tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post1511299948281673238..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: xkcd store updateCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-90791528513718721482010-07-26T19:50:36.016-07:002010-07-26T19:50:36.016-07:00I've never ordered anything from them, but I&#...I've never ordered anything from them, but I've also never heard of any complaints (not that e-mailing me is the likely action of someone who's had a bad experience with the store, but it's not totally inconceivable). <br /><br />I suspect you'll be fine, tons and tons of people have successfully bought xkcd shirts (otherwise I wouldn't see them all the time), and if his store got even a little unreliable he would lose a huge amount of business. He has a VERY strong incentive to keep people happy.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-33525222014422050712010-07-26T16:11:42.567-07:002010-07-26T16:11:42.567-07:00So this is a bit not related, but it's my firs...So this is a bit not related, but it's my first time ordering from them for my boyfriend as a birthday gift and did you actually receive a shipment confirm from them? I've emailed, no phone number to find, no word from them about the shirt actually being shipped to him.<br /><br />No idea if he'll get it in time and no idea if I just threw my money into a sink hole.<br /><br />Any advice based on your shirt ordering experience?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-49439592675520686272010-03-04T06:22:57.817-08:002010-03-04T06:22:57.817-08:00"Radiohead style", ay? Unbelievably apt ..."Radiohead style", ay? Unbelievably apt then that just as I was reading this, my iTunes was singing at me "... arrest this man he talks in maths."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-5016591848894338932010-02-26T16:59:07.351-08:002010-02-26T16:59:07.351-08:00If you pay 15, they fold itIf you pay 15, they fold itR.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-11885341694445184152010-02-26T14:49:57.123-08:002010-02-26T14:49:57.123-08:00the question is, who is responsible for that fold ...the question is, who is responsible for that fold going down the middle?Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-77696657588918088772010-02-26T04:14:08.959-08:002010-02-26T04:14:08.959-08:00Here's what $15+ gets you:
http://i.imgur.com/...Here's what $15+ gets you:<br />http://i.imgur.com/dfByY.jpg<br /><br />To be honest, it is better than I expected, being printed on card stock and not plain letter paper.Nozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107787562233662120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-12334198528208908042010-02-24T06:47:06.712-08:002010-02-24T06:47:06.712-08:00Rinnon: yea, pretty much. It's still not a rea...Rinnon: yea, pretty much. It's still not a reason, but I guess you got on the kernel of the question.Professional Molehttp://comic.guedesav.blog.brnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-44210937044550247442010-02-23T21:32:46.449-08:002010-02-23T21:32:46.449-08:00Not long ago I saw some fat dude with a ponytail w...Not long ago I saw some fat dude with a ponytail wearing a "Science: It works, bitches" shirt. I was like Oh, how fitting. Also, was xkcd 703 so awesome, causing so many people to link to it, that now the first Google result for xkcd is that comic? Really? Because before, I could just type xkcd into Firefox's address bar and it'd go boom and bring me to the latest comic, but now it just brings me to that abortion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-34875778271612663832010-02-23T21:29:11.425-08:002010-02-23T21:29:11.425-08:00Does this mean that assault laws are irrelevant?Does this mean that assault laws are irrelevant?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-81413559798549019722010-02-23T21:23:45.717-08:002010-02-23T21:23:45.717-08:00I like Matt's idea. I also dislike the comic,...I like Matt's idea. I also dislike the comic, mostly because the joke is so, so obvious. Which makes me wonder: is this Randall juxtaposing the predictable joke with the unpredictable assault (kindly explained post-punchline, of course)?Big Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-26434028786666322682010-02-23T21:19:10.249-08:002010-02-23T21:19:10.249-08:00Fuck fuck fuck
The new one is so fucking stupid. ...Fuck fuck fuck<br /><br />The new one is so fucking stupid. And the shitty dialog on top of that.<br /><br />FUCK YOU, MAJORITY, AND YOUR AWFUL TASTEEl Duderinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-67398215159540235362010-02-23T21:16:52.067-08:002010-02-23T21:16:52.067-08:00Oh man I didn't realize that my post was relev...Oh man I didn't realize that my post was relevant to the store rant AND the latest comic.