Chapter 50 – Page 33
That’s it. We’re donezo. We done did completed ourselves an epic. On behalf of myself, T, John, Jason, Erica, our Patreon Patrons, and everyone else who lended a helping hand in the making of this here fantasy rag, we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for seeing it through. Our blood, sweat, tears and souls are in this crazy huge body of work, and it’s an utterly surreal feeling to consider it “Finished.”
AND WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?!
We’re going to have a few extra odds and ends, some concept stuffs and shorts, a fire sale of our remaining stock, and updates about printed editions of the rest of the volumes, provided the demand exists for such things! One thing we’re excited to do is “Ideas We Were Gonna Do But Decided Were Bad,” because those are the most fun to reflect on, aren’t they?
We also plan on re-running the series whole hog seven days a week sans filler syndication style with maybe some creator commentary and whatnot, so that should generate some extra ad revenue be fun!
So tune in Monday for… something! Bonus features of some sort! And maybe we’ll do one last comment avatar rotation, who knows? Main story is indeed, done, but that doesn’t mean we can’t provide you with a bit more entertainment after the fact. But for now…
This comic was both enjoyable and moving. I’m glad to have read it.
Thank you.
It’s always a bit sad when a comic you like ends, especially one you’ve been reading for this long.
Thank you, guys.
SO i am follower for a very Long time that can be seen by many past comments.
i might have not agreed with some characters.
i might have not like the Sepia world when it started to happen.
But i always! …always came back for more. There were Secrets to be unraveld, characters to grow, jokes to be heard , Friends and enemys to be made and most important of all…a big Story to be told.
So the final Page is turned and the last word is read, a final sigh escapes. A Story came to a close ,many thoughts remain and at the end what was given? A Story? a tale of wonder? written words and Pretty Pictures? No what was we were given was a world. A birthground for ideas and fantasies ,for tales and dreams for every single Reader who was willing to become part of Journey.
So From the bottom of my heart. Thank You.
And please forgive the Sentiments of a Long time fan.
Thanks for this great comic, Phil, T, John, Jason, Erica!
It’s a terrible day for rain…
I wasn’t here right at the beginning, but been on the GA Train for a little over 7 years. Guilded Age is easily the longest narrative I’ve ever followed along with to completion. No questions for you, I just wanted to say thanks for the time and effort you’ve all put into this comic.
Is there a drm free pdf available? It doesn’t necessarily have to be print quality. I wouldn’t mind that level of detail too pore over, I do not plan on printing it. I just have a no book rule because of space issues with the 2000 books I already own, most of which are out of print.
As another comic I read puts it, welcome to the “non-cannon club!”
We definitely have ebooks in the store! I’ma yield the mic to Phil regarding the details on those, though.
All of our content, most notably our PDF eBooks, are DRM-free.
We will likely be cross-posting our material on DRM-laden stores such as Comixology and Amazon as well, but if you buy direct from us, you own it 100%.
I, for one, am a huge proponent of that DRM-free life.
Is good this.
Have some approval. Good job.
I have to say my own thank-you… this has been one of the most involving, thought-provoking fictions I’ve ever read, and it really needs to be in one or more books, so I can give it to my grandson when he’s old enough. I think it’s up there with Sandman, or nearly so; what praise could I say more?
Thank you.
Thank you guys for an amazing ride, it’s been a privilege to witness such deft storytelling. My husband and I have been reading almost from the beginning. We’ve moved three times, had two more kids, gone through a hell of a lot of life and joy and hearthache, and this comic has intertwined itself into all that. Some of our kids have listened to us talk about the plot and characters all or most of their lives. (Try explaining Frigg to a tween boy. Just kidding. Don’t try to do that.)
I’ll miss the commenters, too. I tend to lurk, but reading through everyone’s comments was as much a part of enjoying the comic as the comic itself, so I guess that leads to a few questions:
Will you keep maintaining the site, along with the comment section, or do you see yourselves taking it down at some point? (Or have you not really thought it through that far yet?)
