Chapter 9 – Page 14
Special thanks to the crew of Hijinks Ensue for lending us their likenesses. Go read their equally hilarious comic over at hijinksensue.com!
If you’re a new reader coming in from Hijinks Ensue, welcome! This might be a bad time in the story to start, though, so why not go to the first page and dig in?
Ah-ha… Interesting. “Building a real society in the game.” “Being totally immersed in it.” So this would be one of the tube-dudes–I’m guessing the one playing “Byron”–before his immersion in the game.
Yeah, obviously the Byron player.
It’s been fun, but I’m now out I think. The “new” Guilded Age is bit too navel-contemplation for me I think; I was really only in it for the laffs. Best of luck with endeavours and so on.
Sad to see people so averse to change that any little wrinkle throws everything out of whack for them.
Ah well. *shrug*
Such a little wrinkle, this total change of genre.
We all have the right to like what we like. Being consdescending about what someone likes or doesn’t like is simple douchey.
tis true… this is a flavor thing.
*Sigh* Gonna have to go with Arky on this one. I was hoping that the characters were still from a “real” Arkerra . . . I know it’s silly, that the characters are fictional to begin with–but now they’re a fiction within a fiction. I was allowing myself to be immersed in in the story, and now it’s no longer the story I thought.
I suspect I’ll still wind up checking updates, as I’m extremely curious as to what’s going on, but I was more interested in the story of Arkerra. The meta-gaming is not for me.
Agreed. I’m still gonna read it so I can find out what’s going on, but I’m really not liking the turn of events.
“It’s all just a simulation” has always been a cop-out, in my opinion. Why can’t we have an actual fantasy world?
Let’s keep in mind Bandit hasn’t been revealed yet… So therefore parts of the “simulation” could have some reality and body to them.
Until they verify that Arkerra ONLY exists on the game, and specifically does NOT exist on its own, it’s not a genre change.
Also, it’s not a genre change unless it had been PURE fantasy story and no scifi up until now. The scene had been set for this to be a giant video game ever since Best unlocked the “Become a Huge Douche” achievement.
Until Chapter 9 got all up our face, I, and I think some others here, assumed that the occasional use of idioms and language from computer RPGs was a flavor instead of a world-defining aspect.
My idea was that the use of modern-sounding dialog was meant for two reasons: (1) To make the comic more comfortable for a young audience who had not experienced as much Fantasy outside of games of some sort, and (2) as a substitute for the fantasy world’s idioms, jargon, and metaphors, most of which would be incomprehensible to we 21st Century Earthlings.
I’m still waiting for the writers to pull a rabbit out of their butt, but I’m not optimistic that it will pass the smell test.
Everyone keeps referencing that moment.
But the thing was that was funny because it was referencing parallels to real life and did not actually exist (so we thought) in the world of the comic. It isn’t funny once it *really* is a in-world, in-game achievement. Then it is just sad.
I still like you, Arky. ♥ Not just because I know you from the Penny and Aggie forum, but because unlike some (not all, not even most, but some) dissenting comments here, at least yours are polite and avoid personal attacks.
So easily we forget the details.
That desk is covered in magical artifacts and mystic tools.
The addition of electricity doesn’t undo the genre.
It kinda does. Generally, modern convenience like electricity paired with arcane magic makes urban fantasy, not classic fantasy. Before the pan out to Mr. Dedaelus, we were in a pretty classical fantasy setting, perhaps with elements of steampunk. (Cog-punk?)
Since then we’ve been guessing left and right, but because we don’t know the relation between the two worlds it could be anything from pure sci-fi to urban fantasy to anything in between.
These kind of sign offs are GOOD to see. When artists get real-time feedback from the work they’re doing, it’s just as important to see when and why people are turning away from it as it is to hear compliments and praise. More so, arguably.
Thank you for being pleasant and concise with your farewell. If only more people followed this example in expressing their displeasure.
(And check back in a month!)
Sad to see people being douchebags about the feelings of others, especially when the changes in question were not just a little wrinkle, but an entire TPK, then an uprooting and meta-shifting of the series.
I personally still like how it’s going, but I can understand why people don’t. And considering how Arky was actually being polite, 7s, and you’re being a condescending twit, I think I’ll have to side with him on this one.
It’s even worse to return the favor by calling the person a ‘douche bag’ in the first place. One person responds to one comment, and then THEY get attacked. Whoopee!
I agree with arky. Not that the change in the scenery is entirely the problem, but it’s gotten far more serious than the first few pages, just my opinion though.
I find myself more excited for Frigg’s moment in the anony-cam spotlight. Darklight? Lack-of-light?
I think that’s Frigg in the last panel, I just think no one told him the tank was a female character. After all who better fits the description of “mad, bad and dangerous to know” than Frigg?
That’s a quote describing Lord Byron. And one of the characters is named Byron. And he is eloquent. And this person has a red ring, like the red tube. So, I’m thinking it’s Byron’s player.
Yes, in retrospect I see I was mistaken.
So this is the guy who “plays” Byron, huh? He seems like a cool dude. Best’s player is probably a total munchkin.
The tech aspect makes me wonder what was with the dribbly candles and magic tome from earlier.
Candles and tomes? I blame “Byron” and his pentagram ring.
One man’s “magic” is another man’s “science,” just with far more interesting textbooks.
o ,o whats with da ring.
I’m still in for the long haul, especially since my theory may still have some weight now. Magic and Science mixing doesn’t always end well. Plus I;m sure Frigg and Syrnnj’s interviews will be hilarious.
…Hey, Alice, five bucks on one of them being a guy.
Given the fact that the majority of female players on MMRPG’s are actually male, then both of them should be guys!
Not necessarily. I played WoW for several years with my best friend/roomie at the time (also female) my boyfriend/husband. Then again, I don’t have any statistics but I think WoW appealed quite a bit to female gamers. I might be biased though. Either way, I’m hoping Frigg is male (it’d make the most sense) though it would still hilarious if Frigg is a woman and Sy’rnnj is a man. :)
I feel confident that a large part of the female MMO-playing audience also pretends they’re male, just to avoid being harassed by the… well, less socially intelligent members of the playerbase.
So I’ve heard, not being an MMO-layer myself. Isn’t that part of the reason those voice modulator microphone thingies (don’t remember what they’re called specifically) are so popular, that among other uses they allow women players to disguise their voices as male?
