Number of Character Appearances V

[Gift Jeraff]

It's to brag that none of the other recurring threads got a mention in the comic.

[Fawkes]

It's to brag that none of the other recurring threads got a mention in the comic.

I think it's important to remember, before this goes to our heads, that the thread was only mentioned through Wrecan. That was for him, not any of us.

[Emanick]

Crediting, not creating.

I was curious as to why Gift Jeraff and Emanick wanted to add an appearance for Number of Character Appearances in the most recent comic.

I don't really care whether we do it or not, it just strikes me as a fun and rather poignant idea.

[littlebum2002]

I just want to chime in and say I think it would be extremely awesome if you mentioned this, somewhere. Even if it's not listed as a "character appearance", saying it was mentioned, maybe in the FAQ, would be pretty cool.

[Ornithologist]

Considering how much more we like to do when refrencing Wrecan than other characters, It doesn't suprise me that we would want to catalouge when he mentions counting character apperances.

All that being said, That is not really the point of the thread. I guess we could make a thread specifically about Wrecans apperances/actions in the comic... ( He might have even approved of that).


Maybe we could link to the strip in the OP description of the thread?

[Emanick]

Maybe we could link to the strip in the OP description of the thread?

This strikes me as a sensible, low-key but fitting thing to do, if we don't go all out and catalogue the thread's appearance in the OP itself, Inception-style.

[Michaeler]

I would suggest considering an entry in the FAQ clarifying Wrecan's appearance in the comic. The reference to the strip can be linked from that, as well as the Giant's news article on the subject.

[SirKazum]

I would suggest considering an entry in the FAQ clarifying Wrecan's appearance in the comic. The reference to the strip can be linked from that, as well as the Giant's news article on the subject.

This seems like the most sensible course of action to me.

[137beth]

I would suggest considering an entry in the FAQ clarifying Wrecan's appearance in the comic. The reference to the strip can be linked from that, as well as the Giant's news article on the subject.

I'm just going to third this suggestion.

[Nimrod's Son]

Crediting, not creating.

I was curious as to why Gift Jeraff and Emanick wanted to add an appearance for Number of Character Appearances in the most recent comic.

Oh, sorry, I missed that part of the discussion entirely.

Gotta agree that "Number of Character Appearances" is definitely not a character and even if it was, it hasn't even been mentioned, let alone appeared.

Not a popular opinion, I'm sure, but I find the deification of Wrecan a little unsettling. He was a nice enough guy who for a few years did a good job of maintaining this thread, but it wasn't like he started the project in the first place, and he eventually quit the whole thing in a massive huff when a couple of people made some perfectly valid observations about the list needing correcting in a few places. I liked the guy, but he's already had the greatest tribute possible paid to him in-comic. Let's not sully his memory by turning him into the forum's very own Princess Diana.

So... how long till we start talking about whether we need another new curator? Despite martianmister's claims, there hasn't been an update to the OP in over six weeks.

[Fawkes]

he eventually quit the whole thing in a massive huff when a couple of people made some perfectly valid observations about the list needing correcting in a few places.

Dude. Stop. Let it go. It should perfectly obvious in retrospect that he had bigger worries than our little thread. He wasn't enjoying it anymore, he bowed out. End of.

[Emanick]

So... how long till we start talking about whether we need another new curator? Despite martianmister's claims, there hasn't been an update to the OP in over six weeks.

I've said before that I'd be quite interested in taking over the thread if martianmister ever becomes tired of the job or becomes unable to do it - I've been keeping my own parallel index for roughly the last hundred strips, using a somewhat different methodology (and a ton of footnotes), which I think is a decent guarantee that I would be able to do the job. I would, of course, use the current methodology for any hypothetical future thread, unless the community preferred otherwise.

That being said, I don't think any of us would benefit from a petty spat over who maintains the OP, so unless there's a consensus that the thread requires a new curator, I'm not going to be pushing for one.

[Fawkes]

So... how long till we start talking about whether we need another new curator? Despite martianmister's claims, there hasn't been an update to the OP in over six weeks.

Hm... now that I think about it, I'm getting some deja vu here. Has this happened before?

[Mad Humanist]

I've said before that I'd be quite interested in taking over the thread if martianmister ever becomes tired of the job or becomes unable to do it - I've been keeping my own parallel index for roughly the last hundred strips, using a somewhat different methodology (and a ton of footnotes), which I think is a decent guarantee that I would be able to do the job. I would, of course, use the current methodology for any hypothetical future thread, unless the community preferred otherwise.

That being said, I don't think any of us would benefit from a petty spat over who maintains the OP, so unless there's a consensus that the thread requires a new curator, I'm not going to be pushing for one.

