Echo-o-o-o

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by RobinStarwing

Gee, I couldn't tell.

It's like reading my thoughts and treatises on the Sailor Moon anime and manga. O_O

As silly as it is to state, I feel I must stress that I mean no disrespect to anyone on this board with the creation of this thread. My directness is often perceived as rudeness, and since I have been known to rub people the wrong way, I would rather people take what I write as face value rather than simply looking at the title of this topic and the poster and making a judgment.

Groveling aside, I have noticed a decline in the past year or so with regard to the regularity of 8-Bit Theater updates. While I don't deny the legitimacy of real life events such as a beloved pet's illness or a death in the family that would take precedence, at other times, Brian has actually stated that he won't be updating due to other commitments, such as Atomic Robo and other stuff.

Is anyone else left with the impression that 8-Bit Theater is no longer Brian's Clevinger's priority? If so, am I the only one disappointed by this apparent change in focus, especially if it affects the comic itself?

I can understand that, but like a lot of 8-Bit Theater fans I visit Nuklearpower.com because I loved 8-Bit Theater, and I post in the forums because I care about the comic. I have little interest in one of Brian's other endeavors, at least while 8-Bit is still ongoing. Previously, I rationalized my support with the idea that Atomic Robo and such didn't impact 8-Bit Theater, and I was convinced that just because Brian put time into other works didn't mean that he abandoned 8-Bit fans. But it seems as though these projects aren't side projects any more, that if anything 8-Bit Theater is now the hobby. No offense, but I feel as though not Brian, but 8-Bit Theater itself has sold out, and is primarily used to draw people to the other projects.

No doubt, I believe that many people will disagree, but I feel I must ask the question: How important are both 8-Bit Theater and its core fans -- the ones who, like me, will probably stop visiting the site once the comic is over and never look back -- in the grand scheme of things?

[Kim]

This thread is Best Thread.

[Satan's Onion]

Originally Posted by RobinStarwing

I think I missed a joke here. Care to enlighten me?

Just keep looking at that quote. You'll soon get the thrust of it.

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

Y-you're starting to scare me, POS.

I'm starting to remember things. Things best left forgotten to the fog of ages past.

A time when i drew things. MAKE IT STOP!

[Overcast]

If I could bring myself to it I would put up the Scanners gif. You know which one.

[RobinStarwing]

Originally Posted by Satan's Onion

Just keep looking at that quote. You'll soon get the thrust of it.

Oh fork you! That was bad. Really bad.

By the way, we need a smiley for tongue sticking out.

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by Grandmaster_Skweeb

Y-you're starting to scare me, POS.

I'm starting to remember things. Things best left forgotten to the fog of ages past.

A time when i drew things. MAKE IT STOP!

But that's the whole point of a discussion board, for people to complain as well as commend. If you want a bunch of people who will agree that the comic is great and say nothing to the contrary, then you really don't want discussion; you want brownnosers.

No, I'm not expecting the comic to magically become the way I want it to be. But the greatest benefit of a webcomic, rather than a traditional comic, is that it offers and added layer of interactivity, so that the comic itself, rather than being a product, is a unifying force that users can discuss, and hopefully contact the author to bring a more personal interaction to the reader/creator dynamic. As a result, unlike a traditional comic book, my refusal to read and comment will actually be counterproductive, since the status quo is silence.

That being said, you're right about one thing. Speaking my mind isn't going to change things either. The only problem is that by taking your advice, and cutting out any complaints is going to make me even less likely to post here than how little I do. Then again, a series of comics that are frustrating will lead me to only complain and nothing else whereas a series of better comics will give me incentive to look around the forums. Either way a reader reacts to it, a deterioration in comic quality results in the community suffering, not the author.

Edited to add...

Originally Posted by Overcast

If I could bring myself to it I would put up the Scanners gif. You know which one.

...what does Brian's reputation have anything to do with the way he's writing? If anything, I'd much rather him to be financially and professionally ruined and provide entertaining (not necessarily "funny") comics than to actually become successful and provide us with an unsatifying story.

[Fenris]

dddd

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by Fenris

dddd

Thank you for your reply. Admittedly, I had not read many of the interviews you have given, so if I presumed to know your intentions when making this story, then I apologize for ascribing motives to your writing that were not true.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that is a comic is a form that is the synthesis of visuals and writing. By using sprites from Final Fantasy (I), and backgrounds that resembled those of the first game, this established the comic as poking fun at the game itself. Furthermore, even though some of the gags in the first few comics were not necessarily tied to that of the first game, there was definitely a stronger Final Fantasy feel in the first 300 or so comics than what came afterward. You may have never intended 8-bit Theater to be a straight parody of the NES Final Fantasy, but in the beginning it was a parody, with jabs thrown at other games. In both writing and visuals this changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

I'm not saying that change is universally bad, or that I don't enjoy the comic. In some instances this has actually made for better writing than possible had the comic not changed. It's just that as a fan of the original game, I simply prefer it when the comic makes use of Final Fantasy as a source of humor rather instead of drifting away from it to something that's less accessible. After all, the sprites -- the visual ties to Final Fantasy -- are what drew me to this comic in the first place. By making the comic more a general satire of all things under the sun, it ironically makes the comic less orginal.

[Bells]

Thanks to POS this is now an actual Silent Hill Thread of these forums...

...i honestly think somebody should make a badge on paint and award you with it.