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Trenches comic: Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011

BogeyBogey I'm back, baby!Santa Monica, CAModerator mod
edited September 2011 in The Penny Arcade Hub
i-3fBFP4R.jpg
Crunch.

09/27/2011 - Anonymous

As the Senior Tester on the team, one of my jobs was to act as the motivational anchor for the rest of the team. This task ended up being more difficult than anticipated when we rolled into our 40th consecutive hour of work during crunch on an FPS we were shipping.

It started with creating a robot made of old printers and wheeling it around to Developers on an old chair. It was around 6AM on Day 2. We wanted his cold unfeeling eyes to burn a hole in their hearts. A few hours later, a monitor was taken out by a rouge football, and the team, after consuming a weeks-worth of soda and coffee in 25 hours, discovered we were out of caffeine and began to revolt.

At this point, the “testing madness” started to hit. One of our testers started cursing out loud regarding waffles and their condescending desire to be like pancakes. One by one I sent each tester home as their sanity became too unstable to control. At one point, I realized I was the only one left and we still had at least 3 more hours of work remaining.

After shot-gunning a Rockstar energy drink with our Associate Producer we cranked out the last of the bug regressions and I finally went home. I remember the following things and ONLY the following things: The first 5 minutes of the drive. Waking up in the car parked on the side of the road. Waking up in bed.

I may not remember getting home, but I do know I worked for 48 hours straight, fell back asleep, dreamed about working, and got up 4 hours later to do it again. Luckily, we passed our Microsoft certification and the game (barely) made store shelves on time.

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XBox LIVE: Bogestrom | Destiny
PSN: Bogestrom
Bogey on
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Posts

  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!

    MhCw7nZ.gif
  • MetacortexMetacortex The Prettiest Zombie Coeur d'CoeursRegistered User regular
    The football just wanted to be pretty.

    4FNao2T.png
  • Human ShieldHuman Shield Registered User regular
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!
    He's cracking jokes and not even bothering to wash the blood off and you think he feels bad? Okay.

    I'm fascinated by his balloon hands. I wonder how efficiently he types with boneless, rubbery fingers.

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    A rouge football.

    forumsig.png
  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

  • Human ShieldHuman Shield Registered User regular
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    Well obviously they're all giving him "the look" to show that they don't approve of how he got his job. Or they're just cutouts left to make the dimwitted LBB think they're all working when in reality they are off at an amusement park. John and Frank were the only two dutiful enough to come to work that day and look what happened.

  • 3lwap03lwap0 Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Much like every fortune cookie should have the suffix '...in bed', so should every Trenches story end with '..and then I was laid off."

    It just makes sense.

    3lwap0 on
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!
    He's cracking jokes and not even bothering to wash the blood off and you think he feels bad? Okay.

    The jokes are clearly because he feels uncomfortable and is trying to lighten the atmosphere.

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • Spectre-xSpectre-x Rating: AWESOME YESRegistered User regular
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!
    He's cracking jokes and not even bothering to wash the blood off and you think he feels bad? Okay.

    I'm fascinated by his balloon hands. I wonder how efficiently he types with boneless, rubbery fingers.

    Don't you have anything better to do? Like not read a comic you admittedly dislike just so you can tell everyone exactly how much you dislike it and why? Because you don't want anyone else to derive any enjoyment whatsoever from the comic either?

    And before you start trying to paint yourself as the victim again, nobody buys it. You deliberately misinterpret every single thing that happens in the comic to make it seem as bad as it could possibly be. Either that or you don't know anything about human behaviour or any kind of literary convention.

  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    Just caught up on everything after the bar, and feel like my readership is finally paying off.

    The last few have been fantastic, great work guys.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    Nothing like a long hard stare at someone to kick off the workday.

    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • AsharadAsharad Registered User regular
    In all honesty I expected them to not fire the dart-in-the-arm-guy from the last strip. The fact that they did makes me like everyone involved (the characters) less, which makes the strip itself a lot more interesting.

  • KreutzKreutz Blackwater Park, IARegistered User regular
    The story was more amusing than the comic.

  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    I'm not sure whether I'm happy or sad that other people commented on the rouge football before I got to it.

