OOTS Strip Summaries

[Gwynfrid]

Technically, he failed a Linguistics check. But I agree, the summary doesn't need to be 100% accurate. As long as it helps tracking down a particular comic, it's fine.

[Gwynfrid]

962: Durkon remembers many dinner parties.

[unbeliever536]

You have strip 900 listed twice.

[DaggerPen]

Whoops! Fixed, thank you.

[Gwynfrid]

693: Unlike the High Priest of Hel, Durkon is fond of recalling childhood memories.

[DaggerPen]

Ach, ninja'd! It's just as well, though, since I wasn't really sure what to do for this one.

[Gwynfrid]

That one isn't easy, I'm kinda lukewarm about how I put it. If anyone has suggestions...

[DaggerPen]

When in doubt, I try to resort to the most memorable thing about the strip... maybe something like "Durkon realizes why he's so passive in combat"?

[SaintRidley]

Alternative suggestion: 963: If you can't see the connection, you might be a vampire.

Best read in the voice of Jeff Foxworthy.

[Gwynfrid]

When in doubt, I try to resort to the most memorable thing about the strip... maybe something like "Durkon realizes why he's so passive in combat"?

Debatable. In fact I don't think Durkon is portrayed as being passive in combat (passive in non-combat contexts, now, that's possible). The strip shows him to be utterly clueless about teamwork at the start of his adventuring career, but he's learned a lot since.

Alternative suggestion: 963: If you can't see the connection, you might be a vampire.

Best read in the voice of Jeff Foxworthy.

The cultural reference is beyond me, but this is funny all the same. Unfortunately, I think it's too crytpic for the purposes of the summaries.

[DaggerPen]

Debatable. In fact I don't think Durkon is portrayed as being passive in combat (passive in non-combat contexts, now, that's possible). The strip shows him to be utterly clueless about teamwork at the start of his adventuring career, but he's learned a lot since.

Hm, point. I definitely want something about Durkon not helping without being asked, though, since I think that's one of the big takeaways.

Alternative suggestion: 963: If you can't see the connection, you might be a vampire.

Best read in the voice of Jeff Foxworthy.

Still a bit too cryptic, I'm afraid.

Maybe 963: The High Priest of Hel can't see why Durkon was slow to help?

[SaintRidley]

Perhaps tack onto the end of mine "If you need help, just ask Durkon!"

[Qaanol]

963: How Durkon learned not to help without asking, unless someone’s being eaten.

[Gwynfrid]

I prefer DaggerPen's take on this, to be honest. Here's a more complete wording (I think).

963: The High Priest of Hel fails to connect the dots in Durkon's memories.

[Qaanol]

How about combining the two?
963: Durkon remembers learning when to help, and the High Priest of Hel doesn’t make the connection.


Alternatively…
963: Young Durkon breaks dishes, and Roy gets eaten by a frog.
963: In which we learn that Durkon’s middle name is Allotrope.
963: The one with the Mechane in silhouette against the moon.
963: Durkon uses deception and comes up with a joke on the spot.

[Lord Torath]

Alternative suggestion: 963: If you can't see the connection, you might be a vampire.

Best read in the voice of Jeff Foxworthy.

The cultural reference is beyond me, but this is funny all the same. Unfortunately, I think it's too crytpic for the purposes of the summaries.

From "You might be a Redneck." The rednecks jokes start about 4 minutes in.

[Gwynfrid]

From "You might be a Redneck." The rednecks jokes start about 4 minutes in.

Thanks.

Regarding the summary for 693: We might be sweating this one more than it is worth. DaggerPen, why don't you pick a favorite among the proposals above, and unless someone strongly objects, we call it a day?

[Qaanol]

693: Unlike the High Priest of Hel, Durkon is fond of recalling childhood memories.

Regarding the summary for 693: We might be sweating this one more than it is worth. DaggerPen, why don't you pick a favorite among the proposals above, and unless someone strongly objects, we call it a day?

You are literally the only one still talking about #693.

The rest of us are discussing the current strip, #963.

Also, Sigmund Freud called for you while you were out.

[DaggerPen]

Thanks.

Regarding the summary for 693: We might be sweating this one more than it is worth. DaggerPen, why don't you pick a favorite among the proposals above, and unless someone strongly objects, we call it a day?

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. I'm going to put my favorite as:

963: Durkon remembers learning when to help, and the High Priest of Hel doesn’t make the connection.

