New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Page 29 of 50 FirstFirst ... 4192021222324252627282930313233343536373839 ... LastLast
Results 841 to 870 of 1476
  1. - Top - End - #841
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    The white flame on Vorpal's face in that scene is just his moustache. It's enchanted to glow.
    All evidence we have (including Name's first sword) suggests that magic items take on the IME of their user.

    Although I admittedly haven't gone back to check and am working from memory.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  2. - Top - End - #842
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Vinyadan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Now that I think about it, didn't Thac0's magic blindfold show him incoming attacks as orange arcs?
    Quote Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
    I thought Tom Bombadil dreadful — but worse still was the announcer's preliminary remarks that Goldberry was his daughter (!), and that Willowman was an ally of Mordor (!!).

  3. - Top - End - #843
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    All evidence we have (including Name's first sword) suggests that magic items take on the IME of their user.

    Although I admittedly haven't gone back to check and am working from memory.
    I don't dispute that, just pointing out that the flames in that panel are explicitly from the levitation enchantment.
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04032017-2

  4. - Top - End - #844
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    I don't dispute that, just pointing out that the flames in that panel are explicitly from the levitation enchantment.
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04032017-2
    True, but the colour of the flames is likely the same as his IME.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  5. - Top - End - #845
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    True, but the colour of the flames is likely the same as his IME.
    I agree with you.

  6. - Top - End - #846
    Orc in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

    Join Date
    Nov 2008

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    The sound effects characters make are also the same colour as their IME. My favourite little subtle use of IME is that Minmax's eyes have a green tint and Kin's eyes have a purple tint because of the whole "Seeing each other"/true love thingamajig.
    Two by two, hands of blue.

  7. - Top - End - #847
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Hands_Of_Blue View Post
    The sound effects characters make are also the same colour as their IME. My favourite little subtle use of IME is that Minmax's eyes have a green tint and Kin's eyes have a purple tint because of the whole "Seeing each other"/true love thingamajig.
    Interesting. I never noticed that before. It seems really obvious now that you pointed it out though. I wondered why I never noticed, so I went back in the archives, and it wasn't a thing in earlier scenes, even after they began "seeing" each other.

    Seems to start here
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04292015

    Neat change regardless.

  8. - Top - End - #848
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Vinyadan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    It's a nice detail I don't think I would have noticed without these last posts.

    About special IMEs, I think Goblinslayer's was a gradient of two colours, since he was a mix of man and tree.
    Quote Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
    I thought Tom Bombadil dreadful — but worse still was the announcer's preliminary remarks that Goldberry was his daughter (!), and that Willowman was an ally of Mordor (!!).

  9. - Top - End - #849
    Firbolg in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    Interesting. I never noticed that before. It seems really obvious now that you pointed it out though. I wondered why I never noticed, so I went back in the archives, and it wasn't a thing in earlier scenes, even after they began "seeing" each other.

    Seems to start here
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/04292015

    Neat change regardless.
    It's older than that, I went backward and found it here:
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/02112015

    It is subtle because it's a bunch of tiny panels so the relevant eye detail is just like 6 pixels per panel, but it's there.

    Going backward more than that isn't very conclusive. Here the detail is definitely white.
    Quote Originally Posted by Midnight Roamer View Post
    I think he did the only morally acceptable thing by killing everyone.
    Hark! An avatar drawn by Kate Beaton!

  10. - Top - End - #850
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    May 2009

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I didn't notice either the sound effects or the eye color, very cool.

  11. - Top - End - #851
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Gez View Post
    It's older than that, I went backward and found it here:
    https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/02112015

    It is subtle because it's a bunch of tiny panels so the relevant eye detail is just like 6 pixels per panel, but it's there.

    Going backward more than that isn't very conclusive. Here the detail is definitely white.
    I can't see it there, but maybe you have a better quality screen than me or something. Either way, those comics are right next to each other. Seems like it started when they entered the dungeon.

  12. - Top - End - #852
    Orc in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

    Join Date
    Nov 2008

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Going back a bit, I did notice Fumbles also has a purple tint to his eyes. Perhaps I was wrong about Kin and Minmax? But it just seemed to fit so well. Now I'm just confused.
    Two by two, hands of blue.

  13. - Top - End - #853
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Hands_Of_Blue View Post
    Going back a bit, I did notice Fumbles also has a purple tint to his eyes. Perhaps I was wrong about Kin and Minmax? But it just seemed to fit so well. Now I'm just confused.
    Maybe he's just Seeing Minmax too.

