The Index of the Giant's Comments

[Jasdoif]

Well done Jasdoif!
But you forgot to put the Spoiler alerts on the characterlist where they belong. You might want to add that :-).

Looks like I accidentally tagged the Xykon-related spoiler to show up in the character section. I was intending to keep the spoilers out of there, in case some didn't want to be spoiled but did want to look for quotes about a particular character.

Besides that: i personally would love another section where the commentaries are listed from first comic to last comic. Like that its way easier to read the comic with the authors commentary along. Just a suggestion.

I think this would run afoul of guideline 1(c), in that the primary purpose of the Index is to make it easier to find individual comments and not to support mass readings like this. More importantly, an "all indexed posts" section would tend to quickly run the first post into the max-character-per-post limit.

But since this isn't that post, and since I wanted to see what the actual character count would be, and since I wanted to verify that the strip numbers and dates were correct (and I found two or three I messed up)....here:

Spoiler

Show

{table=head]{colsp=3}

All Indexed Comments

05/03/2004|#65|[div]Elan and Nale are Twins[/div]So Nale has the same Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution as Elan.
07/12/2004|#86|[div]The Dwarven god Thor[/div]OOTS Thor is not based off of D&D Thor. Until referenced in the comic, the Nordic legends/mythology does not exist in OOTSverse.
01/20/2005|#142|[div]Nale, Sabine, and Thog are all Evil[/div]
06/20/2005|#196|[div]Dungeon of Dorukan History[/div]Originally, Dorukan was not even necessarily a person.
11/30/2005|#251|[div]Miko's Fight[/div]How Miko defeated the OOTS off-panel and captured them.
12/01/2005|#251|[div]Belkar is Chaotic Evil[/div]
01/03/2006|#262|[div]A Piece of Straw[/div]Haley used a piece of straw to get out of the jail cell. Info on Haley's Dexterity, Level, etc.
02/15/2006|#281|[div]On Being Lawful Good[/div]Being Lawful Good in D&D and the OOTS.
06/15/2008|#566|[div]Right-Eye's Family[/div]They weren't raised because Redcloak doesn't control Team Evil's finances to pay for resurrection, Xykon does. Evil characters are not discouraged / prohibited from raising the dead in OOTSverse.
09/30/2008|#597|[div]Typo in 597?[/div]Nope. It is a joke.
05/02/2009|#650|[div]Racism and Sex in OOTS[/div]Rich answers two separate concerns: One, whether there is some correlation between skin color and promiscuity, and two, whether there is too much promiscuity among the women portrayed in the comic. The short answer to both is no.
06/02/2009|#667|[div]Hidden Meanings[/div]Not everything in the comic has one.
10/06/2009|#683|[div]Character Appearances & Forum Speculation[/div]Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. For example, just because two persons have similar hairstyles doesn't mean they are related.
10/26/2009|#687|[div]Pratchett[/div]Rich hasn't read Pratchett.
03/04/2010|#705|[div]TV Tropes[/div]Rich is aware it exists. No, he doesn't use it for ideas or reference it in any way in the comic.
03/15/2010|#706|[div]Invisibility[/div]Why the art for invisible characters isn't consistent (utility trumps consistency).
03/15/2010|#706|[div]SoD Paladins & Miko's Fall[/div]Only the crayon pages are narrative by Redcloak. Not every event is necessarily "seen." Certain scenes are largely shown from Redcloak's perspective. Details of why the paladins who killed Redcloak's people may or may not have fallen, why it doesn't matter, and how showing it would have cheapened the effect of Miko's fall later.
04/10/2010|#714|[div]OOTS' Stats[/div]Rich hasn't written them down, and everything is up in the air until they need a specific ability.
05/13/2010|#723|[div]Elan's Rapiers[/div]He has two. His original, and one from Julio Scoundrel.
05/19/2010|#724|[div]Top Webcomics[/div]Do not vote for OOTS on Top Webcomics.
