Summer Updates - 003

[zporkz]

I'm really enjoying this literary format. You get a lot from these descriptions that's hard to convey in a comic format. To be honest, I'd be happy if the rest of Erfworld (book 2 and on) was in a format similar to this, a page of text and a picture to help those of us who have trouble visualizing.

[Vare]

Oh wow wow wow! =D

That was pretty awesome. It seems that Stanley's making an effort to become a better person, but the part about the blonde warlord "Oh, please let that be Ansom!" The part made me grin =D

Can't wait for the next load of updates, these are awesome.

Edit: I also just noticed that some of the Weiner rammers have pink horns.
Link~ http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F146.jpg

[TheWombat]

I don't think that Stanley is thinking that Ansom is croaked. I'm thinking he was captured and is being held against his will, by Wanda, to be given over to the Tool when he lands. I think it will come as more of a shock when he's found to be all that he was and more. Hopefully it will take some of the heat off of Wanda attuning to the pliers.

[64bitrobot]

Another great update, I enjoy reading these.

Did anyone else notice this was posted under the catagory site news and not summer updates?

[Doctor Grumpus]

As I noted in my comments for P.2 regarding the artwork in the artwork, my confidence is boosted that this is the start of the "people's" overthrow of the tsars...I mean the royalty...is being reflected in the soviet-style mosaics and banners (in both page 2 & 3).

Of course, in the "real" world, we saw how that turned out....

[balder]

Another great update, I enjoy reading these.

Did anyone else notice this was posted under the catagory site news and not summer updates?

Clearly I didn't notice. Fixed it, thanks.

[Pentegarn]

Anyone else on pins and needles waiting for the Tool's response to Ansom?

I admit I am curious as to how that will play out.

[Pebot]

As I noted in my comments for P.2 regarding the artwork in the artwork, my confidence is boosted that this is the start of the "people's" overthrow of the tsars...I mean the royalty...is being reflected in the soviet-style mosaics and banners (in both page 2 & 3).

Of course, in the "real" world, we saw how that turned out....

mmm. It worked real nice for Canada.

"England can we please rule ourselves"

"Ok"

hehe

[kin]

Depending on how this change of pace for Stanley goes, I'm thinking we are going to see a mighty, unified force among Stanley and team - though possibly with the exception of Parson and Sizemore (Since the Grand Abby told Sizemore to follow HIM).

[MarbitChow]

Depending on how this change of pace for Stanley goes, I'm thinking we are going to see a mighty, unified force among Stanley and team - though possibly with the exception of Parson and Sizemore (Since the Grand Abby told Sizemore to follow HIM).

Honestly? I think everyone on Team Stanley will defer to Parson. Their duty requires it - they all KNOW he'll make better choices than Stanley.

I think what we'll see here is Team Stanley working smoothly despite Stanley, with the Tool as nothing but a figurehead / powerful attack unit and occasional comedic monkey wrench.

[Arkenputtyknife]

One thing, though. If the old GK didn't have a gate, why did it have a road leading up to it?

Because the troops that came out of the tunnels used the road to march out of GK I'd bet.

The entrance to the tunnels appears to be near the base of the mountain, not at the top of the road. It would be odd indeed if the tunnels emerged at the top of the mountain.

Wild guessing: Maybe Stanley is royal now by titanic decree?

There seem to be a lot of fate (or random) involved with the creation of units and buildings. Maybe it were the titans?

If the Titans had been involved, I would have expected to have seen some kind of sign of it.

[atteSmythe]

Maybe the road was there leading to the gates of some previous incarnation of the city, before the tunnels were completed. We don't really know anything about Gobwin Knob aside from relatively recent history.

[SteveMB]

If the Titans had been involved, I would have expected to have seen some kind of sign of it.

Well, they did beat a vastly more powerful enemy; they might well see that as a sign. Stanley in particular is likely to see it as confirmation of his beliefs about his holy destiny.

(I am reminded of the joke about the guy who was stuck in a flood and waved off several rescuers, saying "God will save me". He drowned, and on his arrival at the Pearly Gates indignantly asked why God didn't save him. A thundering voice replied, "I SENT YOU THREE BOATS AND A HELICOPTER! WHAT MORE DID YOU WANT?")