Did you guys enjoy reading through all the comments too? Were there ever times when reader speculation hit too close to where you planned to take the plot, or was that part of the fun?
– We plan on running some bonus features before syndicating the comic as re-runs with commentary to propel sales of the completion of our collection. But honestly, a big part of me just wants to hang my damn hat already. Nonetheless, the bit of income this comic provides for me literally pays for my health insurance so… yeah, I’ll be beating this dead horse best I can.
– Most the time, yes. I will fully admit: The more emotionally draining (read: difficult) a page was to write, or the experience of working on the project was overall, the less likely I was to read the comments. Even after all these years, I am ashamed to admit that I am the type to let one negative comment out of dozens of positive ones to send me down a spiral.
And the pun slinging! The torrential tsunami of puns! Just a collction of puns would be a whole new book just by themselves! Yeah, each commentator who dropped a pun here might be able to “claim copyright” on the individual puns that they’ve dropped, but you guys can claim the whole body of works as a Collective Works copyright, as long as you give mention that it IS a collective in context with this story. It is a legitimate legal claim that everyone who posted anything on this *open public board* has knowingly & deliberately contributed to your comic with their free will & consent. With that in mind, this could be your “baby horse” that you can also beat to death…
0.0
I enjoyed the comments a lot overall, though I tended to defer to Phil mostly when it came to interacting with them. In my experience, one person needs to take point on community management, and Phil was more capable of keeping up with that side (especially at the start).
I’ve been reading the comments since I started doing the art, and I’ve enjoyed all the speculation, wit, and exchanges of the readers. You guys rock!
Thank you so much for this incredible story! And for bringing it to a thorough and satisfying close. It has been one of my top favorite webcomics. I will now reread from the beginning.
There’s been some discussion about the fate of the altruists, but what about Iver? I know he was carted off after his humiliating defeat, but was he executed for killing the mystics or did Gravedust just have him imprisoned?
I would hazard a guess they keep him a prisoner specifically so they can put him to hard labor. That feels a deeply appropriate punishment for him.
Yeah, he may be alive. But I would say that if he is, then in addition to being assigned hard labor, he is now among one of the other races of the World’s Rebellion (probably the gnolls, as Penk is all about trolls building with their hand, Penk wouldn’t want to encourage Don Gobligno’s old bond with Iver, and the avians have less use for non-flying laborers). Not going back to the mountains with the others is likewise just punishment, and Gravedust knows not to give Iver a chance to rebuild any power base.
Are you guys planning to release the entirety of the comic in physical format at some point? I’d personally love to own a physical copy of the whole comic. Who do I throw money at to help make this happen?!
We have discussed and will likely do a limited run of physical-format comics, at some point down the line. Should the plans for that crystallize, we’ll do a fundraiser.
I have probably never, ever commented on Guilded Age, ever, but I’ve been here, silently
stalkingreading your amazing comic since at least Chapter 30. I may not be a veteran of this here community but I’ve laughed in the darkness at all of you talking and theorizing and whatnot, in my own head participating.Sorry for not commenting until the end, but hey, I’m talking now. Hello, people, and goodbye, Guilded Age. I will sorely miss you, oh comic of adventurers, mad science, mad magic, and philosophy.
Here! Here!
Which should be “Hear! Hear!”, of course. :-P
Isn’t it: “Hear, here”? As in: “Listen at this location”? Maybe that’s just my imagination, but I could have sworn that’how it went.
Cheers,
Cote
I thought it would be “Read, read,” and “See at this location.”
*raises hand as part of the demand for prints of future books*
Loved every panel of the entire run. Sad it’s over, but glad you closed it, and closed it well, while you were on top of your game. Well done!
Well done! I’ve enjoyed Guilded Age for years – thankyou for taking us on this wild ride!
