Upcoming strip 1,000

[Peelee]

Do I still get bonus points if I remember this from the last time you said it?

Double, since I don't even remember the last time I said it.

And Jasdoif, you nearly qualify as google on your own.

[Reddish Mage]

My fellow playgrounders, ask not what your Giant can do for you, ask what you can do for your Giant!

What can I do for the Giant?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Double, since I don't even remember the last time I said it.

And Jadoif, you nearly qualify as google on your own.

Sweet.

[137beth]

Is it from Life, the Universe, and Everything? When they discover the "Ultimate Question" in Arthur's brain, but it is the wrong question due to the interference in the Earth's biological computer programming, But it would actually work out to the correct answer if it were in base 13?

[Peelee]

Is it from Life, the Universe, and Everything? When they discover the "Ultimate Question" in Arthur's brain, but it is the wrong question due to the interference in the Earth's biological computer programming, But it would actually work out to the correct answer if it were in base 13?

Yep. Which Douglas Adams didn't know at the time, forcing him to go on record saying, "it's not a joke. Nobody writes jokes in base 13."

[sabremeister]

Honestly, I'm kind of expecting an outpouring of support and gratitude here when the strips hit 1000. I think if you have the time, it might be nice to draw or make or compose or do something, and then we can all post it together when strip 1000 goes up. I'm already working on something nice :)

Some people might argue that with the three side books, and the bonus strips, and the kickstarter stories, that OotS has around 1500 strips already, but screw that... hitting a landmark number of 1000 is still kind of a deal. You can choose any time to show your appreciation, but a mark like this is a fairly clear flag to aim at.



Actually, there are people who don't have time, or aren't confident in their creative skills, or who are just a little shy that might not be comfortable with writing or drawing fan stories, but who might be wondering "what can you do to show your appreciation for a comic that's been such a great source of entertainment in my life for so long?"

How about taking the first steps to organising a fan convention? I know Rich goes to many cons, usually as a panel guest/artist/stallholder, but has he ever been to one as The Guest of Honour, around whom and whose work the whole weekend is based?

Picture it - 500 people in a hotel all weekend, all fans of OotS. Listening to Rich talk on any subject he wants, or being interviewed about his work. Guests who wrote bits for the print books talking about how they managed to get to do that. Panels with prominent fans discussing plot points and OotS-world philosophy. A fancy dinner on the last evening where they serve OotS-themed food. A fancy dress competition, hall costumes of Xykon, Trigak and the MitD!

[Jasdoif]

And Jadoif, you nearly qualify as google on your own.

Did...you just misspell my name and void my bonus points at the same time?

[Peelee]

Did...you just misspell my name and void my bonus points at the same time?

.......no. Your quoted text is clearly wrong.

[Jasdoif]

.......no. Your quoted text is clearly wrong.

Oh. I suppose I should've given more consideration to the possibility that my oblique reference to "42" in base-10 being "33" in base-13, combined with mentioning that OotS characters have three digits on each hand and are thus perfectly equipped to express the ultimate answer, might have evoked some of the superstitious connotations of the number 13....

...but that didn't amuse me as much.

[Dancingdeath]

I've only read oots on here so I've never seen any of the rest of the strips. I'm pretty excited about it though. I love the comic. Please no more convoluted numbers jokes though. That got tired instantly and was never funny.

[martianmister]

It's not upcoming considering it will probably took 8 months to get that nu mber.

[cybishop]

This is a pretty big deal and I love this webcomic.I'm hoping for some momentum forward on the Xykon/Final Gate front.

A review of previous centennial strips:

900: Kinda momentous, in that it put most of the Order and Team Evil on the same page, but ultimately anticlimactic. 899 was a bigger deal, with the explosion of the fourth gate and the fulfillment of a prophesy, albeit in an ironic way.

800: Exciting fight scene. Not only that, but some character growth for V (acknowledging their own limitations and stuff). Not, however, remotely related to Xykon, the final gate, or the main plot in any other way.

700: Team Evil interlude. MitD and Tsukiko talk, MitD demonstrates a little intelligence (or wisdom or something), Tsukiko makes progress on the ritual and expounds her deeply flawed worldview. Related to the main plot, but not particularly interesting or revelatory - the thing Tsukiko ultimately figures out was known to the reader already.

600: Roy and his grandfather chat, practice fighting moves that we still don't know if they'll actually matter, ride a celestial elevator, and joke about both the anticlimax and the fact that they did the same joke way back in 100. Note the word "anticlimax."

