Due to an extremely annoying thing I have been going through with my apartment’s management for the past week, I am pretty worn out. So, there probably won’t be a post today. I might make some kind of longer blog post along the lines of the Gabe Newell one if I get the chance to sit down for a while.
Additional comments:
So Seth messaged me on Steam and called me Tim Buckley cause I started doing a web comic. It hurt especially because his comic, Ctrl-Alt-Del, is often the topic of a lot of jokes between us. This is because that webcomic is the most cookie-cutter, bland thing anyone has ever seen. I am well aware that I have no room to talk, especially since I’m just some college student doing a little comic for fun, but it’s just so easy to poke fun at Mr. Buckley.
I used the adjective “cookie-cutter” because its the best one to describe Ctrl-Alt-Del. The comic contains a plot that can be applied to 90% of web comics. It reads like the wet dream of nearly every video game fan: a shy, relatable main character who has a girlfriend who loves video games. It has been specifically designed, down to the details, to be successful in the web comic boom that existed two years ago. Riding the crest of the wave started by comics like VGCats and Penny Arcade, Buckley sat down and crafted a comic that basically rehashed every aspect of their success.
The biggest problem with this is that when the whole web comic craze started, the big guns mentioned above were the forerunners of their genres. Penny Arcade started the whole deal with a web comic that had no solid plot line, but had several recurring characters. They stuck to video game humor, but kept things pretty clean and realistic as far as comics go. Then VGCats came along and emerged as the darker, crazier comic that had a “sicker” sense of humor. PvP Online had a solid storyline, tons of recurring characters and more of a Dilbert feel. Then came the overflow of small, basic web comics that revolve around a goofy gamer (the author), who has a hot gamer girlfriend (not the authors girlfriend), and a more responsible room mate (authors friend). Buckley was one of those random people that created this kind of scenario in hopes of catching some of the fame, and without reason he did. What I am trying to get at is that Ctrl-Alt-Del has no reason to be as popular as it is. It’s a dime-a-dozen web comic with nothing that makes it unique or special. The dull, long dialogue is only enjoyable for one or two days. Then whenever people start to lose interest in it, Buckley adds in some crazy plot twist in a cheap attempt to regain popularity (miscarriage? REALLY?).
I can’t really do this topic justice in the short text that I allow myself every comic. To read more on why Ctrl-Alt-Del is horrible, Encyclopedia Dramatica has put together an excellent, and accurate, article here. I don’t really know much about Buckley himself, but in my opinion he doesn’t deserve his success.
Starting next week, the comic will run three times a week on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. Pretty much don’t have anything to do during the summer, so figured this would keep me busy that much more.
Also, big thanks to Greg for pretty much coming up with the idea for the next few weeks worth of comics.
Gabe Newell gets a lot of shit for pretty much every fuck up and delay that Valve has. The trend is understandable, considering he is sort of their front man (and, you know, CEO). Though, I think that maybe he gets a little too much negative attention and hilarious weight jokes, and not enough genuine positive attention for what he has done: namely, start a company that has set the standard for several genres of games, forged a network that has in many ways defined PC gaming, and created the driving force for many a young gamers love of the FPS. Whenever the guys over at Valve do something awesome, the community response goes something like this: “Wow, Valve, way to go! You guys are great! Man, I wish every company was like you.” Whenever something doesn’t go as planned, it’s “Goddamn it Gabe, what did YOU do this time?” I understand that these are less of actual complaints and more a reflex brought on by years of beating the same horse. However, one has to imagine that it would wear on a guy, no matter how serious the jokes are.
So, here is a tribute to all Gabe has done for us:
Gabe:
What the hell is up with all these fucking hats in TF2? I mean, I get it, hats are cool and they are a good way to shield your face and eyes from harmful UV rays, but holy fucking christ what is the deal? Honestly, TF2 is pretty much a fucking circus now. I literally cannot play for more than 5 minutes without getting all of these ridiculous trading messages, /says about buying items, and the infamous faggotry that is bragging about the amount of glowy shit on your avatars head. Honestly, it is all pretty much your fault for ruining the game. Sure, some may say that you have very little to do with the artistic and mechanical direction that the game takes, but if we are going to get down to brass tacks here: your company, your fault. I guess it is a good thing, though, because now I know when it is time to hand you over more money, since I will be able to instantly see the ludicrous influx of promo hats several days prior to any and every game release under the fucking sun. Welp, g2g, some scout is wailing on me with a fucking fish. Seriously? A fucking FISH? Go to hell.