Thank you for this great experience. I came in when the story was less than halfway completely… was hooked, and was one of those comics where it was genuinely entertaining to read the comments section of the regulars of this community. What can I say, other than I enjoy being pun-ished.
My only regret is never earning that coveted star. :(
Thank you so much for making this story. I must admit I did have doubts when Sepia world first reared, but I’m pleased with the way things resolved, and that there wasn’t a ‘HR is defeated, we can get you all out of the game now’denouement, and Akerra continued to be the real world from the POV of all the main characters.
How do you imagine things went for Pardo, after he got his pardon? What would he be doing now, and what would he want to be doing?
Pardo is, I think, still confused and disoriented. He doesn’t seem to have much of a hateful streak, but a lot has happened that he’d find deeply upsetting.
He, like many people on both sides of the conflict, assumed that the Rebel defeat of Gastonia would result in human genocide. And now it… didn’t? In the once-Gastonian streets, various races are mingling more or less peaceably. But there’s still enough low-key conflict that humans fear their purge may just arrive a little later.
Most of them take solace in Byron’s reassuring presence, but to Pardo, Byron is a man who spectacularly failed to protect his friends and family. He misses his old friends in the Heads of Houses– but they were never really his friends, were they? And he narrowly missed imprisonment/execution specifically BECAUSE they weren’t his friends and ousted him before they lost the war.
I don’t know whether he’d get over all that, eventually. If he did, his congeniality would make him the sort Penk wanted looking after human affairs, so he may well have a place in the current government. But like Rana, if he did recover, it wouldn’t be in time for this finale.
Oh my goodness, Guilded Age Team! You did it! Congratulations on a phenomenal body of work, and thank you so much for enriching the last nine years of my life. I’m so happy for you all.
Thank you all!!
Please exit through the gift shop.
Thank you so much for everything you’ve put into this wonderful story, and for allowing me to read it for all these years.
Best of luck with all your future endeavors.
Congratulations!
As the person always at the head of the line complaining when some long-running comic gets abandoned mid-story, let me extend my heartiest thanks for finishing what you started. And what a story it has been!
Is it a coincidence that this comic and another of my favorites (Zebra Girl by Joe England) were scheduled to end at the same time? And are you mad at Joe for extending his comic one page at fan request and thus messing that up?
Somebody else mentioned Zebra Girl and compelled me to go back and look it up today. It’s pretty great! But no, we hadn’t coordinated anything with Joe.
Thank you so very much! What a fantastic web comic!
Like so many others this is my first time commenting after years of reading, but just wanted to join the chorus of thanks and congratulations. I remember being blown away by the reveal of the sepia world in a way that few comics have ever done to me. And it quickly became my favorite part of the story. Carol’s, Shana’s, and Xan’s arcs were all incredible.
And because I can’t walk away without asking at least one question: is Scipio different in Akerra after Kaye is killed? It makes sense to me that the Five would continue as fully conscious beings after their bodies are destroyed. And the NPCs as well by way of HR’s magic. But Kaye was just a regular player, and Scipio seems like he would be lessened by her death.
To be honest, I’m not sure there’s a solid answer for that. Scipio and Kaye were individuals, while also being linked. Perhaps he has done things differently without her influence, but Scipio is still Scipio.
The question could be applied to anyone on Arkerra who’s ever been paired with a “player” in the real world. We know from Ferris’ tour that that means a population in the millions. I view it as like going down the highway with another car that takes the same path as you for a while. If your mind wanders in this direction, it might feel like you’re controlling them or like they’re controlling you, but then your exit comes up, and your paths diverge.
I’ve been following this for a very long time, don’t believe I’ve ever commented before, but I’ve enjoyed this all of the way through. Good, satisfying ending too.
I really don’t know what else to say other then good god damn job, I haven’t been reading too long maybe the past year or two at best but damn was this a good journey. As long as this site is up it’ll definitely stay in my favourites bar even when it gets to a point where nothing new happens. Definitely need to get around to buying the collection as well.
