Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jough]

<ot>
Nice .sig quote, V-Adore...
</ot>

[CortJstr]

Back with the topic, I dont have any problem at all with onstad not reading a messageboard. everyone keeps whining about it for some reason, but its not like jough has not provided another board of equivalent power (even if it does not have red ***** icons for putting next to posts) and its not like the comic has suffered in any way.  Achewood was never about having a personal connection to the artist, it has always been a momentary diversion on the road to the grave, and nothing more. We are all on that road basically alone, whether we like it or not.

Intellectually, I agree. But there's a childish part of me throwing a fit right now.

The issue here isn't that Onstad is expected to interact with the fans and doesn't. The issue is that he used to and stopped. If he'd never started his own MB, one like this would have evolved anyway (although probably on Yahoo groups or usenet or something) and things would have been fine. But since he did interact and stopped we feel like something's been taken away from us, maybe even a little cheated. But it will go away, especially as the proportion of oldbies that remember the old board lowers compared to new faces.

[jay-ell]

(even if it does not have red ***** icons for putting next to posts)

I'm still waiting for a graphically inclined person to make us some custom smilies with Achewood character heads.  PM me if you'd like to volunteer.  

I think CortJstr makes some good points.  By hanging out with us for a year or so and then deciding to take his ball and go home, the selgiraffe, childish parts of all of us are a little annoyed.  For goodness' sake, we had our very own Internet Rock Star.  (Not to be confused with a Jukebox Hero.  Damn, I love that song.)  And now that relationship is gone.  It's natural to feel a void.  (Yes, that's an overly dramatic interpretation.  Go with it.)  

Which is the only explaination I've come up with as to why you've latched on to me, of all people.  Sheesh.

[slink]

Yea, it's like, if I were to make an analogy for what he's done, it what be something... sandbox based! Now, where did that come from

[chomphaggis]

A man works hard. Hard like a dog or other working animal. Achewood is a meal deal for a man or exceptional woman- I wasn't surprised to see the board die on dumbrella, and I'd lurked there for a buncha months, you could see it coming...Onstad works hard, I reckon, and I can't forget the day I found achewood (via Scary Go Round) and read the archive- I nearly collapsed a lung.

[satchel]

Any artist who ever produces more than one piece of work has to be prepared for someone to say ‘I liked the old stuff better.’ Having readers wonder about departed or one-shot characters is also common. Hopefully hearing those comments didn’t affect Onstad much. Since Onstad had such tight rules on the old forum, he should have posted guidelines or a FAQ or something. Instead of using his energy to cry about the posts he didn’t like, he could have done to prevent them.

If Onstad wanted or needed a community behind Achewood, closing his board was a bad move. I don’t know what percentage of his readers/income are the ‘hardcore’ such as ourselves, but apparently we were worth sacrificing.

The man’s attitude means naught to my interest in his work, but if I were him I would go about things differently.

[Jugwine]

Since Onstad had such tight rules on the old forum, he should have posted guidelines or a FAQ or something. Instead of using his energy to cry about the posts he didn’t like, he could have done to prevent them.

I think, though, that the only rule of the old Achewood forum (and I admit that I was not around much for its last days) was that if Onstad thought a thread had turned into a turd, he would lock it.  Unfortunately for him, this is a very difficult rule to enforce without reading every post in every thread yourself.  That is the kind of thing that burns out moderators very quickly, let alone the artist himself.

[jay-ell]

Since Onstad had such tight rules on the old forum, he should have posted guidelines or a FAQ or something. Instead of using his energy to cry about the posts he didn’t like, he could have done to prevent them.

You will note that I have established such regulations here.  

It is exhausting to read every thread yourself, I should know.  And I think having space for people to bullshit on this board will help things from turning into turds.  But when it comes right down to it, Onstad is more than a little bit of a control freak, and managing the board just got to be too much for him.  

Now, does anybody else have anything to say on this topic?  Because it's up to four pages now and I think it's about time we moved on.

[jough]

Yea, it's like, if I were to make an analogy for what he's done, it what be something... sandbox based! Now, where did that come from

You know, I was trying to think up an apt metaphor, and didn't want to use the cliched "This kid we used to play ball with got pissed off at us once and since he owned the ball..."

It really doesn't matter now what Onstad thinks about his message board.  I think he likes having fans - who wouldnt? - but it seems that even the most hardcore fans weren't above posting criticism on the message boards.

Because that's what the internet is about: posting semi-anonymous rantings trashing stuff and people.

I don't think many people would have said the things that they posted on those message boards to Onstad's face at a party.  You don't walk up to someone and say "Man, the Variety Hour is LAME.  Why don't you go back to writing another strip?"

I think he'd just prefer we say "thank you" and go on our way.

Oh, and buy merchandise, which I for one will no longer be doing.

How many readers/customers did he lose through shutting down the boards?  Hard to say.  Probably not many, because the sycophantic can take all sorts of abuse and justify it.

I don't even object to his closing the message boards.  I just think he could've handled it better.  Like, I don't know, post a thread a month ahead of time saying "These boards will be closing at the end of the month." or "I can't moderate this thing anymore - it's taking up too much of my time and energy.  Could someone else mod?  I'll be by once a week to answer questions and read some feedback."