I don’t BELIEVE I’ve encountered voice modding much over the course of my playing time. Even then, a fairly small amount of that involved ventrillo and other voice services.
The guilds I’ve spent extensive time in/formed had prominent female memberships, and did pretty great to cotton to equality without having to say much or a need to enforce it. My experience may be unique, but I found that I gravitated towards groups that felt the same way I do, and vice versa.
when I played WoW for a year, the guild I was in was pretty much exactly 50% female.
What server/guild?
um europe, darkmoon fayre, I forget the guild name but could find it :)
Hi, I’m in the UK.
Limited Immunity.
Certainly not a unique experience, as it’s also been mine! It helps that the two I’ve spent the last year in have both been run by a husband/wife team, which attracts other mature players.
Can’t say I’ve encountered voice modding over ventrilo/teamspeak, though. More often they’ll log in to listen when need be but not speak, if they’re trying to avoid unwanted attention.
My own experience has been kind of 50/50 as far as genders, but I might be in an unusual situation since my guild (US, Terenas server) is almost entirely made up of married couples…and we hang with a bunch of folks in a guild association who are more mature than the advertised average gamer :P
Most of the online RP groups I’ve ever been in have had fairly even numbers of men and women.
In games and out of them, I think most women are pretty quick to pick up on whether they’re dealing with a bunch of sexist jerks or not. I suspect that part of the reason for the persistent myth that there aren’t any women playing online games is that there are more men than women playing, so you get clustering: the groups with more or less balanced genders, and the groups that are men only.
You mean, by the jackwits, jerkoffs, morons and undersexed teenagers that populate those games? I’d believe it–but let’s call a spade a spade here.
Gotta love the Internet–where the men are men, the women are men, and the kids are Federal agents.
Interesting, albeit dated data here: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_demographics.html
But even when Nick Yee was still running his project, he saw a significant female demographic presence. And my wife plays with me, for what that’s worth.
In the guild I was in, I’d hazard the make up was about 80% female, and our guild leader herself was female. This was in the Wyrmrest Accord RP server.
Oh and I also played a male character.
“Byron Hackenslasher”…
Well, now we know where the “Byron” part comes from.
Seriously, did no one guess it was all a game just based on the Cast page? I mean, “Hackenslasher”? Seriously?
No – I’m pretty sure the believed joke was that it was a reality modeled after gaming, not that the comic’s reality was a game.
That’s what I was going with, anyway.
Yeah, me too. I assumed it was a fantasy story whose comedy aspects were inspired by gaming.
I’m sure there were guesses, but nothing that’s not an actual comic page is necessarily Word of God (canon according to the authors). I read it and attributed it to the same D&D/MMO parody theme the entire comic had through the first chapters.
Agreed, I have been reading since day 3 (I’d say day one, but someone had to point me here in the first week). And I thought it was a fantasy world with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek (and not so tongue-in-cheek) jokes and references to WoW, D&D, etc. It was light hearted fun, and all throughout the first seven chapters at LEAST, if someone had asked me “what’s really going on” I would probably have envisioned only a group of people around a table, having a fine old time. Yet at the same time, so much detail was spent on the world of Arkerra, so many background details and little bits, that I honestly bought the “Arkerra is a real place” feel. I mean…if you’re just a player in a game, why the hell would you write a letter TO YOUR IN GAME FATHER? To me that’s not “RP server,” that’s “The world is real.” So somehow, the “tube players” are in a place they think is real. Or, their souls ARE in Arkerra, and only their empty shells remain in Gray World.
To me, the emphasis on Gray World like this feels like a genre shift. It has nothing to do with “they didn’t say Arkerra wasn’t real.” It has everything to do with the information my brain receives via my eyes, and that’s “this is a tech world, an alternate-Earth type world, and Arkerra is an analog to Azeroth,” at least in the frame-of-reference of these strips.
There is no other frame of reference. Maybe we could “pan out” infinitely and see that HR is really a puppet in a virtual world, etc etc ad infinitum. It would still feel like the Arkerra I came to love (not to mention the characters) has been swept away in favor of this other place. Which may or may not be interesting, but is not the same story of which I became enamored.
I do hope that by chapter’s end, things will make a little more sense.
I just hope I remember who Byron and the others even ARE by then
shouldn’t it be called the sepia world or the toned world or something, since it’s not actually gray?
If you want to get technical, it’s “Sepia-Tone With Splashes of Other Colors World.”
Maybe we should stick with “Gray?”
Gray World: it’s easy.
Lord Byron indeed. HA!
Some certain brownhaired berserker nerd’s been watching a little too much Red Dwarf.
It’s possible to watch too much Red Dwarf? I guess when you start eating cold curry sauce for breakfast it might be time to reevaluate your life choices.
You mean series 8?
Nine was worse. Oh so much worse.
they said “a little too much” rather than “way too much” :)
Dang it. I can’t guess who is who.
Good money says the guy who quoted Lord Byron is Byron in the game.
Scratch that. I looked closer, all four panels are Byron. So hard to tell, but the hair is the same for all four panels, and the text reads as a conversation with one person.
OH MAN I THINK THIS GUY’S THE GNOME STABLEHAND GUY, IT HAS TO BE.
OMG YU R SO RITE!
INDEED IT COULD BE NO OTHER
I WASN’T SURE AT FIRST, BUT YOUR CAPSLOCK HAS CONVINCED ME.
This may sound odd, but i’m kinda relieved to know that our strategist has not being conrolled by a burger devouring nerd. He sounds pretty much intellectual anyway.
Speaking as an intellectual, burger devouring nerd, I resemble that remark. :-)
mmm…burgers.
dangit now I must feed my stomach as well as my mind.
I meant no offense sir.
I wonder how the interviews with the other “lucky souls” will go. We have Byron down. Curse you weekend for the wait.
I’m hoping that when the Five inevitably ‘wake up’, they retain their in-game personalities. At least on a personality duality basis.
I’m praying for a more ‘toally immersion’, as in there’s no way out for them
but then, I’m like that…
T Campbell ruins yet another webcomic.
That’s completely unfair, and this is coming from someone who only ended up on this page (today) because Chrome autocompleted the strip’s address.
T is one of the best writers doing this stuff–he’s the only writer whose webcomics I still read, and I’ve cut down from about forty to about three. I can’t stand the way this comic is going, and I’ve been vocal about it. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad writer, it means I don’t like the story he’s telling.