    It could just be an art decision. Minmax's eyes match his armor and Kin's match her shirt. The earlier scene when Minmax is wearing other colors his eye is still green though. Something to keep an eye on.

  14. - Top - End - #854
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Draconi Redfir's Avatar

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Gobbotopia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    It could just be an art decision. Minmax's eyes match his armor and Kin's match her shirt.
    i feel like this being the case when they meet up again might have been intentional from a narrative standpoint, if not from an in-character one. Shows that green and purple keep intermixing, and that the purple one is embraced by green, while the green one is embraced by purple, etc.
    Avy by Thormag
    Spoiler
    Show


  15. - Top - End - #855
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    tomaO2's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Canada
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    So. Good news, bad news, on the Goblins Animated Mega Trailer. Which do you want first? Good news? Sure. Why not. Not been much of that for the project.

    Good news is that, after FOUR YEARS, the animation is officially done. Hurray! Unfortunately...

    Bad news is that you don't get to watch it. That good old perfectionist streak that this author is known for strikes again. Art isn't good enough to release. Vorpal's right eye just isn't big enough, you know? That's something that is really important to include, and so the animation that fans gave over 300k to create, can't be shown. *rolls eyes*

    There is no way they have enough money to make the animation to the standard they are going to want. I'm honestly amazed that the money they got stretched enough to cover everything so far. I mean, the Giant completely burned out all of his money on the OOTS kickstarter, and the Giant did most of the work himself, while also avoiding any major screw ups. This is a project that got delayed multiple times, and the people hired to work on it needed to be paid throughout the entire thing.

    If I understand the update, it seems what they think that they can get an interested studio to fund a Goblins Animation without relying on the mega-trailer. Then, once a deal is in place, they will release it, since it can't taint the people they are making the pitch of the series to.

    I mean, the entire point of the thing in the first place is to advertise Goblins, so that doesn't seem right. I'm willing to bet even money that we will be looking at another fundraiser to completely redo the animation from scratch.

    Relevant section of the latest update.

    So where's the Animation?

    Well, in a word...

    We're not releasing it yet. We can. But we're going to hold off. Here's why.

    We still are not fans of a lot of the animation that was created, and even though the second animation house fixed a lot of the most glaring errors, we are simply stuck with some of the things that the first house produced. We debated alternatives to continue pushing toward the original vision, but the issue is that the animation is finished. This makes it hard for us because if we release this thing wide, it will please our audience because they are receiving the thing they helped create, but it will not be what we want the final show to look like, and once people have a completed vision of something it is very hard to say, "but what we want it to look like for reals is this over here..." especially when the voice work is so on point, the music is amazing, and the jokes are landing because it is so well acted. This also muddies the waters because the internet is the internet and once a genie is out of the bottle, it is impossible to put back. So even though the animation is right here and only a click away, you guys will have to hold on a bit longer as we do the run of the studios and streaming services to get Goblins out to market the way we want it to be. So, I'm afraid for the time being we must ask you to be patient.
    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...n#/updates/all
    On another note. Decent output for the year. There have been a total of 18 pages so far. I think there will be at least 1 more before the end of 2021. Assuming a total of 19, that makes one page every 2.7 weeks.

    Archives seem to list the number of pages that were done during a given year. May as well scroll back to see how the output has been.

    2021: Total of 18 pages.
    2020: Total of 21 pages.
    2019: Total of 27 pages. Huh? I think I'd remember if updates were being done this often.
    2018: Total of 29 pages. Okay, this can't possibly be correct. Two years where updates were faster than bi-weekly?
    2017: Archives don't do this page number system.

    I distantly remember being excited about more frequent updates. Yea, found the posts where I started talking about it on page 40 of the previous thread. There is no possible way that these totals are right. I need to get an independent confirmation on the total updates for previous years. I feel like I have listings of previous updates posted in one of these goblin threads. Haven't been able to find it yet though.

    On another note. There is a new go fund me in order to get money in order to qualify for bottom surgery.
    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-elli...ource=customer

    To be fair, she did give a tweet thanking people once it broke 1,900$. However, as with the previous gofundme, the moment the money was raised, two weeks ago, by a person that donated 3,200$, she stopped talking about it. You can still donate though. Really have no idea if it's common for these things to never actually close or not. I visit the website to try and see other gofundme stuff but I can't seem to find anything.