But what did he do?  Like a petulant child he got a bug up his ass and in less than a day's time closed the message board.

That's fine.  He's entitled.  But I prefer to spend my money on people who are a little more considerate to their fans.  People like rstevens, from whom I'll be ordering a book.  I'll have to check to see if he autographs them, because the extra scratch is usually worth it.

And I read through the other Dumbrella board comics (not all of them, but one a day) and have really enjoyed Scary Go Round - so maybe John Allison can get a little of my excess web-comic-cash.

Rstevens and John A both post regularly to their message boards, they interact with their fans (heck, rstevens of Clango.org even came over here to interact with US) and the interactions seem a lot more civil and enjoyable than the old Achewood board was at times.

So maybe Onstad brings his own hostility to his fanbase.

That's pretty much my last word on the closing of the old boards, barring any follow-ups.

-- Jough

[Schabe]

But, see, you've just gone and proven a point, and one which, though he never came out and said it as such, is one that I think Onstad felt.

You wouldn't have said half those things if you hadn't cared about the board.  In fact, based on that last post, it would seem that the board had become just as, if not more important than Achewood the Comic.

Way back when the boards opened, Onstad mentioned something about not wanting to have a happy little chat community to run.  It was never his idea, because he was all about the comic.  But the board took on its own life, a life that increasingly moved away from the comic and was more about that very happy little chat community that he was trying to avoid.

I guess all I'm saying is: it shouldn't matter if he had a board or not, or shut it down in a blink of an eye, if you truly care about Achewood.  Similarly, if you just want a discussion board where people can hang out and foster a community, then Achewood all that much.  It's just a means to an end.

Frankly, if Onstad has been able to do the comic full time based on merch sales, then the handful of die-hard boardwhores haven't been supporting him all that much.  If he feels it at all, it will only be for a brief time.

[jough]

Frankly, if Onstad has been able to do the comic full time based on merch sales, then the handful of die-hard boardwhores haven't been supporting him all that much.  If he feels it at all, it will only be for a brief time.

Well, his wife supports him too.

It's a good deal if you can get it - doing what you love all day (or not, as the case may be).  

And Achewood hasn't even really "taken off" yet.  It'll be interesting to see what happens to the comic if or when it gets mass media attention.

-- Jough

[jay-ell]

Don't forget that Our Boy is syndicated in some local news rags.  That can't hurt, either.

[MSC]

it would seem that the board had become just as, if not more important than Achewood the Comic.
 . . .
I guess all I'm saying is: it shouldn't matter if he had a board or not, or shut it down in a blink of an eye...

I agree.  I don't really understand the anger at the sudden decision to shut down the board.  Who got hurt?  I understand that people like their internet friends, but this board sprang up (thanks to the prompt efforts of the moderators) in about a day, and discussions seem to be flowing here rather nicely.  In fact, I think this board is far better.  Having a disinterested moderator seems to work much better than having the creator moderate discussions of his own work.  

Here's my last thought on this matter.  I have noticed in many of Onstad's posts and creations a certain ascerbic take on the internet, its conventions, etc.  Generally, I have found that the attitude is mostly "I don't swim in that pool."  Therefore, I think Onstad perhaps doesn't share many of the customes and norms of those deeply invovled in the "internet community," as it were.  I sort of feel the same way, so I understand, and don't blame Onstad for never wanting to moderate a fan community in the first place, or for pulling the plug just because he felt like it.  

I think one should be respectful to one's fans, and I think that when people individually addressed Onstad (as far as I could tell), he always was.  But I don't think that he had any "responsibility" to the message board.

[slink]

I guess all I'm saying is: it shouldn't matter if he had a board or not, or shut it down in a blink of an eye...

I agree.

Me too. I mean, maybe (well, obviously) Onstad just isn't the type of person that RStevens or JohnA are, that can deal with the whole message board community thing and do the comic and stuff related.
Yea, I reckon he should've just gotten someone else to mod it instead of such drastic action, but well, it was a good way to think it out quickly in the end so we got rid of some of the detritus. But still.
Hell, maybe in a week or two's time when the strip and stuff has gotten better it'll all blow over and we'll all have forgotten about it...

[pmcd9]

I don't really understand the anger at the sudden decision to shut down the board. Who got hurt? I understand that people like their internet friends, but this board sprang up (thanks to the prompt efforts of the moderators) in about a day, and discussions seem to be flowing here rather nicely.

I think we were extremely fortunate that we had someone in our midst like Jough who had the resources and the time to set up this alternate board in such quick fashion.  If not for Jough we would be scattered to the four winds by now.  I guess we could have pleaded to rstevens to give us access to the member list and sent out a mass e-mail, but that's supposing rstevens would actually do it and even if he did, where would we be if we didn't have Jough with the tech skills to set up such a marvelous board.  MSN groups? Yahell?  And what if Jough was too busy to do it on such instant notice?  What if he'd waited until the weekend?  By then it would have been too late to get the word out.  Let's face it, we're very fortunate to have this board.

As for why we are angry, I guess for me, it taints the experience knowing that the guy who's work you admire so much is a fuckin' asshole.  He's kinda like John Lennon in that respect.  I love the music he made, but c'mon the guy was a turd.

~Paul