Get snarky about this or any other comic, sure. I do that too. But I don’t excoriate the author. It’s a cheap shot and it makes you look like an asshole.
Ruins or MAKES AWESOME?
Sweet. I’ve always wondered whether Byron’s name was inspired by the poet.
While I’d say the 2nd person is Syr since she seems the dutiful and altruistic type, Byron’s player seems nothing like Byron himself which means that character of the players isn’t necessarily similar to their in-game persona.
The setting with the janitor stuff in the background and darkened faces is almost surreal, I like it. Bring on lucky soul #5.
Oh and also the obligatory statement about this comic having jumped the shark. >.<
Yeah, kinda like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDthMGtZKa4
Oh look, it’s actually all one person. I’ll never live this down. In my defense it’s 8:35 am, I haven’t slept all night and before that I spent like 8 hrs playing Twilight Imperium. Yep, that’ll work…
waitwait, it’s 8:35am an hour ago? Where are you on GMT-1?
He’s from…THE FUTURE!!!!
“I need your clothes, boots and your motorcycle.”
But srsly, I’m GMT +1.
Oh yes, you got to 8:35 before me, not after me, it means you’re probably on CET or something. And there are loads of places on CET.
Silly ahdok. The time of day travells west, not east.
The time differentials we experience are due to cubic time (not to be confused with Cubric time, Rubik’s Cube or Scientology). Did you know that each day actually contains 4 days? It explains everything really. For example how Phil, T and John are able to do 3 strips a week. See the TRUTH:http://www.timecube.com/
Jean Luc, if I give you my clothes, my boots, and my motorcycle, what do *I* get?
ooo ooo can I have your communicator!?
You get a quick spin around Earth in one of our state-of-the-art scuttlecrafts while listening to me sing “Frere Jacques”.
It’s a date :D
You are educated stupid if you believe you comprehend timecube.
No, I comprehend Timecube… Because I AM Timecube. We’re ALL Timecube, man.
THE REPTILIANS AND THE MASONS OWN EVERYTHING.
Oh, sorry, got my Truthism mixed up in my Timecube. Won’t happen again, I swear.
Well, when I used to game, I deliberately tried to run characters who were not like me, because it enhanced the mental break from reality. I get to be myself every day.
They don’t just jump the shark, they go back and beat the shark to death, then chop it’s body into chum to attract more sharks! Which is cool.
Heh. Chopped sharks.
Gold Star.
Woohoo! He said smeg. Is he a Red Dwarf fan?
I’m now imagining that he has Craig Charles’ accent.
That really shouldn’t be as awesome as it sounds.
Maybe it’s a means to hint that he’s English?
Mmm….Kobold vindaloo….
Also, he said his voice cracked. Is he going through puberty?
It might have just been a lack of saliva suddenly and so his voice suddenly went wonky on him for a minute. I’ve had that happen a few times at my job, where I have to talk to customers most of the time and don’t get to have a drink with me anymore (yay for the water fountain but I can’t carry that with me to the register.) :I
It is still possible he’s going through puberty but the above was my assumption based on my experience.
Assuming this is the the same guy as in the tube, he would seem to be past that stage. Since they were talking about Lord Byron I read it as more of an emo moment. Or maybe he’s just trying to be all dramatic and cool and, as Dove suggested, just “messed up.”
Dried out vocal cords make some funky noises. Also, if he was trying for something more dramatic-like and messed up, he might’ve been trying to change his voice (deepen it, etc) and messed up in that way. Since we don’t actually hear voices (most of us, she said, cautiously watching Locke and Ahdok) we can’t accurately know what he means by his voice cracking.
Mr. Trousers says that the voices are real.
So, it’s their actual job to NPC in a game world and make it come to life, like LARP NPCs? And the NPCs have already begun playing so as to make the world’s history come alive for when the players get there.
I want that job.
Wait… wait…. Wait…. this is a mad idea here, but have they been swapped? This is all an elaborate farce, coincidence, linked to the gribbly candles?
This comic tends to bounce around a bit in time, completely unannounced. That may be happening here, but I think it’s more likely that the interviews we’re seeing were done before ‘The Five’ were tanked.
My thought was that its not a game, but a seperate dimension. Those in the tubes aren’t bubbles but full individuals on life support. Maybe the bubble did more than expected (probably due to a lightning strike), and the players are transferred as are our healing heroes.
My thought as well
*chuckle* Tanked? *giggle*
Is that a cap’n crunch decoder ring?
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine
Fren’s comment = Full of Win.
And vitamins!
Achievement Unlocked!
Post the 14,000th comment!
Props to the artist for the faces, and everything in the last two pages. I prefered Erica’s style for Arkera, but John’s is definitely the best for the real world.
I still think it would be awesome if they could switch off, for basically the same reason. I’m also really curious to know how Erica would have handled “the real world” and some other scenes. If she could ever be convinced to do a guest strip or a few panels just for some fun comparison and discussion I’d be really interested.
Although I like John’s art just fine, I think you may have something there, in terms of using two artists for two different realities if it were possible. As a DC Vertigo fan, I’ve seen many cases of a single issue, or even an arc, with art by two or even three different artists (e.g. Peter Gross and Dean Ormston sharing art duties on one Lucifer arc, and three or four artists in the last arc of The Invisibles). But when the Vertigo editors do it, it tends to be more for the purpose of making sure a title comes out on time every month when the regular artists are over-extended (Sandman having had serious problems in that regard towards the end).
Less common, in my acknowledged limited experience, is using two artists in the way you’re suggesting. When done well, though, it works. One example is from Mad #17, where Harvey Kurtzman deconstructed the slapstick domestic violence in the Bringing Up Father newspaper strip by having two EC artists illustrate his story: Will Elder depicting Maggie assaulting Jiggs in the usual bright, cartoony style of the strip, intertwined with Bernard Krigstein showing the aftermath in a dark, grisly style with Jiggs bruised, bleeding and describing his pain and permanent injuries with deadpan dark humour. Another example, from animation, is the BtAS episode “Legends of the Dark Knight,” where kids’ differing perspectives on Batman’s nature are shown through segments done in contrasting styles: one after the bright and goofy Golden-Age style of Dick Sprang and another after the “grim ‘n’ gritty” style of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
So yeah, if Erica were available for it, which she isn’t, it’d be cool to see this portion of the comic alternate between her style’s and John’s for the two contrasting settings.
