96 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 86

[hajo]

So is parson going to be getting sword bits in 1' increments? or is his next meal going to be a 6' sub?

All the toys he got were cheap & plastic, so I doubt the parts of the sword could support a real blade.
So, maybe instead of a lightsaber, he got a lightgreatsword ? Just have a close look for the trigger

[Balance]

I have nothing useful to add, but I will say that "de-spoof" is my new favorite sound effect.

[SteveMB]

Hmmm... Sizemore messages that he's "ready for battle" at the beginning of Stanley's turn. Parson seems to have some kind of sortie in mind....

[Xiander]

All the toys he got were cheap & plastic, so I doubt the parts of the sword could support a real blade.
So, maybe instead of a lightsaber, he got a lightgreatsword ? Just have a close look for the trigger

Cheap and plastic? Where did you get that?

The mathamancy thingemagig was especially mentioned to be very valuable in the right hands, and noone ever said the hilt was made of plastic.

[Laurentio]

This thing of the Stupid Meals is bugging me. There are a lot of implication.

First, I think to have understood why the new meal is not "stupid". It's Parson that feels to be a part of the game, and no more a "newbie".
Every unit receive a food suitable for his taste and culture. Wanda got sushi, and we (now) know that she came from the same old japanese culture of Gillian (that prefers more traditional food, anyway).
So the first meal of Parson where ideal for him at the moment: VERY familiar food (hamburger and cola), lot of info, and equipment. Now he just get normal food. It this a sign of an inner acceptance of the new world, so that he don't need anymore "nostalgic food"?

New question arise: why Bogrol, that craves for pies, don't get them as food? Lower units don't deserve a personal catering?

Dragons have their food paid by the city upkeep, or are a sort of "bonus" creature? Because, in the first case, Stanley would have ordered to defend for the longer time possible. Or is this command a "default", enforced by Duty?

Why Wanda sold her born city to Stanley, when he won't have found otherwise? (ok this is not connected to the food issue. Ignore.)

Laurentio

[Arkenputtyknife]

First, I think to have understood why the new meal is not "stupid".

Interesting theory, but I'm not convinced that the new meal isn't a Stupid Meal, even though it no longer corresponds to its real-world counterpart. He still got a toy and a “Do You Know?” blurb with it. For all we know, a steak dinner might qualify as a Stupid Meal if it came with a toy and a blurb.

New question arise: why Bogrol, that craves for pies, don't get them as food?

Maybe he does, sometimes. After all, he knows what they are. I suspect that right now Parson is craving a hamburger — which would suggest that Erfworld pops what you need, not what you want.

Personally, I have a craving for Black Forest gateau, but I don't know anywhere within a few thousand miles that sells it.

Why Wanda sold her born city to Stanley, when he won't have found otherwise? (ok this is not connected to the food issue. Ignore.)

Not related, but I think it's an important question — and I have absolutely no idea what the answer is.

[Irbis]

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Royal Crown Coalition > Royal Crown Cola

Sofa King: Say "sofa king" fast a couple of times, you should get it.

Unaroyal: A tire company?

Hobbittm: HobbitTM

Can you be more specific?

[Zak3056]

Uhm... no more "Stupid Meal". Parson is getting normal food, and news on a sort of report paper (and no more written on the side of a food box).
Erfwood promoted him from "Stupid" to "No-Stupid"?

That's not normal food, nor is it any sort of report. It's a Subway meal, and the "Did you Know?" bit is just like the little trivia sections on his Stupid Meals.

Anyone else wondering when the "Jared" jokes are gonna start?

[SnowballMan]

All though the change in meal clearly seems important, all I do know is that between Erfworld and Order of the Stick comics today, I had to have Subway.

Sadly, the veggies had the out of season taste to them.

Hmm... that would suck, if the last meal before your final battle just wasn't all that tasty.

[The Blind]

Why Wanda sold her born city to Stanley, when he won't have found otherwise?

I still don't think it's established that she did; we know casters can be captured, and Jillian said the presence of an "obviously captured" caster in Stanley's army was why she thought his dwagons took down Faq.

Jillian could be very wrong and perhaps Wanda masterminded the destruction of the kingdom down to the last detail, but we don't have any indication that's what happened, do we? General distrust of Wanda aside.

Regarding the Stupid (or not) Meal: if that's the Stupid Meal on the table in panel two, it looks like a classic Stupid Meal box. We might not be seeing it in later panels because he's already removed the sandwich from it.

