Is OOTS getting darker, or am I a wuss?

[iwarriorpoet]

Seems to be that with the recent book and posted comics, OOTS has been taking a darker tone. Roy has been dead for QUITE some time. Xykon is kicking it Emperor style (and getting his jollies by torturing Paladins), Red Cloak is well... being good henchmanish. And our merry band has been separated from each other for eons!!! (Well---at least in web-frantic-time).

C'mon!!! Get the crew back together for some merriment and joyous bad-guy booting!!!

Or maybe I am just a wussy guy who likes dandelions and warm, fuzzy storylines...

[bluish_wolf]

You mean like back when they were slaughtering goblins wholesale or when they let a village be destroyed just so they could get Lesser Restorations faster?

[Yendor]

That's not an "or" question. :smallwink:

[Phase]

Yeah, OotS isn't getting darker, just, y'know, more grand scheme of things.

It's still jokeful, just with some dark humour every now and again.

[Rinquist]

It's gotta get darker before we see the light. I've heard it a thousand times already on these forums, but what we're witnessing is "The Empire Strikes Back" of the OoTS world. Don't worry, we'll get Return of the Jedi soon.

[Lord_Butters_I]

IMO, dark=good in drama.

[The Hop Goblin]

It's gotta get darker before we see the light. I've heard it a thousand times already on these forums, but what we're witnessing is "The Empire Strikes Back" of the OoTS world. Don't worry, we'll get Return of the Jedi soon.

It's really too bad that Empire is the best of the series :P. As was Star Trek - Wrath of Khan. When a situation is dark, it provides conflict. Conflict is the basis of any story - else there would be no resolution to achieve... just an endless prattling how good life is.

Would ST:WoK have been a good story had Kirk found Khan living merrily on a planet rife with bounty? A nice handshake, a thanks for helping us out, and a Warp 3 back to Starbase 341? That's a good...... 2 minute plot?

[Pope Bravo]

I believe that this dark jokes were always he same...

[Felixaar]

Probably both (i mean come on, warrior poet?)

Yes, OOTS is in sort of "Villains are winning" situation, but its good for plot. If the heroes win every encounter theres not much debatability over wether they can defeat the main villain.

Though really, the seige of azure city was more of a lose-lose situation. The OOTS won by protecting the gate (though they didnt do it themselves the objective was acheived), but lost by losing the seige. Team Evil won by winning the siege and seperating the OOTS, but lost by losing the gate.

[The Wanderer]

Tvtropes.org refers to the process of of something (usually a comic) going from light humor to drama over the course of its run as Cerebus Syndrome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome).

Now, check out the final panel of this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0242.html) comic.

OOTS has been getting darker for a long, long time. And doing so has brought about most of its most brilliant moments and plots.

[SteveMB]

I agree with what a bunch of people already said -- it's the dark portion of a long story arc. I think the mood will lighten eventually with some wins for the good guys.

[Woof]

Seems to be that with the recent book and posted comics, OOTS has been taking a darker tone. Roy has been dead for QUITE some time. Xykon is kicking it Emperor style (and getting his jollies by torturing Paladins), Red Cloak is well... being good henchmanish. And our merry band has been separated from each other for eons!!! (Well---at least in web-frantic-time).

C'mon!!! Get the crew back together for some merriment and joyous bad-guy booting!!!

Or maybe I am just a wussy guy who likes dandelions and warm, fuzzy storylines...

Nah, it is getting darker, and I have the same feelings about it that you do. I've never been able to relate to the "Evil = L33t" feelings so many folks express. Also why I didn't really enjoy SoD, even though it had a lot of interesting backstory to read.

[Santiago]

D&D isn't dark..? :smallconfused:

[Zeitgeist]

If there's no darkness, there's nothing new for light to shine on.

[Morgan Wick]

Tvtropes.org refers to the process of of something (usually a comic) going from light humor to drama over the course of its run as Cerebus Syndrome (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CerebusSyndrome).

Actually, that originated (as did the OOTS reference) with Websnark (http://www.websnark.com).

[Cubey]

OOTS as it is now is darker compared to its first strips (although they had some pretty dark stuff, like Thog killing innocent guardians of the symbols played for comedy), but if you can't handle the "darkness" the current strips radiate now then I suggest staying away from things like Warhammer hell, from most media. Including the Discworld. And Final Fantasy. Order of the Stick is still one of the lighter pieces of media that maintain a good, coherent story, with good jokes in most comic strips, and I'm not saying the dark, cynical sense of humour found in webcomics like 8 Bit Theater or LFG. Also, the comic is getting LESS dark recently - the darkest moment was when Azure City fell and Roy died (which was brilliant at Giant's part, because an epic quest simply cannot be all sunshine and roses - and I'm one of the traditionalists who prefer stories when Good triumphs!), and every darkness that we have now has that as its cause. The cause that the good guys are actively fighting against, with good results. Example: #542. Not only O-Chul is alive, he kicks ass! How is that dark? Sure, he got knocked unconscious, but that's because we have to be realistic here, and he STILL didn't die even though it looked like he was going to.

[Revanmal]

You mean like back when they were slaughtering goblins wholesale or when they let a village be destroyed just so they could get Lesser Restorations faster?

Technically they were not at fault for the second one. It was Thor's fault for being irresponsible.

[Liwen]

The cause that the good guys are actively fighting against, with good results. Example: #542. Not only O-Chul is alive, he kicks ass! How is that dark? Sure, he got knocked unconscious, but that's because we have to be realistic here, and he STILL didn't die even though it looked like he was going to.

It is dark when you think about O-Chul situation in general. He is being tortured over and over for the simple purpose of entertaining the one character in all history of characters that gets bored really often : "I'm certainly not about to destroy it unless I get really, REALLY bored."

Come on, O-Chul his brave, but Zykon is just toying with him. hell, maybe O-Chul attacked Xykon with hope that he would end his mesirable semblance of life by casting Magic Missile instead of Ray of Frost.

Also, next strip will be the One hundred strip since Roy die! That's terrible.

[NikkTheTrick]

Depends on how you define "dark". Early on, we had goblins getting slaughtered left and right. Now, we have humans getting it back :smallwink:

[The Hop Goblin]

The "Archie" era of storytelling is over. I go round and round with my father about the "Batman" series of movies. He likes the *Biff* *POW* *ZOK* crap, where as I appreciate drama, dark and forboding plotlines - actual struggle as opposed to prancing around in neon colors making jokes that the faux show "Fox Force Five" surely beats.

[Pvednes]

Yep, suck it up. These are awesome.

[Sylian]

The goblins were never tortured over and over again... Torture is in some ways worse than murder IMO, especially in the OOTS world where you go to Mount Celestia when you die.

[Dode]

OoTS isn't getting darker, Giant is simply getting better at portraying characters and situations with which you are getting emotionally attached to the victim.