Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XXVII: God Has Nothing to do With This

[Gez]

a deal with the devil for mor power, à la Dr. Faustus.

I've always read Marlowe's Faustus as making a deal with the devil more out of boredom than anything else. The guy is portrayed as an eternally-insatisfied genius, he masters everything he settles to learn, but is never happy with the knowledge he has obtained and looks for something more fulfilling.

[Silverblood]

Yup, Neilen died on Christmas Eve in a last ditch attempt to rescue the Maltak arc. He failed, as the arc went on to eliminate all the villains in a combo.

Man, how I wish I could forget the Maltak arc.

...I HAD forgotten. Hence my question. I hate you now

[guttering flame]

Personally I feel like too much was made of the Maltak arc badness. But I suspect that that's due to having started after most of it was already finished.

How much of the hate is because people couldn't breeze through it and how much because of the actual badness I wonder?

[Lachesis]

I'd rather have the Maltak badness back than what's been going on for the past few months :(

[Kizor]

Second thoughts: Apparently Karnak tried to be King before, and his fall led to the arising of the Demon Lords? How long ago did he fall into Hell anyway?

Since it's Hell, upwards of three months? I'd be willing to accept that this is an everyday occurance down there. It'd actually be an interesting setpiece (though for what, I don't know): a type of beings who don't eat, drink or sleep, and therefore have no distractions from devoting every moment to power struggles. Us humans can't devote more than a few hours at a time to anything, and we all have to spend well over a third of every day on the same innocuous maintenance tasks. We'd be hard-pressed to keep a good head of rage going for two days straight without falling over.

Demons, though? Freed from the lusts of the flesh to better enslave themselves to the lusts of the mind? What sort of obsession can you build when you can stoke it for every minute of a month?

Dang, this is creepy.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Personally I feel like too much was made of the Maltak arc badness. But I suspect that that's due to having started after most of it was already finished.

How much of the hate is because people couldn't breeze through it and how much because of the actual badness I wonder?

Not, it's really bad.

Pacing issues aside, you still have a Mighty Whitey story where the white guys are also carrying Idiot Balls. Oh, and a story that wraps up in the least convincingly way possible, with not a single characterization remaining intact.

Yeah, I've had to spend a lot of time in Maltak as part of The Unsuckening. It really is that bad.

[guttering flame]

Not, it's really bad.

Pacing issues aside, you still have a Mighty Whitey story where the white guys are also carrying Idiot Balls. Oh, and a story that wraps up in the least convincingly way possible, with not a single characterization remaining intact.

Yeah, I've had to spend a lot of time in Maltak as part of The Unsuckening. It really is that bad.

Sure, it's crap. All I'm saying it's not at the bottom of the heap.

[spectralphoenix]

The problem with Mookie's Hell is the same problem with D&D's hell, in that it is a known, proven factor, and you are capable of rising within it's ranks. WE are talking about a plane whose mechanics are literally made to reward bad behavior. Admittedly, if you were a good person and went to hell, the place would be terrible, but if you were a scheming manipulator all your life, you've been given a place where you can basically scheme your way to semi-godhood. Also, oblivion may not bother you, but I think it would bother exactly the sort of person who would make a deal with the devil for mor power, à la Dr. Faustus.

I always figured that was a feature, not a bug - it explains why wizards who are entirely capable of popping over to take a gander at hell still turn evil when they know full well where they'll end up.

[Coidzor]

I always figured that was a feature, not a bug - it explains why wizards who are entirely capable of popping over to take a gander at hell still turn evil when they know full well where they'll end up.

I'm pretty sure most evil wizards spend most of their time, after a certain level and awareness anyway, avoiding ending up in the lower planes except for those who want to actually become part of the fiendish aristocracy.

[Glass Mouse]

Not, it's really bad.

Pacing issues aside, you still have a Mighty Whitey story where the white guys are also carrying Idiot Balls. Oh, and a story that wraps up in the least convincingly way possible, with not a single characterization remaining intact.