    Anyway, the goal was 3,500$ (current amount raised is over 5k). That's pretty low. Very surprised she is doing this. Given that she stated that she didn't want to go back to the GoFundMe well to get that voice surgery, and she never even got the voice surgery. She never said she got it done anyway, and I feel like she would have mentioned it, if she had done it. I guess she must be spending her patron money on something else though, if she doesn't have enough to cover this.

    How much does she make in patron donations again? Let me check.

    Huh. Not listed? When did that happen? Looks like November 9th was the last day that the donation amount total was tracked (amount was 1,395$ at the time, so it should still be around that). I wonder why that was removed.

    https://graphtreon.com/creator/Goblins

    According to the tracker. There has been an increase in patrons since 2019. Before that point, there was a low of 498 patrons with money being 1,060$. Current number is 564, with money amount being unlisted. Looks like hit a plateau a few months ago. Wonder why the dollar amount was removed.


    Last edited by tomaO2; 2021-12-17 at 03:57 AM.

  16. - Top - End - #856
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Draconi Redfir's Avatar

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Gobbotopia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    {Scrubbed}

    You're getting upset about something you clearly don't give two flips about anyways. Maybe instead of writing a multi-paragraph rant about "WhErEs ThE AnImAtIoN!?1?1/dwf" you could save yourself some energy by either saying nothing, or idk, being like the rest of us and thinking "Good to know, thanks for the update!" or something?


    IDK about the others, but i seriously don't appreciate you spewing hate and conspiracy theories about the author here. Maybe go somewhere else for that please?
    Last edited by Pirate ninja; 2021-12-17 at 04:46 AM.
    Avy by Thormag
    Spoiler
    Show


  17. - Top - End - #857
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I find it perfectly relevant to the thread that the author is once again not releasing a product that they collected money for. This is at least the third time that they've collected money and not delivered off of the top of my head.

    At this point, fans have sunk half a million dollars into promises that the author has not kept. That's worth talking about.

    Not that they need anyone's permission to post anyway.
    Last edited by Anteros; 2021-12-17 at 04:40 AM.

  18. - Top - End - #858
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    At this point, fans have sunk half a million dollars into promises that the author has not kept. That's worth talking about.
    As somebody who originally stopped following Goblins in like 2014(?), and started again this year to find they were still in the same dungeon, I'm personally very interested as to why there seems to be no progress on anything.

    We're told there's an animation but we can't see it due to perfectionism reasons, and honestly my first reaction has been to doubt it's existence. Plus I honestly don't have any sympathy to 'we don't want to show you something that won't look like the final product, when even if it was exactly what she wants there will likely be changes in visuals before the series anyway. I don't know, I have less confidence that there's anything there than I do with the Girl Genius cartoon (although that's admittedly because Steve Jackson has charged me again).
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  19. - Top - End - #859
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I'm actually a little torn. Saying "this product isn't good enough quality and we're not going to release it" is a perfectly reasonable take. Except when you have a history of taking money from your fans for things and then not doing those things.

    Ellipsis has a really bad habit of blaming other people for things that are their fault. "Oh it's not my fault the card game didn't release. Someone took all the money and ran." Really? Why weren't you more involved? Why did you just blindly hand someone hundreds of thousands of dollars without having your own people in place to supervise things? I do contract work myself for large sums of money sometimes. You know what people don't do? They don't hand you a huge lump of money with no supervision and blindly hope you'll do the work.

    This animation is basically the same story. "Oh, we spent all out money on this, but the studio didn't do a good job so we aren't releasing it." Why weren't you supervising their work? Why did you let it get to the point where it cost all your money but was an unsalvageable mess? Why didn't you learn this lesson the first time you wasted hundreds of thousands of your fan's dollars?

    Honestly, the sheer audacity they have to keep putting the panhandling cup out is astounding. Do they not have any sense of shame at all? They're basically in a predatory relationship with their donors at this point.

  20. - Top - End - #860
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Draconi Redfir's Avatar

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Gobbotopia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    i mean, you can always choose to just not give them any money?


    that's a perfectly reasonable option that many peopled take every day! i choose not to give groups i dislike money and move on with my life daily!
    Avy by Thormag
    Spoiler
    Show


  21. - Top - End - #861
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Vinyadan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I think that the decision not to release the animation to the general public and instead to use it to pitch the series to producers makes a lot of sense. It's what I expected would be done with it in the first place.

    Animation is costly. So it can be bad. If the animation is bad, but you can show that you have the writing, directing, and acting talent for the job, then it's easier to be forgiven by people whose profession is built around providing enough money and guidance (or intromissions) to hire a serious animation studio.

