Page 50 of 64
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:02 pm
by redfeather
Glemp wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 10:46 am
► Show Spoiler
Wait, so when was the colour thing explained? Shojo didn't elaborate it in his crayon-o-vision.
► Show Spoiler
The color stuff has never been explicitly stated before, but describing it requires reiterating a lot of other stuff that we do already know. I don't like the color idea very much, and I don't like the repetition very much either.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:40 pm
by SamWiser
► Show Spoiler
I don't think the color idea is so bad. I mean, yeah, it sounds stupid on the face of it, but it's a dumbed-down-x-1,000,000 version of some weird pseudo-theological hocus-pocus. And, as for a lot of it being review, (granted it's been a long time since I've read the original part about the snarl, so I could be wrong) the only part that's gone over again is what's relevant to thor's color talk. So, a quick review of Snarl 101 before we get to Snarl 201. And considering it's been multiple years, and books, in between, I appreciate the review. I can understand how you might not, though.
One quick question, though. Have we seen the purple god before? Who is he?
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 1:39 am
by M0rtimer
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 10:52 am
by redfeather
SamWiser wrote: ↑Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:40 pm
I don't think the color idea is so bad. I mean, yeah, it sounds stupid on the face of it, but it's a dumbed-down-x-1,000,000 version of some weird pseudo-theological hocus-pocus.
I would rather have heard the "technobabble", if some effort was put into making it sound fitting. Just off the top of my head, for instance:
"Every creation of one of the three pantheons has a specific mythic resonance, representing the underlying essence which unifies the pantheon. We Northern gods, for example, are unified by a definition of virtue that arises from populations living primarily in high temperate climes, where harsh winters require cooperation to survive, and the community is unified by the need to unite against common enemies. All of those factors, from the bounty of a surprisingly mild fall harvest, to the rugged grandeur and majesty of the difficult terrain of the Northlands, to the monsters that haunt the wilderness and terrify the populace into huddling together or taking up arms...all of these details unify into a single cohesive worldview, and everything created by the Northern gods resonates to that shared reality.
"The other two pantheons have their own paradigms, which overlap a great deal with ours, but are different. The Western gods mostly inhabit a desert, so their myth-arc emphasizes the relative pointlessness of attempts to survive in the face of the wasteland they dwell in; they are far less cooperative than us, because while Northern folk can work together to build shelters and stockpile food for a cold winter, there's far less the Westerners can do to deal with an exceptionally hot summer, a drought that destroys the water reserves and leaves them to die slowly and miserably, while any effort they take to try and save themselves only makes them sweat more, suffer more heatstroke, and die faster. Thusly, they have much more difficulty working together, have a stronger association between survival and individual power, and are more likely to casually betray each other out of a 'nothing personal' business need. Where virtue can exist, it takes a more extremist viewpoint, and is less likely to condescend to the less-noble, since it is easier to understand why someone is driven to desperation.
"And in contrast to all this, while the Western gods are more numerous than us, and spend more time at each other's throats, the Southern gods are very limited in number and VERY tight-knit, seeing themselves as all components in a single cosmic cycle, so that even their most severe internal conflicts are more likely to be resolved through political bickering rather than overt or covert warfare, with the exception of individuals or groups which fail to fall within the structure of the shared principles that underpin the group (honor, order, the 'cosmic flow', and so forth). The relative lushness of the tropical lands on and around the Southern Continent make life relatively easy, compared to the other two regions, and the various cultures that develop there tend to emphasize harmony and stability rather than mere survival, which is why their shared values are taken so seriously that iconoclasm is condemned more seriously than morally questionable actions taken within the frameworks of tradition, civic duty, or the 'Mandate of Heaven'.
"Each of these three different paradigms, these three cohesive worldviews which unify all the disparate details of the common reality, forms a single mythic pattern. Any creation which includes only one such pattern is very 'low resolution', as an Illusionist would put it; only one 'element' is involved in creating it, and thus it is very easily 'uncreated'; any other god can wave it away just as easily as the first one wished it into being. But if two or three pantheons work together, they create materials, energies, and entities which are 'more complete', more robustly constituted. They weave their resonances together, creating a fuller and more complete sort of creation; it takes perhaps ten times more effort to create this way, but the result is more like one hundred times as difficult to destroy. And this is the problem...because there used to be a fourth pantheon, with a fourth mythic pattern, and the Snarl was created by them as well as the three of us. With these four patterns composing it, the Snarl is about one hundred times as powerful, and a thousand times as hard to destroy, as a creation of just three mythic resonances. And this version of the universe is the first one we have ever created, in all these thousands of attempts, which contains a fourth resonance again. For the first time ever, a fourth pantheon, a single god whose worldview utterly differs from that of all three of us, has organically emerged from within the creation. I don't know exactly what he believes, but we gods can tell with a glance that he is utterly unlike all of us, as different from all of us as the lost Eastern gods were, and that means we have an opportunity we have never previously had."
