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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
I'm kind of irritated that once again the updates are fading out. We started this phase of novel writing at 3 updates a week. We're now 4 months later down to 1 update per 7-10 days (the average we've gotten for the last month or two). Rob seems to me to be one of those guys who always has some excuse for failing to follow through. I'm particularly disgusted that at the start of this he blamed it on Xin when her mother died, because it's become clear since that even with her removed from the equation he can't keep a schedule. And complaining about this on the actual erfworld forums just ends with the thread being deleted.
That seems to be the problem with most webcomics, with a few exeptions. As long as it don't grind to a halt like so many others.
But if I where ever to make a webcomic, I would make an entire chapter before starting to post the pages. It does kind of ruin the pace a bit when there suddenly is a three week lull.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
I'm kind of irritated that once again the updates are fading out. We started this phase of novel writing at 3 updates a week. We're now 4 months later down to 1 update per 7-10 days (the average we've gotten for the last month or two). Rob seems to me to be one of those guys who always has some excuse for failing to follow through. I'm particularly disgusted that at the start of this he blamed it on Xin when her mother died, because it's become clear since that even with her removed from the equation he can't keep a schedule. And complaining about this on the actual Erfworld forums just ends with the thread being deleted.
Not to be rude, but what can you do about it? With storytelling and artistic flaws, you can offer constructive criticism, but what can you do about scheduling problems? Not being on time is a very obvious thing, so it's not like they're unaware of the problem. Complaining about it is more likely to start flames and arguments than anything else.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Miklus
That seems to be the problem with most webcomics, with a few exeptions. As long as it don't grind to a halt like so many others.
But if I where ever to make a webcomic, I would make an entire chapter before starting to post the pages. It does kind of ruin the pace a bit when there suddenly is a three week lull.
Few exceptions? Most of the webcomics I read manage to maintain a regular schedule. Commissioned updates three times weekly. Hello With Cheese is also 3/week, and done by the same artist as Commissioend. Shortpacked alternates between 3/week (intermissions) and 5/week (actual storylines). Dumbing of Age keeps up 5/week while being drawn by the same guy as does Shortpacked. XKCD manages 3/week, as does Darths and Droids. Even Dominic Deegan despite its flaws manages a consistent update schedule of usually 5 days a week. Hell even Goblins has managed 2/week consistently for the last year or so.
I could keep going on down the list. I have 20 comics on my bookmarks that I check for updates regularly. Of the web comics I read, OotS and Erfworld are about the only two that don't maintain a consistent schedule. Rich has his own issues, so I don't hold it against him. But Rob? His excuses tend to be the sort of thing no boss would let slide, and he if he were working a full time job would have been fired years ago. When they moved to the new site I signed up for one of those tool memberships, and have stuck around for a long time because the early stuff was good quality, but the longer this drags on the more likely I am to just remove this from my comics list entirely. I mean at this point it doesn't even qualify as a web comic, and it's looking to go on for the rest of the year at this rate :/
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
I'm kind of irritated that once again the updates are fading out. We started this phase of novel writing at 3 updates a week. We're now 4 months later down to 1 update per 7-10 days (the average we've gotten for the last month or two). Rob seems to me to be one of those guys who always has some excuse for failing to follow through. I'm particularly disgusted that at the start of this he blamed it on Xin when her mother died, because it's become clear since that even with her removed from the equation he can't keep a schedule. And complaining about this on the actual erfworld forums just ends with the thread being deleted.
Maybe his model is George R. R. Martin? :smalltongue:
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Honestly, I suspect the issue is that keeping a schedule has to be a habit. When he was on the OOTS website, since Rich explicitly didn't have a schedule, it probably ended up influencing the way Erfworld updated, too... and then with Xin, it didn't really matter if he was on time, because her crisis meant that she couldn't be.
So he got into the mindset where it didn't really matter if he put it off. And once you get into that mindset on something, it's really really hard to get out of it (especially with something like this, where, honestly, nothing particularly terrible is going to happen to him if he takes his time.)
