Book 2 - Parson's Klog 4

[hajo]

Charlie has easier time hacking thinkomancy ...
Perhaps he can't intercept the books so he wanted them to switch to thinkograms.

So, if communication via eyebook is secure, maybe they can give a spare one to Isaak ?
Maybe Maggie hasn't used her book for keeping notes, and could give hers for that purpose.

Then they could 'talk' later, and Parson could finally enter the portal to lead his battle

IRL, now that they are meeting personally in the MK, it would be a good idea to exchange secret keys for future secure / encrypted communication.
But for a story such as this, it might be easier to just declare the eyebooks as "secure".
After all, showing them tinkering with tables/codebooks/codewheels/building an enigma might look cool, but wouldn't advance the story much.

[0beron]

Why are people considering "Charlie being better at hacking thinkamancy" in this...? Eyebooks ARE Thinkamancy. At least the communication aspect is. Parsons Klogs may be purely foolamancy, but in terms of sending messages, an Eyebook is just as insecure as a pure thinkagram.

[effataigus]

Yes, we knew it was much safer - I was referring to 2-way being SO MUCH safer that it didn't even trigger Jack in a way that talking about a 3-way did.

It may be analogous to the difference between letting someone give you a cranial massage...{snip}.

You guys are totally missing the low-hanging analogy fruit here:

It's like the difference between trying to survive talking your gf into bed vs. a threesome.

[multilis]

but in terms of sending messages, an Eyebook is just as insecure as a pure thinkagram.

This last Klog went into how Maggie had difficulty answering question of how secure book was without a linkup. If it was pure thinkomancy then why need help of Jack to answer question?

Klog also focus on: why did Charlie openly show he could talk through the books?

[jkosta]

It would make sense that encryption is a foolamancy thing. It's basically just a veil on a message.

[Lamech]

It's much easier to be sympathetic to positions that are stated

Yeah I realized this and posted new Site News. When we were planning to skip an update or do a Kickstarter story, I had Xin create the animated gif.

This is me after seeing the gif. For about 5 minutes so far. Not a single Erfworld page has made me do that ever. It was utterly brilliant.

Hey, would it cause any bandwidth stain to Erfworld, if I hotlinked* to this gif? Someone with more website experience than me? It was sort of slow to load for me...

*Or whatever the link is called that makes a picture show up on another page.

[0beron]

Ah I hadn't considered the possibility of Foolamancy being applied that way.
However another explanation is the (as the Klog says) the casters involved had poor memories of even creating the Books in the first place. Recreating the link in part helped them regain some of their shared memory so Maggie could analyze a spell she otherwise didn't properly remember casting.

[Salem]

Interesting that though he didn't want to talk about the 3-way linkup, Jack was willing to 2-way. I guess those are much easier...

As I recall, the Summer Updates stated outright that two-ways links are far safer than threesomes.

That is correct. Also Jack's reluctance to discuss the link probably is enhanced by the particular effect it had on him. The fact that it is dangerous to make a 3-way is bad enough, then add on to that the fact that you went totally bonkers the last time you made one...and it's not gonna be a pleasant topic.

I might imagine it also has something to do with what happened to Misty and why it happened. Thinking about it probably doesn't bring up warm fuzzies towards Maggie.

Did anyone think that Hamstard's lines were a bit weird considering the whole connection fo the story with the caster Misty?

[Zeku]

Rob you're giving too many hints.

As I said before, I don't mind the seeming inactivity in the comic. I take it for granted that the forum is always mentally a few weeks ahead of the actual plot, and there's usually one person who guesses correctly. Anyone who is reading straight through won't think things are moving slowly.

BTW that gif is nearly 10 times bigger than a comic.

[zilfallon]

That Parson looks damn cool. Like, the drawing fits him and that scene perfectly.
Other than the art, text was good too (fail english, dunno how to say it other than "text is good", but i hope everyone understands )
I dunno if i'm being the "retarded fanboy" here, but this update was TOO BOOPING AWESOME. I was so damn looking forward to a klog which wasn't purely about mechanics.

