The Index Reloaded --- (Index of the Giant's Comments II)

[IthilanorStPete]

Heads-up for all the excellent archivists here: the Giant's answering a bunch of questions on his twitter account.

[Ted The Bug]

Vector Legion. Twitter canon.

[Sniffnoy]

Link to the "Vector Legion" tweet. :)

[Grey Watcher]

Heads-up for all the excellent archivists here: the Giant's answering a bunch of questions on his twitter account.

I hope he realizes he's going to break the servers here with all the discussion this is going to generate.

[oppyu]

Everything OOTS or Kickstarter related.

Do you know how the KS stories are going in print? No.
Name of Laurin's Adventuring Group? Vector Legion
What artwork are you most satisfied with? Wallpapers, Monsters For Every Season, Dino Chase
How much longer will OOTS run for? At least three years.
Timetable for rest of KS stories? As soon as I can, but don't want to slow down regular comic.
Any arcs you wish you had done differently? I would have included the retrieval of Roy's corpse, and split the current arc at the point where the Order had left the empire. But they're too intertwined to split now.
Is the story still expanding? Yes, but there's more to wrap up than there is to expand.
I cut a battle between OOTS and LG in the pyramid where the Order would have identified Tarquin, and had Elan cover it. Also, I like the arc better without the battle so it won't be going to print.
Is there a map of OOTSland somewhere? Yes, and it'll probably end up in a book.
Pathfinder in OOTS? No. Moving away from IP(?) that I don't own.
Which characters would you like to hang out with the most? The flumphs; I'm clumsy.
What did you use to draw the Scribble parts of the comic? Crayola crayons on bristol.
OOTS campaign book? Was working on one before announcement of 4e, probably not now. Didn't know if I was going to use 4e in the strip or if there would be a market for 3e stuff. Barely written any of it, and not interested in going further.
Have you ever painted yourself into a corner while writing? Yes on nitpicky stuff, can't think of any specific examples right now.
Nale/Malack/Tarquin origin story? Maybe.
Easier to write Good or Evil characters? Strong sets of beliefs and motivations are easy. Exact nature of such matter less.
Planning anything special for #1000? No.
Will there be a few month break between this arc and next? No, not as long.
Favourite villain to write? Redcloak, but Tarquin and Malack are fun as well.
% of story completed? 71.34502%
Still having fun writing OOTS? Yes, but it's hardest when I'm not feeling funny. Drama is always fun.
New A Monster For Every Season? Not until after next KS pdf. May-ish maybe?
What does the Snarl taste like? Acrimony.
Will the next book feature bonus strips? Yes.
Which OOTS character did you have the most fun evolving? All of them, though maybe Belkar because it was such a challenge.
The original plot has been rearranged and expanded upon more than it has been changed.
How long does a book take to get to print? Longer than you'd think, andThis book will take longer than usual because of difficulties associated with the death of my old PC.
Is MiTD plaid or polka dot? Paisley.
Is #945 the final strip of the book? Future unclear, ask later.
Snarl's alignment? Car joke.
Which OOTS character are you? None of them, and all of them.
Did Julio mean to say 'hit the hay'? No.
Will be see Belkar's history? Aside from KS short, probably not.
Is Elan's mum still alive? Yes.
OOTS is boring me. Sorry, nothing I can or will to do help there.
Isn't it time to see under the MiTD umbrella? No.
Do you know V's gender, MiTD's species and how Belkar will die? Yes.
Is Thog dead, or will he be showing up again? Those are not mutually exclusive.
Any more strong female leads to come? Depends on meaning of 'lead'. If you mean equal to Core 6, no, otherwise, yes. One is already here.
Was not-Durkon meant to be a thrall for longer? No, thralls are boring.

[zimmerwald1915]

No. Moving away from IP(?) that I don't own.

Intellectual property.

[Porthos]

Preemptive:

All of it should go in, whether it is obviously joking comments or not.*

Should also be in an entirely separate section like the Geekademia interview.

* Partially because it turned out to be a Q&A, and those should always be linked to, IMO. But mostly because trying to parse which comments should go in and which shouldn't would take us two or three threads to hash out.

And I'm just not up to that.

[Gift Jeraff]

I would just link to oppyu's post in one of the opening posts and call it a day.

[oppyu]

Preemptive:

All of it should go in, whether it is obviously joking comments or not.