I reckon enough time has passed that you could offer taking over the thread to martianmaster and if you get no reply asking the moderators.

[SirKazum]

So... how long till we start talking about whether we need another new curator? Despite martianmister's claims, there hasn't been an update to the OP in over six weeks.

I, too, agree that this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

[Nimrod's Son]

Dude. Stop. Let it go. It should perfectly obvious in retrospect that he had bigger worries than our little thread. He wasn't enjoying it anymore, he bowed out. End of.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply I held anything against him. As I said, I liked the guy, but his given reason for quitting the thread was literally that everyone else was making this too much work for him, and he shouldn't have to deal with it any more. If he'd wanted to quit for personal reasons all he had to do was say so; blaming everyone else for ruining his fun wasn't necessary.

But obviously I can see the bigger picture and with hindsight his behaviour is a lot more understandable. He did an excellent job with this thread for years, and if anyone from this forum was ever deserving of such a sweet tribute from Rich then he would certainly be as good a contender as any even if he was still with us. I mean no disrespect whatsoever - I just find it weird seeing such a huge outpouring of virtual grief that often seems to be coming from people who didn't even know him in the first place.

[Fawkes]

I reckon enough time has passed that you could offer taking over the thread to martianmaster and if you get no reply asking the moderators.

I second this. Emanick, shoot martianmister a PM, and if you don't hear back in, say, a week, send the local moderators a pm. For reference, the moderators for this subforum are kpenguin, Mark Hall, SMEE, Douglas, and Savannah.

In the meantime, we'll keep tallying the appearances. Anyone want to write up an FAQ entry for Q. Why is Wrecan bolded?

Also, I swear we've had this discussion before. Has martianmister disappeared before?

[ti'esar]

Yes, last November.

[Fawkes]

Oh, right, that was during the Great Dwarf Tossing Debate of 2015. And she did the same 'post about an update but not actually make the update' thing before disappearing for 20 days.

We're currently sitting at 19 days since last her post in thread. Yeah, I'm doubling down on Emanick sending her PM now, and contacting the mod team if she's gone another week.

[Bird]

Just wanted to say--MM has been doing the work of caring for this thread a very long time, now. Stuff happens in life, so a PM can't hurt, but I don't think we need to be too hasty. That's just me.

martianmister--if you're out there, I hope you're doing well.

[137beth]

I'll third Emanick (or anyone else who is interested) PMing martianmister to see if she is still checking PMs and/or still interested in curating.

[unbeliever536]

Emanick, I swear you've mentioned it before, but out of curiosity: how does your method differ (if you can go over it quickly)?

(I'd rather not weigh in on the curator question any further because pile-ons are bad times and I don't want to cause things to spiral out of control)

Anyone want to write up an FAQ entry for Q. Why is Wrecan bolded?

'k. How 'bout:

Spoiler: proposed FAQ

Show

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Q. Why is Wrecan bolded?

Mark Monack, who went by Wrecan on these forums, was the curator of this thread in its second through fourth editions (a total tenure of about six and a half years). In that time he was also a well-respected member of the forums. As discussed in this news post, he died in 2013, and the Giant decided to name a character after him in tribute. He first appeared in strip #986 alongside the kickstarter cameo character, Veldrina. Strip #1025, which appears to be his last major speaking appearance, contains a number of tributes to him. The strip's title, "Mark of Distinction", includes his name. In reference to this thread, he mentions counting the number of times each legacy bearer is mentioned in his book on Weapons of Legacy. He also mentions that he likes to study obscure martial lore, which may be a reference to the Class and Level Geekery thread**, which he also curated in its second through fifth editions. Finally, his exchange with Roy at the end of strip #1025 is in part a means for the Giant to bid farewell to the actual Wrecan, as well as for the readers (and Roy) to bid farewell to the character.

---

*I'm pretty sure it's possible to link to single news posts, but I don't know how. Does anyone else? (the post in question is the one for 5/18/2015) Thanks Dr. Gamera!
**We might want to link to that thread somewhere in this bit, either the main thread where I made the note or the ones that Wrecan curated (listed in this post) when they are mentioned.

[Mad Humanist]

Just wanted to say--MM has been doing the work of caring for this thread a very long time, now. Stuff happens in life, so a PM can't hurt, but I don't think we need to be too hasty. That's just me.

martianmister--if you're out there, I hope you're doing well.

I would second all of this. Anybody who curates an important thread for any length of time deserves gratitude not condemnation when things go belly up.

I have wondered whether some threads could be curated by special accounts. The mods could pass ownership of the thread around as necessary (perhaps on a temporary basis). Perhaps more than one person could have the password.

[LinkBoy]

Life gets in the way and all that but if you're the moderator for a community project it's not much to ask that you at least leave a "I won't update for a while" before dissapearing for weeks on end. She's barely here and even when she is she's not updating the OP. PM her. Giving her a week is generous.