<br /><br />Also, it's kinda dumb.Matt Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214060464480353146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-83415073570070405162010-02-23T21:15:10.151-08:002010-02-23T21:15:10.151-08:00I think the next time I see someone wearing an XKC...I think the next time I see someone wearing an XKCD shirt, I'm gonna punch 'em out. Then, when they lay on the ground, their hip shirt covered in mud and tears welling in their eyes, they'll whimper "why?" I shall reply by calmly but silently pointing at their shirt. Then I will void my bladder on it and probably go get a sandwich. Or maybe a bagel.Matt Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214060464480353146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-78832980671290585902010-02-23T21:13:03.772-08:002010-02-23T21:13:03.772-08:00New one is so godawfully lame. I'm a philosoph...New one is so godawfully lame. I'm a philosophy major, so you'd think this sort of dumb conversation would be right up my alley, except I've heard basically these exact musings a billion times before and it's so fucking boring. Next up: Randall writes an entire comic going "Whoa, man, <i>condemned to be free</i>, that's pretty fucking mind-blowing man!" and we all roll our eyes.<br /><br />It doesn't help that Randall's only exposure to philosophy seems to have been from That Pretentious Undergraduate Twat who is a perpetual dumbass and never stops namedropping random philosophers he doesn't understand and acting like he's blowing everyone's mind. (I wonder: <i>Am I that twat?</i>)John Magnumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04416392917805723793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-45040149107176241262010-02-23T20:44:15.969-08:002010-02-23T20:44:15.969-08:00Rinnon, we're not strict about posting here, w...Rinnon, we're not strict about posting here, we've all double posted before, especially because of the 4096 capCamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18388252234713990053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-13888328182652082832010-02-23T19:35:41.369-08:002010-02-23T19:35:41.369-08:00@Rob: Earlier you said a few things. First:
&quo...@Rob: Earlier you said a few things. First: <br /><br />"[...]XKCD fans especially seem like they'd be really big on details, so it seems kind of exploitative."<br /><br />I thought about this for a while, and now I have a counter point to make. First off, exploitative is a word that has a negative connotation, when I don't necessarily think that what he does is negative. Randy has a fan base which he knows are big on details, he knows they will like this poster, so he adds more details to make it a more worthwhile purchase for his fans. He is giving his fans what they want in a product, more detail. In a way he is exploiting the knowledge he has about what his fans want, and then giving it to them in product form, but I don't really see that this is a bad thing in any way. In fact, this seems like a GOOD thing from a consumer standpoint. If we're talking strictly about content, and you're suggesting that 20 bucks for a few extra details isn't right, I would argue that you are not paying 20 dollars for the details, you are paying 20 dollars for the poster paper, the ink, the time it took to print it, and the little details are an extra bonus. If he offered the same poster, for the same ammount, but did NOT offer a few extra details, would you feel the same way?<br /><br />Next you said this:<br />[...] Releasing it as a comic feels like he's trying to trick people into reading it and saying "oh can we have it on a poster now?" instead of just saying "hey guys, I made a poster, you should buy it.""<br /><br />Your second point I feel is one of a few possibilities for the reasoning behind releasing the poster as a comic first. I will simply state another possibility: Randy has an idea for a poster. He decides to draw up Gravity Wells and he likes it. He thinks it will sell well, but he's really not sure. What if he decides to put it up as a comic to test the waters on how well it might sell. If the forums talk about how much they want a poster version, great! It'll sell well, and he can proceed to place an order. If everyone say's it's okay, but not great, maybe he should hold off and not place an order to have it in the store, might not be profitable. No deception is intended, just market analysis before introducing a new potential product (It doubles as advertising for the product no doubt). This somehow feels far less malicious, and like better business at the same time. I don't know what it costs to put up new items in the store, but I'm sure it's not free. I'm sure he doesn't just print them off as the orders come in. If they are of even remotely decent quality (arguable), he probably orders them from a printing company, and he probably saves for ordering in bulk too, as opposed to 1 or 2 at a time. He of course wants to order in bulk to make sure the poster is in stock to ship out when someone orders it. As someone who has run a small business before, I know that it's hard to decide what to stock, and what to not. It costs money up front to stock something, and if they sit on your shelves it's a wasted investment. The ability to know for a fact (or near fact) your fanbase wants a product you are thinking of stocking would be immensly helpful.Rinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762967955629382937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-201951955478170582010-02-23T19:34:31.606-08:002010-02-23T19:34:31.606-08:00In advance, sorry about the double post. Apparentl...In advance, sorry about the double post. Apparently, there is a 4096 character limit on posting! Instead of scrapping half of it, I'm just going to go ahead, be an ass, and post it all anyways.