A regular update schedule

[Hālian]

when will there be one? ;-;

[GeoModder]

I'll bring the tar... who the feathers?

[Suederwind]

I'll stick with the classics: torches and pitchforks!

[GeoModder]

I'll stick with the classics: torches and pitchforks!

But... that's so lethal!

[Fotiadis_110]

To create a regular update schedule, Arioch would need a regular source of income linked to it: In short, if any of you fans HAPPEN to be exceedingly wealthy millionaires who can spare a few coin to encourage Arioch to spend more time on the comic and less on commissions or other work, Please let us know so we can put you in contact with those who may know Arioch personally so we can organize some kind of financial incentive to make this comic more reliable.


IN the meantime, while we wait for a lucky benefactor, we can amuse ourselves with a variety of entertainment forms including my current evil: Lets plays of Sword of the stars on YouTube.

And while i recall means of making donations have been suggested in the past, reality is that donations have to be RELIABLE to be considered an income source as opposed to a lucky influx of cash.

You donating $20 might help remind Arioch how much we love the comic and these other works, but won't cover the weeks rent.

[Suederwind]

I'll stick with the classics: torches and pitchforks!

But... that's so lethal!

But so much more fun.
Besides: the other options are much more sinister...

[GeoModder]

IN the meantime, while we wait for a lucky benefactor,...

Talk to me once the Lottery found my bank account.

[cacambo43]

I forget, what was Arioch's reason for not using a crowdfunding outlet for raising the money? I think "we" asked him before, but I can't remember what he said (heck, it might even have been me who asked).

CJSF

[Suederwind]

I forget, what was Arioch's reason for not using a crowdfunding outlet for raising the money? I think "we" asked him before, but I can't remember what he said (heck, it might even have been me who asked).

CJSF

Hm... The answer should be here?

[CptWinters]

when will there be one? ;-;

Oh boy. Here we go again.

I'll scrounge up some feathers, Geomodder. Now all we need is the rail to run him out of town on.

[NOMAD]

so the extra thick tar Cpt winters or boiling oil type ?

CY miller, we do not talk about updates, comic page times or anything of that. To do so, requires a sacrifice of part of the souls ( % to be determine at soul extraction and level of damages to comic) and the physical issues ( to be determine now: current vote tar /feather 2, pitchforks and torches 3). me I prefer spacing you but that is a different form on punishment

[cacambo43]

I forget, what was Arioch's reason for not using a crowdfunding outlet for raising the money? I think "we" asked him before, but I can't remember what he said (heck, it might even have been me who asked).

CJSF

Hm... The answer should be here?

Yeah, except he said:

I think Kickstarter works best when there's an actual product to offer people... it could be useful to do something like get a printed volume of the comic done. But I'm doubtful that a "pay me to work my free webcomic" pitch would generate enough revenue to really change anything.

But I have seen Kickstarter campaigns for e-books, music and movies. There are also other sites like indiegogo which explicitly state its for raising money for "anything". Depending on the community, sometimes monies are raised beyond expectations. I would have to say, though, that I think the best time for any sort of crowdfunding has likely passed due to the long wait between pages. I know we have a core of die-hards that hangs around, and we have faith in Arioch to get back to updates, but I fear many more have abandoned the project (at least for now), but one never knows.

CJSF

[GeoModder]

so the extra thick tar Cpt winters or boiling oil type ?

What part of NOT lethal didn't you read?

[rollory]

It's a reasonable point to make.

It's been nearly a year since the last strip, and that one came six months after the preceding one. It's not unreasonable to conclude that Arioch just has other things in his life that are more important than this, and this story isn't going anywhere, permanently.

The thing is, he's not the only webcomic artist in the world dealing with these same issues, or the only hobbyist. People make time for things that matter. I have a side project I work on from time to time; some months I'll put in regular hours every evening after work on it, or set 3 hours aside on Saturday for it; other months I just blow it off and don't touch it at all. It depends on how much I want to actually do it at any given time. If I want to do it, I do. Same for most webcomic authors - they make the time if they really want to. Then of course there are the really dedicated ones that have managed to make the art pay for itself - but most of them make the time, because the result is valuable enough to them to justify it.

It's like the old joke about two economists, standing in front of a car showroom window, admiring the newest sleek sports car. One says to the other: "I would do ANYTHING to have that car!" The other looks at him, sees him just standing there, not working his ass off to make the money, not robbing a bank to get the money, not breaking the glass and hotwiring it, not doing ANYTHING, and says: "Obviously not!"

This isn't a criticism of Arioch's choice of how to spend his time. If he thinks other things are more important to do than this, he's almost certainly right. But the fact is that given those priorities, given that he hasn't found it appropriate to dedicate time to it, this strip is dead.

[CptWinters]

But the fact is that given those priorities, given that he hasn't found it appropriate to dedicate time to it, this strip is dead.

Well I'm glad we have an expert to let us all know.

so the extra thick tar Cpt winters or boiling oil type ?

I think the extra thick will do just fine.

[Arioch]

This isn't a criticism of Arioch's choice of how to spend his time. If he thinks other things are more important to do than this, he's almost certainly right. But the fact is that given those priorities, given that he hasn't found it appropriate to dedicate time to it, this strip is dead.

Well, things are rarely quite that simple. I don't think it's appropriate to get into the details of my personal difficulties, so all I can say is that I'm trying to improve my ability to spend more time working on the comic, and I have recently been failing in that effort. This has happened before; almost two years passed between the posting of page 50 and page 51. But the comic wasn't dead then (it has since more than doubled in length) and it isn't dead now. I'm sure there are many people who have given up on following it because of the slow and irregular pace of updates, and I can't blame them for that. But I haven't given up on it; if I do, you will know, because I will tell you.

If you want to know when the updates will resume, I can't say, because I won't know for certain until I'm actually there. All I can say is that I will try to make it as soon as I can.

[wasp609]

I came for the comic but I stayed for the forums.

[pinheadh78]

Like Wasp69, I also came for the comic but stayed for the forums and eventually made an account to participate. Watching the banter back and forth and the occasional flogging of whoever mentions updates is much fun and often contains insightful view points.

If the comic ever does end, I would only have one request; just some closure on how the story would have ended so I don't go on wondering forever.

And now I shall invoke the anti-jinx / voodoo rituals.

[Count Casimir]

I'm still here. Watching. Waiting.





always.

[CptWinters]

Man, I've been around since page fifty. My mother printed out and mailed me page 75 in June 2010 when I was off doing Army stuff and didn't have access to a computer. I was with Outsider when we were on the old forums hosted over at digital webbing and when we all migrated in 2011. Count Casimir came over with me, and fredgiblet too (and others): all of us have been with this comic a long time and we're still here.

I hope it doesn't sound too egotistical to say that I think that's as good and solid a testament to the quality of Outsider as can be made. Maybe that's presumptuous of me, I don't know.

But, in the end, I guess all this is just to say that you young folks better pipe down. Don't get discouraged. Stick around — and be patient. You'll be glad you did, I promise you.

I guess that's all I have to say.