Dearest Gabriel:
Are you being serious with this? L4D2? What happened to constant updates for L4D1, you lying sack of garbage? So what, now we get pretty much screwed out of 50 bucks? Not like we got hundreds of hours of entertainment out of the first one or anything. Not like the first game was completely worth every cent of money that we paid. No, you give us a complete shell of a game, only to take what should have been DLC, wrap it up in a shiny box, and slap a two on it. You know what? YOU KNOW WHAT?! BAM! We are so boycotting this shit. No no, don’t try to be all friendly now. You made your bed, now you fucking sleep in it.
Dear Gabe:
Where in all holy fucking Christmas is episode 3? Do you not even bother to read your forums and the countless blog rages? People need to see something with the number 3 on it before we literally start etching the number 3 into our chest with a knife. Is that what you want? For your adoring fans to feel pain? Why do you hate us so much? We are the reason you became so successful of a company. No, not your countless hours of hard work, and certainly not your staff filled with talented employees. We, the raving public, made you; and we will fucking unmake you in the fires from which you were forged. I mean, what the hell is this? You have time for endless tF2 updates and a portal sequel, but no time for poor Gordon. It probably would take you what, 2 days to finish? Lazy asshole.
Dear GAYbe:
Steam fucking blows. I am prepared to totally outdo your well thought out business design, as well as completely remake your entire system into a streamlined, perfect e-utopia, all from my mom’s basement. Speaking of “from my mom’s basement”, I also had a few extra hours laying around, so I took the liberty of writing out this long, winded explanation as to why you should have never switched over from WON. It’s attached as a .odg file. What? Your company doesn’t use OpenOffice? That is because you guys are corporate hacks.
Dear Gables:
Why hasn’t this obscure game that I like and that you have nothing to do with, (but it is hosted via Steam so it must have something to do with you) been updated recently? One last thing, I am pissed at you that Blizzard games aren’t available on steam, but still completely pissed at you for selling out to these big companies like EA. 60 bucks for a Call of Duty game? Someone is going to pay. YOU. You are going to pay.
To whom it may concern:
Lose weight, fatty.
Oh, and dear VALVE:
Thank you so much for donating TF2 hat money to Japan. You guys are a real inspiration over there, and if I could I would give you all a big hug.
Midterms and testing. Skipping a day. AHAAAAA!!!
As the comic becomes more and more complex (and I use the term “complex” very loosely) it requires a lot more effort to push through the idea that I have onto paper, so to speak. Because of this, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain quality on a black background. The white lines on black background worked very well when the line work was minimal, but white is so much easier to work with now.
In addition, I started adding color. This is just to make it easier to express depth and relate importance to things that I think require it. I will probably keep this format for some time, as I already see a difference in the quality and “lookability,” if I may make up a word for a second here. Things seem to pop more from the background, and I guarantee that there will be far less feeling of not knowing what an object is or where it is in relation to the characters.
I know at least two of you have asked what the new update schedule is, and the answer to that is every Tuesday and Friday. I know I was going three times a week for a while, but I’m just trying to be as realistic as possible with my time.
I knew I wanted to do something with my tablet when I moved into the new place, though I didn’t know exactly what. A few ideas came into mind, one of which being a comic entirely dedicated to Jay and some type of subsequent magical journey he must go on. However, because I couldn’t really think of good, lasting ideas for something of that nature, I abandoned it in favor of Leon. Also, I really missed the shortness and the overall feel of Leon. I can come up with hundreds of four panel stories in the same time that I could muster up a half-decent 30 page story, and it favors my sense of humor much more than a 8 1/2 x 11 panel could.
So here is what we get: a start of a new chapter in Leon. Since most of the material for the comic has often come from my own experiences in life and on the internet, I thought that it would only be proper that the guys move into a new setting as well.
On a more technical note, I disabled comments on all new posts and comics. They were pretty pointless.