<br /><br />@Fernie: I am conflicted by your post. On the one hand, I agree that being expected to like a set of entertainment just because you are classified as a "nerd" is somewhat ridiculous, on the other hand... I happen to like everything you wrote there, and now I feel stereotypical! Oh well. I agree with everything you said about being a nerd becoming a counter-culture movement, and as much as it's a shame, it seems like that's the fate of most large sub-culture groups. They all start off not caring what anyone else thinks of them, then they ban together because they share interests and shrug off the fact that others think they are weird. Then, they start to expect all new members of this group have the same tastes as them, and if they don't they aren't a true *insert title here*<br /><br />@ProMole: I don't know about you, but most of my life I was brought up being told "hate is a strong word" and "you don't hate him, you're just mad at him" etc etc. Hate is a "negative" emotion and any site that is built around the hating something must be a negative place! Right? I think the problem is that most people are just ignorant of what these sites are actually like, because they would never go to one. I know, because it was just 3 days ago I was ignorant of the details of this site. I like XKCD and a site called XKCD sucks strikes me as a rather hatefilled place to go. The only thing my mind could imagine would lie in wait there, would be people with anger issues who have nothing else they can think of to take it out on, than this comic. That clearly, the only reason for said site to exist MUST be because someone needs to hate on something, and arbitrarily chose something popular. With this predisposition, it feels only natural for "hatesites" to be hated. Negative emotions flying around, mean people saying mean things for no reason. That's what people imagine hate sites to be. What they don't imagine is well constructed criticism, entertaining writing, and reasonable people. I am even reluctant to say that XKCD Sucks is a hate site. My programming is kicking in and telling me "hate is a strong word..." A the wonders of childhood conditioning.Rinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762967955629382937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-17182354686833137192010-02-23T18:05:04.812-08:002010-02-23T18:05:04.812-08:00"why the hell did they put XKCD on the front ..."why the hell did they put XKCD on the front page? I may like XKCD, but I don't think it's front page news when a new comic comes out. Even by Slashdot's own standards: "Surely you can't even read slashdot and call yourself a true geek without loving XKCD too" they EXPECT you to already know about XKCD! Yeesh. Oh well."<br /><br />And they say you can just ignore XKCD if you want. Seriously, Slashdot people, THINK.<br /><br />Also, I started noticing... people hate hatesites, don't they? They think it's a waste of time to spend it with people that have the same interest -- or, rather, lack of interest -- in something that you have...<br /><br />But fansites are okay? Does it make sense? No, I don't want excuses such as "people are more welcome to praising than criticism", that makes as much sense as saying a pop cultural reference is always funny.<br /><br />That's all. Mole out.<br /><br />CAPTCHA: tingl. There's a very easy pun here, but I won't be the one doing it!Professional Molehttp://comic.guedesav.blog.brnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-82779220487222780402010-02-23T17:19:42.306-08:002010-02-23T17:19:42.306-08:00"why the hell did they put XKCD on the front ..."why the hell did they put XKCD on the front page? I may like XKCD, but I don't think it's front page news when a new comic comes out. Even by Slashdot's own standards: "Surely you can't even read slashdot and call yourself a true geek without loving XKCD too" they EXPECT you to already know about XKCD!"<br /><br />That's exactly the pervasiveness that's so offputting in xkcd and especially its fanbase in general (or at least the morons who post on the comic specific threads, that is), and that the Slashdot commentators failed to grasp. OF COURSE the "correct" attitude is just to ignore and accept it, BUT, there is a limit for everything. We are only human.<br /><br />As for being "expected" to like xkcd, yes, THAT is the rotten point. And that's a rotten point, as I see it, in nerd culture as a whole. You're EXPECTED to like Star Wars, Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Orson Scott Card, Firefly, animé, or some kind of combination of them. I thought, as a quasi-nerd myself, that the point of being a nerd is not to give a DAMN about what people expect from you, and being exactly what YOU want to be. But it seems that, as a "counter-culture", the nerd "movement" has fallen in exactly the same track that every other counter-cultural movement has ever fallen, like the Punk movement, for example. And its sad fate is to be swallowed by yet another counter-cultural movement. We'll see the day of people who're utterly sick of Internet lingo and mannerisms, who can't stand sci-fi, and who think all Internet memes (without circumflex this time!!) should die a painful death.<br /><br />And I'm really completely indifferent towards that.Fernie Cantohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01753446688169468457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-28423914922351525232010-02-23T15:49:04.835-08:002010-02-23T15:49:04.835-08:00@Anon 3:30:!!!