500: Roy argues with his dad about figuring out what happened in the surprisingly long time he's been dead. A bit of character growth for Roy, figuring out that arguing with his dad is fruitless, but really not exciting or related to the main plot.

400: They mop up after fighting the Linear Guild, and Elan and Haley finally act on their feelings for each other after unresolved sexual tension through the whole series. AWWW. Definitely a big deal.

300: Team Evil schemes and exposits and the reader learns that (a) they have a huge army and (b) they're planning to attack Azure City. Not a huge deal, because nothing actually happens here and the reader already knew that Azure City was one of three possible targets, but still, fair enough, a big deal and related to the main plot.

200: The Order is attacked by a mysterious stranger who has been foreshadowed since the end of the previous story 80 strips back, it turns out to be Miko, the order loses, and the strip ends on a cliffhanger of her trying to kill Roy. Definitely a big deal but not related to the main plot.

100: Arguably related to the main plot, in that people talk about Xykon, but that's reaching. See 600 - completely anticlimactic.

To summarize, that's three "big deals" and three or four strips related to the main plot, but only one strip that's definitely both. Feel free to quibble with details, but I can't imagine a serious argument that even half the centennial strips count as both. And then there's at least two deliberate anticlimaxes. So I wouldn't expect too much from 1000.

I know Rich has said he knows what the final strip looks like in his head but I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever let the comic end. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no hurry for the comic to end. But as he makes a living off this stuff why would he let it end.

I really, really wouldn't expect #1000 to be the final strip. Too much story left untold. I don't expect every plot thread to be explained and resolved with a neat little bow, but there's no way even the main threads would be resolved by then, at the usual pace. I do, however, expect Rich to end the series deliberately at some point. He seems to care enough about the story to give it a definite conclusion and start trying to monetize another project some day. (I wouldn't rule out sequels or side stories afterwards, I'm just saying that the "main" series will have an ending.)

[Jadzia Dax]

All or some of these will happen:
Durkon executes his obvious plan from strip 963 (It ended with a long panel for god's sake )
Someone dies/gets vamped
Durkula gets resurrected
Kazumi gives birth (comic time is confusing as hell)
Roy (or anyone else) realises the truth about Durkula/Durkon
We discover V's gender
Running gags. All of them.
We discover what the MitD really is
We find out Daigo's last name
Gary Gygax shows up
Return of Bloodfeast the extreme-inator, Tarquin (He had, like, a ridiculous amount of power, he can get out of a stupid desert!), Julio, or anyone else who left without much explanation.
It turns out that the throwaway line in strip 812, panel 6 is true and Lean/Anel/whatever shows up.
While all this is happening, the (demon, devil, daemon) trio from the Vaarsuvius+3 incident calls V in again.
I was looking through the archives at random and found strip 610. What's with that passcode 'Evolve or Die'? (If it can turn the mark back on, I see bad things for Belkar)
Or, that happens in 1001 and someone says 'Why couldn't you just have done that in 1000?'
OR- It happens in panel 999 and the gang sit around twiddling their thumbs for all of 1000.

[Jadzia Dax]

[QUOTE=ahdok;19018361] Honestly, I'm kind of expecting an outpouring of support and gratitude here when the strips hit 1000. I think if you have the time, it might be nice to draw or make or compose or do something, and then we can all post it together when strip 1000 goes up. I'm already working on something nice :) [QUOTE]

Oh my god. YES. I love this idea! But I have no artistic skill at all. What can I do?

[Jadzia Dax]

How about taking the first steps to organising a fan convention? I know Rich goes to many cons, usually as a panel guest/artist/stallholder, but has he ever been to one as The Guest of Honour, around whom and whose work the whole weekend is based?

Picture it - 500 people in a hotel all weekend, all fans of OotS. Listening to Rich talk on any subject he wants, or being interviewed about his work. Guests who wrote bits for the print books talking about how they managed to get to do that. Panels with prominent fans discussing plot points and OotS-world philosophy. A fancy dinner on the last evening where they serve OotS-themed food. A fancy dress competition, hall costumes of Xykon, Trigak and the MitD!

What. Can. I. Do. To. Make. This. Happen?

[Jadzia Dax]

http://www.wikihow.com/Organise-a-Convention
Who wants to be on the committee? I can't really do much here (below 18 and all) but THIS IS A THING. IT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.

