Chapter 9 – Page 5
A word about recent developments:
We know that reading a comic day after day means making an investment. It may seem right now like we’re not really going to reward the investment made when you read the first eight chapters. We hope you’ll trust us when we say we will.
In during massive butthurt because everyone’s making assumptions.
You people have no idea what direction the comic is actually headed in, and ALL the complaints I’ve seen so far are baseless assumptions derived from stories that are, in fact, NOT THIS ONE.
So far, GA hasn’t let you down once. Not once. Grow a pair and wait to see what happens…it’s not like it takes more than a minute to read an update, anyway.
you’re right, i admit I’m wary, but I’m not giving up on it.
Guilded Age has disappointed me a few times, actually. I got over it. Just like I got over the disappointment of realizing that you can’t please everyone.
Technically, GA has let me down with every appearance of Payet Best. So first killing off the gang, then a week of Best, and lastly a complete genre switch, GA has earned three big strikes in a row. Right now, it’s getting a free ride from being on my MWF comics bookmark list and inertia. That, and I want to see what sort of rabbit they are thinking they can pull out of what’s left of a hat.
Been reading from the beginning. I consider myself a passanger, GA is the Captain of its own ship and I am willing to stay aboard! Anyone that stops reading wasn’t the type of people I want to discuss reactions to new updates anyway. Although this twist is a bit jarring for those that were deep set in the idea that GA was a pure fantasy world I for one look forward to peering through the looking glass so to speak. My prediction? This new development is in some way a “alien ant farm” kinda deal. :)
Seems like a harsh way to characterize people merely for deciding they don’t wish to spend time with a comic anymore.
I just started reading from the beginning today. The alt-text was right yesterday for sure. I give everyone involved credit and am just moving forward while still in shock.
ok i know i am a part time idiot and all, but where is everybody?!? ilovesmethiscomic! and i do. I am reading every day and also the update days and I am really interested and wary too! lol Still Very Cool TYVM Team Guilded AGE!
I’ve loved Guilded Age so far, and this development has made me intensely curious as to what’s going to happen…
Still here. Still cringing. Still trusting. This must be how people in those “The End is Coming” sects feel.
Well I have read this comics since very near the beginning and have enjoyed it immensely. Obviously this is a HUGE hairpin turn in storytelling, but I’m certainly willing to ride it out. Personally, I always felt like we were seeing a character-eye view of a tabletop RPG, so this doesn’t bother me too much.
Obviously some readers will like it more, and some less.
I read a LOT of webcomics and and while I’m not about to remove this from my favorites list, I do feel the need to move it into a different folder for the time-being, which makes me a little sad.
Still loving the comic though.
Personally, I see 2 really neat story possiblities:
1:) I remember a short story once about characters stuck in a choose-your-own-adventure book. They eventually started making the most bizarre, non-sequitur choices they could think of, just to buck the forces that kept rewinding their lives. Kind of like Groundhogs Day. This could be something sorta like that, which could be neat.
2:) This is that strange dream on the other side, that our characters experience in the brief periods between their concious adventures. I’m leaning toward Mr. Deadalus here being Gravedust, but maybe that’s too obvious. (it’s worth noting that as rarely-seen alter-egos of the characters, the overall story could be relatively uninterrupted by this revelation, as promised)
Of course it could easily be something I haven’t foreseen. Pete Abrams does that to me all the time.
Oh my gods does Abrams do it! SF’s story goes all crazy every six months or so, I think. Of course, that it keeps me guessing is part of the reason I’ve been reading it for as long as I have.
If anyone still needs a reason to stick around, I’ll give ’em one.
Look at what’s around Deadalus’s neck. That, my friends, is the almighty PIMP TIE, and it is a sign of better times to come.
I didn’t notice until you mentioned it, but you’re right; that tie is the only splash of color in this section of the comic page and I am left reeling at the implications of that. Maybe it only signifies that he is the only character of this story section of any importance, or maybe it is indicative of some otherworldly power that goes beyond what his surroundings would otherwise imply.
