The Order of the Stick Megathread

[Mirai Gen]

Originally Posted by Nuklear Waste

Uh, there's only 1 hobgoblin in panel 3. I don't what panel 3 you're looking at.

The one ten comics ahead.

[Locke cole]

OH! Right 433, panel 3.

So the one I linked to, but not the panel I was thinking of.

[Aerozord]

not that it really matters, he was just 'random hobgoblin'

[Osterbaum]

Who dies in the next panel. Or the one after that, actually.

[Jagos]

No, the one that was pissed, we dunno what happened to him. He killed a person. It's just funny that he has a brother.

[Odjn]

Originally Posted by Locke cole

Except for the part where your crotch explodes.

I can see enlarge person getting a lot of use in DnD.

Especially with permanency.

[Solid Snake]

I really don't understand why I feel this way, but after rereading the OoTS archives I just have this very strong impression that the quality of the strips actually went down considerably after Roy was resurrected and the teams were reunited. Which is odd, because at the time Roy died, I was worried about the possibility that the strip would suffer immensely without him.

I don't know why I'm spoiler-tagging things that have already happened in the OoTS-verse. Probably out of habit.

[Jagos]

Quality as in artwork or quality as in story pacing?

[Solid Snake]

Quality in regards to storyline progression and character development. The entire Sapphire Guard plotline and the war between Xykon and Azure City was pretty much the highlight of the strip so far, but I also believed that the developments after Roy's death (with the party split) was well written. Roy's absence really forced some unexpected twists and turns with the characters, but nothing felt too forced.

Then Roy returned and a lot of the interesting implications I thought the previous plotlines were building towards just fell apart, and the dynamics reverted back to what we've gotten used to hundreds of strips ago. Elan reverted back to being dumb comedic relief, V basically reverted to her old self with the one rather annoying development of her familiar (I'm not a fan of the raven), nothing new is still happening with Durkon, etc. And while the OoTS has just become boring, the plotline at Azure City is even worse. I could give a damn less about Gobbotopia's political development or Redcloak's speeches or the constant teases inflicted upon us with the MiTD (just reveal what it is already.) The Azure City War plotline was phenomenal because every strip had exciting life-or-death implications, the momentum always constantly and unpredictably shifted between the sides, and the stakes were enormous. Right now I'm just begging Rich to pick up the pace and have Redcloak and Xykon leave Azure City and do something already, or have the Linear Guild show up and attempt to thwart the OoTS' plans again, or even have Girard show up and challenge the OoTS in a meaningful fashion. We've spent dozens of strips basically watching the OoTS wander aimlessly, accomplish virtually nothing, and really, everything that's happened could have been summed up in about five updates, tops.

[Jagos]

I believe it's the difference between the books and the once a week updates of the comic that has been happening recently.

Let's remember that at least for a while, we were receiving two or three updates then the story picked up in pace. With the slower pacing, we haven't necessarily seen the comic as much so we're tending to forget.

Roy - He's the leader and able to keep everything running like clockwork. He functions on V's level but keeps to focusing the entire group to the purpose at hand.

Elan - He took a few levels in badass, yes. But the boy is still dumb as rocks. He's not a leader type at all but he's the outlet for all of the "happy-go-lucky" moments.

V - He has been given the most character development recently. He's less of a blowhard who uses big spells simply as a boast of his power, being able to work within the group. At the least, he's more willing to learn how to control his temper (the raven). I believe that the biggest thing V needed was a conscience.

Redcloak - He's getting everything that he wants. Nothing could go and destroy his plans. Like anything Xykon is his strongest impediment to his plans. What I'm seeing is that his plans are going to fail, and HOW! You have the elves linked up to the resistance, Xykon, even karma swinging the other direction against RC and his misguided ideals of fairness and justice.

I won't say that the Azure City plotline wasn't phenomenal, it was brought to life with the characters that showed a lot of variety that we can't see so much because of the McGuffins being established in two separate locals. We now have to learn new characters, and force our old ones to begin their search in the new gates. But this will take time since the newest places weren't established. Hell, I want to see what's going on with Kraagor's gate and what happened to Serini.