05/26/2010|#725|[div]Chronology & Timeline[/div]Anything that states a numbered, dated year references the Northern calendar. The Oracle uses the Southern calendar. Further details on timeframe of Belkar's death prophecy included. Some time references in the strip (like the deva's chart) should not be taken too literally.
06/23/2010|#737|[div]Not everything needs a backstory[/div]Not everything needs a backstory, or even has an interesting one worth telling.
06/28/2010|#731|[div]Spell Colors[/div]The colors come from the spellcaster's choice or personality, and not their alignment or the types of magic.
07/02/2010|#732|[div]OOTS Age Range[/div]Intended to be early to mid 20s. Durkon is the "dwarf equivalent" of this age range, in his 50s.
07/02/2010|#732|[div]Current Politics[/div]There are no references to current politics in the strip beyond those which readers invent themselves.
09/05/2010|#744|[div]The Oracle's Location on the OOTS Poster[/div]Don't read too much into it.
09/12/2010|#746|[div]Map of the Western Continent[/div]It is constantly changing.
10/10/2010|#749|[div]Malack's Name[/div]Not based off of Darth Malak. Originally was going to be named Malachi.
10/11/2010|#749|[div]Tarquin's Name[/div]Named after a Roman King, not the Grand Moff.
11/20/2010|#759|[div]Why the Strip Titles Aren't Above the Strip[/div]The titles are "bonus" jokes. Rich prefers not to put them above the strip itself.
12/07/2010|#763|[div]Tarquin is Lawful Evil[/div]
03/16/2011|#781|[div]Black and White Books[/div]They are unlikely to ever be colorized, and were not originally in color. Rich drew them in black and white.
04/06/2011|#785|[div]Acid-Born Shark[/div]Rich created it, and made fun of himself in the comic.
04/11/2011|#786|[div]Belkar's Jokes[/div]Belkar making a joke about something does not make it so.
04/11/2011|#786|[div]eBooks[/div]Yes, Rich has considered it. Digital PDF's are not in the works. Rich prefers to sell physical copy books.
05/29/2011|#793|[div]Haley's Boots of Speed[/div]Yes, she did get them dyed to match her brown/tan garb.
05/29/2011|#793|[div]V's Gender History[/div]Why Rich made V's gender ambiguous and what discussions about it were like in the early days. Roy's 'V-man' comment is not necessarily indicative of V's true gender.
07/27/2011|#798|[div]Durkon is Lawful Good[/div]
08/03/2011|#799|[div]Dragon Magazine Alternate Panel[/div]What didn't show up in Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tails.
08/14/2011|#800|[div]Tsukiko Breaks The Rules[/div]Tsukiko has too many schools. Rich doesn't make character decisions based on common player trends.
08/17/2011|#801|[div]V is True Neutral[/div]
08/17/2011|#801|[div]Rules Accuracy In The Comic[/div]"If you are looking for moment-to-moment rules accuracy from this comic, you probably should stop reading."
08/18/2011|#801|[div]Worldbuilding vs. Foreshadowing[/div]"Say hello to your boss for me."
08/21/2011|#801|[div]Soon's Gem and Gate[/div]Details about Soon's rift and how it is protected. The gate/rift could not be moved. You can shift a gate to another plane, but not another place on this plane.
08/21/2011|#801|[div]V's Splices[/div]There won't be a prequel book about them, and Rich hasn't developed a backstory for them. Just 3 evil souls.
09/01/2011|#804|[div]More Prequels?[/div]The total number of planned prequel stories is "pretty much fixed."
09/01/2011|#804|[div]Soon's Castle[/div]Soon built the castle, but did not build Azure City.
09/07/2011|#800|[div]Zz'Ditri's Break Enchantment[/div]Rich didn't read the casting time while making the strip.
09/19/2011|#806|[div]Durkon's Mass Death Ward[/div]Rich did not even know Mass Death Ward existed when he wrote the strip. He pegged it at 7th level instead of 8th.
09/19/2011|#806|[div]Surprises Are Not Deus Ex Machinas[/div]
09/20/2011|#806|[div]Game Balance Doesn't Matter in This Story[/div]"I was communicating the way I expected the audience would perceive it, then I began the process of abolishing that perception."
10/06/2011|#808|[div]Roy's Arena Fight With Thog[/div]Roy's strategy to taunt a dungeon-crashing Thog into breaking the pillars.