Should also be in an entirely separate section like the Geekademia interview.

If it's all going in, someone may want to go through and pick up the statuses I skipped for not being related to OOTS. I'd offer to do it, but I'm sick of looking at Twitter now.

[Porthos]

If no one else volunteers, I'd be willing to copypasta the entire thing, with links, sometime tomorrow and put it all in one post.

Behind spoiler bars for length, of course.

If we just want to leave it as links, that's cool too. I can get to the stragglers that oppyu didn't put in (great work, BTW! ) tomorrow if that's what's wanted.

[Jasdoif]

If it's all going in, someone may want to go through and pick up the statuses I skipped for not being related to OOTS. I'd offer to do it, but I'm sick of looking at Twitter now.

Seeing as non-OOTS-related things shouldn't be included per rule B, I don't think that's necessary.

[RMS Oceanic]

I am in favour of having that summary just compiled in a single post as it has been. A similar thing should happen if Rich ever does an AMA on Reddit or similar.

[ti'esar]

I also think oppyu's post is a good way of listing the relevant information on its own.

[ChristianSt]

While it would be nice to have some(?) in the regular Index, I think the best would be a complete transcript, like we have it for the Geekademia Interview.

(If no one beats me to it. I will work on it, but I don't have the time for it until later today)

[pluizig]

Any more strong female leads to come? Depends on meaning of 'lead'. If you mean equal to Core 6, no, otherwise, yes. One is already here.

Who does Rich mean by that? Is he being cryptic or am I missing something obvious?

(At first, I thought he was talking about Celia or Laurin, but Celia had her day in the limelight in DSTP and I don't think there will be significantly more of her, and Laurin is -for now- an antagonist, and I'm not sure bad guys are 'leads'.)

[Kurald Galain]

Who does Rich mean by that? Is he being cryptic or am I missing something obvious?

He probably means Amun-Zora.

[oppyu]

Who does Rich mean by that? Is he being cryptic or am I missing something obvious?

(At first, I thought he was talking about Celia or Laurin, but Celia had her day in the limelight in DSTP and I don't think there will be significantly more of her, and Laurin is -for now- an antagonist, and I'm not sure bad guys are 'leads'.)

Current guesses include Bandana, Sabine, Amun-Zora and Lien as well. Bandana is physically with the party but hasn't been around long enough to get a name, Sabine has the most name recognition out of the four but isn't confirmed to be remaining with the main plot, Amun-Zora just got a nice character role upgrade as head of the Resistance against the Vector Legion but has no reason to continue with the main plot, and Lien is confirmed to be heading towards the last gate and could be a lead, although her current role is 'the somewhat snarky paladin who isn't in charge or O-Chul'.

[ZMiles]

I'm guessing Serini myself.

[NerdyKris]

We should really leave the discussion of what the tweets mean to other threads. And there's already one about the "strong female lead" quote. There's no point starting up a conversation on them in the index itself.

[Jasdoif]

While it would be nice to have some(?) in the regular Index, I think the best would be a complete transcript, like we have it for the Geekademia Interview.

Could you explain to me why a "complete transcript" would be a good idea? I mean, the tweets are ultimately individually-linkable chunks of text, just like forum posts here are; I'm all for including relevant ones in the Index, but why do they warrant some sort of en masse inclusion in a separate section?

The Geekademia Interview was originally in an audio format that'd be hard to efficiently reference in a forum environment, so a full text conversion makes sense, and I guess this thread is as good a landing spot for the transcript as any. I don't see why a series of tweets is supposed to be comparable.

[ChristianSt]

While individual tweets can certainly be Indexed (and maybe should), I see it comparable too the interview. It is certainly way easier to mine through twitter than to the podcast, but it doesn't get easier as time passes (especially since some include the question and others not).

And even if we want to Index some of them, a "Twitter Q&A" wouldn't be a bad thing in my eyes. (Maybe it wouldn't be bad to include some stuff from the podcast in the regular Index, too.)


(BTW: I find those random off-topic comments like the argument which female character Rich meant in that tweet much more annoying than the recent voting shenanigans)

[Loreweaver15]

You find it annoying that people are discussing what Rich meant when he said something in a topic about Rich saying things? :P

[Gwynfrid]

I agree with Jasdoif on this one. These answers spanning multiple aspects of the comic should be linked individually, in the most appropriate section of the Index. Otherwise, it will soon become next to impossible to find a quote on any given subject... especially if the Giant goes on to make a few more twitterfests like this one.