Apprehension. I’m still enjoying the comic but I do feel apprehension. I trust you. You’ve given me 8 great chapters which is eight more than I’ve asked for. The only real problem with a move like this in a story is that your release schedule is slow compared to other mediums like television or podcasts or video games. So I’m left with days and weeks of trusting you and being apprehensive. I trust you’ve kept this in mind.
So onward! Lets go slay some account hackers!
Additionally, alt-tag is as hilarious as ever.
The only thing that will keep me from reading this comic, is if you stop making them.
I’m still excited to see where this goes. I have an idea, but it’s kinda stupid so I’ll keep quiet.
Yeah, I trust you guys.
I’m willing to trust William H. Macy for anything.
Seriously, though, while I’m not digging the current twist, I’m not going to ragequit over it. I’m waiting to see what you guys do and if it’ll still keep my interest as much as Frigg ever has.
That’s the first thing I thought to myself when I saw the last panel, William H. Macy!
Anyhow, all the silly comments put aside, I do hope that there will be a proper explanation as to what actually happened, the new “storyline” isn’t doing it for me and I’d welcome a Deus Ex Machina to bring back our beloved adventurers.
Exactly what I thought re William H Macy. The biggest mystery I can see is where they found game designers wearing a suit and tie. I thought they all wore t-shirts with geeky sayings on them. This must truly be an alternate universe.
Trusting yoos.
I still read after Landsharks, I’m going to keep reading now during… whatever this is xD
I know that there has been only 2 cries of 4th wall, at the time of this posting, today but i really just have to say this
As of yet the fourth wal has yet to be boken. The four wall is what seperats us from the world, adding another world does not break the fourth wall. one of the characters saying I hate the author, do you think our readership will rise, or damn i hate these three panel days.
Nowthat I got that off my chest, The writing is good, the characters are intresting, and there are “twists”. you want a story that follows your rules? Commision one or write it your self. if there is something u don’t like sure u can coment on it. if u want to leave, go ahead, just don’t rage quite and do both.
Man, I sure didn’t expect this! It didn’t come out the way I planned it, but heck…that’s half the fun! Who the hell wants a predictable storyline?!? There’s no way I could walk away, I’m stickin’ around.
Why is his tie the only thing that’s in color? I feel like that’s significant somehow…
There’s a film called Avalon where the gameworld is in colour, and the real world is not. I guess that could’ve been the inspiration for that choice?
As for this recent change, I never took the MMORPG parody world seriously enough to feel that metagaming ruins everything. And I’m kind of surprised that some people did, what with the inherent nature of a parody. I guess I’ll just have to hope that the sensitive souls simmer down so that the comment section can return to being excellent. Because reading lamentations is not one of the best things in life.
Huh.
Wait a second.
Well I’ll be damned. The jarhead pegged it.
I’d say something witty about when did they start teaching Marines how to read (and why), but I’m off to bed.
I’m with a much more previous comment… Whatever happened to Peter with the Singing Sword who ridicules him and the faulty bootstrap?
Ok, everyone is totally freaking out over nothing. It has NOT been stated that the world of guilded age is an MMO, video game, or parallel reality of any sort yet.
There has only been two freaking pages and neither indicate FOR SURE that any of that has happened.
Oh hey, also: TROPES ARE NOT BAD.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools?from=Main.TropesAreNotBad
Leaving because you SUSPECT a comic of using any single trope (ESPECIALLY if previously the entire thing has been of very high quality) is stupid. Just calm down and read the thing. If you are really freaking out over a “genre change”, just come back in like 2 weeks and see what the new updates are about and if you enjoy them and decide THEN, when you have actually seen what this “new genre” is, whether or not you will continue reading.
Freaking out and leaving a high quality FREE webcomic because of something like this immediatly, without seeing what will come of it, is just a waste.
P.S. I personally think the new twist thing will be great, but apparently I am immune to freaking out over twists since I didn’t freak that much over Homestuck’s 2/3 brutal murder/betrals in such a short time frame that everyone was complaining about.
