Twitter: [now] new colourist, again.

[PaintsTurtles]

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit disappointed that we haven't even gotten so much as a tweet since the last promise of "tomorrow". I honestly thought that the people who said "see you next week" were wrong and we really would hear something, but I guess they get the last laugh after all.

If he doesn't want to talk about what happened, that's his right, and if he does, he can take his time, but it's driving people mad with the constant promises of "tomorrow". I don't mean to be dismissive of what he's going through, because it's clearly something very troubling, and I'd encourage him to take his time, but just say that! One short tweet: "I do want to share what happened, but I don't yet know when I'll be able to find the words." That would go a long way towards cooling tempers and would hopefully take some of the pressure to finish the blog off as well.

Sorry if this is still sort of off-topic, LAYF -- it's concerning tweeting habits, but if that's not relevant please contact me and I'll make any necessary edits or adjustments.

[LAYF]

nono, that was relevant, it was on the last twitter post after all..

[Chelsa121]

Nobody here is claiming that Tarol doesn't have his flaws.

The crux of my argument is that technically, he doesn't owe us anything. You can be angry, you can be worried, you can be dismissive, but these emotions are all relatively irrelevant because the fact remains that we are not entitled to seeing the continuation of this work or an explanation for his absence in any legal or logical sense. He promised? Yeah, sure. But people break their promises all the time, for whatever reason, some good, some shitty.

Just because you lot have the luxury of not being under public scrutiny when you do doesn't mean that you're any better than Tarol. In fact, maybe the public scrutiny is part of the problem here, and your anger and frustration is indirectly prolonging your anger and frustration. Can you at least admit that if you had so many people angry at you during what could be any manner of personal issues, you'd probably be on your last nerve trying to explain what's going on to them too?

Oh, and to the user who suggests that all mental illness requires someone to be locked up... In Canadian Law, you can only be held in an institution involuntarily if it is a medical opinion that you are a danger to yourself or others. The rest is entirely up to the patient as long as they have committed no crimes. Most of us currently struggling with mental illness (My bipolar, PTSD, and anxiety attacks would like to say Hi) are not dangerous in any sense. My particular version involves getting irrationally anxious at the grocery store, but having a panic attack because there are too many people around me and I feel in a disproportionate amount of danger because of this and want to hide/leave immediately doesn't make me dangerous or dysfunctional or in need of institutionalization. Come on, grow up. We're not all stabby, even if our emotions are unstable.

As you may be able to tell, I'm hardly mentally deficient, and I don't have any problem expressing my opinions, but then, I've also had years of therapy and medication to gain some degree of control back after a long and arduous struggle. If mental illness is what's going on here, I can assure you that I wouldn't have been quite up for the task of explaining anything to anyone for well over a year past my initial diagnosis.

I don't know if this is what's going on with Tarol or not, but I do know that if it is, we may never get an explanation, and I guess you'll just have to be okay with that, move on with your lives, and remember that this is just a webcomic... It's a great webcomic, but it's just a webcomic.

[godzilla999666]

On a semi related note, we will be putting up a thread in the near future to discuss the forum rules and moderation. As we've done in the past we want to get some feedback from the community on how we're doing and the rules we adhere to as a community. I've been meaning to post it for about the past 2 weeks but hadn't found the time. Once this whole situation is resolved we'll put the thread up. Thanks again for being patient everyone, let's try to keep things civil

May I a sk what your definition of near future is? We have already learned that some people have different ideas on ehat soon means. Thank you.

[LAYF]

In this case soon means as soon as the RL of Moose (SeeAMoose) has the time to set it up as he wants it, and as soon as we all (mods and admins) have agreed on the premises on it (we are mostly done on that part, if not all done)

so the best word would be ASAPPRLAI (As soon as possible provided real life allows it.) but... soon...

yea, no set date... sorry... but RL does some first

*hope that helps.

Best regards -LAYF, the moderation team.

[Brassbaboon]

Chelsa121, the point that is being made here by those who have made comments critical of Thunt's behavior is not that Thunt "owes us something."