  • Locke6854Locke6854 Registered User regular
    I think I've figured it out! Human Shield is playing the roll of the Trenches Troll!

  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    Ah, testing madness. Always unpredictable.

    I had a project where we became obsessed with McBain from the Simpsons when OT hit. Specifically the bit where his partner is about to retire on the boat "Live Forever"

    To this day we're still not sure why.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • SyphyreSyphyre A Dangerous Pastime Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.

    Syphyre on
  • mcpmcp Registered User regular
    Sideburns man looks like a bird.

    That character is weirding me out.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    Syphyre wrote:
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.

    I think he's wearing a kilt.

    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    Syphyre wrote:
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.

    I think he's wearing a kilt.

    This definitely seems like a setting where the chances of a utilikilt sighting are fairly high.

  • Human ShieldHuman Shield Registered User regular
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!
    He's cracking jokes and not even bothering to wash the blood off and you think he feels bad? Okay.

    The jokes are clearly because he feels uncomfortable and is trying to lighten the atmosphere.
    Well of course he is... he has to weasel his way into their good graces so that he can then control them much like he did the little bean boss. He's a sociopath, but he's not a complete idiot. He knows that if he acts all calm and confident like nothing just happened, they'll be distrustful and wary of him. So he tries to make light of what he just did in order to sucker them into feeling safe.

    He's a brilliant antihero. He reminds me a lot of Adrian Pasdar's character in Profit. Maybe the whole beginning with him in the rain was that a loved one died as a result of something this company did and now he plans to bring it down from the inside. :-o That would be a fantastic story.

  • Human ShieldHuman Shield Registered User regular
    Syphyre wrote:
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.
    That's a pretty glaring inconsistency, but there's an even bigger one: There isn't actually any blood on the keyboard or his hands. Perhaps the blood is all in his head. Isaac is losing his grip on reality?

  • Human ShieldHuman Shield Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Also, albinos can't have brown hair.

    Human Shield on
  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Syphyre wrote:
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.
    That's a pretty glaring inconsistency, but there's an even bigger one: There isn't actually any blood on the keyboard or his hands. Perhaps the blood is all in his head. Isaac is losing his grip on reality?

    "Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!"

    MhCw7nZ.gif
  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Gaslight wrote:
    Syphyre wrote:
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    The man's belt buckle is missing in the third panel. And yet the specks on his pants are the same.

    I think he's wearing a kilt.

    This definitely seems like a setting where the chances of a utilikilt sighting are fairly high.

    That is totally a utilikilt.

  • DurkhanusDurkhanus Commander Registered User regular
    Also, albinos can't have brown hair.

    Why not?

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    well, albinoism is a disorder that affects pigmentation (melanin), including the melanin content in one's hair. In that they have none...

    All of the albino people that I know (or have seen) irl and that I've seen online have that "blondish" hair color. If there are albino people out there with brown hair that's not dyed, it must be pretty rare.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • the nightwatchmanthe nightwatchman Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Well of course he is... he has to weasel his way into their good graces so that he can then control them much like he did the little bean boss. He's a sociopath, but he's not a complete idiot. He knows that if he acts all calm and confident like nothing just happened, they'll be distrustful and wary of him. So he tries to make light of what he just did in order to sucker them into feeling safe.

    He's a brilliant antihero. He reminds me a lot of Adrian Pasdar's character in Profit. Maybe the whole beginning with him in the rain was that a loved one died as a result of something this company did and now he plans to bring it down from the inside. :-o That would be a fantastic story.

    I daresay you might possibly be reading entirely too much into things. But, meh. Whatever floats your boat I suppose. Also...
    That's a pretty glaring inconsistency, but there's an even bigger one: There isn't actually any blood on the keyboard or his hands. Perhaps the blood is all in his head. Isaac is losing his grip on reality?

    Um, you can't see the entire keyboard. Or his entire hand... These theories are entertaining though. :)

    the nightwatchman on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    Tomanta wrote:
    I'm more bothered by the fact that the background characters don't change at all between the first and third panel.

    I saw that as part of the joke. It's kinda like, "Yeah get use to it new guy."

