General Discussion

[balder]

I think we should be able to keep a single thread going about Duel in the Somme. More if needed. Comments, questions, speculation, praise and complaints, all right here. Thanks for reading.

[BCCroaker]

OK, now I can't get Snoopy and the Red Baron out of my head. "Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more, the bloody Red Baron was running up the score-"
But good joke - it's the old ones that are the best!

[SteveMB]

But good joke - it's the old ones that are the best!

"Ya, but zese fokkers ver flyink Messerschmidts!"

[quindraco]

The main page hasn't got any direct links that I can find to the Somme comic, so some quick links for anyone who's interested:

http://duelinthesomme.com/

That will get you to the main somme page, which has links for previous and next page like a normal webcomic. I kept needing to manually change my url to visit older pages, which was a major pain. Then I accidentally surfed too far, bringing us to..
[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FIRST POST THAT HAS EVER NEEDED TO BE SCRUBBED ON ERFWORLD.COM -Rob]

Edit: Sorry for posting that, everyone.

[BCCroaker]

Aaaah, you sod. That's like putting a line of shooters in front of a recovering alcoholic!
(I've only had one litle drink so far - honest).

[Scrubbed]

[doran]

Panel 1. Page 6 is where the situation turned from cringingly embarrassing too hilarious.

[SteveMB]

Panel 1. Page 6 is where the situation turned from cringingly embarrassing too hilarious.

That's pretty much the mental image I already had.

Apparently, the "Duel In The Somme" is some sort of simulation where these two will do their antler-banging....

[BLANDCorporatio]

[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FIRST POST THAT HAS EVER NEEDED TO BE SCRUBBED ON ERFWORLD.COM -Rob]

Omg what did I miss?

About the duel- I'm rooting for Kelso. Just to be contrarian; the guy's so obviously a douche and there's a big karma anvil in the sky with his name on it. Possibly a sexual harassment suit too.

[Nihila]

Omg what did I miss?

quindraco (I don't know, should it be monocase?) found out that the entire archive is, or, at least, was, already uploaded, and could be accessed by the sufficiently insane. However, its probably been taken down now.

About the duel- I'm rooting for Kelso. Just to be contrarian; the guy's so obviously a douche and there's a big karma anvil in the sky with his name on it. Possibly a sexual harassment suit too.

Snoopy all the way! Get that darn Red Bar-Kelso, and his little subordinate too!

[BLANDCorporatio]

Ah I see. Smooth!

An achievement worthy of notpron.

[Ilari]

This story hasn't seemed all that interesting so far, but the christmas-antler joke was good and I'm hopeful things will start to pick up now that the (aviator's) gauntlet has been thrown.

Honestly, my expectations have already been surpassed by the fact that this isn't happening in space and therefore no one has any spacesuits to try shrugging in.

[Toolbreaker]

Now that the comic is a couple pages into it, I'm really starting to enjoy it. The Battle of Lorraine LOL. The joke on the second page is making sense now.

[Ansan Gotti]

So far, I don't really like any of the three main characters. Kelso = stereotypical jerk. Protagonist = slightly creepy stereotypical nerd. Lorraine = businesslike, well, prostitute. Not sure what else to call offering sex for pecuniary gain.

[doran]

So far, I don't really like any of the three main characters. Kelso = stereotypical jerk. Protagonist = slightly creepy stereotypical nerd. Lorraine = businesslike, well, prostitute. Not sure what else to call offering sex for pecuniary gain.

I kind of agree with this first impression, but I think that subverting the stereotypes will be a key part later in the story. Also I disagree about Lorraine being a prostitute, its more like "Hey two guys want to date me, but their fighting could slow down the project and wreck my job. Maybe there's a way to have them both fight for me AND make sure the project is on time"

[Ansan Gotti]

I kind of agree with this first impression, but I think that subverting the stereotypes will be a key part later in the story. Also I disagree about Lorraine being a prostitute, its more like "Hey two guys want to date me, but their fighting could slow down the project and wreck my job. Maybe there's a way to have them both fight for me AND make sure the project is on time"

Well, I'm definitely willing to continue giving it a shot.

As for Lorraine, I personally view wanting to keep a job (or make it easier) and/or advance a project as a pecuniary interest. Maybe that's just me. Or maybe she's genuinely interested in both guys and is just using this to ferret out which one is more "worthy" (a bit odd, but I suppose variants of this have been around for millenia).

As of right now, however, I feel like she's a representation of the "beautiful sales rep" type of character who is willing to use her looks and more to advance her career and make larger commissions (or whatever). I guess we'll see.

[StClair]

I don't see any actual offer to provide 'services', though these two would probably take anything short of a restraining order as an invitation/show of interest.

I also don't see any possible way that this can end well for the protagonist. If he succeeds in defeating his "rival" through some sort of obscure math/simulation trick and if the woman he desires has any reciprocal feelings, he's quite likely to lose his job out of pure spite. Or lose the job and the girl, who was never really his to begin with.

Workplace romances are just a bad idea all around, even if you're not competing with your boss.

[Lord Kasavin]

Having missed the chance to see the entire archive, no one tell me if I am right or wrong.

Anyways, I am calling right now that "Zorro" used the fact the simulation was not properly integrated into the physics engine to win. This will demonstrate that Tom was right and that they should have gone the extra step above and beyond the contract. Kelso may be Tom's boss, but he is still responsible to his own father (apparently) and the client.

[BLANDCorporatio]

After not having seen the archives, I believe you're right.

But anyway-

Go Kelso! Wooo! Kelso- Kelso- Kelso!

{EDIT:} If anyone asks why, remember. The coolest character in Avatar was evil-cardboard cutout Queritch!

[BCCroaker]

Ah, I see - Lorraine is going to headhunt the chief geek at KE over to CogNoTek and cut out the subcontractor, leaving young Kelso in a really bad hole. (I haven't seen the whole story).

[BLANDCorporatio]

Poor Kelso. Doesn't stand a chance.

He's so unlikable that in the end he crosses the limit on the other side, and pushes the supposed protagonist into "I hate that guy" territory.

(Because we are seeing, after all, "Zorro"'s version. And just to be contrarian, I'll keep believing that "Zorro" is the real douche. Team Kelso all the way!)