When did you first start reading OOTS?

[Bongos]

For me it was #304.

That was the current number at the time.

I remember reading #304, then skipping forward to #302 and then reading back to #304.

I gotta admit, I was not impressed with the comic, so I stopped reading for a couple of months, then went back and gave it another chance.

I can't remember what # I started up again at, but I've been actively reading it ever since.

You know story has to be good if you keep on reading it for 9 years or so.

As much as I love OOTS, I am looking forward to reading the end and seeing just how everything resolves.

[Fyraltari]

They were in Tinkertown. I know that because while binge-reading, I clicked on the wrong button and ended up reading the strip where Blackwing gets his bracelet.

[godsflunky]

I think I came in pretty soon after they made it to the Western Continent. I can't remember the exact number.

I'd always avoided the strip because it was "too big" to dive in, but I'm glad I eventually did -- and sooner rather than later, because it's not getting any smaller!

[Kish]

The Order was still in the Dungeon of Dorukan. Somewhere in the 80s, I think. Definitely no later than #113.

[Synesthesy]

For me it was near 2012, I don't remember exactly the strip, but it was somewhere in Girard's Piramid. I have checked this site daily since that for newer strips.

[Bongos]

Actually, I just glanced at the "join date" under my avatar. 2007. Been reading for 11 years.

[Mightymosy]

I'm relatively sure it was around the time 337 was the newest strip, or somewhere around that time.
Or at least that was the first one I clicked on.

It was a great time. I binge-read the archive while I was staying at my parents for the weekend, and I laughed the whole weekend. I don't remember ever having laughed for so much. Early OotS was comedy gold :smallcool:

[Sir_Norbert]

#288, I think I have the number right. Celia's closing speech at the trial.

At the time, I was part of an online D&D group, and a friend linked that particular strip in reference to a discussion we were having. She'd linked to OotS strips occasionally before, but this time I was really interested and I started reading from the beginning.

[Mad Humanist]

I remember someone pointing out the Harry Potter pastiche to me, but I guess I did not start reading immediately because it was more like in the chase scene on the Orc island when I started at the beginning.

[Arkku]

I started reading right after the dungeon of Dorukan. The strips with Xykon still regrowing his body were what sold me. (I joined the forum much later.)

[Elanasaurus]

Around this time last year! When the most recent strip was #1060 or so.
:elan:

[Jannoire]

I joined rather recently. In Late 2016, me thinks... I guess, the newest strip at that time was #987.
I friend of mine pushed me to read it and I never regretted it...

[SilverCacaobean]

I remember that when I started reading the most recent news announcement was of 2/18/2014. As I was reading, I think the comic updated only once with the (now old) new art style, so that means I must have started reading during the end of that six week break mentioned in the announcement. Took me about a week, or a bit more to read it all. Four years... It doesn't feel that long.

I started reading because I saw the "I think I failed a spot check" joke on tv tropes somewhere. I think I'd also seen a few other jokes there and I liked them all so I came here to check it out. I remember, when I started reading, I thought the entirety of the strip would be in Dorukan's dungeon with the order never reaching Xykon making jokes about the game and I kept wondering how he could have written almost 1000 strips about that.

[Delta]

I think it was around #100, give or take, but could've been a bit later as well, it's been a while.

[D.One]

I'm not quite sure of the exact strip, but I remember they were in Dorukan's dungeon, before the first confrontation with Xykon.

[hroþila]

I'm not sure about the exact strip either, but it must have been around #260.

[Xianthe]

Well, my forum account dates to around #278, but I know that I didn't set up the account for months after I started reading.

I do remember reading daily during the cryptograms subplot, since I remember ducking in to check to see if the translations were up, which I think was finally the point that I made an account.

I think my actual start is sometime between the Order leaving the Dungeon of Dorukan and encountering Miko.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I don't remember what was happening in the strip at the time I started reading it as much as I remember anticipating plot reveals. For example, I distinctly remember being quite happy seeing "the story continues...tomorrow! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0273.html)"

I think it was within a few pages of #189 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0189.html). In one direction or the other. Looking back on the archives now, that's a long way.

Obviously, I made the forum account way later.

[Angel Bob]

I started at #863 - which I can tell you for certain, because that was the six-month gap between updates. It was actually a pretty decent jumping-on point, since it allowed me to binge the whole comic, then forget about it for a few months, and then when I came back, we went straight into the excitement of Durkon and Malack.

