When do good webcomics end.......

[Hallonpress]

Yeah, you're right. If you do it for free, then you're free to stop at any time. I understand that. That's why I said "in a way".

Maybe what I said just applies to my feelings towards RPGWorld. RPGWorld was selling merchandise and being published in book form, as well as being almost at the end...

[Mo]

Maybe what I said just applies to my feelings towards RPGWorld. RPGWorld was selling merchandise and being published in book form, as well as being almost at the end...

Yeah, I understand that. I'm not into fantasy or gaming comics in general, but I did read RPGWorld back in the days and I dunno... He probably could've ended the thing within 10-15 pages or so. Ah well. I've gotten over it.

[Starline]

Maybe what I said just applies to my feelings towards RPGWorld. RPGWorld was selling merchandise and being published in book form, as well as being almost at the end...

Hee... if I remember right, I believe Ian told me once he's always surprised that people thought the comic was almost over. I guess it still had a long aways to go.

[Escushion]

Maybe what I said just applies to my feelings towards RPGWorld. RPGWorld was selling merchandise and being published in book form, as well as being almost at the end...

Hee... if I remember right, I believe Ian told me once he's always surprised that people thought the comic was almost over. I guess it still had a long aways to go.

Well it was looking like the big event was going to happen and they were at the final boss fight.

...Of course, the Adventurers! final boss fight took well over a year to go through as he outlined every single turn, so if Ian was planning something like that, I can see why he stopped.

[Hallonpress]

Hee... if I remember right, I believe Ian told me once he's always surprised that people thought the comic was almost over. I guess it still had a long aways to go.

Oh. That's more than I knew...

[Komiyan]

I'd have loved to see the end, but if he can't he can't. I heard one good suggestion for ending it, though- Have them all blown away by rocket propelled grenades, and pretend the title was never meant to stand for anything BUT Rocket Propelled Grenade World.

[Bustertheclown]

Hmmm. Yeah, I guess that I was a bit harsh. It just shows that I was a fan. In a way, you have a sort of obligation to the fans to finish what you've started. People care, and people get upset when you let them down. But still, once you hit the wall, there is no way to just pass through it.

I'm sorry, but I'm going have to disagree. If the comic is being made for free and being offered to the fans for free, the artist doesn't have an obligation to the fans AT ALL. Yes, the fans can be upset, hurt, disappointed, and all the sucky feelings that comes when a story you love isn't going to be finished. They have every right to be. But the artist owes them nothing.

If the artist has gained the success to have a fanbase, he most certainly has an obligation to the fans. Like it or not, that's public life. If you were only doing it for yourself, you don't have to show it to the public. In truth, if you feel a project is ever something you could abandon, then perhaps its something you should think hard about publishing it in the first place.

Free to the public or not, if you spend a long time telling a story, and building up a willing audience, it is not kosher to just cut it all off abruptly without resolution. Even if you're approaching it as a hobby, people who read the stuff don't percieve it that way. To them, it's something they get enjoyment from, something they have put much time and energy in reading and loving. People begin to take these things as passionately as any creator. (We've all seen fan activity. These people are serious!) Wheeling around and essentially announcing "I owe you nothing!" is an asshole move. If you're in this in some sort of professional, semi-professional, or even experience gaining capacity, you MUST take the audience seriously. It's part of the gig you've volunteered for. There's no dismissing it as soon as you get tired.

[Escushion]

Hmmm. Yeah, I guess that I was a bit harsh. It just shows that I was a fan. In a way, you have a sort of obligation to the fans to finish what you've started. People care, and people get upset when you let them down. But still, once you hit the wall, there is no way to just pass through it.

I'm sorry, but I'm going have to disagree. If the comic is being made for free and being offered to the fans for free, the artist doesn't have an obligation to the fans AT ALL. Yes, the fans can be upset, hurt, disappointed, and all the sucky feelings that comes when a story you love isn't going to be finished. They have every right to be. But the artist owes them nothing.

If the artist has gained the success to have a fanbase, he most certainly has an obligation to the fans. Like it or not, that's public life. If you were only doing it for yourself, you don't have to show it to the public. In truth, if you feel a project is ever something you could abandon, then perhaps its something you should think hard about publishing it in the first place.

Just because it's thought hard about and at the time seems unabandonable doesn't mean it's always so.

[Cope]

...Of course, the Adventurers! final boss fight took well over a year to go through as he outlined every single turn, so if Ian was planning something like that, I can see why he stopped.

Or maybe Ian was just parodying the fake final bossfights that happen in RPGs occasionally.

[McDuffies]

My opinion is that though artist seemingly completely owns his comic and gives to people without asking for anything in return, that doesn't mean he doesn't owe anything.
For one, if he has fans who cheer him and help him go through creative crises, not to mention give him donations, then it is some kind of obligation.
There's another thing though, I think that artist takes a responsibility on his back and has to cope with that responsibility. It's like, for instance, I was a mod of a forum but I did a bad job - regardless of the fact that I am doing it for free, I'm still doing a bad job of something I said I'd do well.