It’s also true that one artist can effect multiple styles. Look at Planetary. I don’t think they changed artists even once on that series, but the art changes vastly from issue to issue as they emphasize different “eras” of comics.
I agree it’s a cool idea though :)
Yes, that too, one artist with multiple styles. Like J.H. Williams III in Alan Moore’s Promethea: different styles for various material and spiritual levels of reality (and, on his covers, for homages to various artists, genres and even classic record album art).
So I am curious. Did Erica leave because she knew the new direction the comic was going in and respectfully disagreed?
No. She only left because her daytime career got too awesome!
Also, there was no new direction to disagree with, this was planned and hinted about since day one. She would have been in on it from the beginning.
Oh my. You have my attention completely.
Alright, so, we have our Byron at a past convention. And he’s talking about how it’s his job (presumably the five in the tubes, not just his alone) to make the game more social, with a ‘real society’ built into it. But H.R. is watching coverage of this event for some insight on why everything ‘went strange.’
So presumably, everything ‘went strange’ when Byron et all were TPK’d by Harki. So Byron’s dead in game, but they haven’t decanted him from the tube. He’s still alive, but H.R. doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, just that his vitals are apparently functioning. It’s a good bet that Byron CAN’T be removed from the hookup without damaging the system or himself. Or losing some data they want to see before they do.
I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I don’t actually think this Byron-esque guy meant that the five’s jobs were actually to create a society, but meant more likely that as gamers, it is their duty to create the society.
More well articulated speculation please Calen *grin*
I think you’re not quite there. I think the TPK is recent, (i.e. it just happened), but “the day it all went strange” is implicitly some time ago. They’ve been in the game for a while.
If anything, if the day they recorded this interview was the day it all went strange, then nobody had tried the bubble at the time, so it’s my guess that the first run of the bubble did something wierd.
That could definitely be it. I’m personally thinking that when H.R. walked in to say “still alive” in front of the tubed party, it indicated that they’d be in there for a while and either unresponsive, or kept in there to be studied.
I’m imagining that just because the Bubble is being unveiled at this convention doesn’t mean that there’s been extensive testing on it already, possibly already including human testing. But I guess we’ll see that next week. :D
Hah, strike all that, I missed the part where these five were labeled testers in the very first panel.
So, the timing on the strangeness is all hanging on how quickly in real-time they were able to go on all those adventures in the first chapter. Could be that day, could be days or weeks down the line. Or we could both be right, and the present is only a day or three after the convention! Me, I’m intrigued. Are you intrigued? This is some excellent intrigue going on here.
I’m intrigued!
Did I not speculate that the tube-people were the original development team? :-) Well, maybe play-testers…
These pages are the Guilded Age equivalent of Erfworld’s text-only pages. I guess it’s advancing the story, and maybe somebody worked really hard on it, but I couldn’t honestly give less of a shit.
This strip is aggressively trying to get me to hate it.
>.> or your aggressively ignoring the importance of having a whole and complete story and that these details are the parts that make the story more than every other fantasy-comedy comic out there.
Oh, I’ve read it all. I’m not ignoring it. It’s boring, and it’s moving at a glacial pace. The strip’s been reduced to wacky-real-world guest stars–doesn’t work in TV, doesn’t work here. Treating the narrative in a jokey fashion isn’t making me laugh, it’s making me cringe.
The ‘big reveal’ that these characters aren’t “real” in the context of the story has made me care less, not more, about the narrative. And it’s taking forever. Are we gonna do blackout interviews with the people from each tube? Taking up all of next week, and part of the next? I’m sticking around to see the protagonists again. I’m not sticking around because I love the business adventures of emotionless mustache guy and his VR tube people. This is a plot Cul-de-sac.
Incidentally, the art has been great.
Yeah, I’m pretty much with you on that. I’d been holding out for the past little while, but this is just one disappointment too many.
Actually, when the authors kill of all the main characters in a character based story, leave a cliff-hanger, start the next chapter with the character designed for people to hate, and then reveal the world we’ve invested 8 chapters in is likely (but not necessarily) unreal, yes, they ARE trying to get a negative response. Here’s hoping they have a decent reason for that. I’m personally waiting till the end of the chapter; the writing has been consistently of high quality, and I don’t think they’d throw us on this loop without reason…
To your SPECIFIC example, Erfworld’s text pages started as a way for the writer to cram more exposition and world building into the comic than the artist’s schedule would allow. They’re not necessary to the story the comic is telling, but if you enjoy learning the minutia of the world building then it’s more Erfworld for you, so yay. If you don’t like them, ignoring them leaves you with a coherent story still, also yay.
This, in contrast, is a chapter that was planned to be here since the beginning, that turns the entire premise of the story into something else. If you read chapters 1-8, skip 9, then read the rest of the story once it’s finished, you’re probably going to be very confused and rather lost by the end.
Is it weird that I wish to run my fingers through “Byron’s” completely fictional shadowy hair?
No. But I think that means we need to get out more.
Yes, we do….
*shifty eyes*
I’m not happy with the direction this strip has taken ether. Looks like someone trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.
Good luck guys, but I going to drop you from my list.
Okay!
be sure to check back on G-Day though.
I’m a little saddened by some of the people saying they’re leaving because they don’t like the change. It’s a unique storyline, would you rather another bland fantasy comic, there is plenty of those. Just enjoy the artwork, await G-day, and quit your random mass guessing. We’ll see where this goes (there is definitely magic involved)
I think the point was that they felt it wasn’t just another bland fantasy comic to begin with and that’s why they don’t like these new developments. I do wish more of them could stick it out. But if it’s truly upsetting them it is probably for the best that they don’t continue reading it. No sense in making yourself angry by reading something you can just as easily ignore. :|
Can we just stop saying whether or not we’re dropping the game? Or just leave it to one thread? Seriously, I wanna read the comments for the mass guessing and the blunt wit that gets tossed around.
That said, here’s my take on the tubes and stuff. Full immersion, yeah? Then they’ve probably been in there for a very long time. Days to weeks. The tubes are keeping them alive. Which means that they may well be brain dead, with no activity while their organs are moving. Because their minds were totally immersed in the other world.
So they can’t remove them without killing them. They probably can’t ‘reset’ their brains without destroying the entire world they’ve built, which would be a huge loss of profits.
Of course, if they were stuck for an unknown reason, well. That would also explain why their character selves have no memory at all of being in the real world. Because instead of shaping the world, the world shaped them.