It's crazy to think I've been reading the comic for five years now. I realize that to many readers, that seems like a very small amount of time. But given how much of the rest of my life has changed in that time, it's almost unthinkable that 2013's incarnation of me was still reading OOTS.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I started reading relatively late, with strip #918. However, I didn’t make an account until #935. Sometimes I still can’t believe I’ve been a part of this community for almost 4.5 years.

[RabidEel]

During the Darth V arc, possibly within a strip or two of the Familicide.

[2D8HP]

I didn't start with the on-line strips, but with the ones in

http://oi36.tinypic.com/xp0zls.jpg

https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0335/56/1405976773645.png
instead in 2006.

I then bought "On the Origin of PC's", and every other of the OotS books in print that I could, eagerly awaiting the next one, until I got impatient for the next installment and started reading them online in 2013 or 2014.

[LadyEowyn]

I started reading when the story was stalled in the Empire of Blood (for months, I think, between comics). I went back and read DSTP (possibly when something on TV Tropes linked to a strip I found interesting), and read the rest of the comics later.

NCftPB was passable, and War and XP was good, but DSTP was the first part of the comic that genuinely impressed me - especially the V arc and the arcs of Redcloak, MITD, and O-Chul.

[ThePhantasm]

I think it was somewhere during the siege of Azure City.

[ThatNickGuy]

I don't recall exactly, but I think it was right about the time they first arrived in Azure City or right about there. Definitely before the siege on the city.

[Rhasimir]

I found evidence in my (really) old emails that I started around April 1, 2004. I know for a fact it was before comic 55 (April 14) so let's call that a round 50? It was a long time ago! :smallbiggrin:

[Xyzzt]

Took a couple weeks to read through it all, but it was sometime around when I like to say early Empire of Blood? When Elan found out who his father was. Man that was an awesome reference.

[Celestia]

I don't remember entirely, but I'm 98% certain that I found the strip after #484, conveniently at the exact end of the battle for Azure City.

[Christopher K.]

I joined in during the hiatus right after 672, I believe. It's hard to tell because I was binge-reading it pretty close to the end of Don't Split the Party, so it might've ticked into the hiatus right before I got there or a week or so before. It was a pretty good note to end the binge on; Don't Split the Party wound up being my favorite book so far. :smalltongue:

[Dutch]

It was sometime in 2006. I binge read from comic one to catch up to what was the most current one at the time. I know it is closer to the end then the start now but I will still be sad when it ends.

[ChamHasNoRoom]

I came through a forum sig about the Battle for Azure City, and I'm pretty sure the fight was still ongoing when I binged the strip over a weekend. It still weirds me out now and again when I realize how long it's been - often nearly ten years - since some part or another of the comic that I still think of as relatively recent. Even things that happened almost immediately after I started reading, like the immediate aftermath of War and XPs, seem like "new comics" to me.

[nabcif]

My first exposure (I think) was being linked to 327 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0327.html) from Language Log. I don't think I started reading in earnest until about the time Vaarsuvius met the ancient black dragon.

[dmc91356]

April 23, 2007 - This comic:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0443.html

Linked from another forum. Binge read and been reading ever since (obviously made the forum account later).

[DataNinja]

When I caught up, 917 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0917.html) was the most recent comic.

[Sylian]

Took me about a year or so to make my forum account, so... 2004? I think I was still reading around the time when Nale betrayed the Order, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure though, but somewhere around that time, back when they still were in the Dungeon of Dorukan. I don't think I ever took a break from reading it, either.

[Ariko]

Around the time Miko revealed her face. Though it was not until after I bought Origin of the PCs that I made a forum account as I recall.

[Liquor Box]

I started reading when I googled my way to this forum, started reading a thread, then followed a link to the comic.

I read from the start and caught up about the time when the Order visited Tinkertown.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

I first got introduced to OOTS through my local library, so I'm not sure. But by then, I think Paladin Blues was out, so around 2006? 2007? I was very young.

[oonker]

Either they were fresh out of the Dungeon of Dorukan, or they were almost at the end of the Dungeon.

Only created a forum account many many many years later than that.

[Bazounga]

#119. I remember I really liked the "Just like a Vin Diesel" joke and I wanted to read more afterwards.
Wow. That 13 years reading this comic? I'm self-impressed.

[Darth Tom]

Sometime around 2007-8 I think. I think the battle for Azure City was already over.