    But the general public isn't expected to think this far. It sees a product, and it assumes that it's how it's going to be. So releasing a badly animated trailer can be a way to build bad publicity and kill interest in the public. Not to say anything about the way companies have occasionally bowed to internet crapstorms, and Goblins has a pretty long history, so I can imagine both current trolls and past controversies piling up on a released youtube video, with a producer reading the comments and going "uhm-uhm".

    Unless it's really ugly all over, however, I would have released a select 10-secs "bad vs corrected" showcase. It's also a way to show some of the acting.

    On a side note, I wonder if places that provide sex-change for free also pay for permanent hair removal. For what I understand, it's a very important part of the procedure (the skin that was outside ends up on the inside).
    Quote Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
    I thought Tom Bombadil dreadful — but worse still was the announcer's preliminary remarks that Goldberry was his daughter (!), and that Willowman was an ally of Mordor (!!).

  22. - Top - End - #862
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Lizardfolk

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Draconi Redfir View Post
    i mean, you can always choose to just not give them any money?


    that's a perfectly reasonable option that many peopled take every day! i choose not to give groups i dislike money and move on with my life daily!
    I've had at least two friends compare Goblins to Starcitizen. Saying "don't give Starcitizen your money and move on" isn't really good advice, especially combining since you are literally telling people not to talk about it and so possibly warn people who don't know.

    This is in regards to the animation and card game. The medical donations are IMO unrelated and not something I will be discussing.
    Last edited by Tvtyrant; 2021-12-17 at 01:13 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

  23. - Top - End - #863
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Draconi Redfir View Post
    i mean, you can always choose to just not give them any money?


    that's a perfectly reasonable option that many peopled take every day! i choose not to give groups i dislike money and move on with my life daily!
    People are also allowed to share their opinion and frustration, especially just after such an update. If they're posted on a forum as politely and in-depth as here the worst it'll do is make somebody reading the thread will think twice before donating next time. Plus it's likely that people reading this are already aware of the goings on

    Quote Originally Posted by Tvtyrant View Post
    This is in regards to the animation and card game. The medical donations are IMO unrelated and not something I will be discussing.
    Also this. I'm staying well away from the transition stuff.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  24. - Top - End - #864
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Draconi Redfir's Avatar

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Gobbotopia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Okay, well i come here to talk about the webcomic and the events therin. so I'm going to leave now if the conversation is shifting to "needing to wait is bad" mode. goodbye.
    Avy by Thormag
    Spoiler
    Show


  25. - Top - End - #865
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Lizardfolk

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Draconi Redfir View Post
    Okay, well i come here to talk about the webcomic and the events therin. so I'm going to leave now if the conversation is shifting to "needing to wait is bad" mode. goodbye.
    This is the first time it came up in what, a year? If you have something else you would rather be talking about go for it. You aren't actually changing the subject, just telling everyone else to.
    Last edited by Tvtyrant; 2021-12-17 at 01:42 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Vibranium: If it was on the periodic table, its chemical symbol would be "Bs".

  26. - Top - End - #866
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Dragonus45's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Knoxville Tennessee
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by tomaO2 View Post
    [FONT=Comic Sans MS]So. Good news, bad news, on the Goblins Animated Mega Trailer. Which do you want first? Good news? Sure. Why not. Not been much of that for the project...
    Very little I could say to this that wouldn't be a scrubbing, so I'll settle for the bare minimum of expressing disappointment is Eli and encouraging people not to support extraneous projects outside the comic until some commitments start being settled up. Hell if you have a spare dollar for a webcomic creator right now throw at the Misfile guy. He is having a rough time of things lately and is an absolute workhorse of an author who always delivers on his projects in a timely fashion and deserves more attention I think.

    Quote Originally Posted by Draconi Redfir View Post
    i mean, you can always choose to just not give them any money?

    that's a perfectly reasonable option that many peopled take every day! i choose not to give groups i dislike money and move on with my life daily!
    Ok, but guess what. The thread is to discuss Goblins, and discussion of it's animated adaptation and the good and bad of that is 100% fair game. As is discussion of the author and the public decisions they make. I get hopping mad at people who wander into a thread just to **** on a thing they don't like and have no emotional investment in, it's the reason I'm just steering clear of the whole Wheel of Time thread right now for example. But I AM invested in Goblins as a comic and Ellipsis as a person. Both emotionally and monetarily, I've been following this comic for over a third of the time I've been alive. Real close to half even, I'm still a fan for some Pelor forsaken reason and if you think I'm going to just not talk about these issues because it hurts your enjoyment of the thread I'm sorry but it just isn't happening.
    Thanks to Linklele for my new avatar!
    If i had superpowers. I would go to conventions dressed as myself, and see if i got complimented on my authenticity.

