2010-04-02: Filler

[The Comment Golem]

Discussion thread for Filler

[Graybeard]

This looks unsettlingly like Sarine ... except for the smirk/smile, which is even more unsettling.

[DatDude]

Is that a woman?

[Graybeard]

Is that a woman?

Rather androgynous, isn't he/she/it? I'd say yes based on the chest, but it's really hard to tell.

Even if it's a man, he still looks unsettlingly like Sarine.

[davester65]

Is that a woman?

Rather androgynous, isn't he/she/it? I'd say yes based on the chest, but it's really hard to tell.

Even if it's a man, he still looks unsettlingly like Sarine.

Remember the /tg/ rule on elves. All elves are considered female until proven otherwise.

[ChunLing]

Snazzy threads. Goes well with the grin.

Also...hips.

[throwrug]

I'm afraid I have to say something here, and it may make me extremely unpopular.

I have been a loyal supporter of Poe for years, sending decent money every month. I really love the art, the characters, the world, and the story. With that said, I'm more than a little upset about the amount of filler recently.
I understand that things happen. With that said, I don't feel like I've been getting my money's worth this month. For the price I could pay for a new graphic novel or two every month, I pay for, ideally 15 pages (3x a week for 5 weeks). In the past 5 weeks, we have received 8 actual strips... about 50%. I put up with the Bani/Sara filler, but this really feels insulting to me.
I work a job too, and I wonder how it would affect my paycheck if, instead of what my bosses were expecting, I submitted a doodle of a D&D character I used to play.
Come to think of it, I think I remember updates ceasing for a while some time ago so that Poe could work ahead and complete an entire chapter in advance, promising that the breathing space would let him stay ahead and keep updates regular.
Now, I understand that Poe counts on donations, and I don't want the comic to cease. So the best I can think of is that I'm going to have to pro-rate my donations on a per-strip basis.

Maybe this is just me, but I'm big on doing what you say you'll do, and not biting off more than you can chew. If this comic needs to be updated twice a week, then do that, and once you've got a decent amount ahead, you can maybe go back to 3x a week.

[DatDude]

We always get a week of filler at the end of a chapter and getting volume three in print caused a bit more. Its not something poe normally does.

[Nell]

Hey, at least he updates...even if it is just doodles and omakes.

Right?

[Imp-Chan]

Come to think of it, I think I remember updates ceasing for a while some time ago so that Poe could work ahead and complete an entire chapter in advance, promising that the breathing space would let him stay ahead and keep updates regular.

Erm... that was four years ago. Since then, there have been deaths in the family, numerous conventions, hurricanes taking out our power for a week even though we live in freaking Ohio and that makes it completely bizarre, various smaller scale emergencies, redoing an entire book's worth of comics, extras like wallpapers... and a comparatively small number of sick days, because let's not forget Poe still has a compromised immune system. The only way taking two months (during which time the site still updated with art every weekday) to work a single chapter ahead would have kept him ahead all this time would be if he were a robot that had none of those things to deal with. To expect that shift in method to permanently fill a backlog is like expecting filling the tank once to keep the car running forever... it will, as long as you don't actually drive it, but even then there's a limit.

Also, let's just make something very clear here. Just because you donate does not make you or anyone else Poe's boss. You are a customer, and a generous one for donating, but you do not command him or his time. Poe does not owe you or anyone else comics because you donated. If anything, donations go to reward him for the comics he's already invested time and effort into, as well as to help keep him motivated and free to continue making comics if that's what he chooses. It's of course entirely up to you whether you wish to offer that reward and motivation, and it's also up to you what criteria you choose to base that decision on.

For those who are curious, right now Poe's time to date just on actual comics (not counting filler, wallpapers, t-shirts, book editing, conventions, sketches, shipping, or anything else) in Errant Story stands at around 14,000 hours. For those who are going to tell me I'm exaggerating... I did the math, that's actually the conservative estimate. If we calculated with even the relatively modest average wage of an entry level graphic artist, that's around $154,000 minimum he could have earned with all those hours that he instead spent on something to give everyone for free. The total amount of donations we've ever received is still a loooong way off from that, and remember that's not counting my time or all the time Poe spent on all those things I just listed as excluded. You basically have to be stupidly dedicated to go into webcomics as a profession. Poe does happen to be that stupidly dedicated, but he's still human, and he has responsibilities as a human being beyond churning out comics.

So tell me... if you worked 14,000 hours for free and then someone bitched at you because rather than doing yet more of that volunteer work for them in the hope they might tip you were busy doing other work that you actually were contracted and paid to do... what would you say to them?

>.<'

Edit: I appear to have lost my temper last night. I should probably not post when sleep deprived and having missed my meds. Nothing I said was untrue, but I could have said it differently, and if I hurt people's feelings I apologize.