Yeah, I've had to spend a lot of time in Maltak as part of The Unsuckening. It really is that bad.

That said, it's a bit better when reading through in one sitting than when we had to wait every day for an update.

Personally, my biggest grievance is the villains. I found it really annoying how everyone went down like diseased skittles. There was no real conflict. Also, the arc introduced a whole bunch of characters - so many that I couldn't bring myself to care about even one of them. So, well, a lot of superflous characters in no real trouble... yeeeah.
Oh yeah, and everything Oracle Hunter said.

If it was the lowest point? Yeah. I think it was the lowest point in DD so far, followed closely by the Wild Edge being wild. As I've already stated, it was the thing to finally push me to the snark side.

[Coidzor]

It definitely contributed to my taking an extended hiatus from reading and then getting back into it because of the snarkdom in this thread.

[Trazoi]

Personally I feel like too much was made of the Maltak arc badness. But I suspect that that's due to having started after most of it was already finished.

How much of the hate is because people couldn't breeze through it and how much because of the actual badness I wonder?

The first few months showed promise. The middle months were pointless boring filler. The last few months from the Bikta Battle onwards was truly atrocious. Due to the villains being so weaksauce there was little point to the arc. The sheer length of the arc is a big factor, but mostly because it makes the bad ending and useless villains even more inexcusable.

I also can't ignore that the way the ending and the villains were presented that Dominic ended up making things worse. If Dominic, Luna and the gang had decided to stay in Callan instead, Outrage Chief would have marched on the Bikta regardless and as shown in the fight the Shintula would have wiped the floor with that marshmallow creampuff. All Dom and Luna did was distract Outrage Chief and send a bunch of orcs to their senseless deaths (Moustache would be proud). Oh, and Luna did her rain thing, but it wasn't very clear what was going on with Luna's specialness in that arc save for it being insufferably annoying.

[Thanqol]

The problem with Mookie's Hell is the same problem with D&D's hell, in that it is a known, proven factor, and you are capable of rising within it's ranks. WE are talking about a plane whose mechanics are literally made to reward bad behavior. Admittedly, if you were a good person and went to hell, the place would be terrible, but if you were a scheming manipulator all your life, you've been given a place where you can basically scheme your way to semi-godhood. Also, oblivion may not bother you, but I think it would bother exactly the sort of person who would make a deal with the devil for mor power, à la Dr. Faustus.

See, going to Hell is like getting an entry level job at McDonalds. In theory, if you work hard and apply yourself, you can get promoted to middle management, or maybe corporate, where it doesn't suck quite so much. In practice, the higher ups hire externally or give family members the fast lane to power or simply never change out in your lifetime.

So every time some Epic leveled evil archmage gets Holy Avenger'd and ends up in Hell, they can usually claim a Lordship right fast, and all the demonic chumps who were waiting in line for the past 8,000 years get left in the dust.

And you'll never be able to relax in Hell either - there's always someone stabbing you from above and below.

[colonelslime]

I always figured that was a feature, not a bug - it explains why wizards who are entirely capable of popping over to take a gander at hell still turn evil when they know full well where they'll end up.

Actually, I agree. It's a problem in the sense of Glass Mouse's reasoning. Hell is not a threat to those who could benefit from it, or those whose mindset functions well in it. Given the choice of Oblivion as grass or rulership in hell, Lady Loxo obviously preferred the latter.

@Gez: I actually like your interpretation a lot. It has been quite a while since I've read any version of Faustus.

Edit: And I'll say here, I actually like the character of Lady Loxo so far. Not sure if I've said it before, but the fact that apparently she entered into the infernomancy contract knowing full well she was going to hell, but figured that with her skills and the right plan she could probably carve herself a pretty nice afterlife strikes me as a level of planning and forethought not often shown in Mookie's creations. She's not evil for the sake of evil, she's evil for the sake of self-interest.

