I really don’t see why people keep saying he’s a horrible person. Sure, he’s been a bit of a douche before… but he’s the most competent person we’ve seen.
It’s not a flaw of the ego if you really ARE just that good.
Lol. True, but oddly enough, having the skills to back up your ego just makes it more obnoxious than it would have been otherwise. The endangerment of children doesn’t help either >.<
This being said, I'm with you. Loved him since day one. If the cast didn't have so many incredibly awesome characters, he'd be my favorite by a landslide. Certainly he'd get that position in any other comic. He's not a professional like Byron, or just plain abrasive like frigg, or even self centered like Bandit. He's all of the above and more, centered around the fact that he's just awesome and knows it.
In addition to the “child anchor” incident followed by the cheap shot on Byron, he also willingly took everything the townsfolk gave him and then walked out, leaving at least two girls pregnant. He was also generally condescending to his fans. He sat around freeloading in taverns until an old mad sort of guilt-tripped him into actually going off to be the hero of prophesy. Regardless of his competence or whether you love him, hate him, or love to hate him, that’s a jerk in my book. I don’t think he’s evil, but I wouldn’t want to be near him. I’m expecting him veer into Kanye West territory any time now…
Well, there’s only one problem with Sheen playing Best. You see, Sheen has Warlock blood, and Best is a bard… I mean, I guess he could cross-class. It’d help him be better at WINNING.
We don’t know that he was freeloading. We saw an afterparty, we saw him get food. I’m betting he just saved that town, since his inner dialogue had him thinking along those lines.
I know that if you saved my city, I’d at least give you a free breakfast.
He wasn’t in the same town, so the prophecy might not hold relevance there. The kid says he want’s to be a musical warrior, like best. He was MUCH more proficient than any of the other characters. I’m gonna go with he’d already had an adventure or two, and was building a small reputation. After all, later he’s dining with nobles as a guest.
Play your axe, jump the shark,
’tis but a walk in the park.
Avenge your bird with a deadly note,
let it be known there is no vote,
let them talk about how it felt,
when they fell like all the rest,
on the day they had messed,
with none other than the Best.
Well yeah, but it’s a guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads in a video game. I can do that too, if it’s the right video game. A guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads FER REALZ is slightly more impressive.
He didn’t look like he was still in there by choice. I suspect that this reality has substance, and that Payet over here has long forgotten everything pertaining to the hatted silhouette (so, not technically role play anymore). Anyone who likes .hack//sign shouldn’t have any trouble with this as a fantasy universe.
I apologize for the serious response to the humorous comment. I couldn’t figure out how to respond humorously in this instance.
It’s hard to look like a douche when everyone you’re interacting with is evil. A snide remark to Syrnj is mean spirited. A snide remark to an evil cultist is just badass.
Right. He misses the 8-bit and 16-bit era of console games — before online multiplayer games became dominant. He knows how to take on difficult challenges and win, without help. He doesn’t know how to work as part of a team
Can’t we just finish up with this loser? Now he’s not only an ass personality wise, but he’s a downright bore in addition due to his sudden inability to do anything wrong. I don’t know if this is the writers trying to rehabilitate the character and get him back into the story or what, but I’m hating it.
It’s not sudden. Best’s possessed impressive fighting prowess and quick thinking from the start. He’s not being rehabilitated, just continuing doing what he always has done.
Indeed, when he was with the group, success was largely due to him. He wasn’t good at team work, so often his actions were detrimental in that sense, but everything he did, he did well.
I *am* amused by Best’s antics. He really is kinda hilarious when not with the other characters. Speaking of whom, I am eagerly awaiting to see them again.
And, aside from Bandit and H.R. look who else wears PURPLE in this comic:
Yeah, she had much more blue than purple. Now with the purple on the cultists . . .
