I just don't get the love for OOTS

[Stogoe]

The only character I liked was that uptight paladin girl and she's dead.

Really?! Really?! Miko is an object lesson in Lawful Stupid Paladin Syndrome. She's not supposed to be likeable.

 

[RefinedBean]

Really?! Really?! Miko is an object lesson in Lawful Stupid Paladin Syndrome. She's not supposed to be likeable.

Which is why, of course, a ton of people liked her.

 

[Fifth Element]

I used to read it pretty religiously back when it was a bunch of guys playing D&D and making jokes about the quirks of the rules system and how players interact with it ("hold on guys... I think I just failed a spot check", and how the wizard's familiar only exists when she needs to get a bonus from it, and so on).

However, when the guy ran out of jokes about that stuff and instead went off on a huge plotline that I find very hard to engage with and every page is a massive wall of text I stopped reading. I'll take a look back every now and then to see if he's stopped, but I don't hold out any hope.

My feelings exactly. I can't bear the walls of text the comic tends to be.

It's pretty common among successful webcomics that start out funny. They get really popular and start to take themselves very seriously. At which point I tune out; if I want serious walls of text I'll read a novel.

Just my tastes.

 

[RefinedBean]

My feelings exactly. I can't bear the walls of text the comic tends to be.

It's pretty common among successful webcomics that start out funny. They get really popular and start to take themselves very seriously. At which point I tune out; if I want serious walls of text I'll read a novel.

Just my tastes.

If V is killed off, that's half the problem right there.

But yeah, the characters could all benefit from a few lessons in how to shut up and let the action do the talking.

 

[wingsandsword]

I stopped right about the time that Roy bit the dust. I am aware that he went into the afterlife, though.

I don't know how it's gone since then, but so many strips were seeming to harp on the "moral absolutists are retards" thing and it just gets old. Rather than stick around to see if the Preachy:Funny ratio actually changes, I moved on.

Well, you missed a lot. Roy in Heaven has pretty much been a big "Lawful Good is a pretty good thing" time. Miko was more of a sendup of the poorly played overzealous paladin.

The reason I like OotS is that it really feels like a D&D campaign transcribed into comic form. Most fiction that is ostensibly D&D fiction like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels don't feel like they are telling a story that would happen around a gaming table, they might tell stories set in a game setting, but not feel like stories from somebodies game.

Order of the Stick feels like the regular campaign of a group of friends drawn out into comic form. The simple, early adventures, the game getting more of a plot as it becomes clear it's going to be an ongoing campaign, the characters getting more detailed as the players get more used to them, the alternating seriousness and levity, the setting that feels like a DM's own personal homebrew, the offhand rules banter between characters, it's all things that I've seen happen time and again in campaigns.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

My feelings about OotS remind me of my feelings about X-files. When both started you could pop in and and out and always figure out what is going on. As they matured and formed more intricate plots, however, you couldn't read/watch an episode without missing out on many references to previous events.

Since I don't read webcomics or watch television shows more often than popping in an out when something requires my unwavering attention it looses me as a fan.

That being said...the Fruitpie the Magician issue was one of the funniest things I have read in forever.

DS

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I have not read OOTS in a while. The walls of text are part of why I have stopped reading it. I have trouble reading them for some reason. I do intend to get back into it sometime soon though.

 

[TwinBahamut]

...I have been reading every update for OotS for years, but I can't really say the comic is any better than average. It has its moments, but it never really hits comedy gold and it has a lot of flaws. Certainly, the drop in the game humor and the comic's general failure to stay relevant because of Mr. Burlew's decision not to update to 4E, as well as the extremely long lull following the Azure City arc (and a lot of wasted potential with the time skip) means that I don't really like the comic as much as I used to.

One of my biggest annoyances with the whole thing is the way Mr. Burlew holds back content from the internet, and releases some whole stories only in print. Countless other excellent webcomics don't pull stunts like that and are still quite profitable, so I have no idea why he does it. He would probably sell just as many books whether the content was exclusive to paper format or not. I mean, I understand the desire to add some value to the print version, but I don't agree with the choice. Its even more annoying how he keeps plugging his books in the comics and rubbing readers' noses in the fact that they are missing something...

Still, ErfWorld has been quite good lately, so I will probably keep checking OotS for some time to come. Putting both comics on the same site was a great business move.

 

[Mouseferatu]

...I have been reading every update for OotS for years, but I can't really say the comic is any better than average. It has its moments, but it never really hits comedy gold and it has a lot of flaws. Certainly, the drop in the game humor and the comic's general failure to stay relevant because of Mr. Burlew's decision not to update to 4E, as well as the extremely long lull following the Azure City arc (and a lot of wasted potential with the time skip) means that I don't really like the comic as much as I used to.

Wow. Exact opposite for me.

While I agree that the separation of the Order dragged on for longer than I'd have liked, I still overall find OotS to be one of the best online comics out there. I find that it often hits comedy gold--but more to the point, I find the plot and characters intriguing enough that I don't care if it hits comedy gold. I'm in it for the story at this point.

And I'm glad for the decision not to update to 4E, precisely because it would throw the story off-track. I think a consistent story is, at this point, more important than making fun of the latest rules. (And besides, he did say that he'd make fun of 4E rules if/when the jokes occurred to him and were appropriate.)

One of my biggest annoyances with the whole thing is the way Mr. Burlew holds back content from the internet, and releases some whole stories only in print.

Again, disagree. If he was withholding anything necessary to the story, I'd agree with you. But since it's all bonus stuff, I'm happy to either pay for it, or not have it.

 

[MichaelSomething]

And I'm glad for the decision not to update to 4E, precisely because it would throw the story off-track. I think a consistent story is, at this point, more important than making fun of the latest rules. (And besides, he did say that he'd make fun of 4E rules if/when the jokes occurred to him and were appropriate.)

Hey, Rich has to save a 4th Edition comic for the sequel/prequal of the OOTS saga. By then, we'll know enough about 4th Edition to laugh at all the rules jokes about it.