The tome and candles? H.R. Pufnstuf there’s down to trying out necromancy, like as not. Or some kind of astral soul ductape crap.
Astral soul duct tape.
Oh my GOD that’s awesome.
I think we need a full range. I need cillit bang for my aura.
I’m sooo totally not genre fixated…
totally happy to follow where the story goes:
I like the art, I like the story telling style, what’s it matter which genre we’re in? In Arkera it’s fantasy, outside it’s SF. Keep the two apart and you have two pretty cool storries.
Combined it’s coolnes ^2.
There was a book I read in the 90’s about a group of gamers who tried out a new virtual computer world for roleplaying, but then the games AI didn’t want to lose and started killing off the characters which in turn killed off the players. So you were seeing the adventures of the party and the reactions in the real world as the computer technicians tried to figure out what was killing the players. I can’t remember the exact name of the book, Platos something or Aristotles something. Anyone else read that? Still loving this comic.
Caverns of Socrates by Dennis L McKiernan. Great Book, or it was when I was in Middle school.
Look, even form the first chapter there have been MMO references, that’s actually how I came to this webcomic, because of it’s MMO leanings. So I find out it’s actually about an MMO and not just an MMO-like world (see Looking For Group for that), so what. It’s still a fun story, and I’m still going to read it.
Sorta explains why Byron has such a hard time, Lord Byron had a -horrible- life.
… and a club foot.
You should have seen his knife hand.
And his Mace Face.
Now he’s got a bubble butt.
Considering angry-buddha’s little present to me, that’s hilarious on more than one level :D
His knife hand, by the way, was his right one. The other was his Left Hook.
The laser eyes were the worst, especially when he was eying up his sister.
New theory: Byron is being played by Hal Duncan. Similar hair/face, might wear that ring, pretty similar outlook on life, might say Smeg.
How popular was Red Dwarf over in the US? I’d have thought in the states this’d be a pretty obscure reference.
I don’t think it was on TV here at all. I had heard about it in forums, then found a dvd at my local library, and some online stuff.
Ah…this could depend on the funding or level of interest at your local PBS affiliate, or possibly just timing. Red Dwarf premiered on Pittsburgh’s PBS station in late 1989…it probably hasn’t rerun in some time.
Oh, goodness, quite, at least in geekdom. So generally speaking the reference would probably get you a “Huh?” amongst the general public but not among the fans of a comic like this. Of course we were usually getting the episodes quite a bit after they aired. I’d watch it on PBS (public television)–I don’t know if it aired on cable on BBC America. NBC attempted to make an American version of it–twice, I think–but as usual Hollywood simply destroyed what the BBC had done and it never got past the pilot. I think may The Office is the only translated series to do well–attempts at reworking Fawlty Towers bombed, people are calling Skins porn, Absolutely Fabulous can’t get past the censors…I have heard they are now working on news ways to destroy The IT Crowd. Not sure how Being Human is doing since I don’t have cable…
I think Sci Fi tried a run of Red Dwarf as well; I only got to see teasers for it, though, as it ran at a time when I wasn’t home (as in, I saw teasers, and then had to go to class. Stupid education!). Nerdy as I am, I’ve only heard of it (and I do have cable).
Not having seen the Brit original I have no idea how “honest” an adaptation it was, but Sanford and Son was fairly successful.
Oh, I forgot about that! Didn’t the brit version star the guy who played Paul’s grandfather in “A Hard Day’s Night”?
hmm. You’re naming a real mix of good stuff and rubbish there :) – but they seem to all bomb equally.
Personally, I hate The Office. I simply could not watch the BBC version and the NBC version makes me squirm in not-a-good-way. Loved “Misfits” though…had to scavenge for that on YouTube. ;-)
My personal favourite sit-com is “yes minister” – cannot recommend enough.
YM is great though it seemed too grounded in British politics to be effectively followed by a non Brit.
“The New Statesmen” is pure gold however and prolly my favorite.
I don’t blame people for leaving. It’s a complete genre shift, and some people who enjoy high fantasy, which this comic *was* for it’s entire run; nods to mmo’s not-withstanding, are allowed to not be fans of… what I can only call a “Swords and Motherboards” fantasy.
It’s not a wrinkle. The world no longer exists as an actual place. It’s a game in yet another “Earth one step to the left” reality. Any sort of holding your hands to your ears and going “Lalalala it can still be a real fantasy world” isn’t going to make it so.
I think the biggest source for the fanrage is that we all *cared* about the world and the people in it. We know that its all fake, an author’s imagining. We still cared about them. And to take those characters and rip them down, make it just some game that is even *less* real, even in it’s own universe, is enough to make lots of people throw up their hands and quit.
It doesn’t matter to those people where things are going now. What they cared about is gone. It would be like if Seasme Street tuned into a “Behind the scenes” slice of life drama.
I think the reason people favored the notion of “it’s a real place” over the “one step to the left” is because we see our own lives day to day and interact with what we know are fake worlds all the time. I think, in a weird sort of way, I would have preferred if they were a bunch of table-top gamers. OR, I guess, if there had been some stronger hints that this is the way things were going from the beginning. I know there were MMO and RPG references and hints already but perhaps if the Sepia World had been slowly worked in this wouldn’t seem as jarring. The people who dislike this kind of story about gamers possibly visiting a gaming world would have probably already been turned off by it but at least then they might not have felt lied to? I guess that’s the problem. It’s just so sudden. Admittedly their deaths were also sudden but *shrugs* I can deal with a TPK. Even reference to character deaths. But I admit I’m not as hooked on seeing the gamer’s lives as much as the gamer’s character’s lives, if that makes any sense.
I still intend to continue reading the comics myself. So far it isn’t as gripping as it was for me before but I am curious to see what’s going on. I do kind of like seeing what the gamers are really like but only because their is a mystery hanging around them and I presume our introductions to their actual selves might be brief. Even if it’s not, I would be fascinated to see what happens between Byron and Syr’nnj’s players if they come out of this alive. Was it just roleplaying for them or was it real affection?
Very nicely articulated yes. Most of the rage that’s there at all, is not because of the shift per se – it is because there was no clue about this sort of dichotomy early on. And with the authors’ insistence that this is all part of The Plan, it feels very uncomfortable to what we as readers had grown to expect. MMO references and other silliness aside, we did indeed care about Arkerra and the crazy characters.
When the Shift happened, a lot of the ragers felt that this was too sudden a change, that there was no foreshadowing of such a drastic turn in the direction of the story. Or, not enough foreshadowing.