Anyway, if it bothers you so much, I suggest just removing the comic from your favorites list, then coming back in a year and reading all 40 or so new pages at once. Erfworld has always felt to me like a comic that's written more towards what works in the final published version than in the slow drip of the web version, anyway.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
I'm kind of irritated that once again the updates are fading out. We started this phase of novel writing at 3 updates a week. We're now 4 months later down to 1 update per 7-10 days (the average we've gotten for the last month or two). Rob seems to me to be one of those guys who always has some excuse for failing to follow through. I'm particularly disgusted that at the start of this he blamed it on Xin when her mother died, because it's become clear since that even with her removed from the equation he can't keep a schedule. And complaining about this on the actual erfworld forums just ends with the thread being deleted.
You're being given a free entertainment product. He didn't BLAME crap on her, he stated, we are doing this instead of the comics because of it. In addition, each story update is about as much writing as 5 or 6 comic updates (I'd know, I write novels AND comic scripts), so even at the slower rate, that would more than fit the scripting for a comic. In addition, the updates have gotten a bit less frequent, but LONGER, and his prose and story writing ability have gone through a stunning increase, most likely through the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism being given on the board. Your threads being NOT constructive, and deleted in order to improve the signal to noise ratio.
{{scrubbed}}
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
leakingpen
You're being given a free entertainment product. He didn't BLAME crap on her, he stated, we are doing this instead of the comics because of it. In addition, each story update is about as much writing as 5 or 6 comic updates (I'd know, I write novels AND comic scripts), so even at the slower rate, that would more than fit the scripting for a comic. In addition, the updates have gotten a bit less frequent, but LONGER, and his prose and story writing ability have gone through a stunning increase, most likely through the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism being given on the board. Your threads being NOT constructive, and deleted in order to improve the signal to noise ratio.
{{scrubbed}}
This is true. However, keep in mind that one of the biggest killers of any webcomic is Schedule Slip.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Thing is though, though he is aware its a problem, its not like there is a simple solution - you can't get people to take over the part of the process of writing after all.
Also in other news the Erfworld kickstarter for a motion comic of Bk 1 one is up - I recommend watching the vid!
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
leakingpen
You're being given a free entertainment product. He didn't BLAME crap on her, he stated, we are doing this instead of the comics because of it. In addition, each story update is about as much writing as 5 or 6 comic updates (I'd know, I write novels AND comic scripts), so even at the slower rate, that would more than fit the scripting for a comic. In addition, the updates have gotten a bit less frequent, but LONGER, and his prose and story writing ability have gone through a stunning increase, most likely through the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism being given on the board. Your threads being NOT constructive, and deleted in order to improve the signal to noise ratio.
{{scrubbed}}
Actually for months before switching to the novel writing he was insinuating "If you knew what was really happening, you wouldn't be complaining" and "Trust me I'm not the reason for the hold up, just be patient"... then in November he goes ahead and tells all, and says since Xin won't be drawing full time, he'll be writing a novel while Xin adjusts. And then within a month of him starting writing, the 3/week schedule initially announced slips to 2/week, then 1/week, and now we're averaging even less than that.
And yes, I do think Rob should keep to his schedule. He makes his living off Erfworld. If he wishes to continue making that living he needs to keep his customer base happy. I canceled my tool membership a while back, and if this keeps up I'll also just stop checking the site, to stop giving him page views for ads. The comics schedule was never great to begin with, but over the last few years it's been getting consistently worse with lamer excuses for why.
If this was the guys' hobby that he did for fun, then sure I could understand him not caring so much about keeping things straight. But like I said, he does this for a living. Last year during con season he made a mention of how he was living out his fantasies because of this. I think maybe just maybe that might be an indication he needs to spend a little less time on other projects (anyone else remember that random extra comic he decided to do and try to advertise a year or so ago, while erfworld was still not updating?), and a little more time actually keeping his main money maker alive.