[guttering flame]

So I guess ye' all agree with Milton's Satan?

[Coidzor]

So I guess ye' all agree with Milton's Satan?

Well, the infernomancers certainly seem to.

Though, we have no real idea what Luanian Heaven is like.

[T-O-E]

Update.

Wow. I didn't know Mookie had it in him. Definitely one of his best strips.

[TheLaughingMan]

Mookie, you wonderful man, this is the greatest thing you've ever created! Bravo, good sir.

[Glass Mouse]

Update.

Wow. I didn't know Mookie had it in him. Definitely one of his best strips.

So this is what it feels like to have one's hope crushed. You're evil

[TheLaughingMan]

I hate to break up discussion on this brilliant strip, but I was reading the Tv Tropes dicussion page for DD, and found that two people were arguing in favor of Bortette killing all those poachers in the last arc.

Why must humanity fail me so?

[Trazoi]

I hate to break up discussion on this brilliant strip, but I was reading the Tv Tropes dicussion page for DD, and found that two people were arguing in favor of Bortette killing all those poachers in the last arc.

Why must humanity fail me so?

To be fair the argument was completely missing the point. The problem wasn't about whether Bortette was justified in killing those poachers (she was; it's the Wild Edge, stab or be stabbed). It was the storytelling failure that we pointed out at the start of the arc - we've got a bunch of normal powered Callanian villains up against a protagonist species that can punch its way out of a dragon. The poachers needed to present intelligent tactics to be any sort of threat, and instead they were all derp derp stabaarrghaarrghblublublubgrnnk.... Woo, gripping tension stuff.

Now Bort spiking the happy floating cloud, or Stunt leaving Jaxon to be dissolved by acidic slimes alive...

[spectralphoenix]

Yeah, it wasn't exactly heroic, but as far as morally questionable protagonist actions go, it was probably three or four down the list for that arc.

Also, T-O-E, that joke will work better in the archives if you link to the comic page and not the front page.

[Glass Mouse]

I hate to break up discussion on this brilliant strip, but I was reading the Tv Tropes dicussion page for DD, and found that two people were arguing in favor of Bortette killing all those poachers in the last arc.

Why must humanity fail me so?

Holy moly... Serious business is serious. I guess that discussion is what happens when people identify with the characters - hey, if you've cheered on Stunt's horrible murder of Jaxon or Borettes meaningless slaughter, critique of Mookie feels like critique of you (and your morals).

[Turcano]

Reaction to non-strip update: "Damn it Mookie, are you really that lazy to not have a buffer? Wait, why am I complaining about there not being a strip?"

[Lillith]

Who else was thinking that if it had been anybody other then Mookie, 8 hours in a boring train would have been enough to churn out at least one comic? Especially cause he claims it takes him 4 hours to make 1, hell he could have had a one day buffer!

[Kizor]

How would you draw in a train? They're bumpy enough to harm my handwriting when I'm on one. Lemme guess, you use maglevs.

[Domochevsky]

Yeah, drawing on a train is not recommended. (I couldn't do it anyway due to having forgotten how to draw on regular paper. >_> )

...
Yeah, I've had to spend a lot of time in Maltak as part of The Unsuckening. It really is that bad.

And you are far from done with it, young man.
Why are you still here?! D:< *whipcrack*

[Glass Mouse]

Drawing on a train is possible, though. At least the sketching part where it doesn't matter if your hands are a bit shaky.
I should know, my boyfriend used to live 5 hours of train time from me.

[Domochevsky]

Heh, now you're making the assumption that Mookie sketches things out beforehand.

(Wouldn't matter much if you were to use a tablet, though. Unless you scan it in and use it as background. That could save you a bit of time.)

[T-O-E]

So this is what it feels like to have one's hope crushed. You're evil

Evil evil or omnicidal genocide mwahahaha evil?

Also, T-O-E, that joke will work better in the archives if you link to the comic page and not the front page.

Done.