The cultists are the “Order of Countless Limbs,” which could in a way refer to players of an MMO–a full MMO would have a lot of limbs attached to their players. Also, there WAS that cult-y ritual stuff on the table in front of the tanks. I always thought there was something more to the cultists . . . but I’m not sure what to think, honestly.
bandit’s a little purple but not too much, you could just as well say that she’s (a href=”http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-7/chapter-7-page-7/”>green
I’d rather discover that Bandit is a computer-controlled NPC than discover she’s being controlled by H.R., so I will latch onto whatever gives me hope that’s the case. Ideally I’d like to discover she’s controlled by a player with a similar personality, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Oh, interesting…Gravedust wrote that the cultists seemed to do things with no specific reason other than to cause chaos…or maybe “stuff for players to deal with.”
I may need to reread Gravedust’s notes on death in light of the “no really, it’s WoW” revelation since then. I mean, think about that. Frigg’s soul has a purity to it? What does that mean? What part of the game told him that? Did part of the game tell him that?
@Felvine Yeah. . . I’m wondering if “Purple” is a “Seriously importnat NPC” kinda color. Except Harki did’t have any purple on him; none that I could see anyway. So either that theory’s already blown, or Harki’s a PC.
@ Karishi I think you could tie that in with both Frigg’s real world and game personalities: she obviously has friends she’s very loyal to, hence the “purity” of her soul.
Purity of soul can also indicate adherence to one’s beliefs/code/personal morals (no matter how weird/distasteful/outrageous they may seem to others). Granted that this is the sort of “purity” that Hitler could have tried to lay claim to, but it IS another definition of the term.
I will agree that Frigg’s loyalty is unswerving, once you earn it.
I think I was unclear in what I was driving at:
With Best and Frigg as possible exceptions, these players do not act like players, either in the “playing a game” or “acting in a play” sense of the word. Between that and the fact that they appear to be floating comatose, I put high odds on them not knowing consciously that they are in a game.
Thus, if Gravedust’s player was not a mystic, what does he use to specify that Frigg’s soul radiates an unusual golden hue? Is he subconsciously making it up? Does the game provide him a “second sight” filter (would be totally dope)? His having mystical in-game abilities makes the second more likely. At that point, how is the game deciding to mark Frigg as golden? Is it her “tube PC” status marking her as special? Does the game have an “alignment” filter?
For that matter, re: book and candles on Dedalus’ desk: Is the game tapping into a magic that extends to both the inner and outer realities posited in Guilded Age?
I think you have to look at it like any other game situation: Gravedust casts a spell/uses an ability to see her soul (he’s not SAYING “I use X” he’s just DOING it as it’s something he does naturally). The GM (or AI, in this case) responds to the ability and provides him with information based on what *it* knows about the other players that Gravedust may or may not know.
As for the book and the candles, I think that’s a “need more info” kind of situation.
I’m starting to wonder if this is what he thinks of himself with regards to heroism and appearance. The previous pictures we’ve seen of him are what he really looks like.
Best’s antics are very amusing. He always impresses me with how effective he is, even though I don’t WANT him to be. I hate to have to admire such an egotistical jerk.
On an unrelated note, I just realized that the cultists all wore purple, like a certain tie we’re all debating about the significance of.
Ya know, everyone here is on and on about Best, but I’d just like to mention that the face-to-face view of battle-lusting, drooling, crazy-eyed shark men is just *slightly* TERRIFYING.
Only other time I saw the musical axe was in a game call Bard’s Tale.
Main character’s as self-centered as Best, though probably not as good looking. BUT HE GETS A PUPPY!
I can’t believe nobody’s taken up the jumping-the-shark jokes! Or did that happen dozens of pages back, and is already played out, even though he’s jumping now?
Yay, back to the Best at his best
At rocking everything! XD
And comical nonsense makes a comeback.
Okay, fine, Best is at least good at what he does. I figured he’d be dead already.
He’s not just good, he’s the Best.
not enough sideburns for that particular line, sez I.
Sideburns? for that line, you need straight-up chops
I’m digging that tune.
Best, your tunes may be catchy but you’re still an ass to me.
JUST LOOK AT YOUR AMAZINGLY PUNCHABLE FACE!
Personally I am looking at his squeezable ass.