And as far as referencing goes, look at Order of the Stick – constant referencing to tabletop game concepts. What thief REALLY yells out “Sneak Attack!”? None, of course, but the comic is referential to D&D and makes the humor work. It comes across as the illustrated adventures of a group of gamers around a table.
I gotta learn html tags better. dammit. or we need an edit comment function.
I blame people for leaving. It’s totally their fault that they’re leaving.
You can tell that because they have the free choice about what to do on the internet.
And I’m sure none of us would have it any other way.
I do feel a bit bad for Phil though. I mean… The rabbits are out of the bag, and this poor bastard is going to have to deal with the consequences FOREVER. Any new project is going to have some wag pop up and ask when the shift is going to happen. This is going to be Phil’s “Nuclear Wessels.” the annoying thing every fan is going to ask about at cons or in the street. “WHEN IS TIE?!” they’ll scream, and phill will die a little more inside each time…
I’m here for a while yet, though the pacing is getting a bit annoying, since I don’t care about Arkeera at all right now, not until the Reveal is fully revealed. Watching Best wander about like a dog with a bag on it’s head when we’ve got a mystery to bitch about is not helping. I think that’s one of the reasons I am personally annoyed. I DON’T care about the fantasy world anymore.
Nuclear Wessles! Ah. I hope it ain’t so, but dang. You threw this reference in, and I can’t get it out of my head. I enjoyed the story, it’s unbearably slow right now, but I’ll wait it out. It reminds me of the videogame Hack//
I believe everyone is looking at this the wrong way around. It is obvious that, at the moment that Harky’s forces were commiting extreme naughtiness on our heroes, Syr’nj did some totally awesome science, creating an alternate reality capable of keeping the party alive until such time as the situation could be rectified.
In other words, Arkerra is real, and the world inhabited by Dr. H. R. Strangestache is a construct.
Yeah. That’s what happened. (twitch…twitch…)
That… that would be totally awesome. O_o
Well, either that, or in another six or seven chapters we’ll find out H. R. is actually a sim char in a game called “Computer Game Tycoon”.
Not Dragon’s den age? Suns of software empires? Tony Hawk’s x-treme game production?
The sepia world is a poor simulation, you can tell because it’s quite bad at replicating colours.
Or it’s like that Japanese/Polish movie Avalon. The “real world” outside of the WWII MMO was very colorless except for food, which I’m sure meant something. Here, the “real world” is colorless except for items closely connected to the characters themselves.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who are as interested in these kinds of stories as I am, but for those of us who do like, or can at least *appreciate* the shift in genre, I highly recommend it.
That’s because sepia world is still in its initial release. Wait for Sepia 2.0 to come out.
Randomly, am I the only one just now noticing that the “Janitor” door has had its lock *broken*?
No, that was the totally funny joke from this strip. Because these funny guys have to do their interviews in a janitor’s closet.
Which they had to break into themselves.
Those guys antics are so funny! Such wackiness!
Ah didn’t catch the sarcasm in the “thank you for your kindness” bit. And, I guess, it didn’t click because why would you put the proof you vandalized the convention center on the air?
Funnier now though :P
At the moment I am alternating between bored (Best’s antics) and confused/intrigued (Gray World)–part of the challenge for the writers is that it takes 2 months of feeding us a little at a time to get through a chapter, whereas if this were a TV show or print comic book things might seem “faster.”
What I am wondering about is how I will feel if we return to the characters we are familiar with. I was genuinely interested in their backstories and world, but *if* Arkerra is shown to be some kind of MMO fiction, then I wonder if I will lose the emotional investment because I’d know these details are something the players made up.
Or are they?–someone here suggested that maybe the game took over and shaped them. Or maybe they didn’t create characters but were sort of thrust into their roles in Arkerra. Ever since the “genre apocalypse” I’ve thought back to an odd thing Byron said to Best right before their fight: Best asked him who the heck he thought he was, and Byron replied, “I’m pretty sure I’m Byron the Berserker.”–emphasis in the lettering, not mine.
Anyway, there is certainly potential for some interesting drama here: if the Tube People are Our Heroes, and if as far as they know they are only Our Heroes…what does this do to their sense of identity when they discover or remember who they actually are?
Uh…assuming Grey World is real and Arkerra is not and there’s no trans-dimensional stuff going on, that is…my brain hurts.
Remember the Grimoire and the Candles in HR’s room? I think this isn’t purely tech. Something eldritch happened. I really do think Arkerra is a real world being tapped for profit by the Gray Worlders.
That’s my best guess at what’s going on too.
If I may…
Going by the plethora of hypotheses going on, how about this. (And my apologies if this has been mentioned…)
Arkerra is a real world. Somehow, someone (HR) managed to find a way to interact with that world. Gray World is also a real world. HR found five vict…erm…volunteers to “test” the bubble interface that was created in order to more completely tie together both worlds. In doing so, The Five were injected into a world that already exists, possibly into characters / people who exist, so somehow The Five are now “living” in both worlds simultaneously. HR is collecting data from the bubble interfaces and using it to keep his company at the leading edge of the gaming industry.
Or some such nonsense…
I’m actually becoming a bit bored with all this teasing. And while I’m fully expecting four more pages with silhouettes, I’m hoping that the other beta-testers can be shoved into a single page. It kind of feels as if Dedalus is the protagonist in the sepia world, but he’s holding his cards so close to his chest that all I’m left with is a silhouette being serious in a sepia world. Come on, explore the island already…
I’m really hoping against hope we’re not doing four more days of silhouette interviews, although it should be fun to see people breathlessly guess who everyone is.
“Ooh, that guy’s Byron!”
Really? You think the color-coded long-haired guy who quoted Lord Byron, who the mustache guy called Byron 5 pages ago, might be Byron? Y’think? What a twist!
We’re not doing four more days of silhouette interviews.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about this comic, it’s that T and Phil tend to put the narrative pacing in about the right place. The number of strips devoted to an idea or plot is usually about right.
One set of interviews per character would be a fairly sensible pace to “introduce your characters” in a new comic, but we’re not a new comic, and people know who the characters are already. Kind-of.
I wouldn’t mind 4 more whole strips of interviews. This is an important phase of character building where we get a feel for the “players” who aren’t quite the same as the Arkerra characters.