  27. - Top - End - #867
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    tomaO2's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Canada
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinyadan View Post
    I think that the decision not to release the animation to the general public and instead to use it to pitch the series to producers makes a lot of sense. It's what I expected would be done with it in the first place.

    Animation is costly. So it can be bad. If the animation is bad, but you can show that you have the writing, directing, and acting talent for the job, then it's easier to be forgiven by people whose profession is built around providing enough money and guidance (or intromissions) to hire a serious animation studio.
    Hmm, I didn't realize that is how it is. So, I should be taking that post at face value then. The mega trailer is actively being used to pitch the series to the producers, and it will be released if/when someone picks up the series? Suppose the series is not picked up though, would that mean this project is in limbo? These people have been taking about making Goblins a show for a long time now. I don't have a good understanding of how many years this pitch process is supposed to last. Maybe it will never be released, because who knows if someone might be interested in the project 10 years from now. I feel like there should be some sort of timeline given as to when the trailer will be released, rather than vague promises.

    Update on Feb 16th, 2021, says "In an incredible moment, we went back and forth with a very big showrunner (a showrunner for a TV show is kind of like a CEO for a company), and he agreed to help shepherd GA to the screen and become our showrunner!"

    How long does this process go on before you run out of people to pitch this too? How big of a difference is there now that the trailer is done? There isn't much word about this being the last step before everything can really get going. Pitching to other studios is a bit downplayed in this update. Seems like it's been a constant effort to promote that has been going on for a few years now.

    How likely do you think it is that the general public will be able to view this? Do you think I'm right about it not being released unless the animation is completely redone? You mentioned 10 second segments, but that would still require money to fix in the first place. Would they wait until the first episode of the official show is dropped, and the trailer is shown as a extra footage sort of deal?

    Honestly, I feel like they should have been warning people upfront that the animation wouldn't be released to the general public. When was this decision made? Was it originally intended to be released, but they changed their minds when they decided the quality was not good enough? They would have known this awhile ago, since they have been constantly talking about how they didn't like the art. Feels like a, last minute, pull the rug under ya, ploy.

    How does, "not wanting to taint the public" thinking even square with the animation that was released to fund the project to begin with? That was everyone's actual first look at stuff, and I would expect that it would look fairly similar, albeit more polished. That is the part that constantly gets me. They did a short animation, saw how it looked, and thought it was okay at the time. What changed? Why is it terrible now?
    Last edited by tomaO2; 2021-12-17 at 03:09 PM.

  28. - Top - End - #868
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    It basically went from "Here's a trailer. Give us money to make an episode!"

    to "we can't make a whole episode, we'll use your money for a better trailer"

    to "We made a trailer but we don't like it so we're hiring a second studio. Keep that money coming!"

    to "The second studio is done, but we don't want to show you our product in case we can con someone else into giving us more money in the future for this project that we've already shown you thrice over we're too incompetent to handle"

    I'd call it a bait and switch...except it's somehow multiple of those. They spent hundreds of thousands of their fans dollars....and they weren't even competent enough to make something they can market towards an actual product. Nevermind the actual episode that was originally promised.
    Last edited by Anteros; 2021-12-17 at 04:28 PM.

  29. - Top - End - #869
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Vinyadan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I mean, I also grow suspicious when Goblins fans give their money thrice in around 10 years and nothing materialises. However, looking at it, every single case had something to explain it.

    Tempts Fate is the most glaring problem to me. There were no third parties involved: just the donors and the artist. And yet, it wasn't finished. Why? My point of view is that Tempts Fate didn't make sense (which isn't a justification, but an explanation). What people wanted was more Goblins pages. But instead money came from a side-product, TF. When production ground close to a halt, putting TF on hold to concentrate on the main comic was arguably the better option to keep fans happy. It probably would have taken a year of nothing but TF pages to finish the current issue. And, when Patreon came about, it finally was the main product -- Goblins -- that began making money. And that's a business model that makes sense. Even today, Tempts Fate would still slow down the main comic in an unbearable way, and I'm not sure people who donated for it would prefer it to the main comic.

