...does that mean you've earned four-and-one-third epic cuss words you have stored up for a rainy day?
He could have used those 4 words for V.
Great work Rob and Jamie, a worthy ending.
Regarding that word: reminds me of Zelazny's single use of it in his 10-book Amber series. Swearing is hinted at, half-shown, suggested, but when it suddenly appears, you know its for a good reason. Very well done. (And an unexpected twist for the direction of the next story with Parson throwing his sword away).
The one point made in this thread so far that I agree with is that Erfworld can do what Earth couldn't; get Parson to take control of his environment. If the overall arc had had some visible focus on that rather than this last-minute swerve into guilt trips it might've been far more interesting.
Other than that, blah. This comic has been trying too hard and not going anywhere worthwhile.
The whole guilt trip thing is particularly untenable. It's a game world. The people in it exist (pop) for the purpose of fighting and dying. There can't possibly be any guilt involved in making that happen and doing it well. Actually it's downright crazy to suggest otherwise - and I still don't believe a dedicated gamer, put in that situation, would have the guilt reaction.
Anyway I'll get out of the echo chamber and let you all get on with the praising now.
Hmm. But, is it a guilt trip? I know that Parson recognizing the erfworlder's as real people is part of the dynamics, however, it is really focused on "Erfworld" controlling Parson. Like a game piece. People have the last say on whatever they do on Earth. When you are in Erfworld though, you do what Erfworld tells you to do else you get kicked out. Or,in other terms, you die. There is no other option. What I believe Parson is doing here is taking that final control on whatever actions he makes. That's what it means to be a player.
So, can Parson swear whenever he feels like it now? Could he directly disobey an order to remain silent without disbanding? It remains to be seen. To say this is nothing but a guilt trip is not fully appreciating what is happening. In essence, this is Parson's struggle against the Erfworld universe. That he is no instrument of fate that must play his part. This was the real battle. And he won.
Ladies and Gentlebeings, I think we have an excellent example of the beast known as the Precision F-Strike, especially loaded as this is literally a world where one can't swear,(at least English swears anyway), so there must mean something important.
But what?
Bravo Messers Balder and Naguchi, bravo.
On another note, I caught myself using boop as a mild, but seriously indented, expletive inside my head. Has anyone one done that yet, or do I need to get out more?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calanon
Raven_Cry's comments often have the effects of a +5 Tome of Understanding
Wow.. Thank you both for a marvelous and beautiful story. I especially love the ending that illustrates just how powerful words can be if used correctly. Best of luck on getting your book published. You can be assured you have one more person in me who is eager to purchase it when it comes out.
Stone. Cold. Classic. Brilliantly done, Rob and Jamie, and you can add me to the list of people who'll buy the book when it comes out, shipping costs to the UK be damned!
The whole guilt trip thing is particularly untenable. It's a game world. The people in it exist (pop) for the purpose of fighting and dying. There can't possibly be any guilt involved in making that happen and doing it well.
You don't usually get to know your units in games. Wargaming has glossed over all the more unpleasant aspects of real warfare. Like Bogroll's death. He wasn't just a generic 'unit' to Parson.
I am extremely difficult to satisfy with endings. Extremely.
I have been disappointed universally with Lord of the Rings, Hitch Hikers Guide, which in turn are some of my favourite books. So don't take this too personally.
I do really like what you've done with this. I like the direction you've taken it in. I just really dislike endings that aren't endings. This, if anything, is about 40 pages before the ending. :P
This is the main reason I don't write, I cannot write endings that satisfy myself.
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Kender Spellthief.
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Low levels good but hope to reach epic.
Wizard developing his own school of magic.
Low levels good but hope to reach >18.
1 custom feat request but it isn't vital.
The whole guilt trip thing is particularly untenable. It's a game world. The people in it exist (pop) for the purpose of fighting and dying. There can't possibly be any guilt involved in making that happen and doing it well. Actually it's downright crazy to suggest otherwise - and I still don't believe a dedicated gamer, put in that situation, would have the guilt reaction.
First of all, it is supposed to be a real universe modeled after a game world, it's not actually a game world.
Second of all. That's a rather sociopathic argument to make. That's no different than the argument made by some criminals who feel no guilt killing people because, "They were going to die eventually anyway, all I did was help them die a little sooner." I've actually heard people argue that people here, in the real world, have no other purpose than dying. Everyone dies, therefore it is everyone's purpose. At least, that's the argument I've heard. If that's what you believe, of course you won't take seriously anyone claiming to feel guilty after killing another. Heck, there are still people in the world that believe you haven't earned the right to be alive until you've killed at least one person to make room for yourself.
