Annotated 12-2
Wellp, glad that resurrection question is all settled then. On to the next thing!
This is one of Guilded Age‘s most ambiguous scenes, and I’m not sure even Phil and I saw it in the same way. Is Bandit shooting straight with Syr’Nj here? Regardless of whether she is or not, does Syr’Nj really believe her? And regardless of that, does the hypothesis of Harky’s homeopathically healing hemoglobin hold water?
Complicating this further is the mystery of Arkerra’s nature and the degree to which HR and the Kingdoms of Arkerra game are interfering with it. You can imagine Chrissie (or Jeremy), Bandit’s player, staring in puzzlement at just how intensely her character was being questioned about her resurrection. It’s just an MMORPG, as far as any player knows. People rez all the time, right?
Had we gone another way with the story so that Bandit was still with the group when they first met HR, maybe HR would’ve brought up Bandit’s improbable resurrection as evidence for his view of Arkerra as “his creation.” As it was, this ended up being the only explanation for Bandit’s return that really counted, so it became canon by default.
Yeah, to me this scene really seemed like the player behind Bandit qickly trying to come up with an explanation for the resurrection. Having played on RP servers for a long time I’ve regularly seen similar attempts to explain the difference between things happening in-engine and things happening in-character.
Who is Jeremy? Was that Chrissie’s name before coming out?
In an earlier annotation, I mentioned that when we were mapping out the story, we originally thought Bandit would be played by a cis guy named “Jeremy.” It wasn’t until much later (enough time that, frankly, we just about forgot Jeremy was ever supposed to exist) that I proposed bringing in Chrissie instead.
It still gets me, seeing the axes going thru her shoulder/arms… all! Bandit’s so small.
I think it was Jeremy. It is of putting being questioned that way, insistant as such. But who knew at this point how far the “fans” had gone to…immersed so deep in the “game”.
Question, are you guys going to be coming by NYCOMICCON 2019? It’d be fantastic!
Thanks for the great entertainment and more!!!
You’re welcome! But I’m sorry to say Phil and I pretty much retired from the con circuit after wrapping up Guilded Age. I might pop into the occasional show, but NYCC is a big investment, so I doubt you’ll ever see us at that one.
Awww! Sorry to hear that! Thanks for answering. Like I said, you guys are all incredible at what you do an d greatly appreciate it. Are you working on anything else at this time?
All the best!
What I’m working on right now is pretty far into the “crossword design” side of my interests. I might have another comics project in me before the end of the year, though: I’ll keep y’all posted here if so.
PS- I’m also enjoying the annotated GA!
Nechyfer
To this point it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the part where it’s basically a living world but every so often some people from another dimension control you and neither know any better. To the citizens of Arkerra they were never taken over, these were just their actions, their decisions. But they resurrect when player-controlled. But they fear death. Hell GameBandit holds the most horrible grudge by the end of all this, which makes sense in HER context being “real life” because GamerBandit was on conspiracy war in SepiaEarth. So has nobody ever died? Is this Baby’s First MMO and nobody died before and after Bandit? Are our A-Team and B-Team the only players? Because apparently no other player ever died and witnessed a return.
I’ll just stick to enjoying the Frigg lines.
My advice is to think of it like a form of possession, where the possessed individual rationalizes their actions while possessed after it ends. It’s tricky, and at least some of the elements you cite still are glitches in an otherwise clear-cut mechanic.