10/24/2011|#812|[div]Enor & Gannji are True Neutral[/div]
10/25/2011|#812|[div]Alignment and Environment[/div]Enor and Gannji were not operating wholly outside the ethical framework of the Empire of Blood. This doesn't change the nature of their acts but does mean that the acts are not as indicative of their overall alignment as some might suppose.
11/18/2011|#815|[div]Elan and Nale's Parentage[/div]How did it affect their alignment? Giant can't fully answer because of events yet to be revealed. Elan spared Nale's life because of Elan's understanding of what it means to be good.
11/18/2011|#815|[div]Parental Problems[/div]Background info on the parents of various characters like Elan and Haley, including character/plot development history.
11/18/2011|#815|[div]Miko and Shojo[/div]Shojo was the "tape" that held Miko's character together for so long. He was responsible for much in Miko that was good/positive.
11/21/2011|#811|[div]Orrin Draketooth's Daughter[/div]She's not Haley.
11/22/2011|#816|[div]Characters and Merchandise[/div]The presence, absence, position, or style of any character on any piece of merchandise has no bearing on any future (or past) plot points.
11/29/2011|#816|[div]Giant's Response I[/div]Including - why Haley was surprised that Miko was killed, info on Nale's self-delusion and ego, how the rift got so close to Xykon's Tower (it grew), and what is and isn't a plot hole.
11/30/2011|#816|[div]Giant's Response II[/div]A character thinking one thing instead of another thing is not a mistake, it just is. The rift grew according to Redcloak's predictions, but he was measuring the actual hole, not the cracks.
01/10/2012|#826|[div]Rules Accuracy In The Comic, II[/div]Case in point: Rich avoids the D&D term "calling" for the sake of non-D&D OOTS readers, who probably would not understand its meaning.
01/10/2012|#826|[div]No Purpose?[/div]"As a general rule of thumb, no one should say the sentence, 'There's no (or no other) possible narrative purpose for Rich to have done X!' until the story is completed. Because there's always a narrative purpose, you just haven't thought of what it is."
01/12/2012|#826|[div]The Crimson Mantle[/div]Generally it is not known by non-goblins that the mantle is the source of power.
01/22/2012|#829|[div]D&D Spoof[/div]The Giant on the comic's shift in focus from D&D gag-a-day jokes to a story that might appeal to a broader fanbase.
01/23/2012|#830|[div]Redcloak is Evil[/div]
01/23/2012|#830|[div]Counterspelling[/div]The Giant doesn't use different art to differentiate between counterspelling with Dispel Magic and counterspelling with the same spell.
01/29/2012|#831|[div]D&D Spoof Part II[/div]More on the comic's shift in focus from D&D gag-a-day jokes to a story that might appeal to a broader fanbase.
02/14/2012|#835|[div]D&D, Alignment, and Morality[/div]Rich on the comic's criticism of the way D&D has been played for over three decades. "D&D cannot and should not begin and end at black-and-white, and indeed already doesn't, if everyone would just learn to look at things a little more complexly." See also here (D&D "racism" and alignment) and here (the real world applicability of Redcloak's story).
02/14/2012|#835|[div]Redcloak's Little Sister[/div]She was not irredeemably evil, and certainly did not deserve execution.
02/18/2012|#838|[div]D&D's Alignment System[/div]Thoughts on how it could be improved.
02/18/2012|#838|[div]Some Thoughts on Visuals and Story[/div]People get invested in the story, not the art, of a comic.
02/23/2012|#870|[div]Fire Threat[/div]Belkar did not actually burn the town down on his first adventure.
02/24/2012|#870|[div]For Those Who Missed Out on Kickstarter[/div]The swag, sans patches, will be very likely available again at some point.
03/07/2012|#843|[div]True Subjective View In 843[/div]V gets cornered.
03/07/2012|#843|[div]Familicide[/div]How Familicide works.
03/09/2012|#844|[div]Durkon Throws Diamond Dust[/div]Durkon threw diamond dust into the air in 844.
03/20/2012|#845|[div]The Gods Created Creatures After The World Was Created[/div]Is this a contradiction? No. There is no Gaia hypothesis in OOTS world.