The point is that professional, and in the end, even basic CIVIL behavior is not based on what people OWE each other. It's based on fundamental recognition of core behavioral expectations, starting with "keep your word" and "own up to your responsibilities." That's where things have been coming up short.

[RidcullyJack]

Chelsa121, the point that is being made here by those who have made comments critical of Thunt's behavior is not that Thunt "owes us something."

The point is that professional, and in the end, even basic CIVIL behavior is not based on what people OWE each other. It's based on fundamental recognition of core behavioral expectations, starting with "keep your word" and "own up to your responsibilities." That's where things have been coming up short.

The lack delivering on promised posts is because something so terrible has happened in his private life that he's been essentially incommunicado for a month. One of the things that civil people do is let those who been through a devastating personal situation get back into life gently. If they break their word or can't meet their commitments as they return to normality, civility gives them a bit of leeway, and understanding.

Please, if you want to take Thunt to task for being uncivil, check you're being civil yourself.

[CooksACarrot]

Perhaps the promises of an upcoming blog were just a means to generate a little site traffic I'm baffled by this whole affair at this point. I find the radio silence very weird if it's not a legal issue, which I really doubt it is, considering all the other personal business that's historically been aired out on the Goblins blog. Like, uncomfortably personal business. I don't even really care about the comic any longer at this point, but man, my curiosity about this whole thing has me hooked.

Uncomfortable personal business has generally only been aired after legal issues were resolved

Has anyone seen Bernie with Jack Black and Shirley Maclaine? It is a real story about this lovely, gentle funeral director, beloved by the community, who falls in with this horrid old widow who controls him with money until he kills her. He can't face up to it, and continues to pretend that she is alive for months. Jack Black is absolutely brilliant in it, he is a much better actor than he gets credit for, he really deserved an Oscar nod for it. Mathew McConaughey is in it too, as the DA, in one of his few roles that doesn't make me retch. I'm so glad that he has decided to be an actor in the last few years, he really is quite good at it.

[Brassbaboon]

Chelsa121, the point that is being made here by those who have made comments critical of Thunt's behavior is not that Thunt "owes us something."

The point is that professional, and in the end, even basic CIVIL behavior is not based on what people OWE each other. It's based on fundamental recognition of core behavioral expectations, starting with "keep your word" and "own up to your responsibilities." That's where things have been coming up short.

The lack delivering on promised posts is because something so terrible has happened in his private life that he's been essentially incommunicado for a month. One of the things that civil people do is let those who been through a devastating personal situation get back into life gently. If they break their word or can't meet their commitments as they return to normality, civility gives them a bit of leeway, and understanding.

Please, if you want to take Thunt to task for being uncivil, check you're being civil yourself.

I am more than confident that my post was entirely civil Jack. If something that terrible happened in his private life a quick "Sorry folks, nothing new until I get this worked out" would have been all that was necessary. These constant broken promises are not caused by some calamity, they are caused by an inability or unwillingness to adress this situation professionally.

[Wolfie]

[mod="Wolfie"]This is not a warning, more of a heads up and a post to ponder:

Thunt is not the author of OOTS and he does try to keep his deadlines. Before this hiatus, he had been doing fairly well since he switched to the 5 day schedule. He also explained that what he was drawing currently was more intricate and involved and would take more time than the 5 day schedule allowed to get new pages up.

Is he perfect? Nope. He's human like the rest of us. He makes mistakes and tries to make up for them.

He is currently going through something. The best we can do is remain calm, remain respectful, and be nice to one another. The bickering, squabbling, and general mean tone of most of the recent posts, in both this and other Discussion posts, is mind-boggling to me. We like to think that we have a rather nice forum here; full of people who like the comic and want to be around others of the same ilk.

We defend Thunt because we like him, like we would a friend. We are not blind to his faults, though. I understand and share your frustration at the situation, but creating an account simply to vent your vitriol and then getting offended because other forum users don't appreciate having to hash out the same arguments over and over again is rather silly.

If you think Thunt owes you a comic, go ahead and believe that. You'll get it eventually.

