Is it possible/a good idea to start at the very beginning?
It’s an ongoing storyline, so the beginning is the place to begin.
(There are a couple of prequel print-only stories, but you don’t need to read them first – in fact, they’ll work better if you wait until you’re read the main storyline at least as far as the Azure City arc.)
And you wouldn’t want to spend money until you decide you like the comic enough to do so.
But yes, start at the beginning, definitely.
After being intrigued by threads here, I started at the beginning just last Saturday, and plowed my way through the archive by yesterday. (It helps that I have days off this week. :D)
Absolutely you should start at the beginning, just to see the development and growth is totally worth it. The strip starts as a gag-a-day, introducing the characters and setting, but a more cohensive plot and characterization kicks in after the first dozen - twenty strips.
And try not to be too frustrated by site’s slowness. Refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh the browser until the crappy server kicks in and shows you the strip you seek.
You really have to start from the beginning. A word of caution, though. The earlier strips are far more gag-a-day and D&D joke oriented. If that’s not really your cup of tea, don’t write it off too quickly. By about strip 100 or so the strip starts hitting its stride.
I hope you enjoy it! It’s by far my favorite webcomic out there.
It’s a very good place to start.
The early strips are mostly along the lines of making fun of AD&D 3.5 Ed game mechanics. They’re worthwhile in themselves, but the storyline doesn’t move on for a while.
The beginning is not the good place to start. The first 40 strips or so are essentially gag strips about RPG’s. Skip to about strip 100 which is around the big “end of dungeon confrontation” which is goofy and lets you easily bridge into the second book which is much better.
I know little about 3.5 rules, but I still found the first strips hilarious, and important for character development.
But Nale and the linear guild are introduced much earlier. And then if you want that storyline you need to get the ghostly warning which happened at strip 15. At that point, you might as well start at the beginning.
Agreed with Wolverine. Without spoiling anything for the OP, an important set of characters is introduced around the fortieth episode, and should absolutely not be missed. And this plot relates strongly to the lead characters’ various personality strengths and weaknesses. I think my understanding of the arc would have been diminished had I not read from its earliest strips.
One week ago I knew nothing about this strip, and in less than a week I’ve become an evangelist. It’s that addictive and that good!
Hope you let us know what you decide.
Thank you. I have now wasted an entire weekend at my computer. Man, those strips are addictive. You read one, and then you read another, and another, and before you know it, it’s one in the morning and you havn’t done your homework.
Order of the Stick is the only webcomic I read with any diligence. It’s just that good.
And you don’t have to be a D&D geek to get the character development and most of the jokes.
I’m bumping this because I finally started reading Order of the Stick for the first time about two weeks ago. I agree, it took a bit to get into it because I’ve only played D&D about a dozen times in my life and really didn’t know if I’d get or enjoy the comic.
I just finished #392 and it’s fantastic. Best webcomic I’ve ever read. Hilariously funny with great sarcastic bite and a good bit of satire for various genres. All the characters feel real. But I think most importantly is that Rich Burlew knows how to tell a story. The jokes progress the story arc, not slow them down. Side quests are just that: side quests. Soon enough they’re back to the main story and there really feels like a progression rather than a continual series of panels that never move anywhere. He’s got a great sense of timing of when things need to happen and when things can take their time.
And I still have another 350 to go! I’ll be busy for awhile.