So that’s what Frigg saw in him…
…Which one?
(Who says it wasn’t both, now that I think of it…)
I suspect she was more disappointed that she missed out on the post-coital liverpool kiss she was looking forward to giving him.
How did I miss that the first time around? Good catch.
MAKE THEM PAY FOR THE CHOCOBO, BEST. MAKE THEM PAY IN BLOOD.
“GOODNIGHT, SPRINGTON! THERE WILL BE NO ENCORE!”
Best turning the entire game into the medieval equivalent of Total Distortion makes me way happier than it should.
YOU ARE DEAD, DEAD, DEAD
And now, a somber ballad for his fallen comrade.
Holy Fuck, I can hear the music. How you doing that?
Best has mastered being a bard. He makes sound with only images.
Y’mind humming a few bars? I’m not picking it up.
I typed it in response to Kimberly T, but it doesn’t seem to be showing.
It goes duh duh duh Duh Duh Duh DUh
dududu Duh Duh Duh Duh
dududu Duh Duh Duh Duh DUHDUHDUHDUH
Okay, I’ll bite: what tune should I be singing that to?
It goes duh duh duh Duh Duh Duh Duh
duh duh duh Duh Duh Duh Duh
duh duh duh Duh DUh Duh Duh, DUHDUHDUHDUH.
I have it to this
This:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liqT8X6PG3M
It’s what Locke is doing, anyway.
I see what you did there.
This is what I heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ-FdvWJCWc&feature=related
and thank you for reminding me that song existed. I’ll be rocking out all day.
I don’t know, but I bet the sharks were singing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB_fDwBMkCQ"this (caution, a bit NSFW)
Crap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB_fDwBMkCQ
Okay, 2 totally epic fails, there. third time’s the charm? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrB2_zqJQJU
Only one person could ever be Best:
You know, Best is a horrible person and all but.
Damn he makes Bard look good.
I really don’t see why people keep saying he’s a horrible person. Sure, he’s been a bit of a douche before… but he’s the most competent person we’ve seen.
It’s not a flaw of the ego if you really ARE just that good.
Lol. True, but oddly enough, having the skills to back up your ego just makes it more obnoxious than it would have been otherwise. The endangerment of children doesn’t help either >.<
This being said, I'm with you. Loved him since day one. If the cast didn't have so many incredibly awesome characters, he'd be my favorite by a landslide. Certainly he'd get that position in any other comic. He's not a professional like Byron, or just plain abrasive like frigg, or even self centered like Bandit. He's all of the above and more, centered around the fact that he's just awesome and knows it.
In addition to the “child anchor” incident followed by the cheap shot on Byron, he also willingly took everything the townsfolk gave him and then walked out, leaving at least two girls pregnant. He was also generally condescending to his fans. He sat around freeloading in taverns until an old mad sort of guilt-tripped him into actually going off to be the hero of prophesy. Regardless of his competence or whether you love him, hate him, or love to hate him, that’s a jerk in my book. I don’t think he’s evil, but I wouldn’t want to be near him. I’m expecting him veer into Kanye West territory any time now…
Two words. Charlie. Sheen.
Does this mean we can expect Best to acquire Gloves of Fire-Breathing?
With battle-tested bayonets of poetry at his fingertips, baby!
Well, there’s only one problem with Sheen playing Best. You see, Sheen has Warlock blood, and Best is a bard… I mean, I guess he could cross-class. It’d help him be better at WINNING.
what do you mean “veer into”
drift toward (behaving like), begin to emulate…
We don’t know that he was freeloading. We saw an afterparty, we saw him get food. I’m betting he just saved that town, since his inner dialogue had him thinking along those lines.
I know that if you saved my city, I’d at least give you a free breakfast.
I’m not talking about the start of this chapter–I’m talking about chapter 2, when he was first starting out: http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-2/chapter-2-page-6/
He wasn’t in the same town, so the prophecy might not hold relevance there. The kid says he want’s to be a musical warrior, like best. He was MUCH more proficient than any of the other characters. I’m gonna go with he’d already had an adventure or two, and was building a small reputation. After all, later he’s dining with nobles as a guest.
