Next Update...Feh, Soon! Soon as we can!

[Scientivore]

My thoughts lie somewhere in the region of "Why are the priorities being placed on promoting the webcomic by attending conventions instead of creating it." Like, when the band is on tour promoting the new album, they're not at the studio making music.

You're speaking of them like a band that's already made it, got their record label contract and hit album. Since Erfworld isn't really a revenue source yet, I'm sure that they need to continue doing the things that pay their bills...much the same reason why bands play gigs before their big break (and then just the scale changes, not the reason).

I know very little about Rob's situation and even less about Jamie's. It's not my place to speak for either of them. I can say that I've read some of news posts in the archive of PartiallyClips and it appears to me that between Rob's older webcomic, his filking (funny music) and miscellaneous projects -- the Get Nifty! card game for Sluggy Freelance, for example -- con appearances have been both job and lifestyle for him for quite some time.

[Horatio]

I'm drooling so much Michael Vick would have me executed! Very nice comic. I look forward to reading more, and I won't start complaining until after I've started supporting it :)

[DCR]

I look forward to reading more, and I won't start complaining until after I've started supporting it.

Y'know, there are times when truth comes unencumbered by distracting superfluous words.
And sometimes you have to edit to quote for truth and excellence of thought.

[Aris Katsaris]

Personally am not annoyed because I don't feel I'm entitled to be -- I've not offered Jamie and Rob money yet, after all, so they're providing me with a free comic. I'm grateful to them, I don't feel I have the right to complain.

But a bit sad/disappointed over the lack of updates? Yeah, of course. :-) Going into Erfworld-withdrawal afterall. And I guess I've been a bit spoiled by other comics (like those of T Campbell, whose recommendation in his forums brought me to Erfworld) which have been much more clockwork in their update schedules.

[Airshark]

You know, I love Erfworld. That's why I really hate to see delays becoming a routine occurrence. I know we all say that it should take as long as it takes, that we understand, that we're prepared to wait. But if you read any number of webcomics at all, you know a sputtering schedule is poisonous to any one of them, no matter how great the story line is.

It's not enough to point out that we're not paying anything for the privilege of reading the strip. The creators are trying to build a fan base, to involve the readership; who here doesn't know of a webcomic that sputtered to a halt or simply ended with nothing resolved? It's extraordinarily frustrating when this happens, and it happens a lot.

It's one thing if the strip is sometimes delayed because of the needs of real life; it's another if the timely distribution of new material isn't particularly important compared to "real life". IOW, the delays don't cause the strip to decline, but rather are a sign the strip is declining. While of course Rob and Jamie have to be the ultimate arbiters of what is and isn't important, for myself and my own preferences, I cannot imagine how any Erfworld spinoff can be more important than establishing the main strip by getting strips up in a timely manner. No story or spinoff involving Parson's gaming buddies could possibly interest me more than the contents of page #62. If Erfworld had been running for five years and there were hundreds of pages, well, then maybe spinoffs would be something I paid attention to - but it's not as if this strip is Penny Arcade or PvP, or even OOTS. Few have heard of Erfworld - and that limited fanbase isn't cultivated by late strips.

I say this as somebody who just travelled across country (and Canada as well) toting a laptop with an EVDO wireless card for the sole purpose of not missing a strip the instant it was posted. You can't imagine my disappointment that no new strip has appeared. I love the depth of the story and the characters. But I've seen plenty of webcomics that started great and went down this same road. I urge Rob and Jaime to not get started on this road, where chronic lateness eventually causes people to stop following the strip - it leads to unhappy endings. Pretty soon, that word "hiatus" is going to be used - and we've seen before what happens when it is.

[Airshark]

Man, talk about an uber-ninja - he posted the new strip between the time I pressed the submit button and it appeared on the site!

Thanks for Erf 62!

[Damionte]

I'm giong to have to stop reading the forums. it's taking away from the comic.

There are no surprises in the comi, because by the time the comic comes p we've already figured out what is going to happen. Unlike order of the stick this story isn't really run off of the humor. It's more about the game with in the game.

It's like playign a turn based game but we get 3-4 weeks to decide what to do for each urn, and it's not any fun.

I'm going to try and take longer breaks. Maybe force myself to only read the comic once a month. I think it may make it easier to read, and cause less frustration over the late comics.

Hmmm i wonder if that may not be the way to go for many web comics. Rather than trying to meet a 2 page or 3 page a week scedule, only post up pages once a month. and just post whatever you've got finished up to that point.

[Flakey]

*The picture opens up in a 60's B-movie style laboratory, with a man working on a machine and then he stands up***

"Mwahhahhhahhh I have finished, my work is complete"

*Generic Igor (tm) limps into picture* "Master you are ready?"

"Yes finally" he replies "The first time and space machine is finished. They called me mad, MAAAADDDDD, but I will show them"

Generic Igot (tm) "So master whats your first step in world domination?"

*Master shuffles his feet and looks down briefly* ummmm uhhhh Well to be honest, my first step is to go into the future, and find out how Erfworld progressed".

(Damm you Rob for making such an addictive story , those without time machines will just have to sit patiently hitting the refresh key, even on days of no update due, because of withdrawal symptoms)

[dither]

I'm giong to have to stop reading the forums. it's taking away from the comic.

There are no surprises in the comi, because by the time the comic comes p we've already figured out what is going to happen. Unlike order of the stick this story isn't really run off of the humor. It's more about the game with in the game.

It's like playign a turn based game but we get 3-4 weeks to decide what to do for each urn, and it's not any fun.

I'm going to try and take longer breaks. Maybe force myself to only read the comic once a month. I think it may make it easier to read, and cause less frustration over the late comics.

Hmmm i wonder if that may not be the way to go for many web comics. Rather than trying to meet a 2 page or 3 page a week scedule, only post up pages once a month. and just post whatever you've got finished up to that point.

As it's been pointed out, infrequent updates can be the death of a webcomic. People forget to check, stop caring about the characters/story/etc. and then the writer/artist loses interest 'cause no one's watching, and/or finds something else to do.

Your website gets more hits, and you generate more traffic (though it costs more in bandwidth) to update the comic more frequently and have people coming in all the time to check to see what's new. That way you keep interest high and new people come in all the time.

[SteveMB]

*The picture opens up in a 60's B-movie style laboratory, with a man working on a machine and then he stands up***

"Mwahhahhhahhh I have finished, my work is complete"

*Generic Igor (tm) limps into picture* "Master you are ready?"

"Yes finally" he replies "The first time and space machine is finished. They called me mad, MAAAADDDDD, but I will show them"

Generic Igot (tm) "So master whats your first step in world domination?"

*Master shuffles his feet and looks down briefly* ummmm uhhhh Well to be honest, my first step is to go into the future, and find out how Erfworld progressed".

(Damm you Rob for making such an addictive story , those without time machines will just have to sit patiently hitting the refresh key, even on days of no update due, because of withdrawal symptoms)

"I'm back! I am the only one outside the authors themselves who know how this chapter will end! MWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Very good, Master." [shuffles to door] "I'll go and buy those lottery tickets for you, Master. Which numbers do you want me to pick?"

[facepalm] "I knew there was something else I meant to look up on the Internet! I became so completely engrossed...." [turns face upward] "AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!! Damn you, Rob and Jamie!!"