You lost me at orly.

[silentknight]

I didn't understand the orly thing until reading through this thread, but I didn't mind because:
A) I figured it would reveal itself eventually (thanks forum!)
B) I like the rest of the comic, so it didn't matter.

Read on Fans! Critique away...er...critics! Erfworld shall endure! Fowever!

[Hushdawg]

I'm actually upset at myself that the first post is going to be slightly negative.

I've loved OOTS ever since I was introduced to it by a gaming buddy at strip #12.

Loved it.

I've bought all three books and introduced as many people as I could to the strip.

Erfworld on the other hand reminds me of a mediocre restraunt.
Not sure I want to go back, definitely won't reccomend it.

Why?

I just don't get it.
Maybe it's my age, maybe the writing is too inclusive, maybe if I'd spent more time playing Final Fantasy and less time playing D&D with dice I'd get it.

But the "ORLY" thing really ruined any chances of my taking the strip seriously.

I personally hate/loath/despise the heavy influx of internet abbreviations into the rest of the world.

I wholly understand the need for shortening phrases into:
OMG
WTF?
and extetera when using TXT-messaging on wireless phones or even on IMs.
I do *NOT* however like the use of "R" "U" and numbers to substitute entire words outside of those contexts.

Like I said, maybe it's my age.

I played D&D since the late 1980s and my first videogame RPG was Dragon Warrior on 8-bit NES.
I tried RPGs on game systems and such since then but really didn't get into them. I felt that I was missing a lot of what I enjoyed out of D&D.

So, do I hate Erfworld? NO... I just figure that Erfworld, like the "American Pie" movies are made for an audience that does not include me.

Sorry to the creators, if you were trying to produce a webcomic that anyone and everyone can enjoy then you have failed.
However, if your intention was to create a webcomic for a specific group of people which includes a heavy selection of in-jokes and obscure reference gags then I believe you have succeeded.

That's my opinion and hopefully in the future I'll have more constructive comments to make. :)

[Om]

I hate the O RLY meme. I'll stand up now and say it. Like the above poster when it comes to internet fads like that then I am an elitist through and through. I have absolutely no time for OMGs or the like.

When we first saw the Orlies I was hoping that it was a one off gag; something never to be repeated. Thankfully I was wrong. This seemingly passing reference to an internet fad has, over three or so strips, been a highly entertaining running gag that culminated in the frankly hilarious "BBQ" strip today. Despite my burning hatred of O RLY I still enjoyed the reference.

Now that is, to my mind, impressive.

[silentknight]

If you view the comic as maybe a play-by-post world, I'm sure some of you have experience with players that use "internet abbreviations" constantly even if the (hopefully) majority spell everything out properly. So, the annoying orlies represent those players who insist on the annoying habit of shortening everything down to a few letters.

Besides, I think it's great that the comic is poking fun at the internet culture like that!

[Hushdawg]

no no... you misunderstand me. The "ORLY" by itself isn't why I dislike/don't get the comic. it's just the final nail for me in the proverbial coffin.

Actually I have never enjoyed the "play-by-post" scenarios. I've yet to be involved in one that was engaging enough to keep me interested for more than a week.

Aside from that I just don't get the comedy that Erfworld tries to present.
I'm sure that it is absolutely hilarious to the right audience, but that audience doesn't include me.

I don't understand why it is funny and most of the time I'm looking at the strip going: "Um.. Okay...?"
Admittedly, if I weren't friends with people who are absolute fanatics over Final Fantasy there are some jokes in OOTS recently that I wouldn't have gotten (and I'm certain that there are references I missed).

I do, however, think that Erfworld has it's place. This is evident by the large number of people whom are posting to its defense.

I'm just saying that I don't get it... I'll stick to my Monty Python and Red Skelton.... and, of course, my tabletop D&D.

[Mitheria]

Hey can I have a badge too? Cause I thought it was funny.


Heh...