I finally bit the bullet and dedicated the day to moving the site from our old, shitty hosting company to this new one. I’ve been with the old one for like as long as his site has been up, but its recent increase in downtime and server issues made the decision necessary. If anyones interested, I now know how the kid felt when he took old Yeller out to the barn. It’s a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of comfort and accomplishment… On second thought, the two situations probably arent that similar.
Nevertheless, shit is done. One day of summer in and one item is already off the checklist.
I used to read Ctrl-Alt-Del when I started actually reading web comics. I got to Ctrl later than the others that I read, and stuck with it for a bit for kicks (call it a comic phase i guess). Then the miscarriage. In a goddamn video game comic. LOLOLOLOL SOAP LOLPRA
TL;DR: What the shit?! @ Ctrl Alt Del
Needs more dead babies
If you’ve never read VGcats… do it.
“It has been specifically designed, down to the details, to be successful in the web comic boom that existed two years ago. Riding the crest of the wave started by comics like VGCats and Penny Arcade, Buckley sat down and crafted a comic that basically rehashed every aspect of their success.”
One major flaw in this theory would be the fact that Ctrl+Alt+Del has been around for 7 years, so if it was designed for the webcomic boom two years ago, that shows magnificent foresight on the author’s part.
“Buckley was one of those random people that created this kind of scenario in hopes of catching some of the fame, and without reason he did.”
Flaw #2: I’ve been reading since the beginning, and remember when Buckley started out, when he was just a college kid, putting a comic online because he enjoyed writing it and the internet gave him a way to share it with the world. He seemed as shocked as anyone when it started to take off and he was able to make a living off of it.
People are entitled to their tastes, you don’t have to like the comic. Go ahead editorialize its content to your heart’s desire. However, when you start inaccurately attacking the person behind it, you damage your own reputation as much as your intended target, because you come across as a bitter, resentful jerk instead of an even-minded critic. Just something to consider…
I dont know who you are, but I love conflict.
- 7 years is 3-4 more years than PA and PvPonline. In that three years, the comic boom created the stereotype comic that Buckley’s falls into. I do no believe that a comic that follows this line, as his does, should be rewarded. Not only does he re use old material from more popular ones, but his characters could, literally, be picked up and moved to any number of thousands of other comics, many of which were started before him.
- Just because he was once a college kid does not make my point valid. Further, did you know him personally? Did he specifically tell you thats why he was putting it out? This is the internet, just because someone writes that something on a blog doesn’t mean it’s true. I’m actually a girl btw. Just throwing that out there.
I’m not inaccurately attacking anything. I’m using what I know to be true to make my own assessment. In fact, I am quite open about what I do and don’t know. That is why I do not attack Buckley as a person, as many people do (see him exposing himself via webcam to an underage forum member on ED). I am a resentful jerk, I am no where near even-minded, I am extremely bitter, and I could care less about my internet reputation.
Welcome to the internet, no one is rational, everyone is bitter, and its chock full of the lulz.
I read the Bman’s (Slang for Tim Bucks) since 2003? But since the MISCARRIAGE I lost all hope. Since when was this a fucking soap opera? The shit isn’t funny anymore it’s like watching CBS from 11-3 with my grandmother.
I can’t read it anymore, the whole comic is this mastabatory aid for lonely nerds like me who want a fine sweet animated chick who plays video games too (emphasis on animated) The walls of text about ‘reality’ I am on the internet because I want to escape reality.
I finally saw where this Pheonix dude thought that he had discovered a flaw in my argument. In my post I said that Ctrl-Alt-Fail was designed to be successful in the comic boom that happened two years ago. He/she/it figured (guessing here) that since the comic is 7 years old then I was wrong. To its defense, the wording does work against me. The boom that I mention is the crest of a wave started by comics like Penny Arcade and PvP, both now 10+ years old. As the wave of popularity with these things grew, out popped gamer comic #1382740 (Ctrl-Alt-Fail). What was its unique qualities? Nothing. It was the same thing as every other basement dwelling, sexually frustrated gamer comic. Built and grown of other peoples ideas and successes, rather than a unique idea, humor, or drawing talent. When being a web comic finally became hot shit on a massive level (about two years ago), gamer comic #1382740 came out on top in the “Clumsy gamer with hot gaming girlfriend” category. Why? who the hell knows. And thats the most accurate statement I can give. No one knows.
And that is why I hate it.