04/11/2012|#848|[div]Examples of Rich's Non-Stick-Figure Art Talent[/div]Rich's mad art skills on showcase. Also more here.
04/11/2012|#848|[div]Religions and Deities in OOTS World[/div]Background details on who worships whom, and on Thor, Hel, and the Twelve Gods.
06/20/2012|#856|[div]Malack's Undead[/div]Malack reanimates the dead Draketooths into mummies.
07/23/2012|#858|[div]Tarquin Doesn't Have Trap Sense[/div]"I don't usually bother making fun of mechanics anymore, but if I do, I'm not that subtle about it."
07/26/2012|#859|[div]Meld Into Stone[/div]Art trumps rules accuracy here in order to show the warping of the spell effect.
08/18/2012|#860|[div]A Missed Opportunity in 602?[/div]Why Hilgya was not the Cleric of Loki working for the Thieves' Guild.
09/07/2012|#862|[div]How Xykon Broke Out[/div]How Xykon broke out (with some insight into The Giant's writing process). On Xykon and Redcloak's escape from Lirian, see also this post.
09/07/2012|#862|[div]True Resurrection[/div]True Resurrection as a narrative-wrecking device, and an answer to the age-old "why didn't x character do y?" question.
09/12/2012|#863|[div]The Keoghtum's Ointment[/div]The Keoghtum's Ointment removes deafness because it is extra strength.
11/25/2012|#859|[div]Dragon Continuity[/div]The Dragon Magazine strips and Gygax magazine strips exist in a separate continuity from the OOTS strips.
12/18/2012|#863|[div]Miko's Popularity[/div]Miko's story was not "cut short" because of fan opinions - it was precisely the length intended. Rich does not make storytelling decisions based on finances.
01/04/2013|#864|[div]The Rise of the Dark One[/div]The other gods lost their one shot to gang up on him and kill him. The Dark One has since been building his power.
01/26/2013|#866|[div]Why Destroy Tsukiko's Remains if Redcloak was just going to tell Xykon he killed her?[/div]One reason is so that Xykon would be unable to Speak With Dead on Tsukiko... or Raise Dead.
02/18/2013|#870|[div]Speech Bubbles[/div]Don't overthink them... they are subservient to the story. Malack's bubbles are only black when he "vamps out."
02/18/2013|#870|[div]Scrying in the Desert[/div]It was Zz'ditri who scryed on the Order after they found Girard's illusion.
02/21/2013|#870|[div]Nergal and Undeath[/div]Nergal is not against undeath. Malack just doesn't like using the undead as canon fodder.
02/25/2013|#871|[div]Cornered For Donations[/div]"Nervous" and "Afraid" look pretty much the same, which helped with the misdirection at the start of Belkar's story.
02/26/2013|#871|[div]Light and Art[/div]The art style doesn't show lighting and shading, much like how it doesn't show noses.
02/26/2013|#872|[div]Durkon and Malack's Breakup[/div]Durkon reacts not only to Malack's vampirism, but to his alliance with the Linear Guild. He knows that Malack does not know Belkar isn't innocent.
02/28/2013|#873|[div]Battle Scenes and D&D Tactics[/div]"My job is to entertain, not to showcase perfect D&D tactics. If you can't be entertained by anything BUT perfect D&D tactics, that's on you."
03/01/2013|#875|[div]Malack's Chamber Plans[/div]This was intended to use the imagery of factory farming, not the Holocaust. Malack plans to create a vampire ruling class.
03/01/2013|#875|[div]Malack's Vampirism and LGBT[/div]Malack's condition is not an allegory for LGBT.
03/02/2013|#876|[div]Malack and Mass Death Ward[/div]Why did Malack bother checking if Durkon protected himself when he could simply dispel the spell and not care at all?
03/02/2013|#876|[div]On Plots and Boredom[/div]"If one does not care about the protagonists or antagonists and is not emotionally invested in their struggles, and all one cares about is the resolution of the MacGuffin chase, then you will almost certainly be bored with a lot of the material I'm producing."
03/03/2013|#878|[div]Why V Doesn't Have a Staff[/div]There is no narrative purpose for it, and it would just be one more item to keep track of in the art.
03/10/2013|#879|[div]Azurite Names[/div]Why O-Chul isn't Oh Chul.