Granted, I can't tell if that's what it is or not, but those little lines coming off of it might indicate that it's popping at dawn. If the box said Stupid Meal on it, we wouldn't see that in later panels. It doesn't necessarily mean it's no longer Stupid.

[rosebud]

Can you be more specific?

I think the implication was "Sofa King" is meant to be pronounced as "SO" "fa-king". Where "SO" means "significant other" and "fa-king" is a transitive verb.

[edit]Actually, probably just "so" "fa-king" without a need for "significant other". But perhaps either make sense (or not). Search for "sofa king" if you need further eludication.

[Tinox]

This might be a bit far-fetched, but did you notice how Transylvito sounds like Transylvania? Think it's referring to Vinnie?

[Pyrian]

Yeah, I was wondering if that means he's only got a few dozen bats left.

[fendrin]

This might be a bit far-fetched, but did you notice how Transylvito sounds like Transylvania? Think it's referring to Vinnie?

probably. Vito sounds vaguely Italian, in that Italian-American Happy Days "Fonz" way.

[SteveMB]

This might be a bit far-fetched, but did you notice how Transylvito sounds like Transylvania? Think it's referring to Vinnie?

I think it's pretty clear that "Transylvito" refers to Vinny (the unit count would be him and his remaining bats).

[teratorn]

This might be a bit far-fetched, but did you notice how Transylvito sounds like Transylvania? Think it's referring to Vinnie?

Yes, that's Vinny's kingdom, and he's running low on bats. I wonder about the other guys at the table, in particular which one is Sofa King's warlord (the redhead?).

[Harr]

Not to nitpick or anything (heh yeah right, who am I kidding) but I believe 'Coalition' is typo-ed 'Coaltion'.

Otherwise interesting stuff with the sword mid-hilt, but the other info struck me a little 'meh'. Is it really important, and really with the slow pacing we have already, does it really make that much difference whether there are 3949. 4831, or 2987? There's a-lot-of-them, not-so-many-of-us is all we really need to keep the story moving.

Then again, I'm known to be a dumbass about this sort of stuff, so carry on

[Justyn]

"Vito" is an Italian name of Latin origin, meaning life-giving. Vito Corleone is a character from The Godfather. Transylvania, now Romania, is steriotyped as having vampires. So, Transylvito is a faction of mafia vampires (probably).

Hobbittm: HobbitTM: Hobbit (Trademarked)

Unaroyal: The only thing I could find is a tire company called "Unaroyal".

Royal Crown Cola, commonly shortened down to "RC Cola", is a brand of soda.

[jere7my]

I think the implication was "Sofa King" is meant to be pronounced as "SO" "fa-king". Where "SO" means "significant other" and "fa-king" is a transitive verb.

[edit]Actually, probably just "so" "fa-king" without a need for "significant other". But perhaps either make sense (or not). Search for "sofa king" if you need further eludication.

"Sofa King" is an old playground joke. Repeat after me: "I am." "Sofa King." "We Todd Ed."

The gerundive you're looking for here is not "faking".

[teratorn]

"Sofa King" is an old playground joke. Repeat after me: "I am." "Sofa King." "We Todd Ed."

The gerundive you're looking for here is not "faking".

[Moik]

The "continuity error" on the unit ratios is one thing... But, THIS is a REAL continuity error:

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Parson's balls are HUGE!!!

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Look at the second panel of today's comic!

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Look at his iBook!

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It's resting -flat- on SOMETHING...

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in front of his belly!

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The only thing that can be seen UNDER his iBook is his crotch.

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He's using his nads... AS! A! TABLE!

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DISTURBING!

[Gunstar]

Long time lurker here. Erfworld still has my attention but sadly that is gradually declining. Pages like this simply don't do anything for me. I'm about ready for the plot to start moving along now.

[teratorn]

Gunstar, I think this page is very important. My guess for Parson's turn:

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Sizemore wastes the entire marbit army (altough losing the golems in the fight), then Wanda uncroaks the marbits, tripling Parson's army. I think that's why the numbers are given. Parson would then have a three to one ratio. With the flyers gone after Stanley, Parson would be in pretty good shape to hold the siege.

In fact, with the huge bonus Wanda gives to uncroaked he could probably even counterattack in his next turn, wasting more of Jetstone. Even if he only does damage in a one to one ratio, using the enemy's dead he improves his position.