[137beth]

I started reading OOTS in print some time in 2007. I didn't start reading it online until 2008, and I caught up during the battle with the thieves guild in the early 600s. I don't remember the exact page where I caught up. That means later this year will be the 10th anniversary of me catching up on OOTS.

I didn't make a forum account until close to a year later.

[Accountant]

It's been well over 10 years. I think it was just before the battle at Azure City. My how time flies. Still love it just as much.

[Vessyra]

#1051. I just really loved the title ("Path of most resistance") and Haley's line, "I am pointy death incarnate".

[Ruck]

I started early of Fall 2015, shortly after strip #1000 (I think #1008 was the most recent strip when I began). I didn't start at the end, though, or at the beginning, for that matter; I followed the TV Tropes page for "Shell Game" to #428, since I liked the explanation and thought it seemed like pretty smart writing. Then I liked the strip itself and clicked the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And sometime around the time I got to the end of War and XPs, I realized I should start from the beginning so I knew who everyone was and what exactly was going on.

[farothel]

I've only recently joined the forum but I've been reading the comic for long time as they were still in the Dungeon of Durokan. I also have most of the books (except the last one and the one about the start of the paladins). They're not easy to get here and if you order them online you often pay more in shipping than for the books.

[Jannoire]

I know exactly what you mean... As a German without an American credit card, it's really hard to get my hands on the books. The only source I found so far is amazon, but they don't have every book...

[Fincher]

The first time I read through OotS, when I reached the last strip that had been added, it was sometime during the big Azure City battle (maybe #424?). With nothing left to read, I moved on to other things and eventually lost interest. Then, sometime later, I started over again from the beginning and read up to somewhere in Blood Runs in the Family before I ran out of strips. After that, I was taking short breaks and catching up a few strips at a time, until at some point I started checking regularly.

[gatemansgc]

i'm a total newbie here, i only came along at around 1104-1106. i kept seeing this one day when i was lost in tvtropes and decided to give it a spin.

here's the thing, i don't even play D&D at all (though i did have some experience with warhammer 40k), but the comic is just THAT GOOD that i was hooked.

i should probably get back to reading spinnerette, too.

[Ruck]

i'm a total newbie here, i only came along at around 1104-1106. i kept seeing this one day when i was lost in tvtropes and decided to give it a spin.

here's the thing, i don't even play D&D at all (though i did have some experience with warhammer 40k), but the comic is just THAT GOOD that i was hooked.

i should probably get back to reading spinnerette, too.

I was always interested in D&D (and played a few of the computer games) but never really got into the pen-and-paper game. I've learned more about D&D rules just from reading to supplement my understanding of OOTS than anywhere else.

[Michaeler]

I honestly cannot remember. All I can say for sure is it was before they reached the empire of blood.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I was also linked into this webcomic by TVTropes, I think after having seen the comics used for several different tropes. Interesting how I don’t really use that site anymore, but am still very active here. Somewhat similar to you guys, OOTS is what inspired my interest in D&D. I think I bought the 3.5 PHB shortly afterward because I wanted to do something as fun as what was going on in the comic.

[Safersef]

I made an account specifically to post in this thread, lol.

I have been reading OotS since nearly the beginning. The very quote I remember reading and what I remember drawing me in and and keeping me coming back is Elan yelling "I GOT A 4!"

I've been hooked ever since.

[Lurk-Sothoth]

In early 2007! So... somewhere in the vicinity of strip #400? One of my Livejournal friends was talking up OOTS.

After a few months of reading the comic I created an account on the forum so I could join in on the discussions if I wanted. But I have almost never posted here. I find that whatever ground I would cover or opinion/theory I would express is always eloquently covered by someone else, or several someones. So I read the discussions here without participating.

This is one my longest-lived fandom interests, going on 11 years. It feels like yesterday I started reading. Thank goodness the server doesn't crash all the time like it used to.

[farothel]

I know exactly what you mean... As a German without an American credit card, it's really hard to get my hands on the books. The only source I found so far is amazon, but they don't have every book...

I got Lucky when I was in London on holiday and I found a small store called the Orc's Nest. They had all the books out at that time, so I got them all. But a collegae of mine has checked last week and they didn't have the last book. Maybe next time I have to go the US for work, I can try to get it.

[Mad Humanist]

I got Lucky when I was in London on holiday and I found a small store called the Orc's Nest. They had all the books out at that time, so I got them all. But a collegae of mine has checked last week and they didn't have the last book. Maybe next time I have to go the US for work, I can try to get it.