I'M IN UR THREAD STEALIN UR BADGES!!!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist (pclips response in the other ORLY thread prompted that one :P)

[landruajm]

I can't believe this is actually somehow an argument. Artists are not obligated to cater to all possible points of view, least of all those points of view that continually demand that artists cater to them.

There is absolutely nothing questionable about telling people you don't need as fans that publicly proclaim their refusal to be your fan.

What fifthfiend said. These forums offer an opportunity that most media don't; a chance to interact with the artist. While that doesn't demand an unchanging litany of undying expressions of support, something as broad as "I don't like it" doesn't leave the artist much to work with. If that's all you have to offer, the overwhelming chance is that you're not going to be a consumer of the artist's output anyway, huh? The artist may as well offer you a buh-bye that's just as nice-spirited as your initial offering.

It's worth remembering that one's own aesthete doesn't make a thing good or bad. There's a lot of stuff I don't like that's apparently culturally worthwhile (considering the popularity of a lot of stuff I don't like). Do I go pee on Nureyev's grave? Not so much. I don't pray at Roddenberry's, either.

If your criticism is constructive, that's one thing. "I don't get" a joke that is apparent to a pretty large segment of the target (and really, given the size of this community, anything over about 20 percent is probably significant enough to sustain the work) is a long way from constructive. "I don't like" the joke is something else, but if you just want to take a big dump all over someone else's work, why bother? Go blog. That strikes me as a better outlet for general lashing-out.

[Ikkitosen]

Hey can I have a badge too? Cause I thought it was funny.


Heh...

I'M IN UR THREAD STEALIN UR BADGES!!!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist (pclips response in the other ORLY thread prompted that one :P)

Badges for all! Until they become as annoying as ORLY? to all the haterz

[Alchemistmerlin]

I really really don't like that memes are leaking into this somewhat sane corner of the internet. I like erfworld just fine, but I don't like what it is seemingly bringing with it.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

I will admit that I had no comprehension of Orly until I read this post, and I did not get Rich's Final Fantasy strip references either. As a person who plays D&D but doesn't play video games, I realize that some pop culture references will sail over my head.

(I'm used to that, though. My hair has a perpetually windblown look from all the traffic sailing above it.)

On the other hand, I will admit that I am enjoying Erfwold for its supreme weirdness... creepy marshmallow peep Gwiffons, croakomancers, IMs that appear in holy books, pigeons created by magical artifacts used for petty purposes.

In other words, I am reading this strip (and the forum to get the referents I'm missing afterwards.) I am reading it despite the fact that it has in jokes that I will not get. The art is amusing, and the storyline strange, and I'm finding the combination interesting enough to continue reading for a while.

I am also pleased to see the artist and author come in from time to time to explain things, and hope that they do not leave this forum anytime soon. Art is what it is. I publish fantasy stories, and know that no art appeals to all readers. Indeed, sometimes the best art has three quarters of its potential audience scratching their heads while the other quarter go, "Oh man, that's brilliant!"

If you try to please everyone, you will lose the uniqueness of your voice. My advice: don't try to appeal to the most common denominator. Instead, follow your muse to all the weird places it leads you. I'll follow along, if only for the bizarre travelogue of the Magic Kingdom.

Thanks Jamie and Rob!

Hilary Moon Murphy

[Tormsskull]

I must be a real idiot. I didn't even get it....

When I first read it I thought I was back on the World of Warcraft forums for a moment.

[Piedmon_Sama]

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C0/\/\/\/\|_|/\/17`/ |)33p|_`/ 54|)|)3/\/5 /\/\3|-|. 1 |-|0p3 7|-|47
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[Maurog]

In case anyone is wondering about the previous post, the solution is x=5/13

[Xaspian]

The lack of respect given to the leet-haxxor community deeply saddens me. I hope that one day our dialect will be accepted net-wide?

[my translation]

Is that right?

I respect it. Sometimes. I just choose not to use your 'dialect'.

