The OOTS Reprint Drive at Kickstarter: Pledge now to get exclusive rewards!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I'm ambivalent about this Rescale Graph spell V is casting... on one hand, I see the necessity of it... on the other, I'm going to miss the rush of having to scroll down two whole screens to get to the bottom of this awesome graph. It won't be the same if it is rescaled to half its height (if scaled to $20k per step) or a fifth (if 50k per step), and specially with a much shorter, much more diagonal line. I like the ridiculously vertical line we have going.

Grey Wolf

[Weimann]

Personally, I am for using the spell. Graphs look neater when the line is about at a 45 degree angle, in my mind.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Personally, I am for using the spell. Graphs look neater when the line is about at a 45 degree angle, in my mind.

I agree, in general, with that statement. If I remember my history, that's one of the reasons why log graphs were developed, so they could still be plotted in a ~45º angle even when the data was exponential. So yes, my geeky/graph nazi side of my mind is very much in favour of a graph that fits in a single screen.

But then there is the specifics of this situation. This is a graph about money. Piling up. At an astounding rate. Enough that soon Rich will be able to behave like Haley. The graph should do justice to this, my other half (the one that is giddy with the excitement of it all) insists.

Grey Wolf

[jmucchiello]

How are the graphs going to fit in the PDFs if they aren't rescaled?

[Unisus]

Personally, I am for using the spell. Graphs look neater when the line is about at a 45 degree angle, in my mind.

Not only that - imagine these graphs really published in a book. They would either have to be cut to be spread about some pages or scaled down so you could hardly read the speech bubbles. Or third (which would be my favorite) the book would have to have pages to fold out vertically...

[Gullintanni]

I like the ridiculously vertical line we have going.

Grey Wolf

Yes. Exactly this.

[Xapi]

Well, she doesn't have access to a regular internet connection so I'm assuming I'm good. :) Though I have been wondering whether the surprise of the gift is enough to compensate for not telling her about all the fun we've been having here! (But once again, no internet connection means that she couldn't participate or even follow along... so surely the gift is better?)

The gift is definitely better. You could do a quick search over the backers to see if you find her there, just in case she had a little while online and seized the opportunity.

[SaintRidley]

Not only that - imagine these graphs really published in a book. They would either have to be cut to be spread about some pages or scaled down so you could hardly read the speech bubbles. Or third (which would be my favorite) the book would have to have pages to fold out vertically...

I'm sure graph nerds would salivate at the opportunity to have these graphs as centerfold images.

[MurkyMajare]

6000 backers now.

[SteveDJ]

It would be interesting if the "Rescale Graph" just shrunk the whole thing - not just vertically, but horizontally as well, keeping the slope of the line intact.

Or, maybe it just shrinks by a few pixels, leaving V puzzled at what went wrong with the spell...

(Or better, it rescales LARGER - the spell didn't specify which direction to scale... )

[SteveDJ]

I keep forgetting to ask this -- what happened to the stick-figure-family sticker/cling thing -- and could it be added to the rewards (not for free - but just as a new option)?

[WampaX]

I keep forgetting to ask this -- what happened to the stick-figure-family sticker/cling thing -- and could it be added to the rewards (not for free - but just as a new option)?

It is still in the CafePress OotS storefront here
http://www.cafepress.com/orderofthestick/8206142

And it would probably be cost prohibitive (margin too slim) to add them as a reward anywhere near what Cafe Press is selling them for.

[Mary]

And it would probably be cost prohibitive (margin too slim) to add them as a reward anywhere near what Cafe Press is selling them for.

Ahhh thanks for posting that. Will need to order the magnet version.

[Pheldagriff]

it is a shame that you have to have a credit card to pledge.
why u no support paypal?
I actually only know two people who have a credit card.

[Elder Tsofu]

it is a shame that you have to have a credit card to pledge.
why u no support paypal?
I actually only know two people who have a credit card.

Apparently they wont provide the service kickstarter requires for its business.

[bluewurm]

FYI to anyone who wants any of the CafePress OOTS stuff, cafe press has free shipping on $50 orders from 2/2 to 2/8.

[Xapi]

I keep forgetting to ask this -- what happened to the stick-figure-family sticker/cling thing -- and could it be added to the rewards (not for free - but just as a new option)?

As all Café Press items, they are print on demand, and therefore extremely expensive.

Re: Paypal: It's likely they don't allow people to "pledge" without charging instantaneously, maybe that's why KS won't use it.

[Porthos]

it is a shame that you have to have a credit card to pledge.
why u no support paypal?
I actually only know two people who have a credit card.

Just go to a local store (or bank if you have to) and buy a Gift Card (might be called something else in your country) for the amount you want to pledge (factoring in shipping, natch) and away you go.

Gift Cards are technically Debit Cards. And Debit Cards are usually OK if they have a VISA/MasterCard/AmEx/et etc logo on them. It just depends on if Amazon wants to accept it or not.

