Okay, I'm amazed...

[ZerglingOne]

Are you guys reading Rich's mind? I saw no less than three posts yesterday that completely guessed this comic spot on. There was a post about how Therkla was aiming at someone behind Elan and there was at least one post about the trees.

It was just kind of crazy when I saw the comic today. I lmao'd at how close everyone's predictions were.

[teratorn]

It was just kind of crazy when I saw the comic today. I lmao'd at how close everyone's predictions were.

Not really, most people where claiming Therkla was going to force Elan into a date or worse.

[JosephHeller]

I thought it was just a crazy theory.

[Deepkicker]

Well, I certainly didn't see it coming. In hindsight, I probably should have known Therkla wouldn't threaten Elan...

[Yendor]

Two words: Epileptic Trees. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EpilepticTrees)

[AdamG]

I'm sure Rich reads the forums regularly and bases the comic on what he reads. I've noticed the comics tend to strongly reflect the majority opinion here.

[Zaggab]

I'm sure Rich reads the forums regularly and bases the comic on what he reads. I've noticed the comics tend to strongly reflect the majority opinion here.

That could also be because Rich is like people are in general, and so thinks the same way as a majority of people. Therefore, what he thinks will be good for his comic, other people think will be good to.

I remember seeing him saying somewhere that he never reads speculation so that he is unaffected in his storytelling. I see no reason for him to lie about that.

[only1doug]

That could also be because Rich is like people are in general, and so thinks the same way as a majority of people. Therefore, what he thinks will be good for his comic, other people think will be good to.

I remember seeing him saying somewhere that he never reads speculation so that he is unaffected in his storytelling. I see no reason for him to lie about that.

I suspect it is more likely that the people here are those who's minds already fit the pattern of Rich's story, we all gather here because we like his writing, is it really that suprising that most of us also think in the same patterns?

[NerfTW]

At some point, you start to get a feel for an author's writing. Which is why it becomes harder and harder to surprise your biggest fans.

Also, there's so many people on this board, that every possible angle was suggested, it's just a matter of people remembering the hits and not the misses.

[Holammer]

Well, being able guess the story might be a nice ego trip. But consider the infinite monkey theorem and you'll see that us forum regulars are just a bunch of chimps typing up theories. One is bound to be correct now and then. :smallamused:

[mofabulous]

Someone else noticed the trees moving closer and while everyone was fully absorbed in the elan / therkla drama it went forgotten.

I didnt think the trees were gonna be hinjo, lein, and durkon though. I was kinda hoping for real trees to attack elan and maybe kidnap him :smallconfused:

[Evil DM Mark3]

To quote the author of Gunnerkrig Court "I am picturing a dartboard with all the possible spaces riddled with darts."

Or to put it another way, there are so many of us guessing, one of us is bound to get pretty close.

[Setra]

That could also be because Rich is like people are in general, and so thinks the same way as a majority of people. Therefore, what he thinks will be good for his comic, other people think will be good to.

I remember seeing him saying somewhere that he never reads speculation so that he is unaffected in his storytelling. I see no reason for him to lie about that.

He also said if he DID read speculation he would be more likely to change the story to make the speculation completely wrong, just because.

So yeah.

[Fostire]

I didnt think the trees were gonna be hinjo, lein, and durkon though. I was kinda hoping for real trees to attack elan and maybe kidnap him :smallconfused:

That's not hinjo, his katana is a different color (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html)

[SlightlyEvil]

I think people are fooling themselves about the trees in 582. To me, it looks more like people are moving around in the scene.

As for predicting this strip, if you fire at a dartboard with a minigun, you'll get a bullseye eventually.

[Ghastly Epigram]

As for predicting this strip, if you fire at a dartboard with a minigun, you'll get a bullseye eventually.

Quite quickly I should think. :smallwink:

But yes, it amazes me when I see people keep suggesting he changes the comic to "shout-out" to the forum. As if there is no way he could have come up with these ideas on his own. Heaven forbid. :smallamused:

[Linkavitch]

That's not hinjo, his katana is a different color (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html)

Ya know what? You're right! It's not Hinjo! I wonder who it is.

[NerfTW]

Daigo, perhaps?

[Mauve Shirt]

Who's the one behind Therkla with the bow?

[David Argall]

That's not hinjo, his katana is a different color (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html)

Artistic errors or indifference have been present since the start. [See Haley's hands at the end of the first strip.] Don't rule Hinjo out yet. He is the sort to go on a dangerous mission himself even if he should send underlings.

