Side Comics
Added 2016-06-09 04:54:55 +0000 UTCSo, we've been working on the initial draft of this month's winner, Grim Contest!
Currently have 3 of 4 pages in very rough form. Yeah, 4 pages. Which brings me to my question:
> What should we do about side comic ideas that are just too complex / need too much initial set-up to fit into ~12 panels (~18 once we hit the next goal)?
>> Should we not allow them?
>> Should we just cut them partway through with a "to be continued"? I certainly don't want to make the pages feel rushed.
>> Should we normally not allow them, but once every few months vote for 2 months in a single go, basically doubling the size of the bonus comic once or twice a year? (wouldn't effect this month - regardless of your choice you basically get 2 free pages).
I don't think any of the current patron suggestions fall into "too complicated", since they're all single situations instead of the multi-step thing Grim Contest has going on (it being my own suggestion makes that rather embarrassing. :P)
Comments
I guess we'll have to wait until after the pages are released, but wouldn't it be pretty easy to explain that the next group of images takes place before the time jump? Either way, sounds like a good way to handle this one.
shodan2112
2016-06-11 13:18:06 +0000 UTCA time-skip? So to see the aftermath as it were? Don't know about others but I always like things like that. You can always put on an "earlier.." tag for a continuation or whateveer.
Stark
2016-06-10 12:15:16 +0000 UTCThey are side comics, so IMO they need to be short
veeshan123
2016-06-10 03:13:32 +0000 UTCHe already drafted it - I wasn't going to have that time go to waste but I could use it as a sort of bonus-comic buffer... anyway, I think I will just post all four as a special event or somesuch. As it were, Eldrik suggested a fairly lengthy time-skip in the fourth page that would make it less easy to continue the mini-series. Not impossible though, there are several ways it could be continued from that point.
GrimFC
2016-06-10 03:09:13 +0000 UTCWould it be a bad idea to go ahead with the 4 pages that are already being drafted? I don't really want to cut off anything if it's already being made. Obviously it would depend on how much time the artist has available and how much effort they are willing to put into it, but I think we could just say this 1st one would be the first 'Special Event' comic. From here on we would limit suggestions to 'one-offs' or continuations of the mini-series until the next 'Special Event' comes around. If at all possible, I'd want to be able to see the whole comic this time. If it doesn't work due to limitations of time, effort, or money I understand, but if we can get away with it this one time we should.
KoshiirRa
2016-06-10 02:22:08 +0000 UTCHuh, you want us to do the tbc this time around as well? And other than that it seems like there is a desire to have complex comics but not let them dominate through >some restriction<, with them only happening 1-2 times a year during a special event of some sort being the favorite. Not many folk have commented though, does anyone else have an opinion?
GrimFC
2016-06-09 23:47:30 +0000 UTChmmm... yeah, the way you explained it makes sense. If done very sparingly it could be a great 'special event' thing like every 6/9/12 months or so, but the typical idea should probably be very basic.
Wraith1113
2016-06-09 18:04:42 +0000 UTCI too would be worried about people just making tbc a continuous thing. I'd suggest making it tbc and adding the option every other month, for this one at least. In general I think overly complex ideas may defeat the purpose of a side comic to begin with. To be frank, my opinion on the Grim Contest is that it results in essentially the same as any given individual suggestion, but has this extra element tacked on that extends it. As in "I want a girl captured by tentacles" becomes "I want a girl losing a contest and is then captured by tentacles." This is only a criticism based on Eldrik's finite time to draw comics. Otherwise I love fluff, setup and narrative. Now I'm not saying Grim Contest should be stopped now, but rather that future extended narratives like this should be saved for special events every few months, maybe. Assuming you both are willing.
Stark
2016-06-09 14:54:06 +0000 UTCWhile I would want to make my cake and eat it too in this instance, it would be important to set a precedent. I think leaving it "To Be Continued" would be the best choice. I think this is simply a case of biting off more than we could chew, the suggestion probably should have been scaled back to simply setting things up for a continuation and shouldn't have concerned itself with outcomes too much (for example, we shouldn't have chosen the person's fate, just who was selected and then the next one we could have selected the outcome). I definitely don't want to compress things too much, so if the 2nd page is a good cutoff point then that's probably the best option.
Wraith1113
2016-06-09 13:20:03 +0000 UTCI think comics should be allowed a tbc option for the next months poll but limit them to getting only 1 tbc, so that we do not end up with a endless comic of the same thing. So in practice part 1 would be done finishing in a tbc and the 2nd part is put up as an option for future polls so it can be voted in again if people want it to be continued (Which I'd imagine will happen most of the time). BUT also during the voting stage make sure to leave a note saying that X option may end up in two parts.
CarameLatte
2016-06-09 12:24:04 +0000 UTCI vote for the "to be continued" option, it's better to do it partially than don't allow them, that's what I think ^^
Zeneeta (Dai Kina)
2016-06-09 05:47:31 +0000 UTC