[Pheldagriff]

thanks for that info about gift cards. I had no idea that such a thing existed. $10 pledge, here I come.

this post is definitely not meant to be sarcastic. I really had no idea and am grateful to now know about this possability. kudos

[Porthos]

thanks for that info about gift cards. I had no idea that such a thing existed. $10 pledge, here I come.

this post is definitely not meant to be sarcastic. I really had no idea and am grateful to now know about this possability. kudos

Glad to be of help. Just make sure that you get a card with a VISA/MasterCard/et etc logo and not a $10 card that is for a specific store only (like Joe's Random Supermarket ).

For some reason Amazon doesn't accept the later.

[bjornthedwarf]

Something I had been thinking about, for as awesome as this drive has been for the Giant (Money!) and us (Stuff!), it's really got a bigger affect than just that.

The Giant's printer is going to get a several hundred thousand dollar order for OotS books that they wouldn't normally receive. I'm pretty sure he uses an independent printer, and that's probably a chunk of business that matters to them.

Ookadook has to be getting their regular cut of the books, as they are handling the logistics of mailing out thousands of reward packages. By the time this is done, that could easily be an additional 10,000 book sales for them that they normally wouldn't make in one shot. And some of those orders are people who wouldn't have ever ordered a book at all, if they hadn't been swept up in this.

There may be other vendors getting orders from The Giant by the time this is done (depends on whether the book printer does stuff like stickers and notebooks), depending on what the other rewards are.

And finally, this has probably introduced new people to OotS who had never read it before. Even if they don't pledge anything, some of the people who have been linked on Twitter, Reddit, BoingBoing or some of the smaller blogs may become regular readers.

The love of this is really spread around, if you think about it.

[factotum]

But then there is the specifics of this situation. This is a graph about money. Piling up. At an astounding rate. Enough that soon Rich will be able to behave like Haley. The graph should do justice to this, my other half (the one that is giddy with the excitement of it all) insists.

Surely, though, the graph loses some of its impact when you have to keep scrolling it? The current one occupies almost two vertical pages on my 1920x1080 monitor, and since the truly incredible thing about it (IMHO) is the almost uninterrupted steepness of the line, you need to be able to see that at a glance to get the full effect!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Surely, though, the graph loses some of its impact when you have to keep scrolling it? The current one occupies almost two vertical pages on my 1920x1080 monitor, and since the truly incredible thing about it (IMHO) is the almost uninterrupted steepness of the line, you need to be able to see that at a glance to get the full effect!

Not for a graph like this, no. The very fact that the line just keeps going is an indicator of how much money has been made in such a small period of time. If the graph was at a more regular 45º angle, yes, you'd be absolutely right: the information conveyed would be the same whether it was one screen or two, with one being more conveniently displayed. But for a quasi-vertical graph like this, the information conveyed should be (and is) one of amazing growth, and the taller the graph, the better.

Note that it wouldn't work if he had started with the graph this tall, or if he changed the scale to be even larger. It works because you can start at the bottom and see the graph just keep getting taller and taller.

Again, it might just be the almost-repressed artistic/poetic part of me, but I feel it is like when you stand under the archway of a cathedral. The roof could be held lower and the building would still be functional, but there is a thing of beauty in the size of it that doesn't work at other proportions.

Now I'm just getting mushy, though. Sorry.

Grey Wolf

[YohanLeafheart]

A kids coloring book!!! I need to get a bunch in preparation for the next generation!

[RMS Oceanic]

Update!

Order of the Stick Colouring Book with Elan and Thog? I'm all over that!

[VinRaven]

Again, it might just be the almost-repressed artistic/poetic part of me, but I feel it is like when you stand under the archway of a cathedral. The roof could be held lower and the building would still be functional, but there is a thing of beauty in the size of it that doesn't work at other proportions.

Except that we read from top to bottom, not from bottom to top.

In other words, the first thing we see is the current totals, then we have to scroll down a screen for the first gag, scroll through another now long surpassed goal screen, before finally getting to the bottom of the graph and the last gag.

It's a fun skit, but seeing it all in one shot will be better...

[YohanLeafheart]

Except that we read from top to bottom, not from bottom to top.

In other words, the first thing we see is the current totals, then we have to scroll down a screen for the first gag, scroll through another now long surpassed goal screen, before finally getting to the bottom of the graph and the last gag.

It's a fun skit, but seeing it all in one shot will be better...

And even at the new scale it is still a huge graph. And down goes Roy :D

[Grey_Wolf_c]

It's a fun skit, but seeing it all in one shot will be better...

You're out of luck, then, at least for this first update of the new graph scale. You still have to scroll down past at least one screen to see all the jokes.



GW

[MaximKat]

Uh-oh... Poor Elan.

[WampaX]

It's a fun skit, but seeing it all in one shot will be better...

The one shots were over by about update 6.
Think of it more as a limited series.

Also,
The story works if you scroll all the way to the bottom and then work your way back up. You'll have to kajigger your reading of the posts themselves, but the graph comic still functions when read bottom to top.