Is it me or does Mr. Dedalus look like the genetic combination of David Caruso, HRG, and Commissioner Gordon? On an actual related note Dedalus as in mythological designer of the famous Labyrinth to hold the fearsome minotaur?
I don’t know what the big deal is. This webcomic hasn’t let me down yet. Just sit back and enjoy the ride people!
I honestly don’t see ANYTHING bad with where the comic is going, mainly ’cause it’s free entertainment that I can take a peek at my leisure and I’ve enjoyed it thus far. :3
The way I see it; I’m just one of the readers, and whatever the OTHER readers end up saying/complaining/etc. doesn’t matter in the end for me… the comic’ll still be here, and I’ll still be able to read it when I want to. ‘Nuff said.
While a good part of me wants you to just go back and stick with the party, I’m fine with following it as it is. In part because of that desire for it to go back. I want it to return to a story that I loved and want to continue. It’s a story I love because of the way in which it was written and drawn. Since the people responsible for the story I love is responsible for this new twist/turn, then I feel that there is plenty of reasons to believe that I’ll come to love this as well.
I am, however, thinking I’m going to ditch it for a while. Rather than check each update, I’ll give it a break and return after some time to read multiple issues. In this way, any apprehension or doubt I may have can be more easily dispelled, if at all.
I have been reading Guilded Age for a while and this is my first comment. I really like the Twist here, but it wasn’t that hard to see coming. If you didn’t see it coming you should have figured it out about the time when someone referred the front-line warriors as “The Fighters”, you know back in Chapter 1? The hints have always been there and the fact that it took eight chapters to get here show that it is at least not rushing into it unprepared.
So Bravo, and bring on more interesting content. I love it all.
bizare twist… hoping this will eventually return to the characters we’ve all grown to know and love
So it was William H. Macy ALL ALONG?
…My God.
Sorry, crew of Guilded Age. You have lost my readership (at least for a while) with this one. I realize I’m “freaking out over nothing”, but that’s what people do when a story-teller yanks a beloved character (or a bunch of beloved characters) out from under them.
Has Guilded Age gone Papers and Paychecks? Tune in next week when you’ll hear Nurse Piggy say: “Am I even supposed to be in this comic?”
bronze star
Since this has been revealed to be an virtual world, can they crossover with Minecraft? I want to see Best get ‘hugged’ by a creeper.
That would be ssssssssssssatisssssssssssfying.
Well, for what it’s worth, I’m very excited to see where this is going. I can say without doubt that I did not see this coming at all! And you know what? That’s f’ing awesome. I mean, seriously guys, how many webcomics do you read where you can honestly say that you were surprised by a turn of events? I say “Bravo” to T, Phil, and John.
I’m sorry GA comments authors but you have lost my readership for now at least. I’ve read the GA comments since the beginning and they have always been a source satisfyingly witty parlance but this sudden shift to a more tldr drama/nerd rage script has really put me off.
I’m a great fan of the comments section but I can no longer abide by its new direction and will from now on stick to just reading the GA comic while comments will receive some well deserved shelf time.
Gold Star.
Cough, cough :-)
Ah jeez, I honestly didn’t notice. Only goes to show how hectic things are but I feel like an idiot now.
Thanks Phil (even though it’s not as deserved as it may appear), I thought you didn’t love me anymore.
Hee hee. ‘Sokay. The *cough* was meant for Phil, not you. I just wanted my gold star too. And a lollipop. And a pony.
You can have half my star. May it be a light to you when all other lights have gone out and all that jazz. :)
Don’t worry, you’re one of my favorites, too.
Clever. You’ve always been one of my favorite comment writers, Jean-Luc.
The weird part about this is how I’m not sure there’s really all that many people who are actually upset. For every “Well, it’s been fun but…” post there seems to be an awful lot of navel gazing about the motivations of those who have decided to quit reading. Some of that speculation has had a bit of “Us vs. Them” subtext to it, and that’s an attitude that I’m always a bit disappointed to see.