Can’t wait to see what else you guys have in store, specially that commentary if that rears its head.
This was a wonderful comic right from the start, and I hope you’re all proud to see it through. I hope even Erica has some pride in having been part of it, big star that she is now. :D Thank you all so much for a wonderful time.
I think my favorite takeaway from this whole thing is that I like the idea that the characters I make in MMO’s are real people who go on living their lives and having adventures even after I’ve left.
So, questions:
Is there an afterlife for trolls, and if so, is Harky there? Does he know the state of the world, and what Penk did for it?
Arkerra is now short at least two gods. Tectonicus, and that wolf god that was boosting Frigg. Is the cosmology of Arkerra such that others will ascend to fill those roles? Do other gods take over their “portfolios”, so to speak?
What was really the nature of the Neon World? Is that another game?
Does Auraugu start the World Fuzzy-Wrestling Federation (the WFWF)?
Gravedust would say that all races get one afterlife and Harky left no real unfinished business, so he’s transitioned to other concerns.
One idea we (or maybe just I, I forget) considered for the ending was the emergence of some kind of new god for this new era. We didn’t go there, but I certainly think it’s possible.
Cyberia is “a game” in the sense that Arkerra is “a game”: gamers can experience the lives of people there but it’s also its own place.
Since his title comes from his many victories in wrestling tournaments, I’m not sure they don’t already have one.
I figured there was one among the Fuzzy Peoples, but now other races can take part, too! They can be Honorary Fuzzy Peoples. There can be weight-classes, so the gnomes don’t get immediately crushed.
I just want to see more cool lucha masks.
Excellect. Definitely keep us readers informed of everything you are doing next so we can follow that, too.
Putting on my plus 1 for all books, please! Would love to buy the entire collection!
What was His Grace Iwatani’s first name??
Taheru.
Awesome! Thanks!
This has been a wonderful story. And I can’t wait to buy the print box set once you guys have it ready and I have money. :D Enjoy the ending, y’all have earned it.
Yeah so I have been reading this for a week or two and I just finished it today. A day after it ended. I never waited for a page update. I mean really, what are the odds? I mean I was on chapter 42, pge 9 this morning.
Fuckin’ wild.
Why do fools fall in love?
Because love has a peculiar way of both sharpening and blurring the big picture.
Gold star.
;-)
Cheers,
Cote
Well bye then, and thanks for the fish.
Don’t forget your towel & there will be no need for panic.
:)
1) Was the Sepia World an idea from the start and what was the purpose of it? It really feels like they can be read as two different stories, with the “Fantasy” World setting itself so firmly from the start it could’ve just gone that path, a story in a fantasy world, since nothing in Arkerra feels or plays like a game. Really, we know better with HR’s double-death (talk about raid mechanics), but it feels like the events in one world didn’t quite affect the other, even when HR tries to dick around with The Five using magic he fails. Heck, someone was killed and it didn’t affect anything on the other side (though it is explained why, that’s not the point I’m trying to make). Was this the intent from the beginning and why was this?
b) Was being one of The Five of actual importance in Arkerra? People like Bandit and E-Merl seemed just as vital and they were “just players” (sometimes). Hell, Bandit is arguably one of the most skilled in-world and beloved out here!
γ) What was the deal with Cyberia? Was it just to show us there’s more worlds that can be linked? Because while I get Best got sucked into it through that weird wormhole, I don’t get his transformation and amnesia. So I thought Cyberia (and his condition) would be expanded upon.
Lastly, why was Bandit so suspicious of the group coming back from their death if at the time it should’ve been a respawn for her, since not being one of The Five, it was just a game for her? … Is Akrerra permadeath server?
I’m so sorry for all the question, I know I’m a terrible reader but I loved this and I love you, for what it’s worth.