Lol. Yep, definitely a jerk. I sincerely hope my comment didn’t imply in any way that he wasn’t.
Yo Imma gonna interrupt you but Payet is the one of the best bards of all tine.
Death by Heavy Metal. Slayer would be proud.
Play your axe, jump the shark,
’tis but a walk in the park.
Avenge your bird with a deadly note,
let it be known there is no vote,
let them talk about how it felt,
when they fell like all the rest,
on the day they had messed,
with none other than the Best.
\m/
+. 1. internets.
*obligatory shirtless guitar solo*
You sir, get a year’s supply of gold stars for that perfectly crafted piece of writing.
Your EPIC-ness is that of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy combined *w*
Thank you, thank you, you’re a wonderful audience. Check out our next show: http://neo-fringe.com/nimg.php?fn=1275640494922.jpg&f=areas/a3/f3306.jpg
Gold Star.
Keep raising that bar, Cap’n.
Indeed. It makes limbo much easier.
And now somebody’s going to have set that to some kind of metal. I recommend either power metal, or thrash.
I recommend Van Canto. :) for all your metal needs.
(What? No guitars?)
I’d never heard of Van Canto before. Thank you so very, very much. Another new favorite band for me.
I’m a sucker for female vocals in metal so that band is pretty awesome to me.
I like Payet now, knowing he’s the victim of an even bigger douche.
I don’t know why but I keep hearing Best’s voice as the lead singer of New Found Glory O_O
fookin Payet.
Im so gay about him.
Worst part is that I used to hate him… guess he’s the best at what he does.
80’s hair metal. totally radical.
All he’s missing is the 4 yards of perfectly groomed hair.
Now that we’re talking about it though, I can see a pretty strong resemblance to David Bowie here.
Ground control to major gangler? Are you crazy? Hes no Starman, what with character ch ch changes. But Ashes to Ashes, its good theory.
It’s “You gave love a bad name” isn’t it…. ISN’T IT?!
bard ovpow nerf plzkthx
STFU Zerger noob. Raging while impaled is soooooo totally balenced…
So you think a barbarian wouldn’t rage when they were impaled? As long as the HP is there, I should think that’d be the best time to do it.
this comic… this comic has jumped all the sharks.
It’s much less enjoyable when you know it’s just an egotistical musician roleplaying in a fantasy video game.
As opposed to a musical warrior character in a fantasy world that happens to resemble a roleplaying game.
IT HITS TOO CLOSE TO HOME, MAN.
It’s a guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads. It hits that magic spot that causes tingly feelings in my entertainment part of the brain.
Well yeah, but it’s a guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads in a video game. I can do that too, if it’s the right video game. A guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads FER REALZ is slightly more impressive.
Actually, it’s a guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads in a webcomic.
If you want to be precise, it’s a guy slicing landsharks into chum with power ballads in a videogame in a comic on the internet.
ah, but we don’t know it’s really a videogame. We can’t be sure, nobody said Fo’ Realz.
nice.
Lol. Reading through the archives and suddenly I get the joke. Fantastic!
A game that /lets/ you do that is at least awesome. Plus, it’s not like the game is composing for him. Probably.
He didn’t look like he was still in there by choice. I suspect that this reality has substance, and that Payet over here has long forgotten everything pertaining to the hatted silhouette (so, not technically role play anymore). Anyone who likes .hack//sign shouldn’t have any trouble with this as a fantasy universe.
I apologize for the serious response to the humorous comment. I couldn’t figure out how to respond humorously in this instance.
More cowbell.
You know something Payet, can I call you Payet?
The lyrics, well, the lyrics to this here particular song.
Well sir, these here lyrics, make it seem like YOU might be the bad guy.
Look! Payet has a gold star!
…did his gold star MOVE? It’s on the lower corner of the jacket in panel 4, but in Panel 5 it’s on his shoulder…?
I think there’s one in each corner and in panel 4 it’s covered by his shoulder pad.