By now, yes, the “I’m sticking around” comments have caught up to the “I’m leaving” ones. But if you go back and check, you’ll see that the comments in the first 48 hours after the update were overwhelmingly negative. A few were phrased politely. Many were not. Many were from the same one or two individuals posting again and again, with gratuitous profanity, about how they were leaving forever, and insulting those who do plan on sticking around.
Nah, I read these posts pretty closely. There isn’t even that terribly many of these posts. I remember brugobar getting his undies bunched up back on thursday and telling people who think this stuff is clever should grow up, but well, one or two people shouldn’t really justify a siege mentality. I guess what I’m saying here is we need to settle down.
I just started reading a new comic tonight, and thought “they” might appreciate this. http://amultiverse.com/2010/07/26/infinite-pest/
I hate weekends.
It means an extra day of wait for the next comic.
Don’t worry about the nay sayers.
If you do suffer any dip in readership, I am sure you’ll recover your numbers soon. After all, great writing gets the readers every time.
Cant say i like where the story is going. I’m more into the medieval part. Bye for now.
But I also wanted to say that your comic has bin a fantastic read, And all your characters have bin fantastic, including best the brat (hehe, shit-elf). I’m kind of fed up with blackish colored comics for now, and the modern edge isn’t really my thin, but that’s just my taste. So best of luck with the comic. Bye!
You know, this strongly reminds me of the bit in Terry Prathett’s “The Light Fantastic” where Rincewind the Wizzard suddenly finds himself with the body and memories of a modern-day nuclear physicist on a jet plane, shortly after he falls of the edge of Discworld to his (theoretically) inevitable demise.
Did this happen multiple times? Because I could have sworn the whole switching consciousness with Rijnswand (I believe) thing happened in The Color of Magic. And he was falling from a dragon or something. I haven’t read The Light Fantastic, though.
You know what? Screw my cynicism. This story arc is going to kick ass. I can feel it.
Screw the haters, T and Phil. Show them how a story like this is done.
anybody else notice him turn off the screen the moment someone came into the office? i don’t think that was a cut scene he was watching….
As far as my guess goes – Guilded Age reality is an alternate reality. And Dedalus is making a show about it. Using his all mighty tie >D!
Well, I have a felling that this chapter is going to be simply fabulous (just like the previous ones).
You’re all missing the point here.
If it’s a game, Frigg has a ‘real world’ equivalent.
FRIGG VS DEDALUS, TAKING ALL BETS
this….this i want to see. a real world Frigg, and a real world Bandit
Dear Nerd Ragers: shhhhhhhhh.
Dear Webcomic Authors: Love you. A webcomic with spectacular art and developed female characters? I will ride this train long after it passes through Crazytown. I’ve read far worse far past their sell-by date.
This new gearshift reminds me of when I first started reading the comic. During all the character introductions, one of the first things I thought was “This seems like another Fantasy MMO Parody comic”. It looks like I may not have been too far off.
This radical paradigm change reminds me in a way of the “Second Eaton” story arc from Shortpacked!. I hated that story line. I thought it was annoying and ridiculous and I almost quit the comic over it. But I stuck it out and today I am still reading Shortpacked, because I enjoy it and not just out of habit or anything like that. Similarly, I am unsure about this new change to Guilded Age, but I plan to stick around and see what happens.
Just…
Please, at some point, make Bandit not chopped-into-pieces.
we can’t have bandit chopped into pieces! we never got her backstory!
Maybe, just maybe…Byron is Dedalus’ character in a weekly tabletop game. This could be his day job. Whine and stomp off if you wish, I’m sticking around to see what’s happening.
I’m still loving GA! I’ve been reading since Chapter One, but I don’t normally comment. I used to like *reading* the comments, though. I’m sort of surprised that people are so mad that it turns out there’s a “real world” behind the characters. They’ve been playing it like an RPG the whole time, as far as I’m concerned. I mean, they mentioned the “fighters” thing, but maybe you could explain that away. But Frigg’s whole character should be a major giveaway! I mean, Hello? She practically uses chatspeak! Although I thought it was going to be a tabletop RPG, not an MMO. But hey, it’s only the second real world page. Who knows what’s going to happen! I mean, I really hope our group isn’t dead. I don’t think you guys would do that to us. But I love the humor in this comic, and as long as that doesn’t change I think I’ll be okay. =)
PS. I really love that you made the “real world” so dully colored. I think that is a great artistic choice. ^_^ It makes for a great contrast.