BONUS: Who is the best character and why is it clearly Payet Best?
iiii.) I noticed that you change symbols for every question, and that’s pretty awesome. :)
That’s a great question about Bandit. At the time, I assumed Bandit was a player fully aware of “respawning”, and didn’t want to “break character” by mentioning it. I uh…I’ll admit that I don’t remember quite what happened there. But didn’t Bandit die and come back, and it was never quite explained how?
1) It was always part of the intent from the beginning, and to put it the most simply: This is ultimately a story about role-playing. You must have both worlds for role-play to exist, IMO.
b) To a point, yes. They had an extra-level influence on the world, and their non-tubed cohorts did whilst around them by proxy. Those who were not connected, affected, or altered by the tubers were ultimately possible to be made malleable by HR.
γ) Cyberia was, ultimately, another world adjacent to the others. It was the home of what Arkerra would call demons or The Countless. To put it simply, Best’s transformation and amnesia as he translated his being to that world was a similar if not identical process as Best’s player into Arkerra.
Lastly, as one might recall, when Bandit found them in the tavern upon their return, she was barely surprised to see them, bordering on 100% expecting them as you’d surmise. Later, in her conversation with Syr’Nj, she was making bones about it basically just because Syr’Nj was making bones about it with her, as it is kind of her nature. You could say that Bandit’s player was RPing with her at the time, suddenly accepting “OK, we’re rolling this story in such a way that we have to justify our resurrections.”
BONUS: It is actually Frigg.
Thanks a lot. :) I started mtf transitioning in the middle of this comic, and me changing my name from Loki to Casandra / Loki kind of reflects that.
For what it’s worth: “For it’s life we must take / and life we must give / when life consumes life / in order to live” is I think the most memorable part of this story for me. I find it really poignant, and tends to blow people away whenever I quote it, and when I do I make sure to add “from the great webcomic, Guilded Age”…even if they don’t read webcomics, I gotta give credit where credit is due. ;)
Also, I absolutely positively adored the um…favorite pokemon of every character bit. Do you think you could do that for the whole cast? (I know this comic is your baby, so if that’s too much work and you really don’t want to, please don’t hesitate to tell me no. :3 )
Thanks for all the story, and best of luck on your next adventure! :)
I appreciate the compliment, and I think I’d have to agree: The Druid’s Prayer is probably the single best snippet I’ve put into this entire rag, and it surprises me because I consider myself very much a non-poet. But it’s just like… how biology works, man. Maybe that truth is what makes it so resonant.
I’ve heard of people even using it for their Druids in WoW RP, and that just fucking tickles me silly.
And so, Gravedust began a game of Civilization IV. ;P
Now that’s a game I’d know something about.
I love that song. Thanks for posting :D
Here’s one I’ve always liked. Even though it’s a part of the Wizard’s path in the game, it includes dryads.
It also reminded me of one of the first World of Warcraft teasers back then.
It’s sorta a money question, so feel free to avoid it, but after your experience with this (and coming from previously successful projects, I think?) do you think webcomics have a sustainable future?
I ask because most of the ones I used to read are done , or getting there, and I have very few new longer-form webcomics that replace them.
Webcomics absolutely have a sustainable future indefinitely, but to be 100% frank: It requires both a dedication to business and craft that I don’t think we ever quite managed outside our 9 to 5s, and it requires hitting a threshold of audience that we never quite did.
No regrets, of course.
“hitting a threshold of audience that we never quite did.”
That’s a damn shame, both for you, who deserved to be better rewarded from this epic, beautiful effort, and for the world at large, who missed out on this. I’m grateful for my privilege.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and I only have so much time this morning, because I gotta start another freelance writing gig that will help me and my wife eat. So, quick hits:
1) There are definitely people making a living solely with webcomics right now. But it’s not, like, a ton of people. The same thing can be said about puzzle design, photorealistic painting, and many other creative disciplines.
2) Even if there weren’t any such people, though, webcomics would be sustainable as long as it is relatively inexpensive to make a comic and put it online. I don’t consider myself not a webcomics writer because I do other stuff.