I am guessing, Tube Byron interview (this one) > Arkerra Best shenanigans > Tube Syr’nj interview > Arkerra Best shenanigans > Tube Dusty interviews > Arkerra Best shenanigans > Tube Frigg interview > Arkerra Best shenanigans > Tube Best interview > Arkerra Best FINAL DRAMATIC shenanigans > PLOT TWIST
That’d be perfect. :)
OK Phil guys, let’s level here. I’m a long time fan and I am pissed off, I can’t handle….. that it’s not freaking monday! lol seriously gents I’m enjoying this direction but this pace is torture lol. (I do understand though, so it’s cool) I also think alot of our fellow readers who are making for over board are doing so because of the pace more then the actual content. I trust willingly and happily that you guys are going to bring this together and as I’ve stated previously I’m here till you end the comic, or the universe dies. Which ever comes first.
My theory on what’s about to happen meanwhile, is our boy H.R. made a minor… mistake. He was working to create an incredible game, to the point of calling on eldritch energies and dark rituals. (Cthulu? Yog Sothoth perhaps?) this gave him “the five” who are now focci for directing energy to and from what HR thinks as a game world but is really an alternate dimension. What I’m hoping to see is a tiny little magical “accident” that collides the two worlds merging them on to one plane. The 5 then have to do their job for the Gastonians in the terms of healing two shattered and merged worlds. If that’s not what happens the generalized version of that concept is copyright me lol
Wait.
‘SMEG?’
Red Dwarf reference? Because part of this reminded me already of the ‘Back to reality’ episode…
I initially came to this comic because I heard Erica Henderson was doing the art for this comic. I enjoyed the vast majority of her run and the story ran great together.
When she left as artist, I still stayed on because I had grown attached to the story and the characters. The tongue and cheek nature of the strip was endearing in some bizarre way and things came together to present something that was honestly enjoyable. I (and many others I presume) was rewarded with a tremendour cliffhanger that had us practically counting down the days/hours until the next update.
Then we had the genre shift… which leaves me at a loss. I will outright say that I’m not a fan of the shift because it trivializes the world we’ve come to know and love. The characters have all but been explained to have been constructs in some shape or form and that takes away the immersion. The genre shift takes away from the world Arkerra exists in for me, and makes it not as appealing for me.
Will I stop reading? *shrugs* If the story stops going in a direction I like, then yes. If it gets back into the mix of things that helped make the comic great, then I may continue reading. I still believe the genre shift was the wrong choice, but that would not be my call to make, but the writer’s.
Then again, maybe I’m just grumpy that we got stuck with a cliffhanger that wasn’t on its way to resolution by the next update.
Well, this page has gotten me cautiously optimistic. I was really getting concerned we were wandering into some self-referential meta-whatever, but I am feeling a bit better about things.
I find the world shift to be quite intriguing. Considering the potential that comes from the combination of technology and magic, I find it the most plausible possibilities to be that: (1) Arkerra and Sepia World are separate dimensions, possibly alternate “Earths” of each other, or (2) Arkerra is Sepia World-in-the-Past. While I acknowledge the possibility of it simply being a game world, I find that the evidence points to something more.
Also…first post! :)
Here’s the thing. I always figured it was some sort of game (due to how frigg speaks and acts, I knew it wasn’t just a fantasy setting). I just figured it was more like D&D or some other table-top game. The fact that there is all the “meta-game” intrigue just seems to be getting in the way of the story of the game itself.
Frankly, as a table-top player AND a former table-top GM, the journey of the story and the players’ roles in that story are what give me the most enjoyment. So to have the epic story of these six adventures interrupting for WEEKS by this meta-gaming just grates on my nerves. (Also, I tend to play bards if that makes my rant make any more sense.)
Speaking as a table-top player and a constant DM/GM…
I’m still digging this.
MORAL OF THE COMIC: Never follow a few dudes who a grinning creepily into a Janitor’s Closet.
Too many tldrs this time ’round. Sorry guys, I just…..can’t.
TL,DR: Some people like the way the story is going, and some people don’t. There. You’re pretty much caught up.
Oh riiiiight.
Actually, TL,DR: Too long. Didn’t read.
You’re talking about SpltwtsigaspdTYpmcu.
You can never have enough Tacos Later, Damn Right.
I have been reading this comic since its beginning, and I thoroughly enjoy where it is currently going.
I never commented here, as I’ve only been interested in the narrative and art. It’s always been clear that a larger plot has been planned, and the work of the artists has been incredibly detailed and awe-inspiring. I wanted to make my gratitude known for an amazing piece of work that I can enjoy for free – a privelege in this day and age when the arts become pricier and pricier to produce.
While the comic has always been good fun, this major turn in the plot has genuinely defined it as being unique and original. I’ll eagerly continue returning to this site to see where the comic is headed and what kinds of messages will ultimately be conveyed.
In short, thanks for writin’ and drawin’ stuff that I like to look at. I’d like to look at more of it.
I started following this comic pretty near the beginning. I thought at first it was yet another webcomic based on roleplaying games with some satire about the genre and some breaking of the fourth wall — better writing and art than usual, but otherwise it seemed to be covering familiar ground.
With this chapter, it’s gotten interesting. With today’s page, it’s gotten really interesting. Most of us, I expect, have been roleplayers, and know the fleeting pleasures when the imaginary reality seems to have enough continuity and integrity to seem real in its own right, for a moment — and then are frustrated at the inevitable disruption.
(Which, come to think of it, may be what the people ranting about the shift in direction of the comic are feeling.)
Stories about players becoming completely immersed in games, with predictable “too much of a good thing” warnings, have long since become a cliche. I’m sensing, here, that we may get a more interesting exploration of the longing roleplayers feel, as I, for one, have spent a lot of time trying to explain to myself what it is that I’m longing for, and I never can quite explain it.
Mr. Owl,
I was actually looking for a fantasy webcomic, with better art and writing than usual. To me it sounds like you’re underestimating how hard it is to do these things right. Not every new band has to invent a new style of music, sometimes it’s enough to play something familiar that you like, really really well.
That said, I will admit I would have been perfectly happy reading this comic if it stayed with the original party and in it’s original world the entire time. HOWEVER, I did like everything the artists gave me so far, so I’ll at least give them the benefit of the doubt that this is going to turn out awesome, even if I think I’d rather just get my high-grade fantasy only webcomic.
Either way the I loved the comic up to this point, really one of the best. Thank you.