I’ve always assumed it was an frp, but focussed on the characters. Without a pull back, the characters are as real as in any story. With the pullback it gets– well ungrounded. It’s different in strips like Weregeek, which constantly move between player and character perspective because we know the players as people and any response to the characters goes back to them. Here, the players are unknown.
But as i said, i trust the creators.
First comment for me after reading from the start of GA. It’s the only webcomic I’m following and I think it’s been great sofar and I’m very interested to see where this is going.
I was astonished to see the party killed off. When we had this shift in perspective, it started to make sense. We’ve been seeing hints that this is an MMO from the beginning, starting with the title.
It seems fairly obvious to me that Dedalus is the player of Payet Best. I’m guessing the direction this is moving in, is to look at the relationship between who a person is, and what sort of character they play. I’m curious now about the other players.
Are you sure? It looks to me like he was studying those final lines from Best quite intently, rather than creating them.
on the flipside, if you assume that The world we’ve seen is made by the company that we’re seeing, and he’s the CEO, this might explain why Best is so ridiculously awesome at everything.
That was part of my thinking, yes. Also, his arrogant sarcasm in response to his assistant’s reminder seems similar to Best’s arrogance. But mostly, it was just that he’s obviously watching Payet Best in the game, and that’s most likely because he’s playing Payet Best.
The computer in the right-hand office appears to be running Mibbit.
Well, according to website traffic sites, views for this page have gone up for the week after a dip around late Jan. So, at least the new Chapter has increased traffic.
I’ve been here from chapter 1 and I have to say that this twist has me intensely curious and not at all annoyed.
Really looking forward to where you guys are taking the story.
Looking at Carol in the 3rd panel there seems to be wind blowing at her from the right side (her hair is swaying to the left). And she’s like reveling in it or something. So weird.
I’m rollin’ with it. Dunno what people are so butthurt about, personally. I’ve enjoyed it so far, so I’m willing to go along with it. Besides, you’ve stirred my curiosity.
Hang on, wierd crazy thought here – up until now, every chapter has started with a seemingly completely irrelevant segment that only makes sense long into the future (and Word of God says it’s to assure readers of future butt-kick). Do we actually have any indication that the current stuff is actually supposed to be taking place at the same time as the party getting slaughtered by first Harky and then Byron? Because, near as I can tell, we’re still in the chapter opening flash-forward section.
Is soemone able to tell me I’m wrong? Or to comfort me that I’m totally not crazy whilst surruptitiously reaching for a straightjacket?
I think I’lll assume the CEO is a wizard from the past in the future taking Frigg and Co. adventures and making an MMO out of it for bazillions.
That party fail in the stadium? Playtesting.
IF WILLIAM H MACY IS WRONG, THEN I DON’T WANT TO BE RIGHT!!
As someone who wandered over from the Tea Forum, and tore through this like Fans, I have to say that T’s gotten me hooked on yet another of his comics.
I aint leaving anytime soon either because of this twist. I have faith it won’t be what we’re expecting it to be.
Wait a minute.
Daedalus? Running an evil corporation (or at least running a corporation for evil)?
My god, this whole time… I’ve been reading a Sluggy Freelance spinoff!
IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW
Wow. I can’t say I saw this coming, reading through the archives, but I never exactly felt like it was a pure fantasy world. I mean, if anything it was a D&D campaign, right? So I was definitely wondering if ‘what’s really going on’ would be addressed.
is it just a coincidence that mr. dedalus kind of sounds like daedalus?
I remember when G4 was still a thing… been a while hasn’t it?
Hey man, she’s just doing her job, no need to be a DICK about it :U