The Post-Kickstarter Discussion Thread: Bask in the Afterglow

[sam79]

Fingers (and thumbs) crossed that the nine day streak is on! Loving the strips so far.

Also, are there any other mystery rewards still to be announced?

[Douglas]

Fingers (and thumbs) crossed that the nine day streak is on! Loving the strips so far.

Also, are there any other mystery rewards still to be announced?

Well, there's the one that's still a mystery.

[sam79]

Well, there's the one that's still a mystery.

Thanks. I thought that was the case, but wasn't sure if I'd missed an annoucement somewhere along the line.

[lio45]

The use of "probably" can function positively. However, especially when in conjunction with traits attributable to a person (probably has enough self-control, can probably wait), it explicitly highlights the uncertainty and doubt aspect as well. Someone doesn't "probably have enough self-control" if we feel certain, they simply have enough self-control. The "probably" raises the possibility that they don't and actually places emphasis on the doubt. In the case of attributable traits, as above, it's very easy to read the use of "probably" as an indicator of sarcasm by way of calling attention to that doubt and uncertainty inherent in the word.

Hope that helps.

Makes sense, but still, in light of Rich's own past statements about how buffers don't work for him, surely you realize that the "polite assumption" that Rich will obviously always have enough self-control to repress his perfectionist urges and refrain from any touching of his ever-growing buffer of ready strips just flies in the face of the facts that we have.

Hence, the "probably", for this special case.

But I do see his point now 100% and thanks for taking the time to expand on it. ;)

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: Please divert this discussion away from both Rich's work ethic/practices and semantics.

[Lissou]

I have a question: Rich said that the PDF stories would probably end up in printed form at some point. I was wondering if it might be in a Kickstarter-themed compilation, and if so, if it might include the update comics (which I really enjoyed during the kickstarter), or if they will always stay a Kickstarter-only thing?
I'm talking about the comics that kept track of the amount pledged, and announced new goals, etc.

[Shale]

He said they'd probably end up as bonus material in various compilations; last I remember him talking about it, there were no plans for a dedicated book of Kickstarter comics. That's not to say he'll never change his mind.

[Vemynal]

I know the Giant is attempting his "9 straight comics"; what # does 877 count as?

[Porthos]

I know the Giant is attempting his "9 straight comics"; what # does 877 count as?

Seven.
...

[SavageWombat]

Are we allowed to let Rich off the hook for "nine straight days" if it takes him, say, ten? Nobody wants him to knock himself out trying to hit a twenty-four-hour deadline, right?

[Porthos]

Are we allowed to let Rich off the hook for "nine straight days" if it takes him, say, ten? Nobody wants him to knock himself out trying to hit a twenty-four-hour deadline, right?

At the risk of discussing past comic schedule, when Rich was doing the once-a-day reward during the Kickstarter drive, he said something about "It's not the next day until I go to sleep". This from a man with a very strange sleep cycle. . In other words, there was a gap of about 1 and 3/4ths days at least once but it still counted as part of 'the streak'.

So this late in the day if the one-a-day slips (part of/more than) a day or so, I don't think it should matter. But, ultimately, it's Rich's call to make not ours. Nor really to discuss.

And so saying that, that is all I am comfortable talking about here.

[Lissou]

Are we allowed to let Rich off the hook for "nine straight days" if it takes him, say, ten? Nobody wants him to knock himself out trying to hit a twenty-four-hour deadline, right?

I think Rich is the only person who will get to decide if he has met his expectations or not.

[Kilrathi]

Seven.
...

Intersting, which would imply two more - and Rich has mentioned elsewhere that he had the Malack/Durkon battle in mind when he originally mentioned the "nine in a row" concept, then hinted that something really big happens during that stretch (in response to someone's question, he said "ask me again when the nine days is over"). Obviously "big" has already happened but this makes me doubly curious to see what the "final" two entries have in store. Sure seems like the good guys are in trouble the likes of which two comics won't be enough to undo.

[ti'esar]

Intersting, which would imply two more - and Rich has mentioned elsewhere that he had the Malack/Durkon battle in mind when he originally mentioned the "nine in a row" concept, then hinted that something really big happens during that stretch (in response to someone's question, he said "ask me again when the nine days is over"). Obviously "big" has already happened but this makes me doubly curious to see what the "final" two entries have in store. Sure seems like the good guys are in trouble the likes of which two comics won't be enough to undo.

