A game must have a Game Designer...

[Eidre]

So Erfworld exists in the concept of a board wargame...

Who designed it? Presumably, someone layed down the rules, naming conventions, organization, units, and so forth.

I'm not sure how this fits in with the continuity of the Erfworld comic, but it seems to me like it must be important because there are so many external references in the names and rules ("external" meaning that I doubt they have meaning internal to the game world; for example, I doubt that there are any Jews of Eastern European origin in Erfworld, yet there are numerous things in the game world that have Yiddish names; to Erfworlders, these are just names and don't have meanings).

Perhaps there is some point at which Parson will have the opportunity to meet the game designer back in the real world.

Furthermore, it invites the question of the role of the creator in the game; is he one of the Players? Which side? Is Parson (a "Player" too), now inducted into the game, interacting in some way with a Player as well? Is Stanley the gameworld Avatar of the "Bad" player?

So, to start at the end and work backwards:

The game designer is a young / sheltered child (probably a boy) who lives in a Yiddish household, probably middle to lower-middle class. He is smart (enough to design a wargame) and somewhat escapist, but not very creative (he would prefer to use things/names he's seen/heard rather than make up new ones). He has a lisp. His parents/guardians don't/can't buy him real wargames, so he is making the units out of things he can get around his house. He has access to internet culture and kid cartoon culture (possibly to include anime influences). He has played AD&D and Final Fantasy. He likes puns and word-play. He likes toilet humor. He has a much younger sibling, or still keeps some of his toys from his early childhood.

On to the evidence:

* The game system, according to Parson, is "pretty simple".
* Most of the "good" creatures are made of safe, soft, or harmless toys; teddy bears, tchotchkes off grandma's curio shelf, bits of marshmallow from candy or breakfast cereal (picture him lining up a unit of marbits on the game board).
* World-shattering artifacts are a kid's toy hammer and a pair of needle-nose pliers.
* The "bad" creatures all all classic monsters in kids fairy tales or "scary movies"; trolls, dragons, giant spiders, goblins, zombies.
* All of the "humans" are cartoony caricatures (big heads, big eyes, small mouths, large...attributes, freakishly large weapons, simplistic hands). To be fair, all of the monsters and creatures are also cartoony caricatures.
* Frequent use of Yiddish terms for names (Schlemiel elves, Tchotchkes, etc).
* Mispronunciation of 'r' consistent with lisping in names (Dwagon, Gwiffon, Gobwin, Spidew), which is not repeated by the residents of the world (i.e. it's not a lisped 'r' to the Tool, it's really how the word is said). "Sourmander" as a lisp of "Salamander", but complete with the puckered 'sour' lips.
* Words overheard (from parents perhaps but not understood) making it in, like the Tower of Efdup ("F***'d-Up"), or Sir Webinar ("Web Seminar"). As a stretch, Dora could be a reference to Dora Teitelboim, a Yiddish poet who writes about childhood.
* Tropes from AD&D statistics; for example, making Charisma the source of both Leadership and physical attractiveness (numerous examples, such as the Jillian (9 leadership) vs. Dora/"Toadface" (2 Leadership) spat, the high overlord of the "good" forces being "Prince Ansom" (Handsome), Lord Stanley insisting on getting a dashing, tall, pretty boy for the Chief Warlord of his armies rather than a tactician, etc.
* AD&D jokes ("Wanda Firebaugh" = "Wand of Fireballs"). Names of "characters" based on their highest stat ("Jillian Zamussels" = Jillions of Muscles = high STR; "Prince Ansom" = high CHA).
* Branches of magic of the type [foo]mancy, suggesting no historical/mythical background, just grafting a desired list of spells into a simplified category, and making it sound magical by adding "-mancy" to the end.
* Side note; an "Erf" is an Afrikaans unit of land roughly equal to a half-acre (which would be about world-sized to a half-inch tall marbit); alternately, it is the abbreviation for "Error Function", which is used in statistics. Not sure which is a more likely derivation.
* Although hygiene and food just "pop", as well as all beings coming into existence full-grown (understandable for a wargame that glosses over uninteresting details like food preparation, bathing, and population dynamics), there is still an explicit need for chamber pots, cesspits, and a whole branch of magic devoted to feces.

Some things that don't fit in (still working on why)...

* If the whole game is derived from a child's point of view, why are two of the main female characters involved in a long-standing and _very_ intimate relationship, including torture and domination. A little inconsistent with someone who is young enough for a kid's lisp.

* Why is a Vampire on the "Good" side? And why is it operating during the day (mandatory, since the "Good" turn is from noon to sunset) and sleeping in the coffin by night?

* Where do the Elvises fit in? The appropriate cultural references are, again, too old for someone who says "dwagon".

OK, I'm all used up for now. I'm sure I missed a few. Or I'm completely off-base.

