This comic is barely D&D related anymore

[Ridureyu]

The comic is more related to D&D than either of the official movies!

[Peanut Gallery]

The jokes were icing to me. Sweet tasty icing that smelled great and got me to take the first bite. Now that the icing is mostly gone, the cake is still filling, if not as enjoyable as it once was.

Like the Dragon Magazine comics that came out recently? Wow man, it was like the best fix ever for what I'd been craving.

[Morgan Wick]

OOTS originally became popular because it was one of a very small number of comics about D&D, and one of the better ones at that. That, however, was a very long time ago, and now OOTS has appeal to people who have never played a game of D&D in their lives.

[Psyren]

The comic is more related to D&D than either of the official movies!

And many of the games...
And certainly more than the cartoon

[Ridureyu]

The arcade Beat 'em Ups were awesome.

[Flame of Anor]

The comic is more related to D&D than either of the official movies!

Dorkness Rising would give it a run for it's money, though!

[Ridureyu]

Yeah, Dorkness Rising is the ultimate D&D movie.

[Flame of Anor]

Yeah, Dorkness Rising is the ultimate D&D movie.

True that. I love how his cat is named Guenhwyvar.

Also, the credits song is great. I listen to it by itself every now and then.

[Fruzbot]

I've never ever played DnD and I almost don't know any rule of that game. Though I've played role games and I still do, this comics fascinates me because of the story, not because of a game I've never played...

[Maralais]

Of course, the funny thing is that Ancano hasn't spoken for 2 pages, and people still point their disagreement with him.

[Rajhiim]

You come for the cookies and pie but end up staying for the company. - they become more than just fictional characters and that's why this comic is so great. It's more than cookies and pie.

[Squirrel_Token]

and I'm sure the majority of readers did so for the same reason.

This is incorrect.

[maxon]

Now, while I still appreciate the odd reference here and there, it's the characters and story that interest me. I'd rather have a three-dimensional character that I can understand and (in some cases) empathize with than a purely two-dimensional character cover the intricacies of D&D rules humorously for several (going on 8 or 9?) years.

Agreed - my best experiences of D&D were when we, y'know, Role-Played our characters in the story we were in. The rules, at least for the group I played with, facilitated that, not dictated what we did to tell the story we were telling together. For me then, what the Giant is doing is recreating my D&D experience not drifting off from it.

[Jay R]

Hmmm, Which would I rather have?

More jokes about skill points and rules revisions?
or
Tarquin, Enor & Gannji, Ian & Geoff, O-Chul, ...?

Gosh, I just can't decide.

[Trixie]

The jokes were icing to me. Sweet tasty icing that smelled great and got me to take the first bite. Now that the icing is mostly gone, the cake is still filling, if not as enjoyable as it once was.

Like the Dragon Magazine comics that came out recently? Wow man, it was like the best fix ever for what I'd been craving.

Pretty much this, on both counts. There are many comics with good stories, characters, and all, yet little jokes were what kept OotS unique and got me interested in it at all. Sure, material for jokes might have slowly ran out, but dropping them completely instead of adding them where relevant makes for poorer entertainment, IMHO. Still enjoyable, but not as good as it might have been.

Also, honestly, repeating +/- the same post 20 times because someone said something you don't necessarily agreed with is uncalled for, IMHO.

[Bavarian itP]

Indeed. I once tried to get my fiancee into OotS, and she was game, but I couldn't think of a good strip for her to start and get all of the story without me having to fill in too much. So she started at the beginning, didn't get the jokes, and lost interest. Anyone have any suggestions for a strip number in case I ever try again?

That's precisely the reason why "Dungeon Crawling Fools" has an entirely new set of introductory strips.

[ti'esar]

Pretty much this, on both counts. There are many comics with good stories, characters, and all, yet little jokes were what kept OotS unique and got me interested in it at all. Sure, material for jokes might have slowly ran out, but dropping them completely instead of adding them where relevant makes for poorer entertainment, IMHO. Still enjoyable, but not as good as it might have been.

Don't confuse D&D jokes with jokes in general. The comic is certainly darker then when it started out, but there's still plenty of jokes. It's only the rules-based jokes that are largely gone.

And if you're wondering why people continue to post arguing against him...

and I'm sure the majority of readers did so for the same reason.

Trying to make an argument about the feelings of readers as a whole is a sure way to provoke a response from readers who do not share those feelings.

[Ancano]

I started reading this back in 2004 (comic 113), and back then, the only way you found out about the comic was through D&D. I don't think it was odd to assume that a large number of readers started reading this comic because of D&D (Rich himself admitted he broke out of the pack because of it).

But I guess most of the other oldschool readers stopped reading/posting because of the new direction Rich took OotS in. Ah well, times change I guess. We orthodox OotS fans are clearly in the minority compared to the reformists.

[Porthos]

But I guess most of the other oldschool readers stopped reading/posting because of the new direction Rich took OotS in. Ah well, times change I guess. We orthodox OotS fans are clearly in the minority compared to the reformists.

Speak for yourself and not for me, thanks.
- Signed, D&D player since 1979 & comic reader since ≈ Comic #130.

[Smolder]

What comic were you reading? Seriously, what's the URL?

Look at #830. How many D&D elements were there?

