The Sticks Awards: BotQ 451-475

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Hi, and welcome to The Sticks Awards - The Best of the Quarter!

The Sticks Awards are given to the best strips of all times, chosen by the polls here in the Playground. Read the The Sticks Awards Results Compilation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34791) thread for more details and previous results.

To vote, simply post your favorite strip of the current 5 on the thread. You have 3 days to do it.

The poll will close on August 10th, 5:00 PM forum default time.


The Best of the Quarter 451-475

451 Change of Direction (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html)
456 Saved Game (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0456.html)
464 Not for Everyone (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0464.html)
470 With Three Arrows Left in the Quiver (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0470.html)
472 I'll Hold Them Off (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0472.html)

[Salty]

I'm going with 456. :smallbiggrin:

[Kool-Aid]

I'm going to have to go with 451.

[Lissou]

451 for me. No context (although the other ones are pretty good too).

- "What mortal can resist the siren song of "Aww, Come on!"?"
- Redcloak questionning himself
- Redcloak being badass
- "We're going to win this war NOW"
Oh, and a bonus for the cute summoned evil mammoth. I want one.

Interestingly, I think this strip is like the perfect contrast with 464. In some ways, Miko and Redcloak have a lot in common, but I think thse two strips show how they're quite different.

[Spiryt]

Well, see

451 is dramatic, but giant red mammoth and a racoon spoils the effect pretty nice. Bad idea :smallyuk:
456 is another funy allusion to D&D
464 Well... epic... and the end of the Miko which made me fell symphatyfor her...
470 Haley making some kind of Power Rangers action? No thanks.
472 Making fun out of cliche. Good, but that's all.

Gotta go with

464 even though 451 is close.

[Ramien]

451. Redcloak's change of heart and learning a little more about what it means to lead all the goblin peoples.

[Yendor]

Going with Redcloak in 451.

[Ironwolf172]

472 It's the funniest in my opinon.

[Tricia]

I'm going to have to go with 464. It's always been one of my favorites out of all of OotS...and it's one that can always manage to make my cry. I liked the character of Miko before...but this one really made me feel for her.

[Lira]

I'll go with 464. I never thought I'd be able to feel bad for Miko, but there you go. It's an excellent strip.

[Calamity]

464

Poor Miko. :smallfrown:

[Mr. Mud]

Can I vote for all of them? :confused:.

If not, 456 all the way. :smallcool:

No, No, it HAS to be 464 what was I thinking?

[Zordrath]

Tough one. Three are funny, two are plot - however, the funny ones are not that amazingly funny (I love Kazumi and Daigo, though), while the plot ones are extremely well done. In the end, I'll go with 451 simply because I prefer Redcloak over Miko, but it's really a close one.

[Red XIV]

A stronger batch to chose from than the last BotQ, but I've got to go with 464.

[dps]

I'll go with 472.

[aapje]

This round was pretty easy 451

No real competition.

[Jake]

456. Yup.

[DBear]

Wow, some great contenders: Redcloak's "My God, What Have I Done"? Or "Alas, poor Miko"? Or the naming of the redshirts? Oh well, in the end I'll go with #470, Haley's Moment of Awesome.

[SlightlyEvil]

This is a really hard one. 472 is funny, 470 is awesome, but for me, it comes down to Redcloak's epiphany in 451 or Miko's lost redemption in 464.

It's a hard choice, but I have to go with 464. It puts the proper tragic end on Miko's fall. I wish I could give Redcloak my vote, but I've only got the one.

[Mauve Shirt]

Very very tough choice. I'm going to go with Redcloak's epiphany in 451. Miko's death was good, and of course the mauve shirts are very good. But I like Redcloak.

[CasESenSITItiVE]

gotta be 456, though it was close

[Bubbles]

Four Hundred Sixty-Four

[Wikkin]

464..........

[David Argall]

There really is no choice here. 464 is just way superior to the others

[Stormpax]

470
One word: NINJA!:smallbiggrin:

[Child Conscript]

472 Mainly for the introduction of the greatest (well, in my heart) duo ever.
:smallbiggrin:

[Kato]

Hm.... another great bunch... though it's pretty sure the decision will be made between 451 and 464... Even though I appreciate the latter I'll go with 451 because... I think it was more important, more funny, and just more plain awesome.

[carebearbecky]

464.

A fitting end.

[Niknokitueu]

A tough one for me this time. I nearly went for 464, with "I can live with that.", but in the end I guess I'm a sucker for a redhead showing off her stuff: 470.

Have Fun!
Niknokitueu

[Estelindis]

464

A poignant yet fitting end for Miko.

[Kurald Galain]

Even though I agree that Miko's end is an excellent comic, I'm going to vote for 456 since it's one of the most hilarious bits in the arc, and so recognizable of certain poorly-DM'ed D&D campaigns...

[kukn]

451

Imho a lot weaker quarter than the previous one.

[Mordae]

451, because Redcloak's redemption of his calling is better than the logical end of Miko's loss of the same.

[Deepkicker]

A bunch of good strips here, though I was never really a fan of Redcloak's immediate 'revelation'.

Have to go with 464 . Rich handled her demise in a scarily perfect fashion. Some of the others are really funny, but for me that one stands out as one of the definitive moments in the entire story.

[Sir_Norbert]

Wow... unlike most of these contests :P this is a great selection of strips, and a very very hard choice. OK, 456 is pretty forgettable, but any of the other four would deserve to win BotQ if it weren't for the unfortunate fact that only one of them can.

464 wins, though, because it's a brilliant and heart-touching piece of character development and one of the moments where OotS rises to the level of a great work of art.

[Zolem]

Hmm, for me it comes down to either 456 or 472. So I'll list reasons and the winner wins.