[jindra34]

The titans designed it. End of Debate.
Also Erfworld is a world not a game. End of Discussion.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

The titans designed it. End of Debate.
Also Erfworld is a world not a game. End of Discussion.

What's up with the anger? Geez, not a very warm welcome.

Trying out for paladin status? Having a bit of trouble getting the stick properly seated?

[Tolkien_Freak]

The Titans did it.

[Lamech]

Very interesting theory. Also well thought out. I don't know about the kid with supernatural abilities creating a world that seems to be an assumption. Of course it's possible

Your points on the creator not really understanding the world or the meaning of some words seems to be correct. It also looks like the creator of erfworld isn't very creative or likes puns to much. Also many details are glossed over.

The Wanda-Jillian relationship could be the result of free will, or maybe the creator of erfworld used some sort of copies or "real" people’s personalities and emotions.

Also with everyone who says the titans did it, in some games I have played the makers of the game wrote a mythology for the game. It could be the titans are really just that mythology and the actual creators are someone else really made it.

Of course that’s assuming that this theory isn't wildly off, which it very well could be.

[doliemaster]

The titans, could be a mythology-or maybe the one of the childs parents likes elvis, and has it played alot. Vinny? Vampires have been shed in a good light by things like movies and books, as of recent. Finally, the jillian-wanda thing? They have free will I guess.

[ChowGuy]

The Titans created the world. That's canon. Rob created the Titans, and named all things in their world. That's also a given. If you wish to apply your speculative "Yiddish background" to him, feel free to do so. Maybe he'll confirm or deny. Heck, maybe he's the "friend" of the "Parson Gotti" who originally drew Hamstard. After all the gag of a comic based on a single frame of art sounds supiciously similar to his own "Partially Clips." Mabe he's even the "Parson's Jewish Friend" in the gaming group. I've never met the man, and have no idea what he looks like in "Real" Life.

But so far as this story goes, it's immaterial. Myself, I don't consider an author's cultural background to be of any importance, beyond the fact that it may influence the accuracy of a setting.

[Fuzzy_Juan]

One could theorize that with the 'real world' crossovers, it is possible that the creator of Erfworld, is in fact...the creator of Erfworld...Rob. I could totally see one day a 'quest' brings them into contact with Rob in a similar manner to the movie 'Stranger than Fiction', or bends the laws of reality in ways like 'The Neverending Story'...

"I just was writing a comic....what do you mean you are Parson?!?!". Possibly, if Parson or someone else manages to commune with the titans, they will take the form of e-mails to Rob...
-----------------------------------------------

Now...barring any strangeness like that happening...The titans did it...

[tomaO2]

I'm not so sure you can just dismiss it as a game. I rather like the idea that it's just a different set of physics for Erfworld. Just because it's impossible to create things out of nothing or to have dwagons or do things in turns doesn't mean that it might be impossible somewhere else. Maybe there are different zones in the universe that operate on entirely different rules? We won't know if this is the case until we do more exploring anyway.

Think of it on along the lines of "Chronicles of Narnia". Aslan appears to have created both Earth along with Narnia (and probably many others) but each has very different properties and rules for the two. He also takes different forms in each.

One could say that the same god created our world and Erfworld but just made them different and in that relm he decided to look like Elvis for his own ineffable reasons.

[DDL]

Plus most of the puns and silly names could simply be that: puns and silly names. Or 'cutesy-boop names', if you like. It IS supposed to be a funny comic, after all.

Schlemiel and tchotchke are both well-known enough words to no longer automatically imply Jewish usage only.

The impression I got was that if the world was supposed to be loosely based on ANYTHING, it was based on the game Parson himself had been preparing. I assume it was one he designed himself, since he's spent 5 months on it, and it's a beta test version. One doesn't usually spend 5 months prepping someone else's game system.

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

Erfworld was created by three Elvis Presley titans (page 1).

my theory:
All three titans are Elvis Presley.
Elvis had 3 voices (high/sharp, mid and low)
He had 3 careers, singer, army and moviestar
Also 3 personalities, shy backstage, outragous onstage, ideal son-in-law in movies.
Hence, 3 titans.

Elvis, like all tragic rockstars, collected toys.

Erfworld was created/designed by Elvis Presley.
;)

[Scientivore]

Mabe he's even the "Parson's Jewish Friend" in the gaming group.

I thought that was the guy who's hypothetically going to draw the reportedly proposed spinoff?

Erfworld was created by three Elvis Presley titans (page 1).

my theory:
[snip]

It's also been pointed out that if Elvis were Latin then the plural would be Elves, and Erfworld has tons of elves. Coincidence? ... Well, probably. It's interesting though!

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I've always thought of Dora the Scout as "Dora the Explorer," a kid's cartoon on Nickelodeon.