When will Rich end OotS?

[joela]

In War and Xps, Rich mentioned that he will be ending OotS ala Babylon5 (i.e., he has a definite ending planned). Has he hinted when will that be? 2010? 2015?

[evisiron]

2008.

Enjoy it while it lasts.
I got hit by a skepticism ray!

[SPoD]

I believe he says in Paladin Blues that he has at least five years left of material. That was back in 2006, so, three or more years from now.

[Destro_Yersul]

Here's hoping the site doesn't go with it.

[Forealms]

Back then he had 5 more years of material, though two years later now he may still have 5 more years. It's hard to say what new plot developments have gone through his head.

[Just Joseph]

Calendar predictions be hanged. Good story tellers end their story when the story is over. Any writer will tell you it's a very rare story that adheres strictly to the author's original outline, if there was an outline at all. Serially-composed stories are even less tractible.

I predict Rich, being not just a good story teller but a d****d good story teller, will end the story when we are still wanting more, but the fundamental story has been told. Central arcs wrapped up, characters have learned their lessons, we can predict what the characters are going to do next without Rich having to tell us. Could be a year, could be 10. Trying to extrapolate end dates from statements of how much material is left in this or that story line is only so much fortune telling. Might as well ask your magic 8-ball. If Rich even knows himself (which I seriously doubt), he apparently ain't telling. Either way it's unknowable unless, at some future date, he pulls a Dave Sim and says "Roy will die for the last time in eposode #blah", or places some other such definitive constraint on the story.

Read the story, enjoy the process, don't worry about the end, it'll happen when it happens; that's my approach.

[AKA_Bait]

Here's hoping the site doesn't go with it.

Yeah. I think it will stick around though. There's nothing stopping him from picking up another project after this one and Erfworld is already here.

I don't think he makes any money off the site anyway, although I'm not sure, given the fact that he doesn't take donations and doesn't have advertisments.

[bibliophile]

For those who fear the comic will be done in three years.. just remember, Robert Jordan thought his Wheel of Time series was going to be a trilogy when he first started it. Its now eleven books of more than 700 pages each, and still going.

[AKA_Bait]

For those who fear the comic will be done in three years.. just remember, Robert Jordan thought his Wheel of Time series was going to be a trilogy when he first started it. Its now eleven books of more than 700 pages each, and still going.

Well lets not draw too many please? I would like the Giant to finish OotS at somepoint.

[The Rose Dragon]

For those who fear the comic will be done in three years.. just remember, Robert Jordan thought his Wheel of Time series was going to be a trilogy when he first started it. Its now eleven books of more than 700 pages each, and still going.

"Was still going" would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?

[Black Cat Godess]

To be a little off topic, no, that's not actually more correct. He wrote down most of the last book before he died and told all major plot points to his family and also possibly to his editors or whatever. The last book will be published as per his wishes.

I feel that there are gonna be a few more major story arcs after this one. We have to do something about Azure City, not to mention the other two gates, and we still have yet to deal with Haley's father. The OotS need to regroup back together and Roy needs to be resurrected, and that's not even counting any other plots that Rich has thought up since then. So I don't think the comic will end in 5 years, let alone three.

[Heroic]

I think it will end in January 1st 2010 :smalltongue:

[chiasaur11]

2012.

That's what the Mayans said, at any rate.

[David Argall]

There are an [expandable] 4-500 strips to go, which at 2 a week is 4-5 years. Add in that at any point our writer might get this "great idea" he just has to shoehorn into the story somehow... So you won't be getting the final volume for Christmas before 2013 and should he get/have enough ideas, 2015 is by no means ruled out.

[drengnikrafe]

Rich will probably end the comic when all the loose plot ends have been tied up, he cannot think of anymore, and he is tired of writing them.

Either that or he rolled 100d20 to determine the number of comics he would go on for, and, plot hooks or not, he'll chop it off right there.

