The DYOS Consul

I wonder why Bespin looks so much just like Jupiter...

Ninjacow said:

Don't forget that Margert Thacther has turned Britain and the rest of the Free Western Army Nations into fascist hellholes. Also Tony Abbot couped Australia and there's a vague conspiracy. They're watching us!

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Hey man, don't discuss real world politics here, this is DYOS

CivGeneral said:

Yes, it's necessary to read my comics since I am still part of the story. I'd feel quite disheartened and unmotivated to contribute if I know people aren't reading my comics since it makes me feel like I'm being lumped into the "Let's ignore x's comic because he's a terrible comic maker" in the pre-Council era.

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Just saying, our the comics are for the story, but if someone planning on making a comic for DYOS, at the current moment our comics are not required reading.
But why would someone not read the comics anyway?

I haven't read the last few of yours because I don't have the slightest idea what's going on in them. I have read CivGeneral's, though.

I haven't read the last few of yours because I don't have the slightest idea what's going on in them. I have read CivGeneral's, though.

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Those meddling kids are at it again on another adventure, when they should be at home playing basketball or those newfangled vidjo games everyone's talking about.

Oh and something about someone being cursed and there's a quest to find the cure, they have a vague idea on where to go... then get sidetracked.

Sure there isn't as much gunfire or mystery, but if you've got a problem with the story and how it's going, do tell me how I can improve it, because otherwise I'll keep going down the same path... and you'll keep going with "I have no idea what's going on here"

Stylesrj said:

Sure there isn't as much gunfire or mystery, but if you've got a problem with the story and how it's going, do tell me how I can improve it, because otherwise I'll keep going down the same path...

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I second this...

I've read about four pages so far.

My biggest complaint is the sheer number of characters and changing locations. CivGeneral, as far as I've read this is your roster:

CivGeneral Valentine
Ayane
Nozomi
Mariko
Tym
Motoko Kusanagi
Dr Galney
Walter Barrezz
Ayane
Marsha Conrad
Hanna Antilles
Eida Moekno
Kasumi
Tina Hitachi
Dr. Richtofen

It's especially difficult to keep track of them are considering the models used are very similar.

And the locations; good grief, you guys jump from planet to planet every or every second comic. It's very disorientating.

To quote Anton Chekhov: "if it's not essential, don't include it in the story".

As a reader, I have a request to make: Please either downsize your images or put them in spoiler tags. It takes forever to load the page when I'm trying to see what you've all been doing, and my computer tends to throw fits.

taillesskangaru said:

I've read about four pages so far.

My biggest complaint is the sheer number of characters and changing locations. CivGeneral, as far as I've read this is your roster:

CivGeneral Valentine
Ayane
Nozomi
Mariko
Tym
Motoko Kusanagi
Dr Galney
Walter Barrezz
Ayane
Marsha Conrad
Hanna Antilles
Eida Moekno
Kasumi
Tina Hitachi
Dr. Richtofen

It's especially difficult to keep track of them are considering the models used are very similar.

And the locations; good grief, you guys jump from planet to planet every or every second comic. It's very disorientating.

To quote Anton Chekhov: "if it's not essential, don't include it in the story".

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Yeah, pretty much this. You guys both have such a huge amount of people doing things and things happening that it's impossible to keep track of it all.

Less is more.

*Sigh*, now I can't believe that I am being targeted for what Stylesrj did in the pre-Council era.

taillesskangaru said:

My biggest complaint is the sheer number of characters and changing locations. CivGeneral, as far as I've read this is your roster

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You do know that you've listed Ayane twice in your list. Right?

choxorn said:

Yeah, pretty much this. You guys both have such a huge amount of people doing things and things happening that it's impossible to keep track of it all.

Less is more.

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Well I have no idea on how to rectify this without resorting to killing off a huge roster.

Tailless said:

And the locations; good grief, you guys jump from planet to planet every or every second comic. It's very disorientating.

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I post weekly, sometimes biweekly.
I'm not sure about CivGeneral, but I tend to keep to a location (or planet or spaceport) for at least a few weeks.

Choxorn said:

Yeah, pretty much this. You guys both have such a huge amount of people doing things and things happening that it's impossible to keep track of it all.

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Is this also a complaint about my minimalist roster? Or is my roster fine, it's just that it's confusing to keep track of the protagonists because of another DYOSer and his?

All I have really are:

Delia Steel
Enoraduo Eyila
Gregory Hall

Everyone else are secondaries.
Should it just be Delia & Enora's adventures, like Thelma and Louise?

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So apart from the large comics, large character rosters and the changing of locations every few weeks or so... what have the Romans done for us else have we done wrong?
Or why am I being put into the same "Do not read" boat as CivGeneral?

Valka D'Ur said:

As a reader, I have a request to make: Please either downsize your images or put them in spoiler tags. It takes forever to load the page when I'm trying to see what you've all been doing, and my computer tends to throw fits.

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I get this, it's why I don't bother reading DYOS when all I've got is a phone.

taillesskangaru said:

To quote Anton Chekhov: "if it's not essential, don't include it in the story".

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Chekhov is overrated.

I mean, he's generally right but it's always fun to have a Chekhov's Gun which is never actually used, isn't it?

Could we address the issues instead of spamming. It's not helping at the slightest.

Stylesrj said:

I post weekly, sometimes biweekly.
I'm not sure about CivGeneral, but I tend to keep to a location (or planet or spaceport) for at least a few weeks.

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I try to maintain to be in the same location for a few weeks. Even trying to go with the slow moments with character interaction inbetween travels. Given that were the most active of contributors, that its bound to happen (I try to keep a comic to air once a week).