456)
1. I usualy play a cleric, so I get a lot of that.
2. Our usual DM is just as detailed.
3. Referenced later when viewing the afterlife.
4. Lampshades it's own lowbudget fight because the spells just didn't work.
5. Totaly breaks the Evil Overlord List rule of no personal duels, but with good reason and charecter development.

472)
1. Lampshades the improtance of on-screen names.
2. Names two great charecters that people love.
3. Starts the runing gag of 'saving the last name for an emergancy'.
4. Elan is proven wrong about dramatic moments with 'I'll hold them off' being a death-sentance.
5. The 'lets just get this moving on before Elan thinks he's seeing ghosts' ref was good.
6. Led to the wedding.....or at least the events that lead to a wedding.
7. Daigo might now play an important roel in stoy development as a noble, and this is when he was introduced.


Well, that setles it 472 gets the vote.

[warmachine]

So much to choose from: a revelation by Redcloak, the 'titanic' cleric battle, the death of Miko, the importance of names in fiction. Only 470 is the filler.

464. The poignant end of the character that tried to do good with every inch of her being but couldn't see that was her problem.

[Chronos]

I've got to go with 464. It's the perfect closure to the story of one of the most interesting characters in the strip. Though I won't be too disappointed if Redcloak beats her out.

Ordinarily, I try to balance plot and humor in my votes, but the plot material here is just too strong.

[ZFR]

464. Most touching one ever from the online strips so far.

(2nd most touching if we include book material - with end of SoD being first)

I didn't like 451 that much. Redcloak's realization was just too sudden.

[ericgrau]

464 f-t-w.

[Number316]

No really amazing ones, vote for 456.

[Zolem]

I didn't like 451 that much. Redcloak's realization was just too sudden.

Dude, if you had you're life saved by a culture you were treating horibly and sending needlessly to their death because of chilhood teachings about them having no care for you or yours, it would be a prety life-shaking moment for you too.

[d'Bwobsling]

Nothing really special this time, so I'll go for456

[recluso]

464, best dramatic feel

[Haleyintraining]

I've gotta say 456.

[HZ514]

464, it brought tears to my eyes when I first read it, and it still does.

[hajo]

451 Change of Direction (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html)
456 Saved Game (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0456.html)
464 Not for Everyone (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0464.html)
470 With Three Arrows Left in the Quiver (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0470.html)
472 I'll Hold Them Off (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0472.html)

Haley full in action "22:1" is really awesome, but
I vote 451 "Extended summon monster VII" - major character development for Redcloak.

[Warren Dew]

451 is a nice soliloquy, but I don't see it actually changing Redcloak's behavior at all. It doesn't change the fact that he ordered the southern hobgoblin army to their deaths, and his charging in personally doesn't change the fact that the northern army was going to take the city anyway. I just don't see it being as plot significant as people are saying; it comes across to me as more of a plot device to generate more cool battle scenes.

464 is a fitting end to the Miko story, but only if you know the rest of the story already. It doesn't really do a good job of being a single strip distillation of that story.

472 is pretty funny, but 456 is just hilarious for people familiar with high level D&D caster battles. 456 is my favorite out of this group.

That doesn't settle which to vote for, though. Early on, it looked like 451 and 464 were running neck and neck, so tactical voting considerations would have caused me to vote for 464. Now it looks like 464 has a comfortable lead, so I can vote for 456 on the remote chance that it can come from behind.

[dish]

For some reason I've chosen 456 as well.

[Logalmier]

I'm gonna have to go with 451.

[Zed the Sharp]

I missed the last vote because my son was born. Everyone's at home now, and things are busy, but I'll pop in long enough to vote for
464.

[Morgan Wick]

I'm not going to get into the nasty debate going on at the last BotQ thread. Read my blog this September or October when I'll give my thoughts. For now, I think some sort of system that allows the first choice to be favored over the others would be preferable than straight approval voting. Perhaps all involved should look into range voting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_voting). And I have had concerns about potential vote splitting in the past.

Well, Redcloak and 451 certainly gave 464 a scare early on (note to self for future: Redcloak character development = plenty of votes), but then 464 nearly doubled 451's vote total and 456 started to rise out of the clusterbleep to challenge 451 for second.

The next round has plenty for the museum crowd, leading off with two triple strips and a double strip, but that crowd is likely to flock to 484. I think it's pretty much down to that and 496, with 477 being the runt, 492 having its virtues but suffering in comparison to the other two, and 490 being a legit dark horse but not really having much of a shot. But no matter what, I don't see the winner of the next round being much of a factor in BotH between the epic trio of 406, 449, and 464. 496 would get crushed by 464, and 484 would be a dark horse luring in the museum crowd at best.

(One suggestion for stretching out the time so that we don't have to deal with problems as we approach the current strips: a slightly longer voting time for Bot5H. I also wouldn't begrudge a lengthy break after the coming BotH.)

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Poll is closed.

451 - 12 (24.48%)
Kool-Aid; Lissou; Ramien; Yendor; Lord Zordrath; aapje; Mauve Shirt; Kato; kukn; Mordae; hajo; Logalmier

456 - 9 (18.36%)
Salty; Jake; CasESenSITItiVE; Kurald Galain; Number316; d'Bwobsling; Haleyintraining; Warren Dew; dish

464 - 21 (42.85%)
Spiryt; Tricia; Lira; Calamity; Mrmud; Red XIV; SlightlyEvil; Bubbles; Wikkin; David Argall; carebearbecky; Estelindis; Deepkicker; Sir_Norbert; warmachine; Chronos; ZFR; ericgrau; recluso; HZ514; Zed the Sharp

470 - 3 (6.12%)
DBear; Stormpax; Niknokitueu

472 - 4 (8.16%)
Ironwolf172; dps; Child Conscript; Zolem