[Ron Miel]

Who does Rich mean by that? Is he being cryptic or am I missing something obvious?

I'm guessing Ivy. He was reluctant to talk about Ivy here, which hints that she will be an important character in a coming arc.

[ChristianSt]

You find it annoying that people are discussing what Rich meant when he said something in a topic about Rich saying things? :P

I think you know what I mean. The current discussion about this quote is just wild mass speculation. In fact there is already thread for it. So yes I find it annoying to have that discussion in two places (and I think that the other thread is better suited for it)


But to say something useful: Here is a complete transcript of the Twitter Q&A.

Spoiler: @RichBurlew Twitter Q&A

Show

All of those question where asked and answered after Strip #945.
There is minimal editing:

• Capitalizing the first letter of each question
• Removing any Twitter-handles/RT/etc.
• Bundled conversations to single Q&A points
• Adding "RB" / links to the tweets to mark all of Rich's answers

"Apparently, I'm answering questions or something? Huh."

• We've been reading OOTS for 945 strips (plus print-only extras); isn't it time to see under the hello kitty umbrella?
  RB: Nope.
  Nope? lol the more time you stretch the plot on and on the more people will bore out and quit reading
  RB: If it's boring you, stop reading. No hard feelings. But I'm not changing years of planning to appease anyone else at this stage.
  
  
• I don't know if its ever said, but is Elan's mother still alive?
  RB: Yes, absolutely.
  
  
• I've always wondered....will we ever see Belkar's history?
  RB: I did a short w/ some of Belkar's history for KS backers which will eventually be printed. Probably not more than that, tho.
  
  
• In comic 943, is Julio's last line supposed to be "hit the head" or "hit the hay"?
  RB: First one. Google, if you don't get it.
  
  
• So which of the #OotS characters is you? Or any?
  RB: None of them. And also, all of them.
  
  
• What's the Snarl's alignment?
  RB: Pulling slightly on the left front wheel. They should rotate its tires soon.
  
  
• We are on 945. Don't Split the Party ended at 672. Another book in the works?
  RB: Yes, but not yet. Lots of prep work to do before printing.
  
  
• Was that the final panel of the book?
  RB: Future unclear. Ask again tomorrow.
  
  
• Is the MitD more a plaid kinda fellow or a polka dot chap?
  RB: Paisley, obviously.
  
  
• Any plans for another Adventure Game expansion in the somewhat near future?
  RB: Near future? No. Someday? Maybe.
  
  
• How long does it take to go from "Let's make an OOTS compilation" to it actually going to press?
  RB: More than you'd think. Extra strips to draw, commentary to write, then a lot of strip formatting to get it ready for printing. This time, more than usual, because I have to recreate 5 strips that got eaten, then re-letter the whole book for reasons.
  
  
• What's your favorite colour? And how could that possibly be connected to oots?
  RB: I like every color for different reasons and in different situations, and how that applies to OOTS should be self-evident.
  
  
• Are you really?
  RB: Yes.
  
  
• Thumb all good now?
  RB: It's complicated. As good as it's getting, but there's permanent loss of mobility + feeling. I just need to work around it.
  
  
• How different is the story now from what you plotted day 1?
  RB: I didn't plot ANYTHING on Day 1. But once I did plot it, it's expanded or rearranged since then more than it's changed.
  
  
• Which character did you have the most fun evolving for OotS?
  RB: Geez, all of them. Maybe Belkar, simply because it was such a challenge.
  
  
• Think you'll finish that series on world building?
  RB: Probably not. But I may write something else on the topic someday.
  
  
• Will the compilation book for the super-sized current arc also feature bonus strips?
  RB: Yes, definitely.
  
  
• What’s the snarl taste like?
  RB: Acrimony.
  
  
• Would you ever, at the end of the comic, make a OoTS campaig book with stats?
  RB: I was working on one in 2007, then they announced 4th Ed and I shelved it. Now? Probably not.
  How did the release of 4e change your mind?
  RB: I was uncertain whether I was using 4e in the strip—or whether there would be a market for 3e after 4e was released.
  Convert it to pathfinder & release! It's just dnd 3.75 :)
  RB: Well, I only wrote like 5%, and I'd rather spend my time on fiction than game material going forward.
  