[Llaqus]

That is if the concerns about the Large Hadron Collider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_black_hole) are just bunk. Otherwise well all be screwed in a couple of months lol.:smalltongue::smalltongue:

[dish]

So, barring unforseen accidents and unexpected black holes, the consensus seems to be, 'not for a long time'.

[Kish]

Rich said that he has a plot planned out, with an end, and when it ends so will the strip. I would say the answer to the question in the subject line of this thread is, "After Xykon, Redcloak and the Order have concluded their dealings with Girard's Gate and Kraagor's Gate, and Roy's quest to destroy Xykon has genuinely concluded, almost certainly with Xykon's destruction, and most definitely with Xykon somehow being neutralized."

I would say the answer to the question in the subject line of this thread is definitely not, "It's a webcomic, it will never end," or, "Rich will make up an ad-hoc ending or just drop it when he runs out of humorous material, for plot is secondary and it has no planned ending." I know each of those ideas has its adherents, so--no consensus here.

[Ron Miel]

Well, there are two more gates left. Based on the story so far, I'd say the next book will be the story of Girard's gate, which will finish with the gate being destroyed. Then there will be another book of various side quests. Then finally there will be the book of Kraagor's gate which will bring the series to a close.

So, three more books after this one. At an educated guess.

[Kaytara]

Unless, of course, the plot doesn't end with a confrontation at the last gate. The comic ending in the same way the Scribbles' story ended wouldn't be very satisfying - no, the Sticks should be able to eliminate the threat of the Snarl once and for all, without destroying the universe. And really, that kind of thing seems likely, since Ultimate Arcane Power is definitely overkill for something as comparatively mundane as simply sealing a gate or two and destroying some lich.

The Order is only 5-6 levels or so away from becoming Epic level. Epic characters are, by their definition, on the way to becoming gods, and are thus in a position to challenge gods. Therefore, I won't be surprised if the events of the last few strips will be very epic-scaled, indeed.

[Lissou]

In War and Xps, Rich mentioned that he will be ending OotS ala Babylon5 (i.e., he has a definite ending planned). Has he hinted when will that be? 2010? 2015?

You know, Rich doesn't have a regular schedule. As a result, he doesn't know how many strips he'll draw in a week, or a month, or a year. Plus, he's stated that sometimes he ends up writing more strips for a scene than he thought he would.

So, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a specific date in mind. What he does know is what the story is going to be like, where it's going to go and what will be the end of it. And story-wise, I think we're something like halfway through (I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines of "there should be like 6 books in the end, except of course if stuff take more strips like it does sometimes, in which case we could end up with 9 or something").

So, we have years before us.
What he does know, of course, is at which in-strip year (or possibly even specific date) the story will end . Now, to translate that in our time? Pretty impossible. We don't know what might happen to delay or accelerate things.

[Niley]

When will Rich end OotS? I think in 2012. When the world is supossed to end.
And seriously, I hope he never does it (What?! Dreaming is free!), or at least not before the underaged readers get married. Just an example. :smallbiggrin:

[The Hop Goblin]

For those who fear the comic will be done in three years.. just remember, Robert Jordan thought his Wheel of Time series was going to be a trilogy when he first started it. Its now eleven books of more than 700 pages each, and still going.

11 books and still going? Robert Jordan was certainly a prolific writer, but I don't think he writes from the world beyond....

I think we should look towards the Mayan calender (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012#Metaphysical_predictions)for clues on when OOTS will end.

[Douglas]

"Was still going" would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?

11 books and still going? Robert Jordan was certainly a prolific writer, but I don't think he writes from the world beyond....
No, "is still going" is accurate. Robert Jordan's widow has selected Brandon Sanderson (http://brandonsanderson.com/) to finish the 12th book from Jordan's notes. Fortunately, the 12th book was most definitely going to be the last in the series anyway, and RJ had plenty of warning of his impending demise and made certain his notes were sufficient for the task.

[Grey Watcher]

According to my sources, the comic will end on February 14, in the year 2016.

:smallwink:

If you catch this reference, then you get a big cookie like they sell at Zaro's.