[Lamech]

Is that a fire flower? Is that just for decoration or can Parson equip it to shoot fireballs? Does the fact that fire-flowers are appear mean that Parson came pre-upgraded to giant Parson? If Parson jumps on a Gumba's head will it die? Can Parson use warp tubes? What will happen if Parson gets a star?

[Housellama]

Make it to GenCon safely, Rob and Xin. I'll be looking forward to meeting you there!

[cheeseaholic]

Is that a fire flower? Is that just for decoration or can Parson equip it to shoot fireballs? Does the fact that fire-flowers are appear mean that Parson came pre-upgraded to giant Parson? If Parson jumps on a Gumba's head will it die? Can Parson use warp tubes? What will happen if Parson gets a star?

iirc the entire room has a Mario theme to it. I don't think that it's a magic item but who knows.

[Morni]

This is me after seeing the gif. For about 5 minutes so far. Not a single Erfworld page has made me do that ever. It was utterly brilliant.

Hey, would it cause any bandwidth stain to Erfworld, if I hotlinked* to this gif? Someone with more website experience than me? It was sort of slow to load for me...

*Or whatever the link is called that makes a picture show up on another page.

IMO that image is going to make the site bandwidth sky rocket. 2.7 meg for the image..and i don't know how many time the homepage gets hits in a day. 370 hits on the homepage and that's 1 gig of bandwidth.

[Joe22c.]

Disappointed this was not more of the battle we're all waiting to see resolved. Now we have to wait another week for the next comic. Boo.

Partywhipple, we are on the road to GenCon. Literally. Right now I'm posting this from a West Virginia highway. This is the only con in the year that Xin attends. There wasn't going to be an update at all this week, but I decided we had time to write and draw a Parson's Klog at least. Thanks for making sure you rushed to be the first to post, when all you have to say is that you're disappointed. Boo right back at you.

1. Thanks Rob, for the hard work and dedication you put into this but
2. That's a little harsh. Way to chase away your fanbase and those that support you (figuratively and literally - i.e., financially).

Maybe clarification was in order but a public castigation seems a little excessive. I'm sure Partywhipple didn't know any better, and it's an attitude like that that discourages the purchase of misc. merchandise and products in general.

[Lamech]

This is me after seeing the gif. For about 5 minutes so far. Not a single Erfworld page has made me do that ever. It was utterly brilliant.

Hey, would it cause any bandwidth stain to Erfworld, if I hotlinked* to this gif? Someone with more website experience than me? It was sort of slow to load for me...

*Or whatever the link is called that makes a picture show up on another page.

IMO that image is going to make the site bandwidth sky rocket. 2.7 meg for the image..and i don't know how many time the homepage gets hits in a day. 370 hits on the homepage and that's 1 gig of bandwidth.

Alright then, no linking to the giant image of doom. Thank you for the help sir, or madam.

[partywhipple]

Disappointed this was not more of the battle we're all waiting to see resolved. Now we have to wait another week for the next comic. Boo.

Partywhipple, we are on the road to GenCon. Literally. Right now I'm posting this from a West Virginia highway. This is the only con in the year that Xin attends. There wasn't going to be an update at all this week, but I decided we had time to write and draw a Parson's Klog at least. Thanks for making sure you rushed to be the first to post, when all you have to say is that you're disappointed. Boo right back at you.

Um, ok... The boo was towards having to wait another week. And, honestly, I do want to see how the battle turns out. Sorry?

[Goshen]

Rob,

Many thanks to you and Xin for working so hard to make the awesome comic. Knock 'em dead at the con!

[Goshen]

Dear Lord! I see it now... Charlie IS the Hamstard!!!

[partywhipple]

Why are people considering "Charlie being better at hacking thinkamancy" in this...? Eyebooks ARE Thinkamancy. At least the communication aspect is. Parsons Klogs may be purely foolamancy, but in terms of sending messages, an Eyebook is just as insecure as a pure thinkagram.

Wait, but they do have to be made with more than one caster type, right? The first ones were made by the linked casters?

Either way, it's not so scary to think that Charlie saw Parson's Klog, is it? Most of the Klogs have been Parson brainstorming about how to manipulate the rules. I have always assumed Charlie is from Parson's world and so also tries to think of ways to beat the system. If not, he's definitely thinking that way now.