  • LTMLTM Bikes and BeardsRegistered User regular
    So I have an honest question about whether or not we're actually supposed to support the protagonist here.

    Panel 1, first comic, he rolls up in a car that most have pegged as being a very expensive and flashy vehicle.

    He then proceeds to flagrantly try to "dumb himself down" to the right level to be hired. As if his primary reason for rejection is being too intelligent. Presumably, this is how he came across the riches with which he bought the aforementioned vehicle.

    Then we get the awkward "who to fire" comics.

    And now he's literally typing with blood on his hands.

    Maybe he's just not a good person, and we're not supposed to like him. Maybe he's the anti-hero? Maybe we're witness to the epic fall from the hubris that will be later examined in the prequel strips?

  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    I'm starting to get the feeling that people are taking this a little too seriously? I thought the tone was pretty clear throughout this whole thing.

  • CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    I have to say I am utterly charmed by the idea that waffles are condescending.

    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    I think we should take this comic exactly as serious as a Penny Arcade comic or a PvP comic. :?

  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    I wasn't asking that to be like, facetious or a dick or anything. I really do think people are making a mistake in thinking that strong continuity has to go hand-in-hand with tongue-in-cheek not being a thing.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Henroid wrote:
    I wasn't asking that to be like, facetious or a dick or anything. I really do think people are making a mistake in thinking that strong continuity has to go hand-in-hand with tongue-in-cheek not being a thing.
    Oh I agree, it's floating somewhere in between "telling a consistent story" and "webcomic where the funny character will be a robot sidekick" for me at the moment. But I need a lot more comics (or at least a lot more story) to decide for myself whether I'm going to follow this comic.

    So far I have giggled a few times, but this one is just too clumsy to make me smile. I would have liked it better if he completely ignored the blood on his hands (typing away with blood flying everywhere) and tried to make smalltalk with his new coworkers giving him the "we're gonna make your life hell"-look. Could have been a way to introduce his coworkers. Him looking at guy #1 going "oh, like your sideburns!" and panel two at the girl he met the day before "a familiar face! Hi!" etc.

  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    well, albinoism is a disorder that affects pigmentation (melanin), including the melanin content in one's hair. In that they have none...

    All of the albino people that I know (or have seen) irl and that I've seen online have that "blondish" hair color. If there are albino people out there with brown hair that's not dyed, it must be pretty rare.

    He's not an albino, he's just very pale, on account of he's a utilikilt-wearing nerd who spends all his time indoors playing/testing video games.

  • JavenJaven Registered User regular
    See, this wouldn't happen with Bogey Golf

  • EvermournEvermourn Registered User regular
    Spectre-x wrote:
    See, I told you he feels bad about it!
    He's cracking jokes and not even bothering to wash the blood off and you think he feels bad? Okay.

    I'm fascinated by his balloon hands. I wonder how efficiently he types with boneless, rubbery fingers.

    Don't you have anything better to do? Like not read a comic you admittedly dislike just so you can tell everyone exactly how much you dislike it and why? Because you don't want anyone else to derive any enjoyment whatsoever from the comic either?

    And before you start trying to paint yourself as the victim again, nobody buys it. You deliberately misinterpret every single thing that happens in the comic to make it seem as bad as it could possibly be. Either that or you don't know anything about human behaviour or any kind of literary convention.

    So you're what, the cartoonist's Mum? I'm sure he can look after himself, someone criticizing the comic isn't going to break his brain. You have to realise that people have had quite a few years of a good comic on this site, so there is a certain expectation that if another comic is put up by the same people it will also be good. But it isn't really, and for now we're still reading it because we figure at some point it will kick in. I hope it does, but at this point I doubt it. We'll see.

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    Running commentary on the other posters in the thread is not part of the remit of this forum. If you have a problem with another user, use the report button and then proceed to ignore them. If a user has been infracted for a post, consider that the problem has been dealt with and you don't need to drag it up again.

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    mcp wrote:
    Sideburns man looks like a bird.

    That character is weirding me out.
    I immediately thought of
    samtheeagle.png

    steam_sig.png
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