04/07/2013|#882|[div]On Character Importance and Leadership Skills[/div]The Giant doesn't feel a character suffers for not having "leadership skills," and won't force someone's development just to give them said skills.
04/07/2013|#882|[div]Haley's Leadership[/div]A greedy self-centered rogue becomes leader. Belkar and Haley are the only one's who questioned her leadership skills during the Azure City Resistance.
04/08/2013|#882|[div]Class Systems and Careers[/div]Also, FYI, Durkon isn't "white."
04/08/2013|#882|[div]LGBT Characters[/div]Why there aren't more in the comic. Also see this.
04/09/2013|#883|[div]Vampire Durkon Can Cast Spells[/div]A cleric doesn't have to worship a deity to cast spells.
04/09/2013|#882|[div]V's Children[/div]The Giant made them adopted to leave open the possibility that V/Inkyrius are gay or lesbian.
04/09/2013|#883|[div]On Writing Female Characters[/div]The difficulties and fan reactions.
05/25/2013|#890|[div]What Belkar Saw[/div]What Belkar saw while affected by the dream runes.
06/03/2013|#891|[div]More on Being Lawful[/div]More on being Lawful Good in D&D and the OOTS.
06/03/2013|#891|[div]V is a Vegetarian[/div]
06/06/2013|#891|[div]Shojo's Chaotic Government[/div]Shojo's Chaotic government was still good, not evil.
06/06/2013|#891|[div]The Azurite Nobles and Hinjo[/div]The nobles thought they could save their own skins from Xykon with Hinjo out of the way.
06/07/2013|#891|[div]Art Should Challenge Preconceptions[/div]
06/09/2013|#891|[div]Kubota and Hinjo[/div]Why Kubota still wanted to kill Hinjo after the other nobles had given up.
06/10/2013|#892|[div]An OOTS Computer Game?[/div]No current plans for one. See here for more.
06/11/2013|#893|[div]Girard's Illusion Runes[/div]They are a ninth-level spell, not an epic spell.
06/11/2013|#893|[div]The Dream Runes[/div]Elan's victory as character development. Also, Nale was the only LG member affected by the runes.
06/11/2013|#893|[div]Why Didn't Girard Prepare a Better Trap Against Undead?[/div]"There is a big jump from knowing that illusions don't affect undead to being able to do anything about it--or expecting every defense to affect every possible creature type."
06/19/2013|#894|[div]Familicide II[/div]More on how Familicide works.
06/19/2013|#894|[div]Did Durkon Lie?[/div]No, the Giant forgot that Durkon said he didn't prepare "Detect Magic."
06/21/2013|#890|[div]About Girard's Double Bluff[/div]About Girard's double bluff to protect the Gate.
06/28/2013|#896|[div]How the Giant Writes and Draws the Strips[/div]And an answer to the question - why are certain strips several pages long?
07/06/2013|#897|[div]An OOTS "Munchkin" Board Game?[/div]No current plans for one.
07/22/2013|#903|[div]Who Else is Neutral[/div] A long list of Neutral characters in the comic. See also here.
07/23/2013|#903|[div]Alignment and Authorial Intent[/div]What does Rich mean when he says X character is Y alignment?
07/25/2013|#904|[div]Nale's Wand[/div]Its function in the story. Also, a brief side-note about why Xykon showed up at Girard's gate a few seconds too late.
07/28/2013|#906|[div]Durkon Becomes a Vampire[/div]Originally, Durkon was going to become a vampire in the dungeon of Dorukan. This plot element has been developing for some time and even predates Xykon himself.
07/28/2013|#906|[div]Characters as Plot Devices[/div]Both Redcloak and Malack had humble beginnings that developed into something more.
07/28/2013|#906|[div]The Girard's Gate Plotline[/div]Tarquin and the LG are the main adversaries of this book; Team Evil was never going to battle the OOTS at Girard's Gate.
07/29/2013|#906|[div]Why Didn't Malack Prepare Word of Recall?[/div]Further explanation here and here (with a few remarks on plot holes in general).
07/30/2013|#906|[div]Malack is not Paranoid[/div]
07/30/2013|#906|[div]Malack's Grapple Skills[/div]Malack's grapple skills were a hunting aid, not for optimization/combat. A character's skills have to be looked at in the context of their whole life, not "what I would do in a game."[/table]