  
• Any ETA on the next A Monster for Every Season?
  RB: Won't start until I finish at least one more story PDF. May-ish? Maybe?
  
  
• Did you ever get that Cintaq?
  RB: No; thumb injury made it less priority, since holding a pen is harder than using a mouse now.
  
  
• Are you still having fun writing OOTS?
  RB: Mostly, yes. It's hardest when I'm not feeling "funny" and need to think up a punchline anyway. The drama is always fun.
  
  
• What percentage of the story would you estimate we've seen by now? How close are we to being done?
  RB: 71.34502%
  So how much more time does that give us? Three more years? More?
  RB: No less. Maybe more.
  
  
• I love Redcloak. Who's your favorite villain to write?
  RB: Mine too. Though Tarquin and Malack were fun, too.
  
  
• You have any ideas for post oots projects as we draw to the prepenultimate section of the story
  RB: Yes, many. Not all will wait that long.
  
  
• Should we expect a break of a few months between the end of current arc and start of next one?
  RB: Few months? No. Less.
  
  
• Are you planning anything special for the 1000th OotS strip?
  RB: Posting it shortly after 999 and not long before 1001, hopefully.
  
  
• Do you get much chance to actually play D&D anymore?
  RB: No, but that's OK. I'll likely check out 5th Ed when it's done.
  
  
• What do you think of D&D Next?
  RB: I've deliberately avoided it so far. I'm not planning on spending time playtesting, so I'd rather see it when it's done.
  
  
• I love that you've incorporated dinosaurs on this continent. Is that something you include in your D&D world-building? How?
  RB: In a sense. There are no bad monsters, only monsters you can find a niche for and those you leave for your next world.
  
  
• Are there any arcs or storylines that in hindsight you wish you'd done differently in some way?
  RB: I wish I hadn't left "Haley retrieves Roy's body" for the books. I wish I had broken this arc into two, so it'd be easier to print.
  Where would you have split this arc?
  RB: When they left the Empire, before the pyramid. But there are too many threads that go through both to split now.
  
  
• When you were playing D&D, what was your favorite race/class to play? (On the occasion you weren't the DM)
  RB: I was almost always DM, even stretching back to 1st Ed. But I like rogues and bards, because I like skills.
  
  
• Is it easier for you to play/write for 'evil' characters or 'goodcharacters'?
  RB: It's easiest to write a character with a strong set of beliefs and motivations. The exact nature of those matters less.
  
  
• Any chance of Nale/Malach/Tarquin prequel book a la Start of Darkness?
  RB: Yes, there's a chance. Not 100% chance, tho.
  
  
• Have you painted yourself into any corners without meaning to do so? If so, where?
  RB: A few times, mostly on little nitpicky stuff. Sometimes, that's why a given strip gets delayed. Can't think of any now.
  
  
• Is the story still evolving/expanding, or pretty much set now?
  RB: Sort of both. I'm trying to wrap up more than I add, but if there weren't room to add I would get bored before the end.
  Is that why this book ended up so long?
  RB: Partly. But I cut a whole battle with the LG when I was recuperating because I had too much material.
  Might this battle reappear in the Print version?
  RB: No, I actually like it better without.
  Would this battle originally have been when the OOTS figured out who "Thog" actually was?
  RB: Yes, exactly. But with ~4 months to think about it, I decided it wasn't necessary and let Elan pre-empt it in his recap song.
  
  
• What do you use to draw the "Scribble" parts of the comics?
  RB: Crayola crayons on bristol.
  
  
• Which of your characters would you most like to hang out with?
  RB: The flumphs. I trip a lot.
  
  
• RB: A lot of near-duplicate questions, so if I skip yours, it may be because I already answered it. Or I'm deliberately dodging it.
  I will file my pathfinder/3.75 question in this category
  RB: No interest in Pathfinder. My goal is to move AWAY from being linked to any IP that I don't own, not toward a new one.
  
  
• Is there a map of the OOTS world anywhere?
  RB: Yes, on my hard drive. It will probably end up as bonus content in a book.
  
  
• Any time table for rest of kick stater stories?
  RB: As soon as I can. I want nothing more than to get them off my plate, but I can't let regular strip be any slower than it is.
  
  
• What artwork in OotS have made you most pleased with the results?
  RB: Mostly the recent stuff I've done for the KS. The wallpapers, and the Monster for Every Season. And the dino chase.
  
