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[PA Comic] Friday, July 26, 2013 - Sand, Part Six
Geth
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
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I demand daily updates.
I will pay all the monies I don't have.
that is all
Our first game is now available for free on Google Play: Frontier: Isle of the Seven Gods
10 years ago you could have made that argument, but after Armadeaddon, Paint the Line, the numerous Cardboard Tube Samurai series, Automata (twice), Lookouts (twice), etc., I think their readership has gotten pretty well accustomed to these extended narrative runs.
Edit: and again it's not that I dislike meshing the two elements. I just think that resequencing the strips could have significantly improved the story's flow, where Immortal Guy's lines today could have been used to segue into the SciFi stuff and totally change the nature of the story instead of it feeling like some completely out-of-nowhere shift.
It's a similar setting, but already a different tale. It's probably got as much in common with Trigun as The Walking Dead does with 28 Days Later - similar intros and window dressing, wildly diverging stories.
IOW, I suspect that when we look back on this story once it's finished we'll find that the shifts were well-done and appropriate.
My .02 and nothing more, of course.
But fuck you — no, fuck y'all, that's as blunt as it gets"
- Kendrick Lamar, "The Blacker the Berry"
but we'll see how much more context gets provided I guess
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
But seriously, enjoying it.
Do we know when the regularly scheduled programing be back?
Should probably point out that this is a side project that just happens to be appearing in the same space as the normal Penny Arcade strip. As an example, the Lookouts strips were Lookouts Strips, not Penny arcade strips. Same with this. So it's not a Penny Arcade arc, it's a different comic written by the same guys that happens to share the same webspace at the moment. Also, Sand was intended to be a Sci-Fi the entire time (Jerry let slip at some point), so it's not that they're switching between the two in order to pander to different audiences. It's just an example of writer's intent.
I think the pacing is fine, I just dread the day we have to end this to go back to regular stuff. I love the regular stuff, but this story is awesome. Even if it meant halving the update schedule, I'd be perfectly content if they put this stuff up on a new portion of the site, so they could keep it going while keeping the regular stuff updating as well. (Again, to clarify--I'm not saying they should go from writing one comic to writing two with the same update schedule: I'm saying they could keep writing this one and Penny Arcade, each half as frequently, and uploading them on separate parts of the site. It's not like Penny Arcade has a rigid upload schedule anyway). I suspect Jerry's only got so much material in mind though--he seems to enjoy coming up with awesome premises over extensive narratives--at least for the comics. I guess I'll just soak in all the SAND he gives me while his muse continues to churn it out.
Edit: Related tangent: who ain't got no heaven to sell? Knowing what we know the obvious interpretation is the leadership is offering heaven but they've bluffing. The other, that I prefer, is the protagonist himself is setting up the contrast. "We don't belong here. we should be elsewhere" could be the heaven he's selling. He knows that most of the time there is no heaven, but he really does offer it, and therefore their suspicion is justified even if he can actually follow through on his promises.
Wha- what?! If there is anything that you can depend on, it is a new strip Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Many times throughout the Show and other venues Mike and Jerry have emphasized regular consistent updates as a significant reason for their success, and something webcomic artists should adhere to.
Actually if you kept up with the whole reason behind the kickstarter at all, you'd know why they can't keep adding on different comics. They have to pay their employees, those employees are paid through the various side projects they do for companies and through swag. The side projects they do for profit eat up large amounts of Mike and Jerry's time they would otherwise spend doing Automata or Sand. Do you really think, given any slim chance, that Mike wouldn't still be 100% all over Lookouts? They have actual commercial obligations that limits their schedules. They also have 3 major conventions to take part in, a Charity to act as the faces for, and family they like to see.
I wasn't trying to say they were lazy...did you miss the part of my post where I expressly stated that in no way would I expect busy businessmen like them to have time to keep up with multiple comics at once? I thought I put in a clear enough disclaimer that I wasn't just an entitled fan whining that I wanted more content, and that Mike and Jerry have every right to put out whatever content in whatever proportions they feel inclined to do, but I guess I needed to make it more apparent. Since I don't know Mike, or any more about him than he shares in his newsposts, I have no idea whether he would rather be doing something else. I assume, given the prestige of this comic, that Mike and Jerry are putting their time and creative effort into what they want to do.