As an aside, I never actually made a thread on the Erfworld forums. I pointed out people complaining were getting their threads deleted, and I may have posted in one or two. But the disgruntlement is hardly localized. If those threads had to be deleted to reduce the signal to noise ratio, that to me seems to indicate a pretty large number of people with complaints relative to those who want to offer 'constructive' criticism.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
And yes, I do think Rob should keep to his schedule. He makes his living off Erfworld. If he wishes to continue making that living he needs to keep his customer base happy. I canceled my tool membership a while back, and if this keeps up I'll also just stop checking the site, to stop giving him page views for ads. The comics schedule was never great to begin with, but over the last few years it's been getting consistently worse with lamer excuses for why.
On one hand, I agree with you, at least as far as this goes: A webcomic's update schedule is a major part of how its viewers experience it, so it's as much a part of what defines it as its writing or its art. Having a problem with your schedule is like having a problem with one of those -- if you're reviewing a webcomic, or discussing it, it's only fair to take that into account (and something like, say, Irregular Webcomic, which has never missed an update in 5 years, certainly deserves credit for that.)
At the same time, though, the person who ultimately suffers if Rob doesn't do Erfworld "right" (for whatever definition you want to use for right) is Rob himself. He's the one who ultimately makes the call on what parts of it he wants to put his effort into -- the writing, keeping a steady schedule, whatever -- and how he wants to balance that against the rest of his life.
And if a webcomic's update schedule is just as important as its art or writing, that also means that it isn't essential to all webcomics. Just like you can have a comic like XKCD or Dinosaur Comics where the real focus isn't the art, you can totally have a perfectly fine comic with a terrible update schedule. It won't be for everyone, but that's one of the decisions a comic's creator has to make -- which parts they want to make good, where they want to put their effort, who they want to appeal to and so on.
While Erfworld's schedule (even in just this text part) isn't great, and it's fair to criticize it for that, I think it's still ultimately Rob's choice -- and complaining too much about it is like complaining constantly about the fact that XKCD is all stick figures or whatever. It's one of the choices the comic's writer makes. If you feel a comic that can't keep up with a schedule just isn't for you, well, read something more to your liking!
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Seerow
When they moved to the new site I signed up for one of those tool memberships, and have stuck around for a long time because the early stuff was good quality, but the longer this drags on the more likely I am to just remove this from my comics list entirely. I mean at this point it doesn't even qualify as a web comic, and it's looking to go on for the rest of the year at this rate :/
A tip: delete it from your webcomic list. I did it and it calmed me down. Always visitng the site and getting disappointed angered me. Then I deleted it and am no more waiting for updates. Now they are happy surprises. It's better that way.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sweetie Welf
A tip: delete it from your webcomic list. I did it and it calmed me down. Always visitng the site and getting disappointed angered me. Then I deleted it and am no more waiting for updates. Now they are happy surprises. It's better that way.
This is why I love RSS feeds. I'll still go to the sites in question, so they get page views and whatnot, but with the RSS I don't have to be checking all the time, instead I'm just happy to see updates.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Hey, so I had a thought.
If Earth was "based off" of some other world, as Erfworld is based off of Earth, what would that world be like? What natural laws would exist, that their roleplaying games would follow our laws? What things might exist, that Earthly things are references to them, and not necessarily the other way around?
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Fizzy, we would have to be a computer game or simulation, too much complexity.
So, with today's update, wanda is now footloose and fancy free!
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
leakingpen
So, with today's update, wanda is now footloose and fancy free!
...and about to be captured. But at least Delphie died! :smallamused: I would have thought that she and Clay would be captured too or escape to the magic kingdom.
And we finally saw Funnyface the sawhorse. Damn, he's ugly.
Also, Wanda apparently is an overlord (or is that overlady?). If she ever gets her hand on a capital site and if she has the money, she could start her own side, right?
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Yeah, she could resurrect the Croatan tribe.
But does she want to? Doesn't seem that she cares about that now.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Miklus
Also, Wanda apparently is an overlord (or is that overlady?). If she ever gets her hand on a capital site and if she has the money, she could start her own side, right?
Uncertain. One thing we don't know is whether or not she STILL has that status as part of her character. She could have lost that status when she became a unit for another side.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Miklus
...and about to be captured. But at least Delphie died! :smallamused: I would have thought that she and Clay would be captured too or escape to the magic kingdom.