Honestly? I think everyone on Team Stanley will defer to Parson. Their duty requires it - they all KNOW he'll make better choices than Stanley.

The interesting question is the attitude of Stanley himself. He seems to be acting less Toolish lately -- and this vignette indicates that he's making a conscious effort in that direction. However, this victory in an apparently hopeless battle is almost certain to burnish his self-image as the chosen Tool of the Titans. The result could be that the more obnoxious facets of his personality get toned down as his egotism gets sublimated into the quest... which would probably make him scarier and more dangerous. For one thing, it would make him more likely to listen to Parson and take full advantage of his strategic cleverness, thus covering what seems to be his big weak spot as an Overlord.

[Darkside007]

Conscious effort to earn loyalty = good

Sudden sprouting of Soviet motif = bad.

[doran]

Conscious effort to earn loyalty = good

Sudden sprouting of Soviet motif = bad.

Darkside, are the text updates starting to grow on you?

[Arkenputtyknife]

Well, they did beat a vastly more powerful enemy; they might well see that as a sign. Stanley in particular is likely to see it as confirmation of his beliefs about his holy destiny.

True Believers see signs in all kinds of rubbish (literally). That doesn't make them signs, just delusions.

I like the joke about the drowning man, but it misses the point. The arrival of three boats and a helicopter would not be considered a sign of God's intervention by anyone with even the slightest hint of skepticism or rationality (although many would thank God for it anyway). The reason is that it could have happened just as easily whether or not God had intervened. Likewise, the defeat of GK's enemies did not require anything that did not come directly from the people involved in the combat.

The only thing I see as a possible sign of Titanic intervention is Parson's thought that the world was cheating against him, just as his game was intended to cheat the players. But even that is only a possibility. There's been no actual sign of Titanic involvement.

So, show me a sign—a real sign, not the kind of nonsense a True Believer would interpret as a sign.

[Catbus]

Stanley the Tool of the Titans nosed his dwagon over, and dropped into a dramatic dive.

I really want to read this as, "Stanley the Tool of the Titans nosed his dwagon over, and dwopped into a dwamatic dive."

[SteveMB]

I like the joke about the drowning man, but it misses the point. The arrival of three boats and a helicopter would not be considered a sign of God's intervention by anyone with even the slightest hint of skepticism or rationality (although many would thank God for it anyway). The reason is that it could have happened just as easily whether or not God had intervened. Likewise, the defeat of GK's enemies did not require anything that did not come directly from the people involved in the combat.

The only thing I see as a possible sign of Titanic intervention is Parson's thought that the world was cheating against him, just as his game was intended to cheat the players. But even that is only a possibility. There's been no actual sign of Titanic involvement.

So, show me a sign—a real sign, not the kind of nonsense a True Believer would interpret as a sign.

I don't think we're going to see anything so obvious, though we will see the ramifications of the characters' belief that certain events reflect signs of the Titans' will.

The question of where Stanley's new iconography came from (his own subconscious self-image, or something else) harks back to Parson wondering who wrote the books in the library that pop as part of the city. Perhaps there is some "gamemaster" intelligence, or perhaps the mechanics of Erfworld just make it seem that way... which isn't all that different from the corresponding real-world debate.

[Ragn Charran]

Edit: I also just noticed that some of the Weiner rammers have pink horns.
Link~ http://www.erfworld.com/hires-book-1-archive/?px=%2Fvol1_159_Page_146_1200.jpg

Just a suggestion, maybe you should change that to the low-res link for the non-tools.

Honestly? I think everyone on Team Stanley will defer to Parson. Their duty requires it - they all KNOW he'll make better choices than Stanley.

Agreed, unless Stanley orders them otherwise. Including general orders like "always get approval from me before doing anything Hamster tells you to". Hopefully this new character development means he won't issue such orders, but with him, you just never know.

[Darkside007]

Conscious effort to earn loyalty = good

Sudden sprouting of Soviet motif = bad.

Darkside, are the text updates starting to grow on you?

Nope. I've said 002 was exactly what I had originally expected, and that it was pretty damn awesome. My issues with 001 were never the text format, but that the text didn't really say anything.