I'd expect to be things getting worse, if anything - specifically along the lines of Team Evil finally showing up.

[Ted The Bug]

I'd expect to be things getting worse, if anything - specifically along the lines of Team Evil finally showing up.

If he ends with 9-in-a-row arc with X and co showing up to battle, the suspense will flat-out kill me.

[jere7my]

Intersting, which would imply two more - and Rich has mentioned elsewhere that he had the Malack/Durkon battle in mind when he originally mentioned the "nine in a row" concept, then hinted that something really big happens during that stretch (in response to someone's question, he said "ask me again when the nine days is over"). Obviously "big" has already happened but this makes me doubly curious to see what the "final" two entries have in store. Sure seems like the good guys are in trouble the likes of which two comics won't be enough to undo.

I have a guess, and if it pans out that way then we could get an end-of-book cliffhanger after the nine strips. In that case, the nine-in-a-row would be the ramp up to a between-book hiatus.

Just a guess, though.

[Porthos]

I have a guess, and if it pans out that way then we could get an end-of-book cliffhanger after the nine strips. In that case, the nine-in-a-row would be the ramp up to a between-book hiatus.

Just a guess, though.

I don't know about 'hiatus', but, yes, I'm getting an end-of-the-book vibe as well. Or 'very VERY close to the end of the book' vibe.

[jere7my]

I don't know about 'hiatus', but, yes, I'm getting an end-of-the-book vibe as well. Or 'very VERY close to the end of the book' vibe.

Well, my specific theory didn't last long — I guessed today's strip would be Durkon meeting with Thor in Asgard, then getting sucked back to earth against his will, to end tomorrow's strip (and the book) with a panel very much like the last panel of 878.

We could still be leading up to the end of the book, I suppose.

[Shale]

I'm half expecting today's strip to be Malack and Durkon walking away from the pyramid together, leaving their "allies" to their own devices, and ending the book.

[ti'esar]

Now that they're over, I'd just like to take a moment to stop by and express my gratitude to Rich for the 9-in-a-row strips.

[Porthos]

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - Sir Thumb Proves His Valor to All

[Gift Jeraff]

Out of curiosity, what made you want to pick this sequence in particular to do the "update a day" special?

Ask me again when it's over.

Well, I suppose it should be apparent now why this was sequence was so special, but I'm still curious if there's more to it.

[The Giant]

Well, I suppose it should be apparent now why this was sequence was so special, but I'm still curious if there's more to it.

Well, basically, not only was it a very dramatic sequence, but one where I wanted to minimize the amount of speculation by readers between each page. The best way to do that is to put them out quickly, so everyone had less time to theorize. If I had released them as normal, I probably would have combined 876 and 877, and 878 and 879 into two double-pagers, to preserve as much suspense as possible. But I like them better this way, because it gives Durkon's death a whole page to itself, so the feeling focuses on him dying and not the fact that Malack out-grappled him on the previous page.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Thank you. And yes, it is much better this way. Heh, I don't think it did much to thin the epileptic trees though.

[Savannah]

Perfectly understandable. (Plus it was funny to watch the daily theories and counter-theories as the tide of battle swung with each strip )

[MartectX]

Plus it was funny to watch the daily theories and counter-theories as the tide of battle swung with each strip

Indeed - I haven't visited the forums this often since the Kickstarter!

'twas quite a ride, these 9 days; thank you, Giant!

[JosephOrJoe]

Really enjoyed the 9 in a row and this was a great sequence for it.

Thanks.

[CloakedDancer]

I was at a local gaming/trinkets store the other day. I hadn't been there in a few months for various reasons, but I was in the area so I dropped in. Walking over to check out their D&D book section I saw a few familiar spines peeking out from the secondary shelf. They had every single OotS book in stock. In all my years of coming to this store they had never had OotS books before. They even had the OotS game tucked in the back near their D&D miniatures selection. It was really cool to see the real reward of the Kickstarter, which was getting this awesome story on shelves for more people to discover.

[lothos]

Hi,
Just wanted to say thanks. I got my pack of goodies yesterday. One of the items was a "patience" signed book, so that's why I'm just getting them now. Well worth the wait, thanks.

[factotum]

I just got my patience package as well! The topmost note had come off the note block in transit, but I think I can forgive that --everything else absolutely flawless. Not bad for something that's undergone a several thousand mile journey!