Don't get me started in Big Ba...@Anon 3:30:!!!<br /><br />Don't get me started in Big Bang Theory... a show ABOUT Geek Culture, that is writen BY non-geeks FOR non-geeks. This is NOT a show that I was meant to enjoy.<br /><br />Actually, I suppose that means I disagree on your analogy. XKCD is written about geek culture, by a geek, for geeks. Even if you don't like the jokes in XKCD, they almost feel more "authentic" than the ones in Big Bang Theory, which feel like they are geek culture referances by someone who is not actually a geek.Rinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762967955629382937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-18257455899540838242010-02-23T15:44:20.671-08:002010-02-23T15:44:20.671-08:00Now now, Big Bang Theory has "jokes" bes...Now now, Big Bang Theory has "jokes" besides "science, amirite?" and "star wars, amirite?"<br />It also has "nerds are sometimes awkward, u no?"ScottMcTonynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-49206729023477259872010-02-23T15:30:50.710-08:002010-02-23T15:30:50.710-08:00It just occurred to me that Xkcd is very similar t...It just occurred to me that Xkcd is very similar to the Big Bang Theory. You get nerd-culture references or science buzzwords followed by laughtrack thus implying something is funny about them. The same way calling something a comic implies that there are jokes involved.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-70587210949445901462010-02-23T14:36:03.102-08:002010-02-23T14:36:03.102-08:00@Ambivalicious: Clearly you are correct. But lucki...@Ambivalicious: Clearly you are correct. But luckily, since I AM an XKCD fan, I was able to understand your first post without the need for you to correct it! Hur hur hur! But thanks for the welcome! And Speaking of slashdot and complaining though... why the hell did they put XKCD on the front page? I may like XKCD, but I don't think it's front page news when a new comic comes out. Even by Slashdot's own standards: "Surely you can't even read slashdot and call yourself a true geek without loving XKCD too" they EXPECT you to already know about XKCD! Yeesh. Oh well. <br /><br />@Nate: Good point on putting the posters up right away. Not only are you right on the point that it would catch impulse purchasers, it would also be nice of him to be brutally honest about the fact that he is posting a "Poster" in his comic strip.<br /><br />@R.: Hey Man, what's your problem? Just because you don't like the text box, why don't you just not use it? No one is FORCING you to use it! Besides, it's completely subjective! *I* like it just fine! Is it REALLY so important that you needed to start a blog about it? Don't you have anything better to do then complain about a comment box?Rinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762967955629382937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-75115243191996562822010-02-23T14:18:28.346-08:002010-02-23T14:18:28.346-08:00Now that is some good meta, R.Now that is some good meta, R.Ambivaliciousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-58791096860295323722010-02-23T14:09:28.588-08:002010-02-23T14:09:28.588-08:00@ Cam:
...hmm, maybe Randall does put more work i...@ Cam:<br /><br /><i>...hmm, maybe Randall does put more work into his posters than Buckley does</i><br /><br />On the flipside of that, though, Buckley puts more work into his comic than Randall does.<br /><br />I mean, CAD is infinitely more awful than xkcd. Don't get me wrong. I don't think anything xkcd can do, not even 631, will ever top the CAD miscarriage storyline.<br /><br />But still, as you said, Buckley DOES do backgrounds, and even if his art is copy/paste and everyone has the same facial expression, they at least HAVE facial expressions and the art alone isn't horrible if you try and ignore that everyone looks the same. And he does have unique characters with their own personalities (even if those personalities are stupid or annoying)<br /><br />So while CAD is a worse comic for different reasons, I can admit, he does put more effort into his comic than Randall does.<br /><br />For the poster thing, I guess I don't care one way or the other what Randall does, but I do think if he's going to make poster comics, he should have the poster available in the store at the same time the comic goes up. I say this because if he's really keen on making money on it, he needs to grab the impulse buyers. The people who will read the comic and go "OH MAN I WANT THAT" and go to the store immediately and plunk down 15 or 25 bucks or whatever and order it right away. By having the posters appear a few months later (as he did with the recent ones) he probably loses out on a few sales of people who wanted it originally but then decided they didn't really after thinking about it for a while.Natenoreply@blogger.com