Rich has already stated he has no plans to turn OotS into 4th edition. He said he’ll probably make some ‘compatibility’ jokes, but no changes to the characters and the like.
But to the OP? Yeah, I’d like to see them resolve the Roy thing sooner rather than later, or at least get everyone back together.
Wow. That was fast… What they said!
As Burlew puts it:
Ah, okay. I’d assumed that he was originally holding a short sword, as I was already familiar with dual-wielding rangers with a longsword in one hand and a short sword in the other, and wondered why his short sword shrunk down to a dagger.
Nope - I posted that same speculation in the last OoTS thread.
I suspect that Burlew has been giving more thought as to how the pacing will feel in printed format rather than online posting. The group has been split up for awhile, but I don’t think much of what has happened since then is superfluous. Sure, it’s been mostly character driven rather than plot driven, but it’s still been good stuff. I think it is mostly his very slow updating regimen that makes the current arc seem so slow. Also, I’ve really been digging the character development of Elan. He’s always been my favorite character, but ever since he escaped from prison, he’s just been getting better and better. I strongly suspect that when Roy returns, there’s going to be a lot of tension, since Elan has become rather competent but Roy will still think of him as a bumbling doofus.
My favorite recent moments have both been by Elan: “Good thing I’m not wearing any armor” and illusory Belkar.
The pacing isn’t that different from normal – if read-when-posted, OOTS is a pretty slow-moving story for its entire duration. The only thing that’s changed from before is the split between its characters – all of them have experienced multiple “arcs” since then. Also, I think we’re about to see a big change in Belkar, what with this vision in the latest comic, and that would be one major plot point completed.
I hadn’t really thought of V turning before – now I’m worried by the possibility. She’s more or less my favourite character. Her single-minded resolve isn’t all that new, though – I’m not sure how it could be perverted against her own comrades, though.
Incidentally, is anyone else a big fan of the Erfworld cartoon on the same site? I feel like it needs more plot exposition (maybe more and simpler comics), but its characters are far more compelling than those of OOTS, and the artwork is excellent. I’m particularly fond of how it addresses the nastiness of war in contrast to its cute and fluffy setting – in contrast to any “game” or game-related comic/story, really.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. V’s turning evil to help his/her friends, and not really realizing it. I think s/he’ll be in for a shock when Roy finally returns.
It is a great story. It helps that I like wargames in general, but even without that it’d be interesting. The story and art are incredibly clever.
It’s an even bigger example of pacing issues than OOTS. Erfworld reads much better sequentially than it does at the “one page at a time” posting pace.
I think that the proper way to reference V is to alternate the gender of pronouns, as in, “Her single-minded resolve isn’t all that new, though – I’m not sure how it could be perverted against his own comrades, though.”
Absolutely true and fair – though the complexity of the plot is a part of the issue too. Even read sequentially, you have to pay awfully close attention.
Speaking of which,
Does anyone else understand the subplot with the now-croaked Lookamancer being mind-controlled by the Foolamancer? And Misty knowing about it? I find the politics within the Tool’s side to be extremely confusing.
ETA: I refuse to acknowledge the possibility that V is anything other than female. As I understand it, the matter is left unclear mostly so that the readers can argue about it, but the character makes a lot more sense as a female.
I’m pretty sure Burlew originally intended Vaarsuvius to be male (Burlew had Roy call Vaarsuvius “V-Man” in an early strip and in comments about the strip referred to Vaarsuvius as “he”) but due to the simple art style, Vaarsuvius’ gender was not clear to casual readers. When some of them started asking if Vaarsuvius was supposed to be a man or a woman, Burlew decided to make a joke out of the issue rather than clear it up.
That’s good to know, and it makes some sense. (I’m still going to think of V as female, but we’ll think of it as willfully disregarding authorial intent, rather than a literary proclamation :D.)
I think he may actually be planning to redeem Belkar (for a given quantity of redemption), and *then *kill him. Interesting.
I seem to recall that he’s had some kind of hand injury and is working slowly in order to not aggravate it. No cite, though, so I may be wrong.