The Order of the Stick Megathread

[Kim]

I feel that Solid's complaints would be far less bothersome to him and would be less valid if Berlew could be bothered to stop being such a lazy asshole and update more frequently than once a month because Jesus Christ that is how slow it's gotten, which makes the already slow pace of the comic UNBEARABLE.

[Flarecobra]

Originally Posted by NonCon

I feel that Solid's complaints would be far less bothersome to him and would be less valid if Berlew could be bothered to stop being such a lazy asshole and update more frequently than once a month because Jesus Christ that is how slow it's gotten, which makes the already slow pace of the comic UNBEARABLE.

From what I've gotten from the OotS forums...this is because of an ongoing medical condition...

Which they're not allowed to talk about, according to this:

Originally Posted by OotS Forum

ANNOUNCEMENT #1: OotS updates at random. Discussion of the comic update schedule is strictly prohibited. If no news has been posted in the News section or in a sticky thread in the OotS subforum about when the next comic will or will not be posted, then no news exists. This extends to concerns for Rich's health, life, or other aspects that you are concerned about or expect may be effecting the update schedule. The comic will be here when it gets here; until then, nothing you can say will make it arrive sooner or make any news appear. In the words of the Beatles, "let it be."

Man, it's like some kind of black op thing...Kinda suspect, huh?

Source, by the way.

[Meister]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

Elan reverted back to being dumb comedic relief

If you asked me to name one thing I'd change about OotS it'd be this.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Flarecobra

From what I've gotten from the OotS forums...this is because of an ongoing medical condition...

Which they're not allowed to talk about

Call me a cruel and unsympathetic person, but I don't consider someone trustworthy merely on account of them being a good writer so a good ninety percent of the time I feel like that excuse is full of shit.

Even were it not, it doesn't change the fact that the lack of a reasonable update schedule hurts the comic... BADLY.

[Mirai Gen]

I've had the same problem Noncon has for some time now. And it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep interest when the action/story isn't nearly so eyeball-grabbingly intense.

And yes, Elan's return to wacky idiot role is very eyeroll worthy.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Meister

If you asked me to name one thing I'd change about OotS it'd be this.

I'm confused: Are you advocating that Elan should have remained dumb comedic relief all along, or are you agreeing (more or less) with my position, that the hints of character growth was a positive sign and Rich's recent undoing of Elan's capabilities has hindered the story?

As for "one thing I'd change about OoTS," I'd actually have kept Roy dead. Yes, I know that's against the D+D thematics that the OoTS world seems based upon, but I've never really viewed OoTS as an exclusively D+D storyline (in part because I've never played D+D so many of those references slide by me. I like OoTS anyway because its storyline transcends the D+D setting.) And Roy's death was a powerful event that spurred serious character development and conflicts among the remainder of the party. It was interesting to explore a notion you don't frequently see in these kinds of storylines, which is: What would happen to all the supporting characters if the main character is offed halfway through the quest? I enjoyed the disintegration of ties, V's anti-social isolation and hunger for power, Haley's moral ambiguity, and Elan's forced maturation into adulthood.

Belkar developed positively as well, I'd argue that before his death, Roy was responsible for reigning Belkar in, giving Belkar the illusion he depended on that he could act as if he was completely anarchic and barbaric without actually being as evil as he wanted to believe he was. (When he was inevitably reigned in, he could just blame Roy.) Then without Roy, he needed to latch onto another justification to prevent himself from going haywire in a way that resulted in his own destruction: enter the Shojo visions.

The narrative could have been much more powerful, I think, if Roy somehow stayed dead. The group would eventually reunite and they'd have to come to terms with Roy's loss, develop a new group dynamic and march onwards to fulfill the quest. Roy's resurrection has just returned us to the status quo, but in light of recent character development the status quo of yore just feels so...unfulfilling.

Oh: I'd also have fleshed out Durkon a bit more. I'm saddened that Durkon's high point in character development terms came somewhere in the first 150 strips or so, back when he experienced the ramifications of that fling with the Loki priestess. Now he's becoming more and more a trope of dwarves everywhere, and I dunno, I like Durkon enough to feel he deserves better. I like Durkon as a rock of stability and virtue: but even those kinds of characters can have moments of doubt and struggle to maintain their values in the midst of temptations.

EDIT: Oh and, while I certainly can't speak for anyone else: I could care less about the quantity of the updates, it's the recent downturn in the quality of the writing that has me far more concerned. Honestly if Rich updated half as much, but the updates were back to Azure City War quality, I wouldn't give a damn about waiting. Hell, that'd essentially make OoTS another Lackadaisy.

[Meister]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

or are you agreeing (more or less) with my position, that the hints of character growth was a positive sign

Yep, that one. I wouldn't go so far as to say it hindered the story but drawing dinosaurs in crayon doesn't seem to fit new Elan anymore at all.

What I don't mind is the update schedule and the recent plot. I figure the comics are gonna come when they come and that's enough for me as long as they're entertaining/interesting, which despite the recent lack of big events they generally are. Although as far as those last three or four episodes are concerned, if this "addressing the public" scene was to be wrapped up very soon I wouldn't exactly complain.

Whenever this topic is addressed I can't help but remember Goblins and its unfortunate decision to spend two and a half years on updates about one single quest/plotline and making half of every update panels that show a situation two seconds later than the previous panel did, and I keep thinking, yep, Rich Burlew could do a lot worse. Complain about how OotS comics recently are just filler comics that only move the story forward* all you want but at least it's moving forward.

and on that note: what else could they do, anyway?

[Zanaril]

Originally Posted by NonCon

Even were it not, it doesn't change the fact that the lack of a reasonable update schedule hurts the comic... BADLY.

The lack of author/reader communication hurts the comic badly. I get the guy wants so privacy but... can't he at least post once it a while to say "Sorry people but the next comic might be a while. *sniffle*" or "Sorry for the two week wait, new comic will be up soon."?

[Aerozord]

I do not think slow updates in and of themselves are the problem. Its that the story is going slowly AND the updates are infrequent. Back when the comics were more self contained this wouldn't be an issue, but now it takes atleast a month to move ahead a single scene. If he condenced things more, like having entire golbin nation thing done in one comic then things would be alot better. But right now he is screwing up pacing, which any good writer knows is one of the most important things to worry about

[Jagos]

Originally Posted by Zanaril

The lack of author/reader communication hurts the comic badly. I get the guy wants so privacy but... can't he at least post once it a while to say "Sorry people but the next comic might be a while. *sniffle*" or "Sorry for the two week wait, new comic will be up soon."?

Main issue is when that happened, people became... snippy. No doubt he's good at a story, especially with the humor as well as defining characters. It's just that... well... He's a quiet person and that is reflected in how he runs his playground.

*shrug*

It's frustrating when we can't hear from the author and he's barely at events but I'm sure he does what he can.