In the interests of science research, that's over 25,000 characters there including all the BBcode. Isn't that near/over half the post size limit?

Jasdoif, that looks glorious.

Why thank you.


EDIT: Huh, just noticed, you can sort the tables by clicking on the title in the header row ("All Indexed Comments" in the table here). Neat!

EDIT SOME MORE: Yeah, the limit is 50,000 characters per post. For science research I just tried a preview with the tagged sections AND the "all comments" copy and I get an error saying "The text that you have entered is too long (57623 characters). Please shorten it to 50000 characters long." So yeah, including all the comments in a single extra section isn't an option unless we went to multiple posts or something.

[Bird]

Jasdoif, bravo! That was a lot of work. *applause*

[Sir_Leorik]

Kudos, Jasdoif, for a very nice job! The charts look excellent!

[LadyEowyn]

Excellent organization. I particularly like that it avoids nested tables.

[137beth]

Jasdoif wins the thread!

[Yagerr]

Honestly, I became a huge fan of the comic not just because it is a very deep and fun stick figure comic (that has been in a national museum) but because the forums let us see the giants thought process as it unfold ... more or less based on how well the forums taunt/engage him.

Thank you for archiving the comments

[NerdyKris]

Honestly, I became a huge fan of the comic not just because it is a very deep and fun stick figure comic (that has been in a national museum) but because the forums let us see the giants thought process as it unfold ... more or less based on how well the forums taunt/engage him.

Thank you for archiving the comments

The books are quite informative as well, if you don't have them.

[Yagerr]

The books are quite informative as well, if you don't have them.

I bought most of them during kickstarter.

[EmperorSarda]

On dinosaurs, Blackwing and Clades. And research for the punchline.

[Flame of Anor]

On dinosaurs, Blackwing and Clades. And research for the punchline.

The first one makes the other two irrelevant.

[Jasdoif]

On dinosaurs, Blackwing and Clades. And research for the punchline.

The first one makes the other two irrelevant.

And here I was thinking the first two were irrelevant. And the third is only Index-worthy if some evidence of "Rich does research to counter criticism" is Index-worthy...which I don't think it is.

[Shale]

I don't see how any of them are relevant. Are we going to document every time the Giant uses technical terminology appropriately?

[Unisus]

And here I was thinking the first two were irrelevant. And the third is only Index-worthy if some evidence of "Rich does research to counter criticism" is Index-worthy...which I don't think it is.

Exactly my opinion. It may be cool that the Giant knows about the connections between birds and dinosaurs, but that's not what the index is for.

What's next? The Giant writes something like "I lookd through the window and saw..." and it's put into the index as proof that the Giant looks through his window?

[FlawedParadigm]

Exactly my opinion. It may be cool that the Giant knows about the connections between birds and dinosaurs, but that's not what the index is for.

What's next? The Giant writes something like "I lookd through the window and saw..." and it's put into the index as proof that the Giant looks through his window?

I didn't think the Giant had windows. I figured he wrote out of some crypt-like structure with continuity all over every wall so he makes as few mistakes as possible. Daylight is not permitted to enter his sanctuary, because he wouldn't get half as much done if he let himself think about how much time he was spending on it.

But yeah, that kind of thinking belongs in other threads, you're right.

[EmperorSarda]

Mostly I was thinking it would be interesting to see what does go into making a comic, and how Blackwing was correct.

But if irrelevant, then so be it.

[LadyEowyn]

I agree that pterosaur phylogeny is irrelevant and doesn't need to be indexed.

[pendell]

New comment

The Giant explains that his artistic purpose for the character of Miko was to criticize a particular way many Paladins are often played. Which is, a being who is all about the rules and insists on imposing those conditions on everyone else they adventure with, following the letter of the rules while ignoring their intent.