Of course, good writing and art are always welcome, and I have some idea how hard it is to do. I did follow this comic for several months before it took this recent turn, which I didn’t at all expect.
I’m just explaining why I’m pleased that it’s taken this turn.
That last part was meant to address the creators of the comic, not Mr. Owl.
idk why everyone seems so upset and surprised that the comic hasn’t been about a real fantasy would but about players in a game. i thought it was kinda obvious given that in the first chapter Frigg is told to stay character instead of speaking Leet.
i’m kinda glad that the real world is finally being explained. it may answer a lot of questions.
Because that’s pretty much how most fantasy-based comics roll. They make rule/player jokes, bend the fourth wall to the point of breaking, and don’t take things amazingly seriously. The fact that this is not only explicitly laid out but in fact a major plot point is jarring for a lot of people.
This comic is fantastic and I am in it for the long haul.
It kinda irritates me that there are readers who presume that they knew better than the creators where the story should have gone or should be going. It’s pretty clear this was planned from the start and I have enjoyed the surprises.
It’s not that they know better. It’s that we’re honestly afraid that the creators are going to completely bullocks the story. TV Tropes has an entire set of pages about creators who sink their own creations. It’s a very real possibility, and I’m sure a lot of writers/creators are worried they’ll do the same to their own work.
I applaud them for taking such a drastic step, and biting the bullet and pissing off so many people. They are telling the story they want to tell, knowing full well all this would happen. Sure, they could have played it safe and just go on making it as they did, a well done fantasy story.
But they want to tell a different story, they want to take us somewhere else, even if we’re pissed off about it. I’m hoping this all works out. I’ve been brainstorming ways to *make* it work. Oddly enough, I’ve find a few ways I’d love for this story to go. Finger’s crossed eh?
“blah blah TV Tropes blah blah blah I’m hoping this all works out. I’ve been brainstorming ways to *make* it work. blah blah”
Good lord. Can you not even see what is wrong with you and the things you say.
There’s a few hours left before Monday’s update I want a three paragraph response gogogogo
It seems like odd things are going on here. Daedalus’ comment about how “the day it all went so wrong” + the candles and spell paraphernalia would seem to suggest that the Bubble experiment has gone somewhere it wasn’t originally intended to. Add that to the thought that Daedalus may have manipulated Best by creating that ghost…
It would seem that we have a combination of Tron + Wizard of Oz + Neverending Story going on here. Perhaps Daedalus’ intent was to actually SEND people to this alternate dimension, but something went wrong. Their minds stayed behind, and Daedalus is trying to bring them back.
Er, make that “bodies”, not “minds”.
Hm… I stopped reading in december when exam season was hitting hard. Just picked it up again now. The comics changed… a lot. I’m not entirely sure what I think of this new direction. Certainly seems like something I’d eat up without restraint if I hadn’t been expecting something else entirely. The writers here haven’t lead me astray yet though, so I have faith that they know what they’re doing, and this’ll all turn out well once I’ve seen where it’s going.
On another note entirely, a couple months after the fact “Holy Shit! Byron Berserked!!!”
That was awesome:D
Upon meditating on these developments, I say I like it. I’m hopeful. It’s not often I get to have my sci-fi and my fantasy bone scratched at the same time, but this looks like it can do it. I’m in.
I may not be enjoying this comic AS MUCH as I was before the genre shift, but that’s a far cry from not enjoying it at all.
Anyone who reads Science Fiction or Fantasy should be prepared for sudden shifts in the “Reality Paradigm” because, frankly, it’s a beloved staple of the genre(s).
I can just imagine some of the louder voices of protest reading a Grant Morrison comic, the froth would flow like unto the mighty Mississip.
Grant Morrison wrote The Invisibles, and has therefore earned himself a free pass to write anything.
Besides, Grant Morrison is almost his own genre.
First time poster: I just read through the entire archives, plus a good portion of the discussions here. I have really enjoyed Guilded Age so far, and I am INTENSELY curious to see where this is going.
I am not liking or disliking Chapter 9 yet, because I don’t have enough information to come to any conclusion on my opinion.
Also, Phil and T have proven time and time again (to me, at any rate, especially as I read P&A) that they are talented writers. They obviously know where they are going with this.
Also really enjoyed Byron’s Berserk, as it is a new take on the classic ‘hero who isn’t showing his true potential, people doubt him, then WHAM, he unleashes all his power in a destructive way’ (and I do believe I’ve seen this enough times, don’t ask me to give examples :))
Man I really hope that makes sense.
Anyway, I sure am sticking around.
I’m not saying I like this entire sci-fi twist so far, but I don’t yet hate it either. I’m willing to stick with it for now, even if just to see where it goes. This revelation certainly changes a lot even when looking back at what has already happened, and not necessarily for the better, but I don’t see the point in jumping ship before seeing where it’s going to take us.
If the strip does jump the shark, just tell everyone a wizard did it.
Crowning moment of awesome Masterof7s
Obviously need more D&D playing, fanfiction writing people for fans. :P I have so many questions that need answering now! Did the players create their own characters going in, did they work from a pre-written backstory or did they wing it? At what point inside did they become so immersed into the world that they forgot who they really are? (I’m assuming there, but it seems damn logical that they did.) Being in a completely new world, seemingly with completely different memories (see Byron’s flashback), how has it affected their personalities? Are they the same as there are in the “real” world or have the choices they made as parts of the world been different than if they were really just players in the world?
It’s completely intriguing to me in a nature vs nuture concept of viewing this shift in the worlds. It brings up far more questions than I’m going to list here, but I think you get the gist. Instead of not caring about the characters anymore (as some people have suggested, since they’re not “real”), I care about them in a completely different way. They are real. They were real in the game. The question is how real were they in comparison with theirselves pre-tube or pre-game? How much of what we saw of them in game was role-play and how much was their true reactions to the world around them given that it seems they were “lost” into the world, so to speak? The shadowy interviews are just another facet of their characterization that we’re getting to see. I, for one, am highly intrigued at the new depths that can be uncovered here. ^_^
I love the comments section *happy sigh*
i’ll second that.
I think a lot of the folks jumping ship here are assuming they know where the story is going, which is kind of confusing since this whole chapter has been a very dramatic demonstration of our total inability to read the authors’ minds. Hopefully they’ll check back in a month or two and at least make sure they’re right, especially the “Arkerra is just another game and we can’t care” folks. There’s been too many hints at something…more for that to really be said.