Is it worth it?

[Doomboy911]

When I read the first book I read some of the walls of text but stuck to the comics most of the time as I was in a hurry. I have to wonder though is the story improved with reading all the walls of text in book one and two. I'm not speaking of when one character says a lot but when it's just a page without a comic.

[Killer Angel]

It's always worth your time, but what you find in those pages, can be very different.
In the first book, you'll find only the Klogs, directly written by Parson.
In some of 'em, you'll find strategic hints, and you'll appreciate (and understand) more what is going to happen (see this (http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F098a.jpg), previous to the final battle).
In other, you'll find only philosophycal considerations of our "hero", regardin' the meaning of life, death, what is true and what is not, etc. You'll understand more Parson.

Then, you have the summer update. Pages with only text, that carry you to Book 2. Basically, it's the setup for what's running now.

Finally, Book 2.
In the Issue one, there are some pages text-only, no more focused on Parson's thoughts, but they show things (and points of view by various characters) that couldn't be covered by the comic (if not with great effort and excessive lenght). Some of 'em, contains infos very useful vital to understand what's happening. Other ones, are simply for flavor. You don't know if you don't read them.
In the issue 2 (just now) we have again Parson's Klog... so you can see that the text-part, is ever evolving.


In the end, the answer is: yes, they're worth it, even if pages with comics are better.

[Doomboy911]

Well I read the latest klog which is what evoked this interest. So even though I only play D&D and don't play whatever is the correct term for what parson's playing I suppose I'll read it to pick up some tips.

[sihnfahl]

Well I read the latest klog which is what evoked this interest. So even though I only play D&D and don't play whatever is the correct term for what parson's playing I suppose I'll read it to pick up some tips.
Turn-based wargame. Consider it a 4X (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourX).

Ever play Civilization?

[Jokasti]

They're part of the comic too, and good. Very enlightening, sometimes.

[Friv]

I certainly think so. The text updates give them a chance to go in-depth with the thoughts of various characters, something that has always been one of the weaknesses of comic-based media (which tend to do much better on expressions than thoughts, for obvious reasons).

On the other hand, I'm a bit biased. As someone who writes text-based serials on the Internet, I am pro-anything that makes that more mainstream. ;)

[Occasional Sage]

Since you don't like walls of text, I'll make my answer succinct:

Yes.

[Kish]

Um...wtf?

"Given that I am already making the commitment to read this comic and follow the plot, should I bother to read all the pages thereof?"

[sofawall]

Based on the facts that walls of text tend to contain more text than non-walls of text, almost by definition, you are almost certainly missing more by skipping wall-o-text pages than by skipping random comic pages.

[Mando Knight]

So even though I only play D&D and don't play whatever is the correct term for what parson's playing I suppose I'll read it to pick up some tips.

Nobody's played it. There is no retail version of Erfworld as a complete strategy game. We don't know all the rules or units yet. Closest we've got is Civilization and similar 4X-style games. Crossed with Nintendo for the allowed variance in themes and character styles. Maybe Heroes of Might and Magic.

[FoE]

"Is it worth reading and enjoying a book I have already spent money on?"

I would say yes, but I'm crazy like that.

[Occasional Sage]

"Is it worth reading and enjoying a book I have already spent money on?"

I would say yes, but I'm crazy like that.

Yeah, but what if the book is free? How can it be worth anything then? :smallwink:

[Morph Bark]

H-uh. I never quite bothered with most these pages in book 2 myself, since they're bigger than the ones in book 1 and seemed quite unrelated. A few I've read that were interesting in parts, but I didn't get the feeling it was absolutely necessary to read them to get a good grasp of the whole story.

[Rad]

Yeah, but what if the book is free? How can it be worth anything then? :smallwink:

Then you have already aid the money for it and fall back in the previous case :smallsmile:

[LurkerInPlayground]

Yes.

A lot of the later "walls of text" are basically stories in prose form. These are stories that can't be told in comic form because of the constraints of time/format or whatever. So they just happen off-screen.

Namely, the summer updates show what has happened between the end of the first chapter and the second chapter. And if you haven't read the summer updates, you're cheating yourself out of a lot character development and several amusing subplots.

Maggie and Jack's likability spikes through the roof because of the prose. If I hadn't read those stories, I'd have remained indifferent to them.

[sofawall]

Nice Cloak and Dagger, there.

[Liekurmomma]

"Is it worth reading and enjoying a book I have already spent money on?"

I would say yes, but I'm crazy like that.

Happiness is worth more than currency.

[Psychonaut]

Yes. Although I'm not so much a fan of the Klogs and summer update-style posts, they provide valuable context for the rest of the comic.


Happiness is worth more than currency.

Yep. There's even a name for it: the sunk cost fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost_fallacy#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_ fallacy), partaking in something you don't like because you've already spent resources on it. (Or in economics, continuing to throw money at something that you know won't be profitable because you've already invested so much in it.) Although I'm not sure where FoE is getting the idea that the OP spent money on the books in the first place.

[Liekurmomma]

Did you just insult Erfworld?