1. Wights: obscure monster manual fodder
2. Command Undead: evil priest class ability
3. Casting while grappled: for that matter, grappling
4. Counterspell
5. Teleportation: and dimension lock
6. The ENTIRE monologue about the Undead!
7. Level draining, etc

Not to mention:

• the death of an important recurring character, via a method both unique and befitting
• the exposition about the Dark One pact
• the irony of the wight she gave Thanh's boots to eating her
• foreshadowing a massive future conflict between two immensely powerful characters

[Rorrik]

You know, the whole comic is rather like a great D&D campaign--you start out getting familiar with the rules, having some pretty easy fights, you know; then as it goes on, you really get into the story, it becomes ever more plot-driven, and the rules are just part of the background as you hurtle towards the smashing climax.

Here here! I love this comic and look forward to its posts more than any other. While Darthsanddroids has disappointed me with the loss of D&D jokes, this comic replaced the D&D jokes in a very fluid way and drew my interest even more with the change. I have never archive binged so fast.

[Das Platyvark]

If this comic went back to simple nerd jokes, I would stop reading it. It was fairly funny when I started (this was my first webcomic, and I hadn't seen it so much) and now it has a real, (and quite finely crafted, I might add) plot. If something like this devolved to something like you suggest, it just wouldn't be worth it anymore.

[Porthos]

Here here! I love this comic and look forward to its posts more than any other. While Darthsanddroids has disappointed me with the loss of D&D jokes, this comic replaced the D&D jokes in a very fluid way and drew my interest even more with the change. I have never archive binged so fast.

What's ironic is that this comic stopped being solely a "Gag a Day" comic sometime in the mid 30's or 40's. And it shifted into a Teh Plot comic right around the introduction of the Linear Guild. And then slowly but surely evolved into an Action Adventure comic, albeit one still firmly rooted in humor. Which, despite the occasional detour into some disturbing areas (*cough* Darth V *cough*) it remains to this day, and will probably remain until the end.

If this strip stayed on a Gag a Day format, it would have been dead, by the author's own admission, a long time ago.

But, hey, doesn't mean everyone has to like it. It's a free internet and all that. Plenty of other comics to read and comment on. But, strangely enuf, this one still seems to be popular in the hardcore D&D sets. I see plenty of discussion on it in places like ENWorld and RPGNet, for instance.

But I suppose they're not sufficently "oldschool" for some people.

[Dr.Epic]

I started reading this comic because it was about D&D, and I'm sure the majority of readers did so for the same reason. While I have nothing against a story driven webcomic, the Giant would do well to remember his niche. I don't think we've had a single D&D related joke since the cat killed a commoner about 50 strips ago.

The worst part is that the Giant is actually proud of this. On the kickstarter page, he boasts that "the gaming references [are] virtually unnoticeable". One of his recent newsposts reveals that he "barely even reference[s] the 3.5 rules anymore". Sometimes I wonder if he wishes he never used the D&D framework in the first place.

The comic still has plenty of D&D references. It's just grown. I don't really think anything can be done about it now. This comic hit cerbus syndrome hundreds of strips ago. Those people who hated the new direction probably just stopped reading and those who still liked the comic continued to read it.

There are countless generic fantasy webcomics, but this is the only one about D&D. Please Rich, don't lose sight of what made OotS truly remarkable.

You're not looking hard enough. I find it difficult to belief this comic is the one webcomic amongst the hundreds - thousands - of webcomics online that are only about D&D - one of the oldest and biggest RPGs of all time.

[PallElendro]

What makes OOTS truly remarkable is the storytelling, characters and deceptively simple art, not jokes about d20s and skill points.

Not since the first 100 comic strips, anyway.

[SweetBB]

Speak for yourself and not for me, thanks.
- Signed, D&D player since 1979 & comic reader since ≈ Comic #130.

Ditto. Arcano doesn't speak for me either. I started playing D&D years ago with my brothers almost as soon as I was able to pick up the dice, and have been reading the OOTS comics since #88.

While the D&D humour got me started reading, I love that Rich has evolved this comic into something more complex and story driven, while retaining plenty of hilarious RPG and adventuring party elements.

My loyalty to this comic is because' in addition to the wicked humour, I care strongly about the characters and want to know what is going to happen next. Gag-a-day comics don't usually carry that kind of loyalty through the years.

[Anarion]

I, too am in it for the characters. Ironically, the way I found this comic was that I was trying to introduce D&D to a friend of mine, who did not play D&D. I was explaining something to him and he went "Oh, hey that's like Miko!"
Me: "Who"
Friend: "This crazy paladin in this webcomic," at which point I was beholden to go check this comic out. If the characters weren't good enough to be memorable as individuals, distinct from any rules parody, I wouldn't be reading OoTS now and that would suck.

[Tusalu]

Well, you could say it hasn't been rule jokes for the last several comics, but is had moved to rules-based drama/action. Nearly every action that has happened, has been based on the rules of the game.
The comic has changed, but it is still very much D&D-related. Recent comics would have been much different if OotS broke completely off the D&D rules, and just made a generic fantasy comic. It's like the difference between Erfworld and a comic just about a commander fighting a hopeless cause.
The comic has the same close relation to the rules as when it began, but now it uses it to create drama rather than comedy.

[TheArsenal]

Arcano speak for yourself. I also love DD but this story is MORE then that. There are hundreds of just DD joke filler. This is a great story

[Tannhaeuser]

Just want to swell the chorus. I've played D&D in a desultory way since '79, too, and although I loved some of the wacky humor of the early strips (Fruit Pie the Sorcerer, Clyde the Conjurer ("They're Grrrrrrreat!"), the doily of ultimate cosmic power), I enjoy the D&D refs and the wackiness even more when they set off and are set off by a genuinely engaging, moving, and sometimes even terrifying story. Bravissimo, Gigante!