WE, the mods, do not appreciate the bashing of us simply because we're trying to do our jobs. Moose already posted in another thread (I believe) that a post should go up soon asking the forum users for their input on moderating practices and the rules. This isn't to say that everything said within that post will go into effect, it only means that we would appreciate the opinion of those we moderate to make sure we are doing the best job we can. We cannot please everyone all the time. We do however tolerate a lot more on this forum than other forums do. This is on purpose, but it walks a very fine line.

In the future, for this thread and others, please listen to the Moderators and my fellow Admins when they say something. If they tell you that you are out of line, then change what they asked you to. Arguing will only result in an Official warning and other possible unpleasantries. We do have fangs behind the nice please's we hand out, and we will start using them. There has been a major influx of new members since the start of this situation and I can bet that not even a third of them have read the rules, so I will reiterate a point for you: We will hold you to the rules whether you've read them or not. By signing up, you agree to abide by the rules posted and have been warned that they may change without notice.

If we tell you that a thread is off-topic and to get back on topic or take it to PM, that does not mean you can do one more post on what you were saying.

We are asking for your continued patience, your continued respect, and for everyone here to remember their manners.

Thank you,

Wolfie[/mod]

One more thing, the Twitter thread will not be locked due to it's nature of being the update thread for when Thunt tweets about something. This doesn't mean that people can continue to post vitriol in there. If it continues I will move those posts to a different thread.

[copied from the "A Month In...] thread

[nameneeded]

So I have changed my mind on my views about Tarol and his 'obligation' to us his viewers/ followers.

The confusion here is, as I see it...

Goblins is a business venture of Tarol's. He decides how he runs it. A lot of us feel he is running it poorly (me) and some feel he is running it as he see's fit. No problem with that. We are fans, donators, etc. We are not INVESTORS. (Look it up) As such we have no rights, demands or have any expectations with what or when Tarol puts out his next page.

If we don't like how he is running his business then we, as consumers can boycott, tell others about our experiences etc. But we can't claim he owes us anything. Just like the girl who said she'd call but didn't. All you can really do is go out with another girl (or her best friend ) unless you are a >#^%!! and fell the need to call her incessantly and vent at her for not calling you. Cause yea, that is 'gonna' get you into her pants.

*girls may switch out he's and her's as needed.

As for movies I stop to watch on TV.... pretty much any action flick from the 80' to mid 90's. To funny seeing the differences in technology.

[Brassbaboon]

Part of the problem is what people are defining as "vitriol".

Criticism deserved is not "vitriol."

That is all.

[Chelsa121]

Chelsa121, the point that is being made here by those who have made comments critical of Thunt's behavior is not that Thunt "owes us something."

The point is that professional, and in the end, even basic CIVIL behavior is not based on what people OWE each other. It's based on fundamental recognition of core behavioral expectations, starting with "keep your word" and "own up to your responsibilities." That's where things have been coming up short.

My definition of civil behavior involves respecting people's rights to privacy and respecting that some obligations can and do trump professional ones. I'm trying to get across that maybe there's a very good reason or even a not so good reason, but a reason that Tarol hasn't been fulfilling what you seem to think are professional obligations.

Here's the thing: I want you to think of a circumstance in which you would find this behavior acceptable and even understandable, and now I want you to think about how you'd feel if that circumstance were yours, and people were pissed off because of something as relatively trivial as not meeting self-imposed deadlines for a work project or having an easy time telling everyone what was wrong. I don't want to make specific guesses, in case I'm accidentally right, but think of the worst possible things that could happen to someone with a family, be it health issues, tragedy, loss, illness, whatever.

In short, I'm asking you to exercise your imagination and empathy. People aren't perfect. Tarol isn't perfect. I'm not perfect, and neither are you. Try to keep in mind that Tarol isn't a machine that ate your quarter and didn't dispense your candy. He's a person. A real person, deserving of kindness and respect, especially if he's going through difficult times. And a CIVIL person would recognize that it is utterly disrespectful and even despicable to degrade someone who owes you nothing when they're having personal issues the type of which might cause someone to struggle writing even a simple explanation, no matter if they "promised" or not.