3) Though I am fond of long-form webcomics, they’re not the same as all webcomics. If someone wanted to make a go of it and really wanted to do a long-form webcomic, I’d suggest starting with a short-form one and gradually transitioning out of it.
4) I would suggest that time has not only changed the field but changed you– I know it’s changed me. I know there are new long-form webcomics being made out there, but when it comes to getting lost in them, I just don’t have the time or patience that I used to. I want new experiences, and I got so far into webcomics for a while that even the good ones can feel like more of the same. But I know a twelve-year-old who’s getting into them in a big way, and that’s nice to see.
Thank you all for a great comic.
Just to add my two cents, this entire comic has been absolutely bloody marvelous, and I’ve followed it as I’ve moved to three different countries now. It’s clever, it’s poignant it’s sassy and it’s a crying shame that more people don’t know about it.
Add me to the list of folks who would like to see this on my actual, physical bookcase, since my son (who is LITERALLY taking his first steps as I type) will need to read it someday, and I’d like him to discover it on a dusty bookshelf in an as yet to be determined location :-).
Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, since it’s been a hell of a ride.
Cheers,
Côté
Ps Whatever happened to the gold stars? I miss those.
I second the gold star question…
Where’s Avidro?
Out there somewhere, being tomorrow’s problem.
What new stories may you write now i wonder, in time we will know but for now a round of drinks to ye.
Thank you.
Thank you guys. You did well. I will miss you.
Well, congratulations, and thanks for the wonderful story. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the read.
It’s strange, with Zebra Girl and Chirault this is the third webcomic I follow to finish recently.
Do you guys ever think about continuing the comic? Maybe with smaller story arcs??
Man we just ended it.
Give us some time to miss it, maybe!
It has been said that if you make your passion your job you will never work a day in your life. As a semi professional musician I can say that if you make your passion your job you can turn anything into a grind. Congratulations on an outstanding web comic. I wish your team all the best in any future endeavors and hope that I can find them before they are half completed (as I did here). Enjoy your rest. I am sure you will have new projects again when you are ready.
Thank you for the music. I loved reading this comic and I wish you good luck to future endeavours. It was a great story, it was a great adevnture, which has come to an end and I hope that you will continue on, maybe with a new story, maybe with picking up some pieces, that were left behind.
It’s been a pleasure folks. Until the next journey.
Definitely get the rest of it printed up. I’d like to finish out my collection, and maybe get another set for a friend. It’s a good enough story that it shouldn’t be subject to the vagaries of Internet server maintenance.
Feel free to put me on the mailing list for when it’s ready so I don’t miss it and/or the one for being notified about whatever project any of you start on next.
So just one question then remains …”Where is our story of Payed Best’s Airship adventures?”
This one feels tongue-in-cheek, but I’ll answer anyway: We’ve got no plans for any sequel. I think it’s unrealistic to expect all our friends to retire from adventuring at the same time, and I’ve always liked a happy ending that leaves the reader to imagine some fresh adventure to come.
I started sometime around the start of book 2 was it? Now it is over. It is sad the tale is told and no more remains, but I am glad it was good and it ended so well. Good job to all involved and thank you for all the enjoyment.
Until the next journey, a place will remain by the fireplace for storytellers like you.
I’ve been reading for a while, but never commented before (though I always kept up on the comments section.) I’m breaking that silence, like many others, just to say thank you. Thank you for a great story, and thank you for ending it well.
And count me among those hoping to round out my physical book collection in the near future.
Not sure this is gunna be read but… I need to comment.
I’ve been following T’s work since the Faans resurrection and have been reading this sionce day one with rapt attention and excitement. I actively cheered when Shanna showed up….
This was… this was good. It was… I am actively tearing up right now. I don’t know what to say except… thank you for making a great story… I really hope this isn’t the last I see of any of you. I’ll keep an eye out for future projects. This wasn’t just golden, it was Guilded
Congrats my friends Phil and T. This is a truly impressive feat and you and your art team should be super effing proud. Can’t wait to see what you all do next.
