Book 2 – Text Updates 049

[Occasional Sage]

And Nate rates Zogby as in the same quality range as the gunk stuck to his shoe.

[A Predictamancer]

Realworld reference, possibly intentional.

"Zogby International" is a prominent market research and polling company, relying heavily on automated online questionaires. Odds are good that if you see an opinion poll result make the primetime news in the USA, it came from one of 4-5 firms, one of which is Zogby .

"Prominent", not necessarily "Best". For those who care, Nate Silver's 538 site does a good job of measuring the quality of polling firms.

Zogby hates Nate for that.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/ ... zogby.html

[badninja]

Wow I thought they would have not told the Tool about that little excursion into the MK at the end of Book 1. Scary to see that the Tool has come to the realization that he knows nothing about what was going on, now what is he going to do about it? I guess this will apply to the prediction from issue 1, that there would be confusion at this battle, by the Tool issuing order that are contradictory to what Parson has ordered. Good update over all and it did cause a great disturbance in the Force. Cannot wait for the next comic!

[Coyfish]

.....

Guys, I think I may be in the minority in thinking this, but.....

I'm pretty sure Zhopa is actually quite glad to get out of the kitchen.

[Lamech]

Anyway. The point is that some of Stanley's behaviours (hoarding Schmuckers, fleeing GK) turned out to be beneficial ... but not necessarily because Stanley deliberately looked for an optimal solution to a problem and stumbled upon said policies. It was not a calculated decision to store Schmuckers, I believe, nor was the reason for the flight from GK anything other than own-ass-saving and GK be damned.

Where Stanley is lucky is in having subordinates that can transform his (ill-considered?) decisions into opportunities.

We can't be sure why Stanley ended up with so many shmuckers, or his decision process since we didn't see it; maybe it was because he always saved shmuckers where able or maybe he was more wasteful than Slately, but his casters pulled him through anyway. (Decryption, better farm dirt, always knowing where to hunt ect.) So we have no idea if his shmucker policy was good or bad, or if his decision making process was good or bad. But we do see him being able to manage Wanda's abilities and save cash as pretty much the first decision he makes. Which is a plus, (compare to Slately not learning what accessories could do.)

And the fleeing thing was pretty much total competence. Stanley had a back up plan sitting and ready to go, and when things went bad he used it. I'll agree that he didn't "look for the optimal solution", but the other leaders? They don't even seem to care what a good solution is, Jillian is inanely impulsive, Slately wanted a suicide charge, Don was trying to support that... Slately had a plan and it was a good one; that is far and away better than the other rulers.

Stanley seems better than the other rulers.

[effataigus]

Perhaps I will eat these words, but I'm thinking that this text update adds very little.

Weird idea... if Parson attacking through TMK causes Erfworld itself to acknowledge this pathway from one kingdom to another as viable then, depending on the definition of "battlespace," there might be a lot more sides' turns to wait through each day.

[Evader]

I never played much Street Fighter, but doesn't Zangief have a victory animation where he smashes something over his head?

[Occasional Sage]

Perhaps I will eat these words, but I'm thinking that this text update adds very little.

Weird idea... if Parson attacking through TMK causes Erfworld itself to acknowledge this pathway from one kingdom to another as viable then, depending on the definition of "battlespace," there might be a lot more sides' turns to wait through each day.

I'd think the variable-by-hex nature of time would handle long distance moves like that, rather than turn order.

[Sieggy]

.....

Guys, I think I may be in the minority in thinking this, but.....

I'm pretty sure Zhopa is actually quite glad to get out of the kitchen.

And would consider going over the parapet preferable to serving Stanley as personal lackey . . . The only thing worse I could think of would be being Donald Trumps personal assistant (of which he goes through a very great many, I would suspect)

[boegiboe]

I never played much Street Fighter, but doesn't Zangief have a victory animation where he smashes something over his head?

Good call. I don't know about the victory animation, but he did have a Headbutt move. That lends more creedence to the "Zhopa wants to fight" version of the story.

[Beeskee]

Perhaps I will eat these words, but I'm thinking that this text update adds very little.

Don't feel bad, I agree. It just didn't feel as satisfying as the other updates, but I think that may be because so much more is going on right now that I'd rather see.

[the_tick_rules]

Tool being toolish does lack a certain flare.

[mmooneybsa]

Is that twoll brain damaged? I'm starting to wonder if something is up with him lately.

I know twolls aren't generally bright sure but... wow. Just wow. He's being a retard.

I PUT BREAD IN FACE DURR

In 3 pages I've not seen it commented:
Think - dough...

Spoiler: show

It's a Homer Simpson pun, *slap head, shout* "Doh!"