[Nerd-o-rama]

You know, this has bugged me for a while, but now I have to point it out. ORLY, originally, had nothing to do with leet- or chat-speak. It (as well as related words like SRSLY) originated on (I believe) www.somethingawful.com, and were subsequently adopted into chatspeak (a distinct entity from leetspeak) and became a famous image macro on 4chan, which is where many of the related pictures originate.

On another note, I'd like to point out that leetspeak no longer has anything to do with the hacker community (let alone respectable programmers), who abandoned it to the First Person Shooter Players and ignorant script kiddies long ago.

[Mr Wizard]

Your statistics are flawed. According to the 'first impressions' post, 608 votes were cast in favour, and 308 were cast against. That ration is less than 2:1 in favour of the comic, which is a far cry from the 4:1 ratio you stated above. That's a significant number of people who seem to dislike the comic.

This is actually flawed. Only 501 people voted in that poll. The first 8 options could be voted in any combination. For instance, a person could choose "I love the Humor" and "I love the Artwork", but also choose "I dislike the childspeak." Only the last three options were the only clear "I love it/I am neutral/I hate it" options, and the instruction in The Giant's post specifically said to choose only one of these responces. If you compare the "regular readers" to the "will not read it at all" option, you get 253 to 28, roughly 9 to 1. Those that chose the "I will check it out from time to time, when I remember or OOTS is late" I consider neutral/indifferent to Erfworld.

I may be wrong about the 9 to 1, since I did this in my head and I am dopey from a cold.

EDIT: And here is a link to the first impressions thread.

[AmoDman]

I was wasting some time browsing and this title caught my eye. It made me chuckle. I think that Erfworld comic was the last one I read. I just shook my head and vowed not to give it another hit.

[Ikkitosen]

I was wasting some time browsing and this title caught my eye. It made me chuckle. I think that Erfworld comic was the last one I read. I just shook my head and vowed not to give it another hit.

No badge for you then. Bad Amodman!

[dragongirl13]

I only find the Orlies amusing because they speak in acronyms. I translated

OMGWTFBBQ!

into

OHMYGODWHATTHE*boop*BARBECUE!!!!!!!!!!

[Dr. Simon]

I'M IN UR THREAD STEALIN UR BADGES!!!!!

Given that this discussion is mainly about annoying internet memes, shouldn't that be ALL YOUR BADGE ARE BELONG TO US?

[Yuki Akuma]

I only find the Orlies amusing because they speak in acronyms. I translated

OMGWTFBBQ!

into

OHMYGODWHATTHE*boop*BARBECUE!!!!!!!!!!

One: That's not an acronym. It's an initialisation.

Two: Yes, we all know this already. We use the Internet.

[Silverlocke980]

Actually, I thought the ORLYS were the funniest thing in the comics. "OMGWTFBBQ!" was also the best deathcry I've heard, ever.

Go, Elvis, go!

[bdh5533]

i love these references! keep em up!

also eating marbits and gwiffons for breakfast... genious :D

YA RLY

orilies lol

OMGWTFBBQ lol

keep it coming i love this comic.

[Pyrian]

One: That's not an acronym. It's an initialisation.

You're wrong on both counts, here. Acronym is a wide enough term to encompass OMGWTFBBQ; it is not limited by whatever misconception it is you're referencing.

Second, OMGWTFBBQ is not an initialisation. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt for a moment and point out that the letters BBQ are not initials - I assume that's what you meant by initialisation. However, the problem with your claim is worse than that: initialisation doesn't mean that at all! It's a reference to the first step of formatting, and has nothing to do with the first letters of words, despite the fact that those are "initials".

[Aimbot]

I, for one, welcome our new owl overlords.

[taigen]

Hm.. a few things here... those of you who hate ORLYs I believe actually got the point... but quite before that point was made more relevant.

Prince Ansom leads what Parson refers to as 'unspeakable'.. his army is made up of cute and/or annoying units.The fact that you were annoyed/offended/whatever is probably a good sign. This is after-all the army we are supposed to be rooting against.