[SeeAMoose]

On a semi related note, we will be putting up a thread in the near future to discuss the forum rules and moderation. As we've done in the past we want to get some feedback from the community on how we're doing and the rules we adhere to as a community. I've been meaning to post it for about the past 2 weeks but hadn't found the time. Once this whole situation is resolved we'll put the thread up. Thanks again for being patient everyone, let's try to keep things civil

May I a sk what your definition of near future is? We have already learned that some people have different ideas on ehat soon means. Thank you.

I would like to put it up after this situation is resolved and things have cooled down just a little bit in the forum. I'm shooting for about a week or two after the comic is updating again and things have quieted down because I don't want the current insanity to take attention away from it. If things don't change soon though and current trends in forum behavior continue it could be sooner. I have most of the initial post finalized, I just don't want to put it up when the situation is still up in the air and the community considerably more hostile than usual. If you are still around the forum when we put it up you'll definitely see it because it'll be a global announcement.

TL;DR: It depends on when the comic starts back up but hopefully within a week or two of that.

Best,
Moose

Ninja'd by Wolfie. And Wolfie, thank you for that post that sums up everything I wanted to say better than I could possibly say it.

[Brassbaboon]

Chelsea, you simply don't get it.

There IS NO situation that I would find Thunt's behavior acceptably "professional." I've BEEN through hell in my life too, as most of us have. Thunt has had plenty of time and opportunity to have dealt with this professionally and he did not. That's just the reality.

You, and all his many fans can continue to cast those who do not share your hero worship as "uncivil".

I don't care. Reality is reality. Thunt's behavior is what it is. Your attempts to defend the behavior are mostly just amusing to me.

I'm outta here. I've had my say. Like I said, this comic long ago lost the entertainment value to be worth this sort of internet flame baiting. Maybe he'll come back and finish it, maybe not. I mostly am now just curious as to how Thunt is going to rationalize his behavior enough to satisfy himself, much less people like me. The fact that he hasn't been able to do so in a week speaks volumes to me.

[Wolfie]

brassbaboon and chelsea, if you are going to continue your argument/debate, please take it to PM.

Thank you.

[RedwoodElf]

Heck, if someone wants to argue about the meaning of "Soon", all they have to do is check out how long fans have been waiting for Half Life 2: Chapter 3.

Seriously, guys...get a grip.

[godzilla999666]

Thank you SeesAMoose for your answer. A weeke ir two is what I also consider the near future. Now I know we hat to expect, and we are on the same page.

[Chelsa121]

brassbaboon and chelsea, if you are going to continue your argument/debate, please take it to PM.

Thank you.

I think I've made my point. I'm sorry if I've caused you lot any trouble in doing so.

[Notquiteshiny]

planinarmani aka Overshot, this is your first official warning, creation of multiple accounts with the purpose of trolling is not allowed. following violations of the rules will result in regulated ability to post, then temp ban in increasing amounts of time, and lastly perma ban, this ban will be made on username as well as IP.[/mod]

Actually, planinarmani is my brother, we're accessing the webpage over the same router, and are in fact 2 different people with a very similar opinion. You shouldn't be so quick to judge/assume.

Ahehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe...

:3

[Brightnotshiny]

Ahehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe...

:3

Get out of here you twat ._.'

[Glemp]

Off Topic

Redwood Elf: I know that this is nitpicking but Half-Life 2, chapter 3 was Root Kanal.

[DrChops]

Just like everyone else, I'm frustrated by the delay, but purely because I wanna know so damn bad what the story is.

Beyond this, what I'm currently seeing on this topic is a general trend of people actually getting angry about it. This is bad and it is not normal. It is also not constructive. What do you really think is going to happen by talking bad about Thunt, the man that brings us something as amazing as Goblins for so many years now? If you push, and push, and push, and then he snaps, we may lose Goblins forever.

Time to relax. Someone come play some Dota 2 with me to kill time.

[Notquiteshiny]

*woosh*

[Aegis J Hyena]

Thunt tweeted again, apparenently he's written four versions of the blog, one giving no info the rest "making you want to punch me in the pancreas"

Either he's building up to an epic April Fool on the 1st with multiple story pages (doubtful from the teaser pic he posted given the pages in the background of the shot) or it's The Worst Possible Thing, although he goes that it seems like it's a "look at my problems, bigger than Sweetums the muppet" thing to him.