That last sentence isn't from the comment itself so much as derived from Roy's ultimate breach with Miko after the inn they were staying at burned down.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Porthos]

New comment

The Giant explains that his artistic purpose for the character of Miko was to criticize a particular way many Paladins are often played.

He's said this before, though perhaps only in commentary.

[Topus]

It's silly, but when i read The Giant's comments i hear them in my head with a cavernous deep voice.

[pendell]

This post is of importance because it indicates just what kind of feedback the Giant finds most useful from his readers.

Ultimately, I only participate in conversations like this because I get dragged into them via my moderation duties, but once here, I sought to understand whether or not your criticism was valid. ... I ignore 95% of the feedback I get, positive or negative. The only way to truly get anything useful out of the noise that gets directed my way is to try to understand WHY people who don't like something don't like it. So what I was doing in engaging you was trying to wring some critical value out your otherwise generic complaint. "I don't like it," is worthless; "I don't like it because I believe X, Y, and Z, and this doesn't reflect that," has use.

Bolding mine.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[NerdyKris]

This post is of importance because it indicates just what kind of feedback the Giant finds most useful from his readers.



Bolding mine.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

I think that's just standard "How to properly give criticism" information. I don't think that's unique to the Giant at all and doesn't really belong in the index. It's just common sense and has nothing to do with the comic at all.

[Ron Miel]

Why the alignment system is useful in D&D.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...6#post16119916

[NerdyKris]

Not sure how we can link directly to the news page since it will fall off eventually, but

There’s still a lot of story to go, but we’re definitely on the back nine. My best guess on how much is left is about four years. When you factor in my scheduling deficiencies and my tendency to run long, though, who knows?

Might go well with the 2 books remaining after this one quote.

[Muenster Man]

Why the alignment system is useful in D&D.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...6#post16119916

I'm torn with this comment because it kind of overlaps with another comment:

Alignment -
Alignment and Authorial Intent: What does Rich mean when he says X character is Y alignment? (07/23/2013; #903)

with the part of the quote you added saying alignments are a loose framework to play, but it's less concise and clear on that point.

However it also discusses why alignment is socially beneficial to new players, while not very relevant to OotS, it does fall under The Giant's opinions on D&D (and tabletop in general) and I don't think there are any comments on the topic of new players and tabletop. So, I'll support it's inclusion

TL;DR, I agree it should be included.

[Jasdoif]

Not sure how we can link directly to the news page since it will fall off eventually, but

Might go well with the 2 books remaining after this one quote.

There's a publicly accessible Kickstarter update with similar text, so linking that would be an option:

Rest assured, it won’t take another ten years to get to the end of the story. Maybe four? Tough to say.

[Flame of Anor]

Not sure how we can link directly to the news page since it will fall off eventually, but ...

Will this link stick around?

http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#y4gGFEGTKuaFz4luwE9

[Jasdoif]

Will this link stick around?

http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#y4gGFEGTKuaFz4luwE9

That link points to an anchor on the front page; it'll stop working once the news post is off the front page. Which admittedly may be quite a ways in the future...but the current oldest entry is for January 22, 2012; which less than two years old. It's likely the news post is going to move off the front page before the estimated four years are up.

[LuisDantas]

There's a publicly accessible Kickstarter update with similar text, so linking that would be an option:

Good call.

However, I believe "News announcement, 9/29/2013" could work as well and be slightly more official.

For a good while still, odds are that the current anchor will keep working, and we must assume that the News Item itself will be kept indefinitely even after that.

[Shale]

On the artistic side of things: After Thumbpocalypse, Rich changed his routine to incorporate an extremely high magnification in drawing software, and changed his mechanics to work more from the elbow and wrist and less at the fine thumb-and-forefinger level.

[Sir_Leorik]

On the artistic side of things: After Thumbpocalypse, Rich changed his routine to incorporate an extremely high magnification in drawing software, and changed his mechanics to work more from the elbow and wrist and less at the fine thumb-and-forefinger level.

I vote not to add that to the index, because it deals with his personal health. Seriously, guys, let's respect his privacy, okay? While he did post that comment on a message board where we can read it, I feel that adding it to the index is creepy.