Old FAANS fan here, been following GA since day 1 – great comic, and thanks for all your work over the years!
When will the Netflix Original come out?
Ooo! It would make one hell of a series!
Thank you all for this awesome story!!! It has consistently been one of my favorite webcomics. I was always eager to see each new page. And thank you so much for the slow and satisfying conclusion (sadly very rare in webcomics).
As someone here form the beginning, from Faans and QUILTBAG to here.
I’m sorry I haven’t commented as much as I’d like, as I was often in catch-up mode (obviously, writing this days late)
Thank you.
“the final travel that will take me beyond this ink and parchment.”
Really? I thought this story was done with pixels & display screen?
This has been an amazing journey and the creators should be proud! I will miss our friends but will enjoy what more will come!
Just finished this incredible Epic!!!! I can’t remember how I found out but it was literally impossible to put down.
The story and characters were/are compelling, the art work, form beginning to end was the light , the life of each of these characters.
Thank you thank you thank you a million times…. I hope to see some other new endeavor and fantastic
Imagination one day….
Love the “GUILD”! 💕😍
I started reading this comic a while ago, not more than a couple of months. Kinda stoped arround chapter 9 or 10 I guess, then about a week ago I started reading it quite more intensely and I’ve gotta say, this one is by far one of the best comics, bah stories, I’ve ever read, watched, or gamed. The twists, the intertwining of both realities this comic showed, is perfectly, masterfully done; this story has kept me glued to the screen, wether it be my cellphone, or a computer. Thank you for bringing this story into existance. It was a trully fullfiling experience.
Just read through the comic a second time, and a thought reached out and ka-smited me right in the gut:
Frigg isn’t actually a real-life pal. She’s basically the sum of all my college buds, and yet….she won’t be around.
Lord only knows why my subconscious thought of her as true-to-life, but y’all crafted a narrative so visceral that you had me believing it to be reality. Hats off, gang. I sincerely hope your stories are far from over.
Thank you for such an amazing story, guys, it really made me laugh so many times, enjoy it all te time I spent reading it and even made my eyes wet several times… Like now. I always feel sad when something so uniquely beautiful ends :(
Still, I have a question (a sort of): what about the Five IRL – Eric and the other unnamed guys – so they died and no trace of their previous selves and self-awareness remained? It is so sad indeed, it makes me wanna cry again :-(((
In a sense, the five who stood against HR at the end are what remains of the “five IRL,” sharing certain traits and inclinations like children do to their parents. That’s probably the most comforting way I can put it.
Hey team. I just wanted to say thank you for a solid ride. The story overwhelmingly was engaging and enjoyable, and it was a long ass archive dive spanning almost 2 weeks it took me to read it. Just to clarify the Story in my mind. This is a multi verse story, and somehow HR magicked a connection into an altverse and imprinted the soul of those 5 into already living people? And everyone else that logged into real people that lived in that world and controlled them for the duration of that time? What was your explanation for how the world continued to live even though I’m SURE that the company was hostile took over and the entire game shut down.
I started binge-reading this series only recently—over two years after its end.
But damn if it hasn’t made its mark on me. Amazing characters, amazing themes, amazing worldbuilding, amazing plot…this webcomic is simply amazing.
Thank you—this was an amazing read.
Cool work, guys. Liked it.
Stumbled on this site accidentally, a month or so ago, well after you’d wrapped it up. Browsed a bit, liked the look of it. Went back to the beginning. Read a bit. Got hooked, read through till the end.
Won’t gush about it. Unlike many. There were themes that might have been developed, like how this arcano-whatsisname affects Sepia world, our world presumably, and what the implications of that might be, philosophically as well as practically.
But that said, while I’m not gushing per se, but I was invested enough to read through all of it, and to feel a small twinge of regret when it ended, and to comment now.
Nicely done, guys. Really cool. 👍