That said, I think something on Youtube that I read comment-wise is rather relevant in this. A term has sprung up there for a type of commenter (or probaby came from somewhere else as is the nature of the internet) called a 'hater'. Its the sort of commenter who loves nothing more then to post just how much they don't like something.. and yet seem to come back over and over again to the same author/artist/whatever and well.. hate all the rest of their works too. People there advise new artists to pretty much either ignore it or take it as a complement, since well... anytime someone takes the effort to post about your work... you have at least made an immpression. Its probably the ones who you never see on the forum who should offend you as they didn't even care enough about your work to say anything.

One of the things I enjoy about Erfworld are its somewhat obscure humor references. I have looked into most of the humor I didn't get... and have enjoyed them.. includeing the ORLYs and especially the Jonathan Coulton songs which I can't get enough of now. Oh yeah the comic is kinda funny too *grins*

That said... I am afriad my time here is comeing to an end.. Its just that the internet term 'the' is becomeing way to overused... and ceased being funny a long time ago. I am afriad to say I have decided to boycot any use of this cliche term in any literary work. Sorry has been a fun time.

-Taigen

[Sage in the Playground]

Hm.. a few things here... those of you who hate ORLYs I believe actually got the point... but quite before that point was made more relevant.

Prince Ansom leads what Parson refers to as 'unspeakable'.. his army is made up of cute and/or annoying units.The fact that you were annoyed/offended/whatever is probably a good sign. This is after-all the army we are supposed to be rooting against.

That said, I think something on Youtube that I read comment-wise is rather relevant in this. A term has sprung up there for a type of commenter (or probaby came from somewhere else as is the nature of the internet) called a 'hater'. Its the sort of commenter who loves nothing more then to post just how much they don't like something.. and yet seem to come back over and over again to the same author/artist/whatever and well.. hate all the rest of their works too. People there advise new artists to pretty much either ignore it or take it as a complement, since well... anytime someone takes the effort to post about your work... you have at least made an immpression. Its probably the ones who you never see on the forum who should offend you as they didn't even care enough about your work to say anything.

One of the things I enjoy about Erfworld are its somewhat obscure humor references. I have looked into most of the humor I didn't get... and have enjoyed them.. includeing the ORLYs and especially the Jonathan Coulton songs which I can't get enough of now. Oh yeah the comic is kinda funny too *grins*

That said... I am afriad my time here is comeing to an end.. Its just that the internet term 'the' is becomeing way to overused... and ceased being funny a long time ago. I am afriad to say I have decided to boycot any use of this cliche term in any literary work. Sorry has been a fun time.

-Taigen

I would nominate you for "Hero of the Internet" if such a contest existed out of my imagination. Three cheers for you!

[chionophile]

Yeah, good post, although I'm not entirely sure I agree with you on who we're supposed to be rooting for. Just because Wanda is likable and sympathetic, Stanley is funny in a "ha, look at the idiot in charge" sort of way and Parson is the semi-likable protagonist, I'm still more inclined to think that Ansom and Jillian are the people who ought to win this. Having Parson present on Stanley's side creates a challenge for Ansom to overcome, probably by recruiting Parson to his side later on.

Keep in mind, we still don't know exactly why these two sides are fighting. It may have something to do with Stanley's quest for the Arkentools, which could be detrimental to the rest of the world or something, but that's just a guess. He might murder babies in their sleep. Probably not, but you get the picture.

Oh, and one more thing, you don't know that Parson was referring to Ansom and Co. when he said "vile and unholy, not to mention unspeakable". The other option was "noble and decent". Seems to me that Stanley's not really the noble or decent type.

[Corolinth]

I thought the orlies were stupid, but the way I understood the gag was to rip on the rejects who use l33t to type. I believe the word I'm looking for is "caricature."

[mixmastermind]

Of course, this whole thing makes sense if one goes by the theory that this is a game Parson made. He seems like an internet freak that would enjoy owls that spout memes.