Obviously this is a lot less concise than the description of "colors". But I would have been much happier with three strips that gradually laid all this out (even given my impatience to move on) than I am with this one strip summarizing the concept in such a reductive way.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 5:59 pm
by SamWiser
To each their own. I definitely understand, but I also think that it would have driven me crazy getting that much info all at once, spread across several pages, with at least one joke on each page (because he does try to fit a joke on each page) taking up even more space and slowing it down. The tiny bit of technobabble that Thor does get out, combined with the color metaphor is enough that I can kind of guess at what they mean.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 11:50 am
by RocketScientist
You know how many people would've blown a gasket if we got that gigantic wall of text in the comic? Many people. That's how many.
edit: Oooh, new comic!
1142 Good to Know
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:24 am
by Glemp
Yeah, I prefer exposition to get to the point, unless it's a character trait like with Kin. And thanks Rocket, I hadn't seen that!
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:53 am
by Krulle
Page 1143: Lines of Communication
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1143.html
Well, special circumstances when encountering special problems need special diplomats.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:09 am
by RocketScientist
Good luck, Durkon. You're going to need it.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2018 2:19 pm
by redfeather
► Show Spoiler
So all this effort to make Redcloak a somewhat nuanced and vaguely (very vaguely) redeemable villain has finally led up to this.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:51 pm
by SamWiser
Page 1144: That's Jack's Fault
► Show Spoiler
Lots of interesting info in this one.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:34 pm
by RocketScientist
► Show Spoiler
Don't complain about an art upgrade, Thor.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:59 am
by Glemp
► Show Spoiler
Okay, this makes me question why Hel took that bet to begin with if it cut off three quarters of her spiritual food pyramid.
Also, Thor's
always been a blondie in OOTS.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:48 pm
by redfeather
Indeed. Still very info-dumpy, but much better handled than the last one.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:55 pm
by RocketScientist
1145 The Highfather
► Show Spoiler
So Durkon finally knows about the prophecy, such as it is.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:06 am
by Krulle
► Show Spoiler
It's all for a reason!
Hahahahaha!
I got exiled, and he had a good reason!
Hahahaha!
Love how Durkon is dancing there, totally oblivious to the highfather's mental condition....
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:30 pm
by Glemp
► Show Spoiler
Reminds me of how happy he was to learn his body would be taken back once he died, because it meant whatever happened was forgiven.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:48 am
by Krulle
page 1146 - Assistance Needed
Och, dang whisperers. Just so I stick around during the ad-break in a hope to find out what the secret is about (and how the Dwarves could've forgotten about it), just to find out that adter the ad-break the story continues with a different viewpoint (i.e. following Roy again).
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:04 pm
by M0rtimer
► Show Spoiler
I'm not the only one thinking this whole spiel is going to turn around back to them NOT rezzing Durkon because they "won't be able to tell the difference", right?
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2018 8:32 pm
by RocketScientist
► Show Spoiler
That would make sense as a plot development. But I'm not sure how they could resolve it, short of a divine messenger saying "you need Durkon!" I suppose Rich might go that way, though.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:30 am
by Glemp
► Show Spoiler
What do you mean? If Durkon comes back with grey skin and red eyes, he's a vamp and they can kill him (maybe do it with a bunch of Clerics on standby).
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:08 am
by Krulle
Update notification!
Page 1147 - Headed Back
not much happening, mostly idle chatter.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:34 am
by Krulle
update notification!
1148 - The Rainbow Rejection
A pint Guiness anyone?
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:00 pm
by RocketScientist
► Show Spoiler
I hope somebody remembered to save some of her corpse.
Re: Order of the Stick
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:57 am
by Krulle
another update notification!
page 1149 - Enough Diamonds Already
► Show Spoiler
Now, that's what I would call a very decisive no, no?