[Yendor]

That's not hinjo, his katana is a different color (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html)

Elsewhere (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0433.html) we see that (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0455.html) his katana (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0479.html) is that colour (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0506.html).

[Fostire]

Elsewhere (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0433.html) we see that (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0455.html) his katana (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0479.html) is that colour (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0506.html).

He must have changed swords at some point, but his sword in all those links is a darker color than the rest of the swords, and its the same color as the one in the latest comic so i was wrong and yes that is in fact hinjo.

[Occasional Sage]

Well, being able guess the story might be a nice ego trip. But consider the infinite monkey theorem and you'll see that us forum regulars are just a bunch of chimps typing up theories. One is bound to be correct now and then. :smallamused:

Well said.

...

Wait, what are you implying about us?!

[stabbybelkar]

He must have changed swords at some point, but his sword in all those links is a darker color than the rest of the swords, and its the same color as the one in the latest comic so i was wrong and yes that is in fact hinjo.

no. it's the same sword, just in the fight against :miko: he had his sword in his scabbard (heh double entendre)

[TheElfLord]

That could also be because Rich is like people are in general, and so thinks the same way as a majority of people. Therefore, what he thinks will be good for his comic, other people think will be good to.

I remember seeing him saying somewhere that he never reads speculation so that he is unaffected in his storytelling. I see no reason for him to lie about that.

I would think it would be quite an advantage for an author to read all these potential ideas and be able to pick out the best ones for use in the work. Of course, while not plagerism, so action would be considered dishonest and looked down upon by many fans. So if an author was going to skim ideas from fan sites, it would benifit the author to claim that he does not read the sites and ignores all the ideas that are generated.

I am in no way claiming Rich does this, as I have no evidence one way or the other. I"m just illustrating a benefit from such an action and why a person would lie about it.

[Occasional Sage]

I would think it would be quite an advantage for an author to read all these potential ideas and be able to pick out the best ones for use in the work. Of course, while not plagerism, so action would be considered dishonest and looked down upon by many fans. So if an author was going to skim ideas from fan sites, it would benifit the author to claim that he does not read the sites and ignores all the ideas that are generated.

I am in no way claiming Rich does this, as I have no evidence one way or the other. I"m just illustrating a benefit from such an action and why a person would lie about it.

You do have evidence. Rich has stated that he does not do this. Unless something clearly contradicts this (like Rich saying, "New strip is up. I used Generic Forumite's idea from the discussion thread in this one.") that should be the enough.

If you want more, look at the 99+% of the other times that nobody has predicted the plot, when equally good ideas were presented.

[pankake]

I would think it would be quite an advantage for an author to read all these potential ideas and be able to pick out the best ones for use in the work. Of course, while not plagerism, so action would be considered dishonest and looked down upon by many fans. So if an author was going to skim ideas from fan sites, it would benifit the author to claim that he does not read the sites and ignores all the ideas that are generated.

I am in no way claiming Rich does this, as I have no evidence one way or the other. I"m just illustrating a benefit from such an action and why a person would lie about it.

If an author used (read: picked) his/her plot line from the readers of the story, would it truely be His/Her story?

One thing to reading developing stories while they are in the process of being written is that when an author begins to forgo his own writing for the ideas of the people, he stops being creative and is not writing a story, he's telling a narritive that could be very well horrible in that it's not a coherant story.

Sometimes the "Rule Of Cool" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool) can be over done leaving you with a total wad of bleh.

However this is not to say collaborative efforts are worthless, just that there isn't much point in doing so with the ammount of sources that are available.

I've seen many authors that simply do not read fan mail asking to read their idea, if only for legal recourse.

Though It is fun to speculate on what is going to happen next, it is best if we let ourselves be lead through this story on Rich's terms with his vast creative talent at the foreground. think on how fun it is to speculate whether we'll ever see GwaH again or the bandana paladin, and be supprised when it actually does happen, or how fun it is to find the visual clue that what you thought were trees are really a rescue/overwatch squad.

[David Argall]

I'm sure Rich reads the forums regularly and bases the comic on what he reads. I've noticed the comics tend to strongly reflect the majority opinion here.

Go back to 484 and read all the speculation on Qarr. Nobody got it precisely right, and most were wildly off.
Go look at Roy's efforts to be noticed. Few of us thought they would easily succeed, but completely fail?
And go look at the majority of the comments this time. Few of us were seeing Qarr or the paladins showing. One of my own ideas was that Therkla would spend about a strip chasing and cornering Elan, only to break down and be unable to finish him, following which he would persuade her to switch sides, which is both more or less what happened, and seriously different.