[Mad Humanist]

Life gets in the way and all that but if you're the moderator for a community project it's not much to ask that you at least leave a "I won't update for a while" before dissapearing for weeks on end. She's barely here and even when she is she's not updating the OP. PM her. Giving her a week is generous.

That may all be true or not. However please show us which long-term threads you have moderated.

[LinkBoy]

That may all be true or not. However please show us which long-term threads you have moderated.

None, and the "if you can't do it any better then you're not allowed to critisise" argument is as bull as ever.

[Mad Humanist]

None, and the "if you can't do it any better then you're not allowed to critisise" argument is as bull as ever.

I was not saying you aren't allowed to criticise. I was just pointing out you do not know what it is like to run this thread. Everyone is agreed things are breaking down here and action needs to be taken, but some understanding and sympathy for the stresses involved would be appropriate.

[SirKazum]

'k. How 'bout:

Spoiler: proposed FAQ

Show

---

Q. Why is Wrecan bolded?

Mark Monack, who went by Wrecan on these forums, was the curator of this thread in its second through fourth editions (a total tenure of about six and a half years). In that time he was also a well-respected member of the forums. As discussed in this* news post, he died in 2013, and the Giant decided to name a character after him in tribute. He first appeared in strip #986 alongside the kickstarter cameo character, Veldrina. Strip #1025, which appears to be his last major speaking appearance, contains a number of tributes to him. The strip's title, "Mark of Distinction", includes his name. In reference to this thread, he mentions counting the number of times each legacy bearer is mentioned in his book on Weapons of Legacy. He also mentions that he likes to study obscure martial lore, which may be a reference to the Class and Level Geekery thread**, which he also curated in its second through fifth editions. Finally, his exchange with Roy at the end of the comic is in part a means for the Giant to bid farewell to the actual Wrecan, as well as for the readers (and Roy) to bid farewell to the character.

---

*I'm pretty sure it's possible to link to single news posts, but I don't know how. Does anyone else? (the post in question is the one for 5/18/2015)
**We might want to link to that thread somewhere in this bit, either the main thread where I made the note or the ones that Wrecan curated (listed in this post) when they are mentioned.

I'm just not sure about the reference to the C&LG thread, but I don't think it's totally absurd either. Other than that, this seems like a pretty good entry to me.

edit: and I don't think it's possible to link to individual news posts, as the Giant himself links to the general news page and then specifies the date when talking about a specific entry (such as when explaining the Wrecan situation), and well, I'd think he'd know the way around his own site.

[Dr. Gamera]

edit: and I don't think it's possible to link to individual news posts, as the Giant himself links to the general news page and then specifies the date when talking about a specific entry (such as when explaining the Wrecan situation), and well, I'd think he'd know the way around his own site.

Surprise! Here's an individual news post link.

Note: it obviously will only work until this news post is moved to the next page of news posts, but that is likely to be a couple of years from now.

[Fawkes]

Emanick, I swear you've mentioned it before, but out of curiosity: how does your method differ (if you can go over it quickly)?

FWIW, the main difference between this thread and my methodology is that I rank characters by the total number of pages of any kind they've appeared on, whether they're in the first page of a strip, a later page of the same strip, or in a bonus comic. I also count every appearance of the High Priest of Hel as both an appearance of him and one of Durkon, which I don't believe martianmister does.

How 'bout:

Spoiler: proposed FAQ

Show

---

Q. Why is Wrecan bolded?

Mark Monack, who went by Wrecan on these forums, was the curator of this thread in its second through fourth editions (a total tenure of about six and a half years). In that time he was also a well-respected member of the forums. As discussed in this* news post, he died in 2013, and the Giant decided to name a character after him in tribute. He first appeared in strip #986 alongside the kickstarter cameo character, Veldrina. Strip #1025, which appears to be his last major speaking appearance, contains a number of tributes to him. The strip's title, "Mark of Distinction", includes his name. In reference to this thread, he mentions counting the number of times each legacy bearer is mentioned in his book on Weapons of Legacy. He also mentions that he likes to study obscure martial lore, which may be a reference to the Class and Level Geekery thread**, which he also curated in its second through fifth editions. Finally, his exchange with Roy at the end of the comic is in part a means for the Giant to bid farewell to the actual Wrecan, as well as for the readers (and Roy) to bid farewell to the character.

---

*I'm pretty sure it's possible to link to single news posts, but I don't know how. Does anyone else? (the post in question is the one for 5/18/2015)
**We might want to link to that thread somewhere in this bit, either the main thread where I made the note or the ones that Wrecan curated (listed in this post) when they are mentioned.

I like it.