… Damnit Payet. You spoony bard!
An axe-guitar that produces thunder, looks a lot like one of Dante’s weapon in Devil May Cry 3.
I don’t think it’s actual thunder. More like shock- or soundwaves.
Is it just me, or does the Payet in this chapter seem much less of a douche than he was previously? I wonder if someone different is playing him now…
He’s a solo act. His douchbaggery mostly comes out when there are people on his side.
It’s hard to look like a douche when everyone you’re interacting with is evil. A snide remark to Syrnj is mean spirited. A snide remark to an evil cultist is just badass.
Right. He misses the 8-bit and 16-bit era of console games — before online multiplayer games became dominant. He knows how to take on difficult challenges and win, without help. He doesn’t know how to work as part of a team
Oh hey. Nice catch. I hadn’t caught how his preferred gaming era matches up with his skill set.
Best just went Linkin Park on those land sharks. Awesome in a super corny way.
It depends. Are we talking pre-Minutes to Midnight LP or post-Minutes to Midnight? XD
USE DOUCHE POWER
Can’t we just finish up with this loser? Now he’s not only an ass personality wise, but he’s a downright bore in addition due to his sudden inability to do anything wrong. I don’t know if this is the writers trying to rehabilitate the character and get him back into the story or what, but I’m hating it.
Just… get back to the group already, would ya?
It’s not sudden. Best’s possessed impressive fighting prowess and quick thinking from the start. He’s not being rehabilitated, just continuing doing what he always has done.
Indeed, when he was with the group, success was largely due to him. He wasn’t good at team work, so often his actions were detrimental in that sense, but everything he did, he did well.
Spoilers:
BEST IS PART OF THE GROUP.
He was the only reason their first mission was successful.
Now get over the worrying and enjoy your axe guitar.
Excuse me…I’m sorry, but I’m gonna hurl.
If yer gonna spew… /unfolds tiny paper cup …spew in this
Looks to me like those spears were going to completely miss him anyway, acrobatics or no.
I *am* amused by Best’s antics. He really is kinda hilarious when not with the other characters. Speaking of whom, I am eagerly awaiting to see them again.
And, aside from Bandit and H.R. look who else wears PURPLE in this comic:
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-2/chapter-2-page-2/
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-7/chapter-7-page-13/
Now I’m REALLY getting curious.
ooh. crazy evil cultists.
I always felt like Bandit’s color was blue. Not saying there isn’t purple there, just saying it looked blue to me :P
Yeah, she had much more blue than purple. Now with the purple on the cultists . . .
The cultists are the “Order of Countless Limbs,” which could in a way refer to players of an MMO–a full MMO would have a lot of limbs attached to their players. Also, there WAS that cult-y ritual stuff on the table in front of the tanks. I always thought there was something more to the cultists . . . but I’m not sure what to think, honestly.
bandit’s a little purple but not too much, you could just as well say that she’s (a href=”http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-7/chapter-7-page-7/”>green
I’d rather discover that Bandit is a computer-controlled NPC than discover she’s being controlled by H.R., so I will latch onto whatever gives me hope that’s the case. Ideally I’d like to discover she’s controlled by a player with a similar personality, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Oh, interesting…Gravedust wrote that the cultists seemed to do things with no specific reason other than to cause chaos…or maybe “stuff for players to deal with.”
I may need to reread Gravedust’s notes on death in light of the “no really, it’s WoW” revelation since then. I mean, think about that. Frigg’s soul has a purity to it? What does that mean? What part of the game told him that? Did part of the game tell him that?
@Felvine Yeah. . . I’m wondering if “Purple” is a “Seriously importnat NPC” kinda color. Except Harki did’t have any purple on him; none that I could see anyway. So either that theory’s already blown, or Harki’s a PC.
@ Karishi I think you could tie that in with both Frigg’s real world and game personalities: she obviously has friends she’s very loyal to, hence the “purity” of her soul.