And third, this isn't just about guilt. There is a lot of anger at being used and frustration for feeling out of control.
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"If I could just interrupt your stunningly dysfunctional group dynamic for a moment to interject." -- Erfworld
I don't know if this has been brought up yet, but I'm personally wondering if the decision to have Parson too far in the background in the last panel (after he decides to destroy the sword) to be able to see if he once again has pupils. I believe it had been theorized that as he was adjusting to Erfworld more and more, he was becoming more and more like its denizens (physically, in this case), and the loss of pupils was one of the more noticeable changes. I'd have liked to see whether, if in actively rejecting Erfworld (and, evidently, enough to bypass the swear filter) he also got some of his other attributes back.
Amazing ending, though. There's a masterful use of the Precision F Strike if I ever saw one.
Precision F-Strike Aside, I wonder what does this means Parson intends to do in the future? Maybe he'll go down the path that the Hippymancer thinks he has the potential to do.
__________________ "They couldn't know that the points from the mainline to the siding were frozen, and the signal should have been set at 'DANGER', but snow had forced it down."
- The Flying Kipper
Pixar Fanboy of the Hinjo Fanclub
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallavast
Ya know? I think I'd about kill Rowling if she wasn't holding me hostage with that last book of hers...
The single curse at the end of this book is a powerful statement of individuality and self-determinism that, in my opinion, has significant artistic merit. It is unlikely that turning off the board filters is likely to generate many such moments compared to the tens of thousands of careless usages per day it will enable.
So no, board members still don't get to cuss. Write and draw a brilliant 150-page fantasy epic, and maybe I'll let you cuss here. Once.
Hear! Hear! *claps*
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Great comic. I wonder if Parson could possibly become a ruler in his own right, if he did, and he took the capital that would leave our old hammer wielding buddy as a barbarian. lol.
I took the sword's eyes glowing as the sword being pissed. The sparklies may be the swordy magic dissipating- or moving on.
It was the breaking of the spell that bound Parson.
Apparently, the Summoning Spell only had control over him so long as he accepted that it did. The Sword was the physical representation of that spell; it made him the Perfect Warlord - now he wants to be a Player.
I read this page and reached the bottom without even acknowledging that the word wasn't censored. Five seconds after finishing it my brain clicked and I went back to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.
An amazing ending! Sucks that its so long until book 2 begins...Its become a part of my life to check to see if there is a new page every day. I can't wait!!
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my god... two and a half years.
i can remember it clearly when i went to giantitp.com for oots and wondered about that new link at the comics section.
i took a look and saw a bunch of giant elvises and crazy figures telling a ridiculous story about some crackpot world about wich i didn't know anything, except that it was friggin' cool.
i didn't even realize that two and a half years of my life had passed, two and a half years in wich that comic played a small role in my daily life.
well. i'm looking forward to another two and a half years.
cheers rob and jamie and cheers to the giant, allowing them to use his page and thus showing them to me from day one.
i'm one of thus half-lurkers who commentet maybe three comics in the last years, but watched and enjoyed every single one of them.
(mostly keeping my distance to the forums and it's critics. )
LAME that is not a cool or funny word it is vulgar word that I don't like seeing or hearing. Erfworld needs to stop trying to be dark and edgy
*de-lurk*
Wow...just, just wow. This comment *ACTUALLY* made me de-lurk it pissed me off so much.
Yeah, just because *YOU* don't like seeing or hearing a certain word it can't have artistic merit, *ever*, right?, this entire planet revolves around you and your own feeble minded perceptions of it right?, honestly; grow up.
This isn't a flame, just an honest expression of frustration at such mindless criticism and thoughtless critique directed at something so freaking epic as Erfworld.
Rich put it the best how symbolic that swear was, in fact, he put it so well I'm not even going to state it myself since I'd just be restating. Nevertheless this comic has been entertaining and enthralling from the beginning and as a writer myself I understand just how hard endings can be but *THIS* this was a good ending.The buildup was subtle but not absent, it takes you completely by surprise but when you see it you say to yourself "how did I not see this happening?!" because it fits so perfectly it seems obvious; as far as endings go this one is top notch for its beautiful simplicity. The whole book tiptoed around this issue from the beginning and then right at the end it just breaks everything and throws it all in your face like a sledgehammer to the face; brilliant, it's a sign of good writing to be able to pull that off.