[Onyavar]

Hi Dax, I hate to put a damper on your bubbling enthusiasm going overboard, but:

- There is a more recent thread, so this here is thread necromancy. We could ask the moderators to merge both threads, but I'm not sure if possible/allowed.
- The Giant himself knows that comic 1000 is coming soon. If he plans to make a big deal out of it, it's more his decision, not that of the fans. I can't imagine that he's going to hold a keynote speech in a few weeks in an impromptu convention all centered on him. And of course, he will probably not foot any bills of a fan-organized convention. I doubt he'd show up. I could be wrong on all these accounts, but I did follow his recent quotes and posts and to me it seems that he might dislike such events.

[ref]

All the inner Haleys discuss the situation.

[Jadzia Dax]

Hi Dax, I hate to put a damper on your bubbling enthusiasm going overboard, but:

- There is a more recent thread, so this here is thread necromancy. We could ask the moderators to merge both threads, but I'm not sure if possible/allowed.
- The Giant himself knows that comic 1000 is coming soon. If he plans to make a big deal out of it, it's more his decision, not that of the fans. I can't imagine that he's going to hold a keynote speech in a few weeks in an impromptu convention all centered on him. And of course, he will probably not foot any bills of a fan-organized convention. I doubt he'd show up. I could be wrong on all these accounts, but I did follow his recent quotes and posts and to me it seems that he might dislike such events.

Sorry. Just thought it'd be nice

[Peelee]

Sorry. Just thought it'd be nice

Also, before a mod turns unthread, the "+ button at the bottom right of each post allows you to stack multiple quotes into a single reply, so you don't have to have a whole bunch of posts in a row. Nifty little organizational tool there.

[ref]

Yeah. I always wondered why an amulet and a spellbook would allow you to do that.

[Jay R]

Of course, this is a webcomic. Everything is digital. It's not strip #1000 that should be a big deal, but strip #1,024.

[martianmister]

It's not upcoming considering it will probably took 8 months to get that nu mber.

Wow, how wrong was I. We're on an unexpected ride.

[137beth]

Given the high level of drama right now, it would actually probably be a break in the story for strip 1000 not to have a big dramatic event happen. It just won't have anything to do with the strip number.

[Jay R]

OK, I withdraw my objections. As of this morning's strip, yes, there's something really big and dramatic that could happen on strip 1,000 (if they finish the vote quickly enough).

[LordRahl6]

Of course, HPoH could do any number of things in the last two intervening strips that upset the balance of the Godsmoot, but I have three theories that most likely could lay out.

Spoiler: The Three Theories

Show

First off, HPoH announces himself as such to the Godsmoot. (A lot of fun for a shocked Roy, but could ruin further story plan if HPoH is meant to stay with OotS longer.)
Second, the vote is taken and the Godsmoot begins to destroy the world. (Dramatic, but hard to undo.)
Finally, HPoH begins a feeding frenzy that creates HUGE body count. (My personal favorite.)

Edit: Also given what's occurred on the 8/14 strip of #998 and the discussion there it may be that 1001 is the BIG DEAL.

[LadyEowyn]

Well, score a point for team "Strip 1000 is going to be a big deal". It's hard to see how it could not be, at this point.

[Peelee]

Well, score a point for team "Strip 1000 is going to be a big deal". It's hard to see how it could not be, at this point.

Same way 900 could not be. Just because a big event is happening doesn't mean it has to happen on a hundredth episode, and just because a revelation happens doesn't mean it was specifically slated to happen on a hundredth episode. The vote is a big deal, yeah, but it seems like it was going to proceed as long as it needs to, and it just happens to be hitting right around 1000.

You may have confirmation bias, is what I'm saying here.

[Onyavar]

Look at it this way: If 999 is the big one and 1000 is a downer, then we can claim another trend, with 899 and 999 having splash pages. That will allow us to get a nervous breakdown right before 1099 rolls around because 1099 will SURELY become very big, very important. Because, honestly, when has a 99er strip ever NOT been an important one?

You can't beat the dedicated fanatism out of fans who really do believe.

[Sunken Valley]

How about taking the first steps to organising a fan convention? I know Rich goes to many cons, usually as a panel guest/artist/stallholder, but has he ever been to one as The Guest of Honour, around whom and whose work the whole weekend is based?

Picture it - 500 people in a hotel all weekend, all fans of OotS. Listening to Rich talk on any subject he wants, or being interviewed about his work. Guests who wrote bits for the print books talking about how they managed to get to do that. Panels with prominent fans discussing plot points and OotS-world philosophy. A fancy dinner on the last evening where they serve OotS-themed food. A fancy dress competition, hall costumes of Xykon, Trigak and the MitD!

Rich hasn't been to a convention since the birth of his first child in 2007. Sorry, No Dice.