[Justyn]

The "continuity error" on the unit ratios is one thing... But, THIS is a REAL continuity error:

Spoiler

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Parson's balls are HUGE!!!

Spoiler

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Look at the second panel of today's comic!

Spoiler

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Look at his iBook!

Spoiler

Show

It's resting -flat- on SOMETHING...

Spoiler

Show

in front of his belly!

Spoiler

Show

The only thing that can be seen UNDER his iBook is his crotch.

Spoiler

Show

He's using his nads... AS! A! TABLE!

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DISTURBING!

You took Craft Disturbing Mental Image, didn't you?

[SteveMB]

Gunstar, I think this page is very important. My guess for Parson's turn:

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Sizemore wastes the entire marbit army (altough losing the golems in the fight), then Wanda uncroaks the marbits, tripling Parson's army. I think that's why the numbers are given. Parson would then have a three to one ratio. With the flyers gone after Stanley, Parson would be in pretty good shape to hold the siege.

In fact, with the huge bonus Wanda gives to uncroaked he could probably even counterattack in his next turn, wasting more of Jetstone. Even if he only does damage in a one to one ratio, using the enemy's dead he improves his position.

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Even assuming that Wanda is able to function this turn, we don't know the limits of her ability to create uncroaked (i.e. how many she can produce per turn). The numbers of uncroaked in Stanley's forces indicate that her production ability (at least for generic uncroaked infantry) is fairly high, but that high?

[Moik]

You took Craft Disturbing Mental Image, didn't you?

Hey now, Noguchi drew THAT one, not me.

[fendrin]

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Even assuming that Wanda is able to function this turn, we don't know the limits of her ability to create uncroaked (i.e. how many she can produce per turn). The numbers of uncroaked in Stanley's forces indicate that her production ability (at least for generic uncroaked infantry) is fairly high, but that high?

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Indeed. If it were that high, a croakamancer would turn the tide of almost any war.

[teratorn]

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Indeed. If it were that high, a croakamancer would turn the tide of almost any war.

You forget about schmuckers.

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It's a fast way to make a lot of units, but it may be as expensive as making new units, who are also likely stronger (without the croakamancer bonus). Besides, you don't want to risk your croakamancer into battle, so she'd do a mass uncroakment only after a victory in battle, and only if there is an immediate need for a big army.

Croaked units only last one turn (they disapear like garbage) so you need fast transport. If you lose a battle, it's only worth sending flyers to pick the warlords

This fits nicely with the numbers, in particular it gives a nice 3:1 ratio, making GK defendable.

Any more ideas on what's Parson's stategy?

[Finn Solomon]

Well that's it. I give up. I'm not reading another Erf strip until the entire booping story has been completed.

I'm reminded of something Neil Gaiman said when he was working on the penultimate volume of the Sandman series, The Kindly Ones.He mentioned that he knew readers would be fed up with the pacing of the story when they read it issue-by-issue but when it was released as an entire trade paperback many people claimed it the best story arc ever.

I get the feeling Erfworld is like that, so I'm not making it harder for myself anymore and just letting Rob and Jamie do their thing until all of it is over. Then I can read Erfworld as one continuous story and enjoy the whole process, instead of getting monumentally frustrated when the infrequent updates only move the plot along inch by excruciating inch.

[Occasional Sage]

Gunstar, I think this page is very important. My guess for Parson's turn:

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Sizemore wastes the entire marbit army (altough losing the golems in the fight), then Wanda uncroaks the marbits, tripling Parson's army. I think that's why the numbers are given. Parson would then have a three to one ratio. With the flyers gone after Stanley, Parson would be in pretty good shape to hold the siege.

In fact, with the huge bonus Wanda gives to uncroaked he could probably even counterattack in his next turn, wasting more of Jetstone. Even if he only does damage in a one to one ratio, using the enemy's dead he improves his position.

Do we have any reason to think that a Croakamancer can uncroak another side's units? We don't know where the uncroaked infantry came from, but all of the uncroaked warlords appear to be Stanley's succession of poor choices, based on the ironic names. You'd think that at SOME time they'd've had the chance to uncroak a decent enemy warlord.

Also, a new thought as I type this: somebody mentioned schmuckers.... I'd be very interested to see what's happened with the treasury at the start of the turn. Is GK paying upkeep on dwagons? Has Parson's upkeep changed to reflect a new level of authority? It would be a quick way for Parson to get a look at what's going on with Stanley from a game mechanics perspective.