FAQ? Any word on an OotS Collection the Third?

[jmucchiello]

There've been almost as many comics since the conclusion of OotS:NCftPB as there comics in both OotS:DCF and NCfrPB combined. Any word on when the next collection will be?

I suppose symmetry with the end of NCftPB means 422 is the end of the next book. That's well over 100 pages. Thing is there's nearly enough pages for the next book too.

Giant, I want to buy your books!!

[RTGoodman]

I believe the next book that's supposed to come out is tentatively titled "War and XPs" and covers up until right after the Battle for Azure City. I don't have an official source, but a lot of people have mentioned it in various threads here in the past.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

The Giant said at a convention last year that "War and XP's" should be out by Christmas.

[AceOfFools]

The Giant said at a convention last year that "War and XP's" should be out by Christmas.

Wait, really? That would mean I would get an OotS book for Chistmas three years running.

SWEET!!!

[SteveMB]

My recollection is that the Giant prefers to avoid definitive announcements until the project is far enough along to minimize any risk of delays popping up out of left field.

[Grey Watcher]

I'm fairly certain that, give or take some bonus comics, this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0484.html) will be the end of War and XPs. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Rich said so in the Discussion Thread associated with that comic. As for the release date, I only remember something to the effect of probably sometime in 2008 (note the qualifier "probably").

[Kurald Galain]

I'm fairly certain that, give or take some bonus comics, this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0484.html) will be the end of War and XPs.

Yes.

That also means that there's nearly enough material for the fourth publication...

[Thrudh]

I find it very strange that no new books have come out yet.. I thought Rich quit his day job (hurray for him!) because the income from the books was enough to live on...

How has he been making money since the last book?

Obviously, none of my business... Let me just say this...

I WANT to pay you money... so get those books out there :smalltongue:

[jmucchiello]

I'm fairly certain that, give or take some bonus comics, this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0484.html) will be the end of War and XPs. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Rich said so in the Discussion Thread associated with that comic. As for the release date, I only remember something to the effect of probably sometime in 2008 (note the qualifier "probably").
That's going to be a fairly thick book then. That's 183 comics. And that span probably averages close to 2 pages per "comic".

I'll bet Roy falling is holding it up. :)

[jmucchiello]

The Giant said at a convention last year that "War and XP's" should be out by Christmas.He specifically said (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3558827&postcount=34) that Xmas 07 was not possible.

Hopefully 08 isn't the same way.

[Ghastly Epigram]

Yes.

That also means that there's nearly enough material for the fourth publication...

Weeeelllllll, if we look through the previous books...(Give or take a few strips)

Dungeon Crawlin' Fools: 1-120. 120 strips.
No Cure for the Paladin Blues: 121-301. 180 strips.
War and XPs: 302-484. 182 strips.

It seems reasonably safe to assume that the next one (Which is totally gonna be called Pirates Versus Ninjas :smallwink:) will have roughly the same number as the previous two. Which would bring us from 484-666. Which is nearly 100 strips away.

Of course, this IS based on an assumption. It could turn out to be roughly the same size as the first one (Though given how the plot is going so far, this seems very unlikely. Plus that is still 30 or so strips away). But like I said, it seems to be a reasonably safe assumption to make. :smallsmile:

[/endpedantic]

But yes, I hope it comes out for Christmas this year. That would be an awesome gift. :smallbiggrin: Its gonna be one darn hefty book too, especially since a LOT of the strips were multiple page ones.

[SPoD]

Remember that double strips count as two pages, so this book will be at least 250 pages or so.

[Ninja]

and let us not forget the one where Roy dies.... still wonder how he's gonna fit that one in the book... some kind of folding page seems most like it to me...

[NerfTW]

and let us not forget the one where Roy dies.... still wonder how he's gonna fit that one in the book... some kind of folding page seems most like it to me...

Or he could just split it into several parts side by side.

[Ghastly Epigram]

Yes, I suspect that strip will be done like this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0493.html) one. Which of course lessens the effect, but that simply cannot be helped. The downside of infinite canvas I suppose.

[pankake]

I too have the fealing that I NEED the next book in this series. I'm very much looking forward to the next book.

However my few thoughts on 'demanding' a new book are this:

you just cant rush greatness. Maybe the next book will be huge, completing at the resurection/reuniting of the OOTS members. Or just an installment of normal size. But as an avid computer gamer I see what happens when people attempt to rush a new product out to the shelves to make a deadline. The product can flop, if it wasn't already bound to flop. I'll wait till the Giant is done. We may not know what the Giant is doing getting ready for the new book, but we know that when the new book comes out it will be ready and awsome.

[ZFR]

Just curious, why is it taking so long? I mean the comics are already there, it's not like OtOoP or SoD.

Not trying to criticize Mr. Burlew, just curious. Is W&XPs going to have lots of bonus material or somesuch?

[Grey Watcher]

Just curious, why is it taking so long? I mean the comics are already there, it's not like OtOoP or SoD.

Not trying to criticize Mr. Burlew, just curious. Is W&XPs going to have lots of bonus material or somesuch?

Eh, it's the first two books took a while to come out. Remember, he's got to write bonus strips, author commentary, cover pages, etc. Then he has to deal with printers and distrubutors. Then the printers print a proof (to check for mistakes) which Rich has to approve. If there's a problem with the proof, he's got to send it back with notes, and they'll print another proof for him to check, and so on.... And those are just the obstacles I can think of off the top of my head. It's not as simple as taking a disk full of comic files to OfficeMax.