With one modification:

963: Durkon Allotrope Thundershield remembers learning when to help, and the High Priest of Hel doesn’t make the connection.

That's the Allotrope, the "learning when to help" and the "lack of HPOH realization" all in one go. It's not the pithiest thing, but hey, that's what the official titles are for, and there's a reason those don't make this thread redundant.

Any objections?

[Gwynfrid]

It's a bit long and heavy, but covers everything. Good enough.

[SaintRidley]

Minor note to Daggerpen - 957 is on the same line as 956 in the collected post. Should probably give it its own line.

[DaggerPen]

Whoops! Fixed, thanks, and new summary swapped in.

[Gwynfrid]

964: In need of repair, the Mechane arrives in Tinkertown, gnome steampunk port of call.

(Edited with the name of the town.)

[thereaper]

I would prefer 964: Steampunk is trendy these days

[rodneyAnonymous]

That's not a summary of what happened, though.

[thereaper]

If you want to get technical, neither does 73. "What Would Thor Do?" is not as helpful as Durkon would like, 114: YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!, or 121: The sad part is, the d3 really does get more play than the d12.

The purpose of the thread is to serve as a sort of directory to various strips. The reason the above examples work is because they make references which can really only refer to specific strips (and therefore work as well as or even better than a simple summary). The one I suggested follows the same lines.

That said, however, if Gwynfrid's is preferred over my suggested alternative (as your implied opposition would indicate), I am perfectly happy with mine being discarded.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

If you want to get technical, neither does 73. "What Would Thor Do?" is not as helpful as Durkon would like, 114: YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!, or 121: The sad part is, the d3 really does get more play than the d12.

The purpose of the thread is to serve as a sort of directory to various strips. The reason the above examples work is because they make references which can really only refer to specific strips (and therefore work as well as or even better than a simple summary). The one I suggested follows the same lines.

That said, however, if Gwynfrid's is preferred over my suggested alternative (as your implied opposition would indicate), I am perfectly happy with mine being discarded.

I prefer Gwynfrid's because I do prefer the summaries over the references, and if a summary and a reference is proposed for a strip I tend to go with the summary.

[ChristianSt]

If you want to get technical, neither does 73. "What Would Thor Do?" is not as helpful as Durkon would like, 114: YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!, or 121: The sad part is, the d3 really does get more play than the d12.

The purpose of the thread is to serve as a sort of directory to various strips. The reason the above examples work is because they make references which can really only refer to specific strips (and therefore work as well as or even better than a simple summary). The one I suggested follows the same lines.

That said, however, if Gwynfrid's is preferred over my suggested alternative (as your implied opposition would indicate), I am perfectly happy with mine being discarded.

Only because there are summaries that aren't that much of a summary, doesn't mean that some people would prefer a summary.


Even for those strips I would gladly support any actual summary to replace the current versions

How about 114: Roy throws Xykon at the Gate.?

[DaggerPen]

My general rule with these summaries is that they should cover the most memorable things about the strip, in such a way as to make searching for a strip easier. To that end, I have no objections to summaries that reference a memorable aspect of a strip, such as the punchline. In this instance, however, I am not sure the "steam punk is trendy" bit is memorable enough, and prefer the first proposal.

[Gwynfrid]

If you want to get technical, neither does 73. "What Would Thor Do?" is not as helpful as Durkon would like, 114: YOU! BROKE! MY! SWORD!, or 121: The sad part is, the d3 really does get more play than the d12.

The purpose of the thread is to serve as a sort of directory to various strips. The reason the above examples work is because they make references which can really only refer to specific strips (and therefore work as well as or even better than a simple summary). The one I suggested follows the same lines.

My general rule with these summaries is that they should cover the most memorable things about the strip, in such a way as to make searching for a strip easier. To that end, I have no objections to summaries that reference a memorable aspect of a strip, such as the punchline. In this instance, however, I am not sure the "steam punk is trendy" bit is memorable enough, and prefer the first proposal.

Some time back, I proposed a few changes for summaries that were exceedingly cryptic references (those suggestions were accepted). I didn't propose changes to thereaper's examples, because while they don't do the best possible job in my opinion, they aren't so bad that they warranted the additional work at that time.

That said, when it comes to new strips, I don't think we should use referencing as a substitute for a real summary, except for truly unforgettable references. And even then, what qualifies as "unforgettable" will vary from reader to reader, so a summary will nearly always be preferable.