And to those who say this was a sudden twist with no foreshadowing or attention paid to it, that's inaccurate, it was all subtle but still there; in Parson's behaviors, in his reactions to situations, in some of the things he would say 'in his Klogs especially'. If more direct attention was paid to this idea and it was outright stated and beaten over the reader's head it would have taken away from just how exaggerated the concept of 'breaking' was in this final page, final two pages rather, it's awesome due to the sense of 'wait, can this even happen?...apparently!' it generates in the reader.
Absolutely *FANTASTIC* job Rob and Jamie; it's stuff like this that inspires me to continue writing.
You know, when I started reading this comic I couldn't totally appreciate it, it didn't convince me at all. But from time to time it grew a special strenght, every time a little more. So, while at the beginning I was just curious about it (like: oh, a new comic, let's see if it's good enough) now I'm totally in love with it.
So thanks for writing that and thanks to Giant for letting us know it.
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"Snakrazers ineffective. Perhaps if you stopped insisting on using the "cuss words are completely devoid of any artistic merit" setting..."
"Such talk has no place on my ship, off with his head."
"Enemy vessel is now charging it's main cannon."
"Quickly, go to warp to escape the beam. Prepare the Picard Manouver!"
"We can't sir."
"What? Why not?"
"You just had the navigator killed."
"...
Aw poop."
"We've taken a direct hit. Damage is critical. We're going down Captain. We should have enough time to get to the escape pod before we sink though."
"Going down? We're in space, we literally cannot sink."
"So sorry Capt'n, would you rather I say that the blast hit the an engine and we are about to explode, killing everyone before we have a chance to escape?"
"Um, no. I like the first option better. Let us hurry to the escape hatch.
You won this round Starship Manoftyr but I have a fleet of ships. Each with a more powerful snarkazor then the last. We shall destroy...
*re-lurk*
Oh... Right.
Stupid lurking device.
I'll find him anyway though.
HEAR THAT?
I'll get you yet Manoftyr!
I'll... get.... yoooouuuuuu!!!"
Will Jamin get Manofyr?
Will Manofyr ever de-lurk again?
Find out on the next episode of ErfStar Trek. *cue Star Trek, theme song*
Well, that isn't how I thought it would end. I thought it'd end with something vastly more cool... I mean, if it was the authors intent, that action could be grounds for the whole world being unmade.
Am I the only one mourning for Ruthlessness(my name for Parsons late sword)? He was slain far before his time....
I do see the whole "dude, he's fighting fate" aspect of it, but it seems kinda selfish when you don't know what will happen to Erfworld. But, that could just me being a careful parser of actions and lacking the necessary emotions to say, "boop".
I guess I must wait for the "sequel".
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This is where I quote something I find wity and cool.
Correction: where I would quote
It isn't going to happen. Bummer
The single curse at the end of this book is a powerful statement of individuality and self-determinism that, in my opinion, has significant artistic merit. It is unlikely that turning off the board filters is likely to generate many such moments compared to the tens of thousands of careless usages per day it will enable.
So no, board members still don't get to cuss. Write and draw a brilliant 150-page fantasy epic, and maybe I'll let you cuss here. Once.
I sincerly believe this will be the start of the great "Epic Webcomic with Boop in it" boom of ought nine...
Seriously, I was taught in free form writing classes that I should use the actual profanities... which of course helped keep down the cussing. Cause it needed to... well... be NESCESSARY?
But of course, given that this is an internet forum and flaming neds to be kept down, I guess I grudgingly support the filter.
The single curse at the end of this book is a powerful statement of individuality and self-determinism that, in my opinion, has significant artistic merit.
Yeah I thought that but I was gonna express it like a simpleton so, nice one there.
Wow. Don't I feel silly now, being one of the guys complaining about Erfworld in its initial stage. It really spread its wings since then.
Booping awesome.
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Oh great Machine God, we beseech thee to deliver us from danger.
Oh great Machine God, we beseech thee to invest this metal carcass with your spirit.
Oh great Machine God, we beseech thee to bring life unto the inanimate.
Oh great Machine God, we beseech thee to summon forth the holy en-Djinn
Incantation of the Mechanicus
I was kind of hoping to see the Tool return, be amazed, and declare his new plans for world conquest. Something that would at least give a solid direction to be anticipated. Now I'm left with literally no real idea what's going to happen next and won't get to find out for ages. Arg! Ultimate cliffhanger!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arkaim
In essence, this is Parson's struggle against the Erfworld universe. That he is no instrument of fate that must play his part. This was the real battle. And he won.
I'd look at it more as deciding to fight. The first action of this battle (throwing away the sword) was certainly a good start, but I wouldn't go declaring victory just yet. Give it a few more turn.
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You know what, now that Parson has both literally and symbolically foresaken the sword, I think this could be where his career as a hippimancer really starts to come out :)
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