[NerfTW]

It's not as simple as taking a disk full of comic files to OfficeMax.

It could be, but that's how crap gets printed.

Also, the colors themselves don't always show up properly in ink form. Roy had to be completely recolored through the entire first book. While he fixed that issue, there's still a chance of another color having the same issue.

[SPoD]

Just curious, why is it taking so long? I mean the comics are already there, it's not like OtOoP or SoD.

Not trying to criticize Mr. Burlew, just curious. Is W&XPs going to have lots of bonus material or somesuch?

It could be financial issues, we don't know. Printing a book costs a lot of money that he may not have right now, especially if it ends up being bigger than all the other books so far. Or it could be his medical issues. Or it could be anything, really. He's never officially announced the book to the public, so I don't see how we can complain that it's "late".

[SPoD]

Also, the colors themselves don't always show up properly in ink form. Roy had to be completely recolored through the entire first book. While he fixed that issue, there's still a chance of another color having the same issue.

Right, if there was something that only appeared in this book that had a problem. Could you imagine if it turned out that the hobgoblins needed to be recolored to print right? That would take weeks!

[David Argall]

Eh, it's the first two books took a while to come out. Remember, he's got to write bonus strips, author commentary, cover pages, etc. Then he has to deal with printers and distrubutors. Then the printers print a proof (to check for mistakes) which Rich has to approve. If there's a problem with the proof, he's got to send it back with notes, and they'll print another proof for him to check, and so on.... And those are just the obstacles I can think of off the top of my head. It's not as simple as taking a disk full of comic files to OfficeMax.

But we are talking of his fifth book. Most of this stuff is routine by now. It's easy enough to assume problems that made a miss of the sorta official Dec 07 publication, but that those problems are still so bad that we don't even have an announcement yet?

[Leohat]

I find it very strange that no new books have come out yet.. I thought Rich quit his day job (hurray for him!) because the income from the books was enough to live on...

How has he been making money since the last book?

Obviously, none of my business... Let me just say this...

I WANT to pay you money... so get those books out there :smalltongue:

{sarcasm}
Remember, The Giant is repeatedly too ill to draw strips on schedule.

[Lissou]

I, too, can't wait for the next book. And I, too, know that we'll just have to wait patiently... Well, impatiently, I guess.

The book does End at 484, it's been confirmed before. And it's called War and XPs unless the name changed, which it could.

I don't know why it's not out yet, but remember what Rich said: he's goin to slow down on what he's doing on the side, so he can rest more, and focus on the comics he posts online. There have beens lots of them lately, so I don't think we can complain about him not being productive enough.

Plus, as stated, there is the bonus comics he might add, the commentary with each chapter (and while we're at it, deciding exactly where to cut each chapter if he hasn't yet), possibly some mistakes to fix, some paging to do (you pointed out Roy's falling, but it's probably not the only one), all the Haley translations to add, then checking if all the colours came up right...

Also, as you all pointed out, this book is going to be the biggest one yet. What if there are some binding issues as well? We can't really know stuff like that.

And as for the next book being ready... No, not so much. There have been around 90 strips so far, but they're also single strips more often, which means each update advances the story slightly less in matter of pages. So if the next book is going to be around the size of War and XPs in a matter of pages, it's quite possible that it will be around 200 strips rather than 180, or even around 230 or something. Don't forget War and XPs had a LOT of double or even triple updates. (A lot of big shots that will look great in print, too. I can't wait for that).

At any rate, a book is over when that part of the story is over. It's not about a number of strips. We're still relatively in the beginning of the book, storywise. So far we've caught up with what Roy missed while dead and not watching (Belkar and Haley being stuck and resisting, the others of the Order unable to contact them and looking for help, Team Evil staying in Azure City due to Redcloak), and now we're starting to advance. (Contact with the Orcs and Therkla being developped, Haley, Belkar and Celia going to Cliffport, and of course Belkar's Mark of Justice being set off).

So I'd say we're definitely not close to the end of a book. But that's good, IMO.

I don't know when book 3 will be released, but we won't know until it's ready and we can pre-order it. There is no point in setting a date ourselves is Rich isn't. Also, I know it's frustrating, but we know he's working on it, and that's what matters. It's going to be an amazing book.

[SPoD]

But we are talking of his fifth book. Most of this stuff is routine by now. It's easy enough to assume problems that made a miss of the sorta official Dec 07 publication, but that those problems are still so bad that we don't even have an announcement yet?

You're not thinking like a retailer. Sales are higher at Christmas and (for gaming products) at the summer conventions of Origins and GenCon. Otherwise, the product is old news by the time these roll around and you miss out on those "I want/need to buy something, oh, look, this is brand new!" purchases.

Once he missed Christmas, it might have been prudent to hold on to the likely-enormous amount of capital needed to print a 300-page color book and release the book so that it premiered during a high point of the sales year. If it doesn't show up at this year's GenCon, I don't see any reason it would be out before Christmas. Getting it out as soon as possible is probably less important than getting the maximum amount of sales overall, especially if his other books are still selling well enough to pay his bills for a few more months.


{sarcasm}
Remember, The Giant is repeatedly too ill to draw strips on schedule.

Unless you're his wife or personal physician, I don't see how you can possibly know one way or the other how sick Rich is.