Now our writer does get ideas from us [see V's sex], but not nearly as often as we tend to think. Not only is the strip heavily mapped out in advance, making even some really great ideas just not fitting in and by the time we suggest the idea, it is too late, but authors are heavily on an ego trip.
I suggest an idea, and you use it. I become the author and you become my lackey, doing the mere detail work. At some level, the author understands this and is apt to be hostile to any improvements, no matter how clear. Even the professional who admits his employee status is apt to deem changes as vicious attacks on his child. For the webcomic that has a much less direct [if any at all] connection between paycheck and production, interest in using ideas from somebody else is way stronger.
Our writer is particularly open on the point, and we had best assume we are making guesses about the future, not suggestions.

[TheElfLord]

You do have evidence. Rich has stated that he does not do this. Unless something clearly contradicts this (like Rich saying, "New strip is up. I used Generic Forumite's idea from the discussion thread in this one.") that should be the enough.

If you want more, look at the 99+% of the other times that nobody has predicted the plot, when equally good ideas were presented.

I seem to have been unclear. I was saying I don't have evidence either way that Rich is lying or telling the truth when he stated he didn't read the forums in order to avoid reader contributions.

Also this isn't a black and white concept. The two options aren't the author never skims and uses ideas or the author bases everything in the story off of someone else's ideas. Just because some original ideas are used, after all an author is still an author, doesn't mean an author can't take ideas from fans from time to time.


If an author used (read: picked) his/her plot line from the readers of the story, would it truely be His/Her story?

One thing to reading developing stories while they are in the process of being written is that when an author begins to forgo his own writing for the ideas of the people, he stops being creative and is not writing a story, he's telling a narritive that could be very well horrible in that it's not a coherant story.


It comes down to the author's main motivations. The motivation could be to tell the story the author comes up with. It could also be to win the fawning adoration of fans or make money. In the last two cases doing whatever it takes to make a good story, even if it means skimming good ideas from fans, is not out of the question. Sure its dishonest, but if it will accomplish the author's main motivation, some authors will do it.

[Chronos]

Even if Rich were using forum ideas to guide the story in some places, that can't really have been the case, here (or at least, not to a very large degree). Rich put Elan into this situation two strips ago, and he wouldn't have put him into it without having at least a very good idea of how he was going to get him out of it. So he had to have been planning something like this at least two strips ago (and possibly much earlier), and hence at least one strip before any of the speculation. At the absolute most, I suppose it's conceivable that he originally planned for Hinjo et al. to jump out from behind the trees, but that he saw the speculation and decided it'd be funnier for them to be the trees, but that's not a very big influence, even if it happened.

[Firestar27]

no. it's the same sword, just in the fight against :miko: he had his sword in his scabbard (heh double entendre)

Really? Until I saw how his sword was colored in the other evidence brought up in this thread, I thought his sword was black. It was really cool. And then you all had to ruin it for me. But then I find out his scabbard is black.
He should fight with the scabbard on more often. Screw safety! It looks cool!

[Yoritomo Himeko]

That's not hinjo, his katana is a different color (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html)

I think the "tree" with the katana is Daigo. Hinjo has a darker one. It's supposed to be a cast iron one rather than the standard one shown here. I think the one with the bow and arrow is someone new.

I don't think Elan cast the spells because he was shocked to see them move and talk.

Hiding the others with illusions was really clever on the Giant's part.

I liked the bit with the Olympics.

This doesn't look good for poor Qarr.

Anyway, this was a really good strip.

[hamishspence]

I think the term is Cold Iron. Not sure if Cast-iron is good for weapons

Im not sure what Adamantine looks like in the strip, but if I remember rightly, Hinjos sword matchs one of Haley's two arrows, described as silver and cold-iron, suggesting its cold iron, not adamantine.

[Linkavitch]

I think the term is Cold Iron. Not sure if Cast-iron is good for weapons

Im not sure what Adamantine looks like in the strip, but if I remember rightly, Hinjos sword matchs one of Haley's two arrows, described as silver and cold-iron, suggesting its cold iron, not adamantine.

Yeah, Cast Iron is really heavy...not as heavy as, say, Osmium or Starmetal, but still pretty heavy. Or maybe it's flame-blackened silver...