But then I also think that this responsibility isn't too big either. For one, I don't think that anyone has right to complain when author has neglected his comic because of real life issues. I don't think that anyone has right to complain when artist is simply discouraged because of deafening silence (send him a mail before, not after he's quit the comic). And so on.

[Bustertheclown]

Just because it's thought hard about and at the time seems unabandonable doesn't mean it's always so.

You've got no argument from me there. There are plenty of very good reasons why a comic might be abandoned, and I'm certainly not going to single out what makes for a good excused absence. All I'm saying is that the 'it's free, so you owe them nothing' line of thinking is a poor rationalization.

I guess the biggest problem I have with the 'it's free, so you owe them nothing' argument is it's too often an attractive quality to people who put very little forethought in starting a long-term project like any comic will be. Creating comics should not be a be a wholly whimsical act. If you're publishing a work, then it's just irresponsible to take a 'got here by accident', unattached view of your work, or any success you may see. You should be aware of whom you might be disappointing in abandoning the work that you've willfully made public, and how it will reflect on perceptions of your integrity of an artist, and reliability as a storyteller. So, to me, 'it's free, so you owe them nothing' is not a good excuse.

Considering that I've been guilty of such an attitude in the past, I know that I could be seen as a hypocrite for the change of heart. Still, my new project won't be posted until it's all done.

[Starline]

Hmmm. Yeah, I guess that I was a bit harsh. It just shows that I was a fan. In a way, you have a sort of obligation to the fans to finish what you've started. People care, and people get upset when you let them down. But still, once you hit the wall, there is no way to just pass through it.

I'm sorry, but I'm going have to disagree. If the comic is being made for free and being offered to the fans for free, the artist doesn't have an obligation to the fans AT ALL. Yes, the fans can be upset, hurt, disappointed, and all the sucky feelings that comes when a story you love isn't going to be finished. They have every right to be. But the artist owes them nothing.

If the artist has gained the success to have a fanbase, he most certainly has an obligation to the fans. Like it or not, that's public life. If you were only doing it for yourself, you don't have to show it to the public. In truth, if you feel a project is ever something you could abandon, then perhaps its something you should think hard about publishing it in the first place.

Free to the public or not, if you spend a long time telling a story, and building up a willing audience, it is not kosher to just cut it all off abruptly without resolution. Even if you're approaching it as a hobby, people who read the stuff don't percieve it that way. To them, it's something they get enjoyment from, something they have put much time and energy in reading and loving. People begin to take these things as passionately as any creator. (We've all seen fan activity. These people are serious!) Wheeling around and essentially announcing "I owe you nothing!" is an asshole move. If you're in this in some sort of professional, semi-professional, or even experience gaining capacity, you MUST take the audience seriously. It's part of the gig you've volunteered for. There's no dismissing it as soon as you get tired.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't feel that public life means your fans 'own' you in anyway shape or form. The only people who have obligations to a public are elected officials. The fans choose to become invested in the artist, and like any investment, it can sometimes fall through.

And as a sidenote, most people stop their projects because 1. They don't have time anymore. 2. They're bored with it. It happens. You can be super excited about a project, love it, work on it for ages, and then over time as you and your life changes, not care about it any more. I don't think this makes the person an asshole. It just makes them human. Why should someone continue to work on something that they don't like anymore (for free), even if they have fans that like it?

[Joel Fagin]

I'm afraid I haven't checked if someone else has done it, but I've found the master list of completed webcomics...

http://www.twentysevenletters.com/fullstory/

- Joel Fagin

[Bustertheclown]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't feel that public life means your fans 'own' you in anyway shape or form. The only people who have obligations to a public are elected officials. The fans choose to become invested in the artist, and like any investment, it can sometimes fall through.

And as a sidenote, most people stop their projects because 1. They don't have time anymore. 2. They're bored with it. It happens. You can be super excited about a project, love it, work on it for ages, and then over time as you and your life changes, not care about it any more. I don't think this makes the person an asshole. It just makes them human. Why should someone continue to work on something that they don't like anymore (for free), even if they have fans that like it?

Just to clarify, I believe there's a huge difference between being an asshole and being a regularly amiable person who happens to have pulled an asshole maneuver. I don't necessarily equate specific actions or attitudes with general disposition. Also, I certainly agree that a person has the right to end his work when he sees fit, finished or not, and there are plenty of perfectly good reasons for a person to do so.

The only thing that really sticks in my craw is when a person dismisses his audience completely, as if they didn't contribute anything to the project.

[McDuffies]

What bugs me is that Mercury Hat never updates her comic that has a witch with breatst that change size.

[Starline]

The only thing that really sticks in my craw is when a person dismisses his audience completely, as if they didn't contribute anything to the project.

Well, that I do agree with you on.