Before the previous board fell into an oblivion hole, we had a thread called "Popular Theories & Common Knowledge." It started off as a collection of links and general answers for newbies. It was started by Alavar, but I took what he had and what a few others added and reshaped it into an FAQ. Some of that stuff is no longer relevant, but much of it still seems useful. After much poking around, I managed to find a cached copy, so I'm bringing it back and updating it. Suggestions and additional information are more than welcome.
(Note: Spoiler tags won't allow certain punctuation, like question marks. I think it looks neater this way, so I'm going to try to work within those limits.)
1. What are those colored lights which appear when characters use magic?
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That's an Individual Magical Effect (IME). It's explained by
the comic on this page. Basically, it's a way to show magic visually in the comic. Every character has a color, and magic used by that character (whether an item or a spell) will always appear in that color. Spell casters have an image (Chief's crown, Big Ears's wall, etc.) which appears when a spell is being cast. The image is the same no matter what spell is being cast. The image becomes larger and more elaborate as the character levels up, and may evolve over time as the character grows and changes. It has no practical effect in terms of gaming/combat. It's just what it looks like when magic is being used. Further information can be found
at the Goblins Comic Wiki.
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2. Why do goblin eyes sometimes turn black?
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This happens during times of great emotion, particularly anger or stress. Usually in battle. It's been termed "willowing" by Danielle (Thunt's wife), after Willow Rosenberg, a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer whose eyes (in later seasons) turned black when summoning great power. Like the IME, this does not actually affect anything in gaming terms. It's just a cool visual effect. (You could say it's like natural sunglasses, or translucent eyelids, providing some minimal theoretical protection to the eyes. But it's just the equivalent of flavor text.)
3. I have a theory...
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Cool. Tossing around theories is a large part of what these forums were created for. Bearing that in mind, realize that there's already been talk about a lot of them. Before you post yours, look around to see if anyone else has posted something along similar lines or if there's an existing thread where it would fit. Also understand that many ideas have been put forth already on previous incarnations of this forum, so forum regulars may not be excited about retreading what, to them, is old ground.
Have a theory about Kore?
There's a thread for that.
Does Dies Horribly having willingly sacrificed his life to a demon count as having died horribly? We don't know. But
we can talk about it.
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4. Why X is happening now? Is it commentary on current events? Also, I've got a neat idea for a future comic...
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Thunt wrote the entire script for the comic before he started drawing. Nothing that happens, nothing that's said or done will change the story of the comic. This also means that Thunt knows the real answers to all of the questions about Kore and that Forgath prophecy and the significance of various names and so on and we can be confident that the comic will reveal them in time. Furthermore, elements of action, comedy, romance, etc. will arise and be left behind as befits the story.
5. What are the characters' stats?
6. Why is the comic update late again?
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Over the years that he's been working on the comic, Thunt's skill in drawing has steadily and dramatically increased. He's also improved the tools he works with.
The very first page of the comic points this out. Take a look at MinMax.
Here's his first appearance, back in 2005. Here he is in 2006. 2010. 2012.
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Unfortunately, that level of detail takes a lot of work. Thunt draws seven days a week, sometimes as much as 18 hours a day. He won't sacrifice quality, won't do less than his best. (He will sometimes post a mostly completed page and then update it later with "shading" - the finer texturing and detailing.)
So it's not that he's slacking off. Quite the contrary. He's working at an exhausting pace. He wants to keep the comic going. He wants it to be the best it can be. And the income from it is what supports his whole family.
7. What are some other cool threads to check out here on the forum?
8. What's the deal with the livestreams?
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Thunt sometimes draws live and chats with fans over on Twitch. Follow to get notifications when he goes live. Or check
Thunt's Twitter for announcements.
Not as often as he used to. He's also used a few other services in the past. (Legacy information below, in case we need it again.)
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That's
Thunt's Ustream channel. He often draws on camera for hours at a time and talks to people in chat. He uses a text-to-speech program to "listen" to the channel and responds out loud.
Unfortunately, the service Thunt used for that is no longer available. We'll see what works when he's ready to try again.
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Thunt has recently switched back to using
his Justin.tv channel rather than Ustream.
It's worth noting that Ustream's built-in chat can can cause problems on some computers. It's been known to develop a "memory leak," taking up a lot more of your computer's resources than it really needs. Luckily, you don't need to use it. You can instead
pop out the video and then connect to the chat via IRC. You'll need
an IRC client.
Server: c.ustream.tv (Command: /server c.ustream.tv )
Channel: #drawing-goblins (Command: /join #drawing-goblins )
You can do the same thing with the Justin.tv interface.
pop out the video and then sign in via irc.
Server: thunt_goblins.jtvirc.com/6667 or 199.9.251.210/6667
Channel: #thunt_goblins
Note, however, that Justin.tv (unlike ustream)
requires you to log in when you connect. You will not be able to even connect to the IRC server if you do not have a Justin.tv account and provide your login information up front. Justin.tv also does not support changing nicknames. Attempting to use the /nick command will get you booted off the server.
Need more help on how to set up an IRC client for the live chat?
There's a thread for that.
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9. How to search the forums.
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The forum has its own search engine (the box in the upper right corner), but you may find it less than helpful. You'll probably have better luck using Google. Just do a regular Google search but add site:goblinsforum.com to the end of your search term(s). For example, to search for posts and topics about goblin eyes, you'd go to Google.com (or set your browser's search box to Google) and search for:
goblin eyes site:goblinsforum.com
10. Other helpful links
11. Commonly used acronyms and terms
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FMK: Forgath, Minmax, and Kin.
GAP: Goblin Adventuring Party. The group of goblin adventurers consisting of Chief, Thaco, Big Ears, Complains of Names, and Fumbles.
IME: Individual Magical Effect. Explained in question 1 above.
MoM: Maze Of Many. The dungeon in which we see many versions of FMK parties.
Junior: The green being originally created by Klik to replace Dies Horribly's arm.
Psimax: The psionic version of Minmax who wants to consign the Maze of Many to oblivion.
AFAIK: As Far As I Know
ETA: Edited To Add. Denotes part of a post which was edited in at some later point.
IMO/IMHO: In My (Humble) Opinion.
OOC: Out Of Character. Something said by a player which is not directly said or done by that player's character in the game. And OOC thread is used for discussions relating to the game but not part of in-game events.
OTOH: On The Other Hand.
12. Other things to know before posting
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Please review
the forum rules.
Be aware that there are specific rules regarding starting a new thread to discuss the latest comic update. They are under the heading "
On new updates."
13. I am having trouble making a new topic
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In 99% of cases, this is simply because you have not made enough posts. In an effort to combat spammers, the admins set a base number of posts required to use certain features and access certain sections of the board. The good news? As soon as you make two posts you are good to go and will be able to start new topics. One common suggestion is to introduce yourself in the
Newcomers thread and then comment on one other topic. Now, if you have made at least 2 posts, are logged but still cannot post? Then you should contact the admins (either SeeAMoose or Wolfie).
14. The forum says I have been banned and I do not know why, or I cannot access the forum from certain devices.
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As a rule, when we ban someone, we make sure they know why and that they see it coming. The exception to that rule has been spam bots that use all kinds of spoofed IP addresses. It is possible for a user to have the same IP address as one of those bots. If this happens to you, please let SeeAMoose or Wolfie know immediately. They can be reached by email at
adminmoose@goblinsforum.com,
adminwolfie@goblinsforum.com or at
botwalter@gmail.com. They will be more than happy to assist you.
Any other questions? Anything you think should be added? Ask/suggest away!