It's not just that I have a major psychological flaw that prevents me meeting self-imposed deadlines, you know. Events always conspire to stop me doing things. So it's not entirely my fault that I spent yesterday (and, to be perfectly honest, most of today too) not writing the Cambridge Memory Championship website, or working on that pi system so I can let Ulrich know whether I'm going to do his pi challenge, or doing anything else.
It's Dave's fault. After I enthused about the webcomic Goblins, he pointed out another webcomic along the same lines - Order Of The Stick! Which, as it turns out, does the same jokes about RPGs as Goblins does, only OOTS did them first, and much funnier, and has just produced its four hundredth full-page strip. To say that I love Order Of The Stick is a wild understatement - the art isn't gorgeous, but then it's not trying to be, and it tells the story more than adequately, and the story itself is sheer genius. It has squillions of interlaced plotlines that develop out of each other, and get resolved satisfactorily in the short, medium and long term. This isn't one of those comics that gives you the impression that it was just made up as the writer went along. It probably was, but it's done so cleverly that it doesn't look like it. And it's freaking hilarious!
So, basically, I was up till half past one in the morning reading the whole archive. Including stopping to work out the cryptograms that make up Haley's dialogue for a large chunk of the adventures. Hey, when I procrastinate, I do it wholeheartedly!
I disagree with your statement that Goblins does the same jokes as OotS. They both cover RP gaming humour, but beyond that, they're really nothing like each other. OotS came out first and they did, in fact, make D&D jokes first, but Goblins delved into more indepth storylines long before OotS touched upon anything stronger than a mild storyline involving walking through a dungeon. Your post makes Goblins sound like a rip off comic when it is known as a comic that has broken new grounds as far as artistic quality, style and mood (switching from gags to tears so seemlessly). There's nothing wrong with liking OotS better. I mean, some folks prefer Coke over Pepsi or vanilla over chocolate. But to make sweeping statements that hint at Goblins ripping off OotS is IMO, untrue. Personally, I find Goblins to be far superior, as any comic that can actually make me choke up and have my eyes welling up with tears have got to be something special.
ReplyDeleteOotS is a damn good comic. One of the best online. Goblins however, is so much more.
Thanks. :)
Well, I'm truly sorry if I've offended anyone, but good grief - I did a whole post about how much I love Goblins three days ago! And if you pay attention, this post doesn't say anything along the lines of "I've changed my mind about Goblins, it's rubbish after all, forget all that extensive praise of the art and writing."
ReplyDeleteThat was a post about Goblins, this is a post about OOTS, and I just mentioned that (since they're about the same thing), they make the same jokes. And, not wanting it to sound like I was accusing OOTS of ripping off Goblins, I made it clear that OOTS did them first. It didn't even occur to me that that might make it sound like Goblins was ripping off OOTS!
I'm very sensitive about saying bad things about webcomics ever since I unjustly accused Mullein Fields of ripping off Ozy and Millie, but I don't think I'm in the wrong here. I love Goblins. I love Order Of The Stick. I've never said anything to the contrary.
I'll stick to furries in future.