Is this also a complaint about my minimalist roster? Or is my roster fine, it's just that it's confusing to keep track of the protagonists because of another DYOSer and his.

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I think the complaint is the slow addition or use of characters in the story. I'm getting most of the flak because I have a larger roster that is constantly rotated in and out within a comic or two. For me Stylesrj, I don't find your roster too problematic since I know you're sticking to your three core characters and Strindberg (I haven formed any sort of attachment to the other two).

I've experimented with rotating characters in and out of a core three people slot a-la done in the Mass Effect franchise. Unfortunately, given the complaints, that gamble has not paid off and I have to look really hard on who can come along and who stays in the mothership. Right now I'm looking into going eather with a power trio or a quartet in the main focus of my story.

Right now, with you Styles, I just see a duo of power trios; one from the protagonist camp, the other the antagonist camp.

So apart from the large comics, large character rosters and the changing of locations every few weeks or so... what else have we done wrong?

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I had a discussion with Thor when TK asked about if he should read both our comics (this was before he aired his complaints). Both our plot lines are sort of self-contained with the ocassional crossover yet we've not moved on beyond the initial start of the plot. In a sense, were out in orbit and on the moon while everyone else has gone to the stratosphere, cruseing along. The confusion I gather from Choxorn is that he's not sure what to make of the plot since it goes from the moon then back into the stratosphere then back to the moon, etc. Plus also the use of referance that few of us understand (the the quirp on the Yogscast). I'm sure there's more, but I'd like for him to explain further on why he's confused on your comics.

On length, you're suffering from what I've gone through in my older comics in terms of pannelig. Before I moved to the current set up, Thor informed me that my average of panels per line was one (the same set up you have). The reasoning he gave me was that the eye tends to wander about and skip about. After he told me that, I returned to the paneling format that I haven't used in years. The advantages to that is that you can fit the same about, in a shorter comic. I'm supprised that you haven't picked up on that since it would help curb the "OMG SPOLER IT PLZ!!" comments. If one person is doing the talking, have the image focus on the character inquestion that's doing the talking.

CG, your comics are mindnumbingly long too, and I believe Valka also addressed you when asking for spoilers.

JoanK said:

CG, your comics are mindnumbingly long too, and I believe Valka also addressed you when asking for spoilers.

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Could you please tell me how to not make 'em mindnumbing? You criticize yet offer no solution to them! Since I feel like I'm not getting anywere with you, not even gaining a complement. I've been so disheartened by you that I actually lost motivation to finish my spin-off series. Other users have posted longer comics as well too, no one complained about E350tb's lengthy comics.

As a reader, I have a request to make: Please either downsize your images or put them in spoiler tags. It takes forever to load the page when I'm trying to see what you've all been doing, and my computer tends to throw fits.

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JoanK said:

CG, your comics are mindnumbingly long too, and I believe Valka also addressed you when asking for spoilers.

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You know, every time someone asks for a shorter comic, I feel like I should put it into Glorious Professor Griswold Style Widescreen!

Spoilers could work, but I don't think people pay them much attention.

Also, mind-numbingly long? Most of his comics are 920x15000 or something along those lines. I know you could mean long as in "length doesn't matter, the comic itself is so frustrating you wonder when it ends" long but do you say my comics have the same thing going, even though they're about the same length?

If not, why is CivGeneral considered "long" while I am not.
If so... how can we make them less frustrating?

CivGeneral said:

I've had it, I really do. I'm sick of these ciriticism and I feel I'm going absolutely nowhere here. I missed the days when everyone would back off on criticisms.

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In those days, I think I was a "two comics a day" smoker.

I'm gonna point out that I've removed the unnecessary ragequit message from my previous post. I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed waking up. Now I normally like criticism, so long as they're constructive and that it offers advice. Not just a statement like "CG, your comics are mindnumbingly long too". Since to me, I interperate it as in just one sentence: "CG, your comics suck" (and that's what made me flip my lid early this morning). What I need to know is why are they mindnumbingly long and offer advice to help rectify in the future. If people don't offer any suggestions or advice on how to fix it in the future, we'd be left frustrated to figure it out.

I recall one time what Stylesrj said one time: "I'm like DOS, I won't know if something is wrong unless you tell me".

Stylesrj said:

Spoilers could work, but I don't think people pay them much attention.

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I hardly use PNG anymore since I found that put's excessive strain on the bandwith. Thats why I kept with JPEG.

Anyway, I need to get a freeking drink. I wasn't expecting my day before I go back to work later tonight to go all, balloon shaped on me.

Stylesrj said:

Most of his comics are 920x15000 or something along those lines. I know you could mean long as in "length doesn't matter, the comic itself is so frustrating you wonder when it ends" long but do you say my comics have the same thing going, even though they're about the same length?

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In a sense, yes; it's not that they're long, it's that they're unnecessarily long. Part of the problem is that when it comes to scale, you tend toward the maximum: large font and showy pictures, and so the comic itself becomes larger than it 'has' to be. (Aside: As I recall, you once mentioned that you're running at 1920x1080 res? That might have something to do with it.) My frustrations with drawing mean that I'm ruthless when it comes to economy: in my explanation to CG in how to get out of one-panel-per-row, good comicking is providing as much information as needed in as little space as possible.

Additionally, your characters talk waaay too much. While on the one hand they're a goldmine for quoteworthies, oftentimes it feels like an episode of Seinfeld. (Which, given that your comics have a sitcom-y feel, is probably not so coincidental.)

So what is the happy range for a comic length? While were at it width as well?