Purity of soul can also indicate adherence to one’s beliefs/code/personal morals (no matter how weird/distasteful/outrageous they may seem to others). Granted that this is the sort of “purity” that Hitler could have tried to lay claim to, but it IS another definition of the term.
I will agree that Frigg’s loyalty is unswerving, once you earn it.
I think I was unclear in what I was driving at:
With Best and Frigg as possible exceptions, these players do not act like players, either in the “playing a game” or “acting in a play” sense of the word. Between that and the fact that they appear to be floating comatose, I put high odds on them not knowing consciously that they are in a game.
Thus, if Gravedust’s player was not a mystic, what does he use to specify that Frigg’s soul radiates an unusual golden hue? Is he subconsciously making it up? Does the game provide him a “second sight” filter (would be totally dope)? His having mystical in-game abilities makes the second more likely. At that point, how is the game deciding to mark Frigg as golden? Is it her “tube PC” status marking her as special? Does the game have an “alignment” filter?
For that matter, re: book and candles on Dedalus’ desk: Is the game tapping into a magic that extends to both the inner and outer realities posited in Guilded Age?
I think you have to look at it like any other game situation: Gravedust casts a spell/uses an ability to see her soul (he’s not SAYING “I use X” he’s just DOING it as it’s something he does naturally). The GM (or AI, in this case) responds to the ability and provides him with information based on what *it* knows about the other players that Gravedust may or may not know.
As for the book and the candles, I think that’s a “need more info” kind of situation.
“… and that’s the story of where the all of the Best Shark-Fin Soup restaraunts came from, Timmy.”
I’m starting to wonder if this is what he thinks of himself with regards to heroism and appearance. The previous pictures we’ve seen of him are what he really looks like.
Ouch. Not only is Best killing them, but the rest of the hive-mind is going to have that stuck in their head all day.
Ha! This comment is so awesome! After months of reading comic and comments, I’m dragged out of lurk to tell you. Thanks for making my morning.
REVENGE FOR THE BIRD!!!!! And may he pay it the best way he knows how.
Best’s antics are very amusing. He always impresses me with how effective he is, even though I don’t WANT him to be. I hate to have to admire such an egotistical jerk.
On an unrelated note, I just realized that the cultists all wore purple, like a certain tie we’re all debating about the significance of.
Huh. That’s weird. When I wrote this comment, my other one, with the links, wasn’t showing. Now I feel repetitive.
Sorry, sometimes posts get caught in the spam queue if there are bunches of links of them, and I can’t always get to them as early as I would like!
No problem–now I know for next time :) Thank for clearing up the mystery!
And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you PESKY ADMINS!
Even cheesy power metal won’t make me like you, Best.
Un-Fucking-Pleasable.
Hello, Cleveland!
The stars are aligned!?!?!?!?!?!?!? http://www.amazon.com/Toy-Vault-12-Cthulhu-Plush/dp/B0006IEX7C
fthaghn!
Oh man…
I despise Best, and yet I cannot get over unbelievably awesome this page is. Especially while listening to a dance remix of David Bowie’s “Heroes”…..
His name IS “Pays t’be (the) Best”… more-or-less anyway…
Ya know, everyone here is on and on about Best, but I’d just like to mention that the face-to-face view of battle-lusting, drooling, crazy-eyed shark men is just *slightly* TERRIFYING.
Man-Shark stare into your soul and finds it delicious.
I have to say, Best’s lung-capacity has to be simply amazing. Maybe it’s a Shit Elf thing.
I can hold my breath for ten minutes!
You must be awesome at Drownball.
Drownball always leaves me gasping.
As much as Asthmaball?
Both leave me with bated breath.
Best alt text ever.
It’s a late last comment. But…
Best could be singing Wagnerian opera. >.>
Which somehow, if you melded Wagner and Black Sabbath, seems to fit.
Only other time I saw the musical axe was in a game call Bard’s Tale.
Main character’s as self-centered as Best, though probably not as good looking. BUT HE GETS A PUPPY!
I can’t believe nobody’s taken up the jumping-the-shark jokes! Or did that happen dozens of pages back, and is already played out, even though he’s jumping now?