Oots 660

[WalterKovacs]

And it depends on how you look at the plot. Many D&D scenarios tend to favour the '24' style when it comes to villains - the initial apparent big bad falls partway through the story, to reveal another behind him, who reveals another behind him, etc. We even have candidates available, in the form of the Fiendish Trio and the Snarl.

However that sort of plot is necessary as the PCs level and defeat the 'boss' monsters. In Xykon's case, he's so far ahead of the Order that he barely recognises them as threats, let alones remembers them when he runs into them again. Any victories they achieve over him will be tactical ones, such as preventing him from gaining access to the gates and the like.

The Snarl, the Linear Guild, the Fiendish Trio, and even Red Cloak are all 'other villains' that the Order can deal with, but it doesn't necesarrilly mean that they can't fight anyone but Xykon until he's defeated, it would be a long time before the party would be able to 'catch up' to him level wise.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Could make for a whole new adventure for Team Evil to recover it in Door #3.

I'd take it a step further. I think we may be about to see a whole new leg of adventure where the heroes and the villains are struggling to track down the phylactery.

This, at least potentially, isn't a "lame ending to a cool scene." It's the setup for the next major chapter of the story--one that will (I hope) involve the Order together again as a team.

 

[dmccoy1693]

You could argue that this is in keeping with the spirit of simulating D&D - as O-Chul isn't a member of the OotS (i.e. not a player character) he shouldn't be allowed to have such a dramatic effect on the story (i.e. on Xykon).

Depends on how crappy your DM is. I've been in games where the NPCs do 90+% of the cool stuff. Needless to say I don't play with those DMs anymore.

I'd take it a step further. I think we may be about to see a whole new leg of adventure where the heroes and the villains are struggling to track down the phylactery.

This, at least potentially, isn't a "lame ending to a cool scene." It's the setup for the next major chapter of the story--one that will (I hope) involve the Order together again as a team.

What he said. Sewer based dungeon crawl, here we come.

 

[Voadam]

Are those energy drain spells on Zykon's bony fists? I can see O'Chul being turned undead over this unless the MitS steps in.

 

[RefinedBean]

You know, sometimes it's like people around here want the story to end as soon as possible. It's like people are annoyed that each comic doesn't reach an end.

OotS is a story. Do you get angry when the book you're reading continues page after page, chapter after chapter? How about comic books that continue the story for years on end?

Burlew could have ended this whole story at comic #120. I thank goodness that he keeps it going. I enjoy reading a couple or three comics each week, and I think the story is going along just fine and funny.

It's brilliant how he usually ends individual comics with big and little cliffhangers that make us look forward to seeing what happens in the next.

The ending to this particular strip is great. It keeps the story going, but includes a little joke to get a chuckle, while making us readers wonder just where things are going next.

Bravo Rich! You're an excellent story teller with a great sense of how to keep the story going.

Bullgrit

Let's not go crazy here. OotS is a fun lil' comic, but really:

1. It suffers from Walls of Text. A lot. The characters don't seem to be able to convey action and growth without talking an inordinate amount, which gets fairly annoying when all I want to do is look at the strip and chuckle.
2. It's too spread out. It's hard to give a crap about most of the characters when you see them, what, once every two months, maybe?
3. It's repetitive. The characters consistently rehash old plot lines for the sake of catching up the reader, or in the case of the current plot arc, rehash what's been covered maybe five or six strips ago.

This is, of course, from the perspective of a guy who thinks that OotS is fairly okay, but not great. I'm hoping Ari's right, and it'll get back to its roots in the coming strips.

 

[kenmarable]

I'd take it a step further. I think we may be about to see a whole new leg of adventure where the heroes and the villains are struggling to track down the phylactery.

This, at least potentially, isn't a "lame ending to a cool scene." It's the setup for the next major chapter of the story--one that will (I hope) involve the Order together again as a team.

That would be great. If nothing else, it's been a fun storyline, but I am really ready for the team to be back together.

 

[sckeener]

If you look closely, the phylactery looks like it's heading for the ocean. And Xykon is actually better off with it at the bottom of the ocean - since it's indestructible, nothing can happen to it down there, and his enemies will never find it. He should just leave it where it is.

Just hope Rich never watched this episode of Doctor Who as a kid. Basically artifact like item enhances ordinary squid into giant squid that awakens ever century or so to devour the countryside.

 

[Henrix]

OotS is a story. Do you get angry when the book you're reading continues page after page, chapter after chapter?

I do get angry when a book goes on for pages and pages without advancing the story, like a soap opera.

A good story told on 200 pages is not better if told on 1200 pages.

 

[Voadam]

OotS is a story. Do you get angry when the book you're reading continues page after page, chapter after chapter? How about comic books that continue the story for years on end?

Depends. Wheel of Time started out as a great fantasy novel series then started to drag the plot for a long while and then there were plot developments I didn't care for at all that started to pop up and characters I was interested in that were rarely in the story anymore. I lost interest in following through with it about 8 books or so into the series (I think Path of Daggers was the last I read).

 

[Stalker0]

I'm a big OOTS fan but I was disappointed on this one. We've had a lot of buildup for some time now, and we were due for a major happening. This just felt like a letdown to me.