Yay I'd count ORc's nest as my local too. Still I've never seen any actual Orcs there, so that's a bit of disappointed. Maybe Orcs are less welcome now in the current political climate.

[GrayDeath]

I am actually not quite sure.

I was pointed towards the comic by a friend/co RPG Player, thought the stick figures looked bad, and stopped for a while, then came back and read in one set through the dungeon. And have been hooked ever since. ;)

Must have been relatively close to my join date though.....dang, its been a long time! :smallcool:

[Mariele]

Gosh, hard to say. I started reading it with my older sister when I was maybe 7 or 8. We even ended up buying SoD and Origin of the PCs and would read them together on car rides (great stuff for a kid, right? :smalltongue: ). I think they had just left either the dungeon or the forest with the bandits when we first read it together. I came back much later, during the battle of Azure city, and reread the whole thing, and stuck around ever since.
Strangely enough, it took until after Roy got back together with the party until I actually started liking the comic really well. Anything with Nale and Thog after their first appearance was bad enough, but the orc ninja subplot was nearly enough to make me swear off the whole dang thing.

[SilverCacaobean]

We even ended up buying SoD and Origin of the PCs and would read them together on car rides (great stuff for a kid, right? :smalltongue: ).

You read SoD as a kid? Repeatedly, too? Jesus, you must have been a hardcore kid, I can barely read it now :smalltongue:
It's so depressing.

[Mariele]

You read SoD as a kid? Repeatedly, too? Jesus, you must have been a hardcore kid, I can barely read it now :smalltongue:
It's so depressing.
At the tender ol' age of 10! I practically have the whole thing memorized, line for line, by now.
I miss Righteye. :smallfrown:

[Bongos]

I think I've only been involved with Girl Genius for as long a time as OOTS.

Of course, I'm an old school D&Der, I remember owning the Basic Set that came in the blue box back in elementary school, so once I read a little more OOTS I was hooked.

It's been rewarding to see the comic evolve artistically both narratively and visually.

Kind of makes me wonder if Rich has anything new planned for when the OOTS story ends. That's exciting to think about right there.

[Elenna]

I looked at a strip here or there from TVTropes, then after a week or two of occasionally clicking on one of these strips and always liking it I decided to read the whole thing. That was when the comic was at strip #972.

That was first year of university, I think, so... 3 years ago? Time flies.

[farothel]

That was first year of university, I think, so... 3 years ago? Time flies.

Younglings these days. My first year at university is this year 20 years ago. Talk about time flying.


I think I've only been involved with Girl Genius for as long a time as OOTS.

Same here. I also started with both at around the same time. And I'm still following both after all this time. So they must be doing something good. One of the reasons I bought the books, so they could continue doing this good thing.

[Lord Torath]

I followed a link from Turn Signals on a Land Raider (http://tsoalr.com/) sometime during the fight at the Greysky City Thieves' Guild. I don't remember if it was before or after Belkar's Hippy Vision Quest mode.

[M0rdecai[QC]]

I was bored one summer, so I typed "D&D Funny" into Google Images and discovered Strip #12 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0012.html), then I spent the next three days or so lost in an archive binge until I hit Strip #957 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0957.html), the latest strip at the time.

[Cicciograna]

I started when this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0549.html) was the last strip.

[Titanium Dragon]

I started reading shortly prior to the first appearance of Nale and company, so waaaay back in the early comics.

[Albion]

Oh I don't remember, somewhere between 100 and 200 would have to make sense I guess. So many re-reads, which confuses it.

[Karabars]

In 2011? I guess. It was a long time ago that's for sure.

[TheNecrocomicon]

Somewhere about #1018, I had heard jokes from the strip before and maybe a mention or two, but I never read OotS before getting led there from TVTropes. I'm pretty sure it was mid-Godsmoot at the time, which going by Mr. Burlew's Twitter feed was just over 2.5 years ago. Time sure flies.

[Stadge]

Apparently I've had this account since 2007, so at least then, though I think I lurked for a while.

Does anyone know when the comics in Dragon (or maybe Dungeon) magazine were? Because that could have been my intro, but I'm not too sure...

[Jasdoif]

Does anyone know when the comics in Dragon (or maybe Dungeon) magazine were?December 2005 through September 2007, I believe.

[Matt620]

I remember it was during the "Blood in the Family" arc. I want to say they were in Girard's pyramid. Of course, I read from the beginning and it took me some time to get through the whole thing, so I don't remember the exact one.