Wanda explicitly ordered them not to go to the magic kingdom without orders, which they treated like a death sentence. It may very well have been a death sentence.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aquillion
Wanda explicitly ordered them not to go to the magic kingdom without orders, which they treated like a death sentence. It may very well have been a death sentence.
Considering the betrayal of their own side, it could well have been a deserved death sentence (for Delphie at least).
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aquillion
Wanda explicitly ordered them not to go to the magic kingdom without orders, which they treated like a death sentence. It may very well have been a death sentence.
Wanda didn't expect Goodmitten to fall while she was away. I think Wanda would have allowed them to go to the Magic Kingdom if the city was falling. Wanda didn't like Delphie but I don't think she wanted her dead.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
The implication here is that somebody was watching very closely what Wanda was up to and they specifically waited until she was gone to attack Goodminton. This update also suggests that only the Overlord of a side can survive as a barbarian after that side falls--if, as we'd assumed before, it was only Royals that could do that, Wanda's father wouldn't have needed to promote her.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Or he could have been intentionally blowing the treasury on frivolities, just to keep it away from his murderers.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Thinking about it, I prefer the Overlord theory, simply because Stanley--who is about the least royal person in Erfworld--was expecting to survive as a barbarian in Faq after Gobwin Knob fell. Maybe this is the only way new sides get created; the Overlords of defeated sides go on to found new ones.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
factotum
Thinking about it, I prefer the Overlord theory, simply because Stanley--who is about the least royal person in Erfworld--was expecting to survive as a barbarian in Faq after Gobwin Knob fell. Maybe this is the only way new sides get created; the Overlords of defeated sides go on to found new ones.
Actually that's unlikely. To start a side you need a capitol site and considering how valuable they are you are not likely to find a vacant site; being a barbarian you are also unlikely to have the force to take a claimed capitol site. There may even be the issue of smuckers. Jillian was the rare exception to this since Stanely crushed her side but never claimed the site leaving it to remain unseen; she then got finical backing from Transilvito. Staley would have been the rare exception too if he had succeeded in retreating to the site he left in ruins and hidden.
No, i would say the way new sides are commonly created is from successful sides who choose to spin off and create a new side; Just as what Ossomer was threatening to do to Haggar. After a Side claims atleast one additional capitol, instead of keeping it to themselves, the ruler instead gives it to their Heir, allowing the heir to become the ruler of a new side.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
We already knew the final outcome, but still it's a bitter end...
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Miklus
...and about to be captured. But at least Delphie died! :smallamused: I would have thought that she and Clay would be captured too or escape to the magic kingdom.
And we finally saw Funnyface the sawhorse. Damn, he's ugly.
Also, Wanda apparently is an overlord (or is that overlady?). If she ever gets her hand on a capital site and if she has the money, she could start her own side, right?
Yes, which explains Stanley's issues with trusting her after she got the arkenpliers attuned. She could Turn and start a new side with a city. Say... FAQ?
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Huh. I thought casters couldn't be rulers.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
That might be a tradition rather than a rule.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
leakingpen
You're being given a free entertainment product. He didn't BLAME crap on her, he stated, we are doing this instead of the comics because of it. In addition, each story update is about as much writing as 5 or 6 comic updates (I'd know, I write novels AND comic scripts), so even at the slower rate, that would more than fit the scripting for a comic. In addition, the updates have gotten a bit less frequent, but LONGER, and his prose and story writing ability have gone through a stunning increase, most likely through the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism being given on the board. Your threads being NOT constructive, and deleted in order to improve the signal to noise ratio.
{{scrubbed}}
This is exactly why I personally stopped complaining about Erfworld in general, and simply stopped visiting the site. Sometimes I still read the forum posts when I'm extremely bored (today) but that's about the extent of it.
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Re: Erfworld, The Thread.
*Squints at "year of the dwagon" kickstarter splash* Does... she have that tattoo in canon? 'Cause that's kinda awesome right there.