07/19/09 [DMFA #1022] - Education is Boring.

[Madmann135]

It might just be me, but something tells me Dan would probably learn it better the hard way. 

With Dan, learning through pain is not the hard way.    But, yeah, he would learn better that way.

With regards,
Ted

With Dan, pain is a learning incentive...
for Dan pain makes learning fun.

[Ghostwish]

It might just be me, but something tells me Dan would probably learn it better the hard way. 

With Dan, learning through pain is not the hard way.    But, yeah, he would learn better that way.

With regards,
Ted

With Dan, pain is a learning incentive...
for Dan pain makes learning fun.

Since when? He's not exactly Cyra herself, you know. Just an adventurer. And although we've seen that pain often finds him, he doesn't exactly seem to enjoy it..

[Nobody]

With Dan, pain is a learning incentive...
for Dan pain makes learning fun.

Since when? He's not exactly Cyra herself, you know. Just an adventurer. And although we've seen that pain often finds him, he doesn't exactly seem to enjoy it..

I don't think it works on a principal of enjoying it; yeah, Cubi can feed on emotions and have an affinity for a certain one, but I don't think that they actually have to enjoy that emotion; even though most seem to.

[Garsemor]

It might just be me, but something tells me Dan would probably learn it better the hard way. 

With Dan, learning through pain is not the hard way.    But, yeah, he would learn better that way.

With regards,
Ted

With Dan, pain is a learning incentive...
for Dan pain makes learning fun.

Since when? He's not exactly Cyra herself, you know. Just an adventurer. And although we've seen that pain often finds him, he doesn't exactly seem to enjoy it..

If some one wants to teach Dan quikli there is only one motivation. Amazons.

[Ghostwish]

It might just be me, but something tells me Dan would probably learn it better the hard way. 

With Dan, learning through pain is not the hard way.    But, yeah, he would learn better that way.

With regards,
Ted

With Dan, pain is a learning incentive...
for Dan pain makes learning fun.

Since when? He's not exactly Cyra herself, you know. Just an adventurer. And although we've seen that pain often finds him, he doesn't exactly seem to enjoy it..

If some one wants to teach Dan quikli there is only one motivation. Amazons.

Theeerrreeee's the ticket. 

[Caswin]

Amber has a different style, that which she doesn't explain in non comic forms such as forum posts or Demonology 101, she delivers through casual conversation and just the regular happenings of the plot. When exposition is required, it is delivered in short, sharp bursts interspersed with jokes and antics, or with a character having a bored or funny reaction to it, and possibly also a self reference over the "joy" of having these nice explanations ("gratuitous economics lecture").
It's a good strategy in my opinion. I mean, we here are hardcore fans (mostly) so we largely like discussing finicky plot point and universe elements in forum posts.
But for other casual and regular readers, they just want to enjoy the comic, and not as many of them enjoy long winding exposition on theory and history that doesn't exist in the real world.

There's something about this that has started to bug me.  Given Amber's overall style, it makes sense to avoid long, detailed explanations of in-universe magical workings, history and personal backstory, just in case a major part of her casual reading audience would find that boring and wander off.  However -- and I could just be misreading a few signals here, but this is the image I've gotten -- it's treated as if "walls of text" concerning these details were universally considered boring, and are therefore skimmed, pointed out as an unfortunate necessity when they do appear, or skipped altogether, with Demonology 101's species descriptions as the sole exception.
However, apart from how interesting a lot of the information that has gotten through the "wall-o-text" filter sounds to me personally, I asked around at one point to find out who else was interested in hearing the "boring history" of, say, the 'cubi-dragon wars. (Tell me that didn't just pique your interest.) The response (half a dozen strong from a casual question) was unanimously, sometimes enthusiastically, in favor of learning more.
If writing out and publicizing elaborate backstory on a scale measured in pages is unfeasibly time-consuming, that's understandable.  But really -- this stuff is interesting.

[Sofox]

It's a good thought Caswin, but there's learning more, and there's being entertained while learning more.
The question isn't so much whether people would like to learn about the cubi wars, but how they would like to learn about it. Would they be okay if Amber wrote a 10 page document that was required reading for understanding the rest of DMFA?
Not saying that Amber's going to do about it, but just giving an extreme example.

[Caswin]

It's a good thought Caswin, but there's learning more, and there's being entertained while learning more.
The question isn't so much whether people would like to learn about the cubi wars, but how they would like to learn about it. Would they be okay if Amber wrote a 10 page document that was required reading for understanding the rest of DMFA?
Not saying that Amber's going to do about it, but just giving an extreme example.

Not required reading, no, although I really was a little blindsided by Aniz's backstory. (To paraphrase The Nostalgia Critic, buh?  War?  Assault?  Dragon?  Pumpkin?  War?  What?) The comic itself sometimes feels like a story dealing with things I'm already supposed to know, while providing just enough information to let the plot move.  Such "documents" would make plot points like that easier to understand at no extra cost to the reader (again, unless they added to the update burden), on top of the aforementioned interesting background.

[Ghostwish]

Well, think of it this way.. If Amber reveals too much, she might be destroying the chances of future strips, and giving away valuable plot info.

[Brunhidden]

Well, think of it this way.. If Amber reveals too much, she might be destroying the chances of future strips, and giving away valuable plot info.

not to mention throwing away lovely random sight gags, for example we may see wildy in a grass skirt or any number of equally random things

[ooklah]

Jy seems strangely completely relaxed sitting next to the critter that just tried to eat him minutes ago. And probably saw Wildly gulped down as well. I'd be a little unnerved, if I sat that close to my devourer.

[Naldru]

Jy seems strangely completely relaxed sitting next to the critter that just tried to eat him minutes ago. And probably saw Wildly gulped down as well. I'd be a little unnerved, if I sat that close to my devourer.

Remember that Jy is used to sitting near dangerous things:  Wildy, Aaryanna, Lorenda, Pip, etc.  If he wasn't able to deal with scary things, he would have probably moved out of Lost Lake a long time ago.  Not to say that he can't be scared, just that his curiosity makes him forget his fear.

[Caswin]

Well, think of it this way.. If Amber reveals too much, she might be destroying the chances of future strips, and giving away valuable plot info.

That occurred to me as I was writing it and it's a legitimate reason.  What bugs me more is that the information is treated as "boring" rather than too plot-sensitive to reveal.

not to mention throwing away lovely random sight gags, for example we may see wildy in a grass skirt or any number of equally random things

You mean Questions from the Readers?  I don't see why they would have to go away.