[Grey Watcher]

You read SoD as a kid? Repeatedly, too? Jesus, you must have been a hardcore kid, I can barely read it now :smalltongue:
It's so depressing.

I'm more depressed by this because OOTS didn't exist until the same year I turned 21.

Started reading shortly thereafter. I'm pretty sure the latest strip when I started reading was Haley's clothing falling off while she was checking for traps. You know, the one Rich is arguably (by his own admission) most ashamed of now?

[Stadge]

December 2005 through September 2007, I believe.

Cheers! That timeline matches up with me reading for a while before signing up to the forums, so yep, they were probably my introduction. Also this thread made me dive through my (very small number) of past posts- wow, but a lot has changed in the last 11 years!

[LordSith]

First visit: a link to the page comic when Xykon use hobgobelin + crakers. It was on ars magica roleplaying game, and someone used that comic to say that using common people to do a hard task was a good strategy.

Second visit: the same strip, a year later, re-reading the same forum thread.

At that moment, I understand that this is a serie webcomic page and not just a random joke comic.

I hit "back to first" button.
That was around 2010.

Read it ... 10 11 times in the following three years.


From then, bought all 6 main books, + SoD. And checking the website page every few days for an update.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

671 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0671.html) was the newest strip when I started.

I discovered OOTS when I followed a link on Tv Tropes under Evil Gloating to strip 628 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0628.html). I went back a couple pages so I could read the whole scene, and have been an OOTS fan ever since.

[TheSaracen]

#859 was the most recent strip when I started, back in 2012. I read the entire comic series in about 2 days, I was absolutely hooked. I caught up to the series by #860 (since it had updated one comic while I was reading). I've checked the updates practically every day ever since.

[skim172]

The guest strip that Rich did for 8-Bit Theater.

Which was ... dear God ... posted in May 2004 (https://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/05/18/vacation-04-3-i-love-bridge-jokes/). :smalleek:

I have been reading Order of the Stick since before some of its readers were even born. :smallfrown:

[Tundar]

Bugger me if I can recall something which happened THAT many years ago :smallbiggrin:
It all began when we were discussing GUComics in my Everquest guild chat and a guildmember made me aware of OotS. And I quit playing EQ around 2005, so must have been quite some time before that.

[Sylian]

I've noticed an amusing change with the forums: Back in the days, whenever someone posted a prediction of some kind people would often comment along the line of "Now you've ruined it, it'll never happen now!" jokingly (perhaps some took it seriously), because of the FAQ.

"Q: Wouldn't it be cool if X, Y, and Z happened? You should totally do that.

A: Thanks, but I prefer to create my own plots. In fact, I try not to read anything where people suggest upcoming plot ideas because I hate it when people guess what is going to happen. I feel the uncontrollable urge to change what happens, just to prove them wrong. Petty? Probably."

Emphasis mine. People took that last part to heart, it seems. Eventually people stopped joking about it (probably partly because it was obvious that predictions didn't change the plot).

Oh, and people really used to hate/dislike Miko. Fun times.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Eventually people stopped joking about it (probably partly because it was obvious that predictions didn't change the plot

No, it was because Rich said he stopped reading the forums (beyond the first few pages of the new comic thread, to make sure there were no issues with it, and similar threads like book announcements) precisely to avoid knowing what we have predicted.

Now, one suspects that he might read a bit more than that, since he tends to reference and shoot down some of the more outlandish theories, but it is no more than that: a suspicion. He might just be able to predict fandom reactions to each new twist without needing to check the forums.

GW

[jwhouk]

I'll be completely honest - I can't remember.

I think I got tuned onto it sometime while I was still reading that Hack Kurtz's stuff, but I didn't really get into it until late.

It just always struck me as a typical D&D group whose "adventures" were being shown in a silly webcomic. Thing is, no one thought the DM was this good.

[Liquor Box]

A: Thanks, but I prefer to create my own plots. In fact, I try not to read anything where people suggest upcoming plot ideas because I hate it when people guess what is going to happen. I feel the uncontrollable urge to change what happens, just to prove them wrong. Petty? Probably."


I would totally feel this way if I were in the Giant's shoes.

[LuisDantas]

My best guess is that it was around the time of #471, in June 2007.

It was definitely before #561, since I joined the forums in May 2008.

To this day I think of Hinjo as more of a Order member than Belkar.

[papyru30]

I found it through Tv Tropes and I started reading it some time during the fight at the Godsmoot my best guess is 1010