    I was really suspicious about the whole card game deal, but I took a look at Evertide, which was the business tasked with making the Kickstarter and producing the game. After the successful Goblins Kickstarter, Evertide was already failing to fulfill its promises with Mr. Card Game, another Kickstarter, before it disappeared. The timing strongly suggests that Goblins money was used to complete Mr Card Game, which was also not fully shipped because of overwhelming costs (the game was printed in Asia and then sent to the US in bulk, but sending from the US internationally raised the price massively). And the Goblins Kickstarter was made directly by Evertide, so they were the only ones to touch the money.

    Concerning the trailer, the main reason why I believe it exists is that too many people working in the field have spoken openly about their involvement with it (it's easy to find such videos of Phil LaMarr; the updates come from Matt King). The slow making does seem odd, however; under normal conditions, I would assume that the project has periodically run out of money and laid dormant until it got a new injection. The other option has to do with Goblin's traditionally slow production, if any work had to be done directly (instead of by the hired studio) while also creating new comic pages, working at the giveaways, and dealing with the usual personal issues.

    About the mega trailer, I don't really care about it per se. It's just a trailer, a short animation that likely doesn't even tell an actual story. The big bet is about whether it will cause anyone with money to actually pick up the series, and that's the thing to watch. If the trailer were never released, I would not feel like something was lost. I would like to see the series, however.

    Pitching time is over when the "pitcher" decides it's over. Honestly, it's a shot in the dark. Goblins has its strong points, but also its weak points, and the current writing quality does not compare well to the one at the comic's beginning. However, LaMarr said that he was cowriting the series, so it would be a collaborative effort, which should make quality more even. Matt King is also a co-creator.

    With the 10 sec segments I meant some short segments comparing the work of the first studio (the "bad" one) and the one of the second studio (the patched version that is now complete). The material is already there, one would just need to make a very short youtube video with Moviemaker to show how the project has improved.

    About the initial, rough animation, that was the trailer's trailer that was pitched to backers for them to pay to produce the trailer to be used to pitch the series itself The other video I saw were b/w storyboards, still pretty clearly an unfinished product.

    I speculate that the decision not to release the trailer was not the original intention, and came from someone with experience in the field once it was finished, for the reasons I mentioned in the previous post.

    Hazbin Hotel did the opposite, it released a fully done, very well-animated 30-mins pilot which has been there for a year waiting for someone to pick the series (a different series by the same people was picked in the meantime). But that's the thing, it's very well done, and people want to see more. Had it not been that carefully animated, there wouldn't be as much hype, I believe (I think the fandom also got more access to the creation stage and the worldbuilding).

    It's also true that a proverbially slow comic like Lackadaisy has been releasing more sneak peeks in its making than Goblins (they're working on a 10-min. short, that one I really want to watch). However, the stated objective in this case is just the short, not pitching it to a producer.

    Fun fact, Blind Ferret (the people behind Looking for Group and who produced CAD Animated) has had a fully fledged animation studio called Laughing Dragon for some time now, but I'm not aware of any project they are working on.
    Quote Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
    I thought Tom Bombadil dreadful — but worse still was the announcer's preliminary remarks that Goldberry was his daughter (!), and that Willowman was an ally of Mordor (!!).

  30. - Top - End - #870
    Banned
    Join Date
    May 2007

    Default Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

    I believe the LFG people have stated they won't work with Ellipsis anymore. I could be wrong, but I definitely seem to remember there being some bad blood there when they split up. Mostly due to Ellipsis' inability to keep a schedule or meet their contract requirements if I recall correctly. It's been a long time.

    You might be right that the kickstarter was run by the card company, but Ellipsis is still responsible for that. If you asked to run a kickstarter in my name, I certainly wouldn't sign off on it without some level of control. If they turned over the entire handling of the project as well as the handling of the money to a 3rd party....that's on them. No wonder they got robbed.

    I also understand the desire to not show an incomplete product. Especially when it's basically a proof of concept. The problem is that eventually you do owe something to the people you're continually begging for handouts from. If they couldn't come up with something they feel like they can show people with hundreds of thousands of dollars, 2 animation studios, and 6 years? That's on them too. I'm not sure that's as much a better look as they think it is. "Hey guys, I know everything we've ever touched has been awful and the money for it mysteriously evaporated, but this time will be different!" I bet the studios can't wait to line up for that opportunity.
    Last edited by Anteros; 2021-12-17 at 11:14 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •