 different languages and English is not my native language so I am bound to make mistakes so learn to forgive people that are not as "perfect" as you. (btw, how many languages do YOU speak/spell?)
3) Angels and Demos is a smart and fast passed book, it is fiction but it uses a lot of scientific and historical facts. I happened to love science and history. Not to mention the awards is won or how many copys it's sold.
4) AND MOST IMPORTANT - Keep your self from taking shoots are people in the forums, just because they have different opinions then you dos not make them morons or less then you. Take all the shoots you want at the web comics, make fun of the comics but don't get personal.

You want to show your sophistication?:smallconfused:
Be a gentleman, stop being a spelling natzy and keep from getting personal.
Because taking personal shots just shows how Tacky you really are.

Gnaw that that is out of the way....come back and post a web comic you like and reasons way you like it or think is bettor then<blank>.:smallwink:

[yoshi927]

1) Foturna Saga dos and Cap.SNES both have good storys but I cant get over the visual art...there is only so mush I can reed before my eyes begging to hurt.:smalltongue:
What are you talking about? The sprites? The art is awesome, dude! :smallconfused: Check out the fire effects and such. It's great.

[yoshi927]

I was asked to remove this post. What the heck.

[vbushido]

1. Sluggy Freelance
2. Bruno the Bandit
3. Alien Dice
4. Gaming Guardians ( as a bonus I know Sean Jaffe personally )
5. College Roomies from Hell

I don't, personally, count Girl Genius because Foglio's website is a teaser for the comic book of the same name.

And lokycat, please work on your spelling. Natzy, I presume, is 'Nazi.' You used 'gnaw' (to chew) for 'now' (at present time). A 'Reed' is a plant; 'read' is to gain information from written work. The book is 'fast-paced,' not 'fast-passed.' And calling someone a punk is an insult and, therefore, quite personal. Follow your own advice.

-----
Be careful when you're playing under an anvil tree

[lokycat]

And lokycat, please work on your spelling. Natzy, I presume, is 'Nazi.' You used 'gnaw' (to chew) for 'now' (at present time). A 'Reed' is a plant; 'read' is to gain information from written work. The book is 'fast-paced,' not 'fast-passed.' And calling someone a punk is an insult and, therefore, quite personal. Follow your own advice.
Yes ma'am:smallredface:

I love being corrected!!! It makes me bettor at spelling English.
I have a spell check on my FireFox but is hard to choose the right correction out of a list wen you don't know how is spelled, just how it sounds.:smalltongue:

Yes...I am going to take my own advice...I removed the "punk" comment because it is inappropriate. I still stand on everything els...
Keep the subject mater on the comics and away from each other.
Bash on the comics and not on each other.
Because that is were you get people like....

Actually, I don't think I'll explain why. People will want to hurt me.
Afraid to say anything bad about a comic.

Take shots at the comics just don't take it personal and don't go after the person who posted. If it frustrates you insult the comic.:smallamused:
The insult to the comic mite just make a lot of us laugh.:smallamused:

Ty for the list.
Any reason way you like those particular comics?