  
• Did Tarquin's adventuring party have official name like Order of the Stick and Linear Guild do?
  RB: Vector Legion. TWITTER CANON!
  
  
• Do you know how the KS stories are being put in print? One book or dispersed?
  RB: That will depend on their length and whether or not I have a better place for any given story. So, no idea yet.
  
  
• Do you actually have a set answer to "the big three" questions
  RB: I might, if I knew what they were.
  V's gender and The monster in the dark's identity I forget the third. oh right Belkars death
  RB: Yes, I know all three.
  
  
• Any ideas for projects after OOTS? Other than OOTS 2: Order Stickier, of course. :-P
  RB: Many, many ideas. None that I can share now. Some are already in the works (tho shelved while I finish Kickstarter work).
  
  
• What class is Tarquin?
  RB: Upper.
  
  
• Was Thog KIA in his match with Roy or will there be more of him in the future? (or neither?)
  RB: Those are not mutually exclusive scenarios.
  
  
• Any chance of another strong lead female character joining the group in the next arch?
  RB: Depends on your definition of "lead." If you mean equal to core 6, no. Otherwise, yes. One is already here.
  
  
• Was there originally an intent to keep Durkon as Malach's thrall a while longer (hence, the 100 strip comment)?
  RB: No, it was always intended to last only a short time. Thralls aren't interesting characters.
  

EDIT: The existence/inclusion of a transcript doesn't prevent us from including certain posts in the Index. But imo it wouldn't hurt to somehow archive the Q&A (like the Geekademia interview). And imo the Index would be a good place for it (like the Geekademia interview). Feel free to use it (or not use it) however you seem fit.

[Jasdoif]

EDIT: The existence/inclusion of a transcript doesn't prevent us from including certain posts in the Index. But imo it wouldn't hurt to somehow archive the Q&A (like the Geekademia interview). And imo the Index would be a good place for it (like the Geekademia interview). Feel free to use it (or not use it) however you seem fit.

So I'm understanding you here...are you saying that you don't think it's a good idea to include all the tweets somewhere in the Index thread, just it isn't a bad idea?

[Flame of Anor]

I support including all (or nearly all) of these in the appropriate sections.

[ChristianSt]

So I'm understanding you here...are you saying that you don't think it's a good idea to include all the tweets somewhere in the Index thread, just it isn't a bad idea?

Yeah, I don't think that we should include all answers that Rich provided. Especially some answers are just jokes (e.g. Tarquin's class? Upper.) or don't really fit the Index (e.g. most of the stuff about D&D Next or Pathfinder).

But I don't see any reason why we couldn't list the complete thing like we did with the Interview. In fact I think it is good to put the complete thing somewhere, because it is more or less a Q&A-Session Rich did. And I don't see a benefit in the case it gets lost somewhere in Twitter.

And if we want to include some answers as regular part of the Index, we can still do that. (And it wouldn't add more work than it would do anyway, since the transcript is done as of now. And I don't see a reason to undo my work on it.)

[NerdyKris]

I agree it should be both. We include the transcript in full since it is a massive OOTS Q&A, but also put a few of the important things in the index.

• Elan's mother
• Which OOTS member are you (maybe, not sure)
• The plot being rearranged or expanded
• percentage of story as of this book
• The extra battle in this book and the split.
• Evolution of the story
• Map of oots world
• VECTOR LEGION
• Printing the KS stories (I think this is already in the index)
• Durkon as a thrall
• Strong female character

The rest are either already in the index, jokes, unrelated to OOTS, or so vague as to be pointless. I put Thog in this category, because it's a complete non answer. It's basically "maybe".

I would also leave out stuff that is only relevant for the next month or so, such as "how much work is there on the book" and "how long will the break be". There's no reason to archive something that is irrelevant very soon.

[Jasdoif]

We include the transcript in full since it is a massive OOTS Q&A

Could you explain the connection here for me, please? Is there an "also archive large concentrations of things the Giant says" rule for this thread that I've missed? Admittedly such a thing would explain why the Geekademia transcript is in this thread....

It really seems to me like this sort of long-term preservation thing should have its own thread (especially now that there's more than one thing to put in it), instead of being second-string to the categorized-and-summaried list of individual entries that make up the Index, and that all the Index rules apply to.