[BLANDCorporatio]

{snipped, but good points}

Stanley seems better than the other rulers.

Don't get me wrong. I WUV Stanley and the fact that more people are warming up to the guy. Plus, yeah, the points that we don't know how Stanley arrived at the conclusion to store Schmuckers, or about how fleeing GK was a good choice to avoid what seemed like certain death, are valid.

What I wanted to emphasize is that storing Schmuckers, in itself, is not necessarily a good strategy as opposed to lotsa-spending, and also that Stanley's flight was likely more a matter of impulse than it was calculated risk.

[atalex]

{snipped, but good points}

Stanley seems better than the other rulers.

Don't get me wrong. I WUV Stanley and the fact that more people are warming up to the guy. Plus, yeah, the points that we don't know how Stanley arrived at the conclusion to store Schmuckers, or about how fleeing GK was a good choice to avoid what seemed like certain death, are valid.

What I wanted to emphasize is that storing Schmuckers, in itself, is not necessarily a good strategy as opposed to lotsa-spending, and also that Stanley's flight was likely more a matter of impulse than it was calculated risk.

Um, Stanley didn't "decide" to store Schmuckers. He was nearly bankrupt at the start of tBoGK. Sizemore detected a heretofore untapped vein of gems while part of the Volcano Linkup and seized the opportunity provided by the eruption to blast most of them up nearer to the surface where they could be mined. More importantly, the bulk of GK's forces post-eruption requires no upkeep. Consequently, Stanley's bank account is likely filling up faster than he can spend it, thereby allowing such apparently unprecedented expenditures as promoting Titans Know how many hobgobwins to heavy as a last ditch tactical move.

[atalex]

It's like Keef from Futurama

You mean Kif. Kif Kroker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kif_Kroker

Oh, yeah, you're right. Keef was Zim's Bestest Friend.

[atteSmythe]

Um, Stanley didn't "decide" to store Schmuckers. He was nearly bankrupt at the start of tBoGK. Sizemore detected a heretofore untapped vein of gems while part of the Volcano Linkup and seized the opportunity provided by the eruption to blast most of them up nearer to the surface where they could be mined.

At the beginning of the story, though, he had enough stored up to be able to afford the Findamancy scroll. Jetstone's situation is comparable, but less severe, but they're broke.

[mmooneybsa]

Um, Stanley didn't "decide" to store Schmuckers. He was nearly bankrupt at the start of tBoGK. Sizemore detected a heretofore untapped vein of gems while part of the Volcano Linkup and seized the opportunity provided by the eruption to blast most of them up nearer to the surface where they could be mined. More importantly, the bulk of GK's forces post-eruption requires no upkeep. Consequently, Stanley's bank account is likely filling up faster than he can spend it, thereby allowing such apparently unprecedented expenditures as promoting Titans Know how many hobgobwins to heavy as a last ditch tactical move.

He had over 500,000 Schmuckers stored at the beginning of Book 1. Which is the largest amount any side has had mentioned so far.

[gazes_also]

Stanley seems quite capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. From his point of view ordering Parson not to enter JS' portal or to return to GK might seem like a good idea right now to avoid losing a second CW in one day.

Key point that comes out in this update; things are going seriously wrong in TMK despite Maggie and the GM's attempts to intervene and it is not something they anticipated. Sounds like Parson's pursuer has made his move in TMK and is not just following him through the portal.

About Stanley's wealth: even before the volcano GK was a source of gems and Sizemore made them easier to reach after the volcano; a large proportion of his army have no upkeep; and the dwagons are caught in the wild, not popped, so only have upkeep and no production cost. High income, low overhead, that's what keeps Stanley's treasury full. The other major cost he has so far spared himself - no heir.

[BLANDCorporatio]

He had over 500,000 Schmuckers stored at the beginning of Book 1. Which is the largest amount any side has had mentioned so far.

To which I'll add, Wanda only convinced him to give those 500K Schmuckers away by telling him the Treasury could not be taken along in case of a hasty retreat.

About Stanley's wealth: even before the volcano GK was a source of gems and Sizemore made them easier to reach after the volcano; a large proportion of his army have no upkeep; and the dwagons are caught in the wild, not popped, so only have upkeep and no production cost. High income, low overhead, that's what keeps Stanley's treasury full. The other major cost he has so far spared himself - no heir.

One wonders what other things Stanley might buy.

Scrolls from the MK, no go there. Apparently the MK is pissed with the Toolists, so yeah. However, we know Erfworld cities can produce Archons, and a few more of those may be useful. Or why not, Twolls or whatever it is that Stanley's cities can pop.