Is there going to be more Warbot soon? No, so in the meantime: a critical perspective [Archive]

Corel

08-05-2009, 09:18 PM

I was re-reading this short story (http://data.antonindanek.cz/Harlan%20Ellison-I%20hav%20no%20Mouth%20and%20I%20must%20scream.pdf ) and the ending does kind of make me reflect if this is how Warbot spends every waking minute of his existance.

I think the less strips that exist, the less suffering Warbot has to meander his way through.

Magus

08-06-2009, 03:10 AM

It's not quite that bad. Unless it will eventualy be revealed there is a third-party omnipresent all-powerful being that personally goes out of its way to make Warbot as individually miserable as possible.

Although judging by what has happened so far if there is a God in the Warbot universe then the answer would seem to be "yes, there is."

Observer

08-09-2009, 10:43 PM

And the answer is the author and illustrator, and us, who egg them on. We are all complicit in Warbot's suffering.

Maybe Warbot should be given a cute puppy, a puppy with bring warm eyes that truly loves him. Then he attempts to pet it and crushes it to death.

DIDGIN

08-10-2009, 07:59 AM

MFD

08-10-2009, 03:00 PM

You know, having an omnipresent being orchestrating events to maximize Warbot's suffering is perhaps a kinder interpretation than the idea that Warbot just suffers.

Proof: There is no malevolent God orchestrating events in the Warbot universe, because that would mean someone is actually paying attention to him.

Zack Finfrock

08-10-2009, 04:59 PM

The next comic will be up soon!

EVILNess

08-12-2009, 07:09 AM

It's not quite that bad. Unless it will eventually be revealed there is a third-party omnipresent all-powerful being that personally goes out of its way to make Warbot as individually miserable as possible.

His name is Brian. He has cats.

bluestarultor

08-12-2009, 01:24 PM

I'm really wondering where the heck Warbot can go after attempted suicide. I mean, the entire thing is supposed to be Warbot's miserable life, and failing at suicide is about as low as you can go. That's gotta be the #1 worst thing ever, because it means you can't even die right.

At any rate, short of charging him for the road repair as per Brian's mom's suggestion, it should be better for him from this point forward, since he's already hit rock bottom and survived it, unless he's just going to attempt more, but you can't exactly make a lasting series out of failed suicide attempts. There are only so many ways to die, after all.

Nique

08-12-2009, 02:34 PM

A fall from the top could be interesting. A two parter wherein warbot get's a promotion randomly a'la Office Space. A continual fall further and further, exhaust-port backwards into success, only to have it all crash and burn in the next issue.

EDIT: Not sure if this came up already but pretty amusing;
Google ads is apparently encouraging us to hope for warbot's return with the same baited-breath anticipation as men like Kirk Cameron or, say, Nicholas Cage have for the rapture.

t_catt11

08-17-2009, 04:52 PM

Is it considered fluff posting for me to state here that I firmly believe that Warbot is genius?

Kurosen

08-17-2009, 09:00 PM

It's considered srating the obvious. Right up there with "Brian thinks too much of himself."

Nique

08-17-2009, 09:03 PM

It's considered srating the obvious. Right up there with "Brian thinks too much of himself."

Or "the guns in his avatar look incredibly phallic"

Mirai Gen

08-17-2009, 09:53 PM

It isn't his fault that the Tau want you to know just how proud they are of their (ahem) 'guns.'

EDIT: Also
The next comic will be up soon!
LIES

t_catt11

08-18-2009, 09:23 AM

So not fluff, but obvious.

Hey, you know what? I noticed this morning that grass was green...

meo

08-19-2009, 12:44 AM

The next comic will be up soon!

August 10

:shifty: I can only imagine the most recent comic is too horrifying to unleash into the world. That if anyone but you saw it, it would cement your damnation. Give us the pixels, Mr. Finfrock.

Kurosen

08-19-2009, 10:54 AM

Zack has been inundated with other responsibilities lately. I came up with the solution to delay-proof Warbot, but it will probably require me to get back home before it can be implemented. As you may have guessed, the plan is "Yell at Zack until he cries."

Invisible Queen

08-19-2009, 12:38 PM

So the next comic will be flavored by organic tears? Delicious.

Mirai Gen

08-19-2009, 01:06 PM

Making Zack cry to make Warbot?

That's...oddly appropriate.

Kurosen

08-19-2009, 03:46 PM

He cries while and after making, I figure this would be the next logical step.

Nique

08-19-2009, 03:51 PM

If someone is perpetually crying, there's no chance for that moment of insane clarity where they choose to end their own life. Keep him depressed forever and you'll really be saving him.

EDIT: Too much?

tshadowdrag

08-19-2009, 08:29 PM

Brian needs to inspire Zack as to how Red Mage was inspired if all it takes is crying (http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/08/23/episode-1028-the-beauty-of-nature/)

Warbot's misery just makes everyone else happy in the world, why not have him try what the emo kids do for an episode? That right there could be worth a few laughs.

Rejected Again

08-20-2009, 04:04 AM

It isn't his fault that the Tau want you to know just how proud they are of their (ahem) 'guns.'

This is my rifle, this is my gun. This ones for shooting, this ones for fun.

Also, Brians new plan needs to be implemented soon, maybe we should start on the forums. GOD DAMN IT FINFROCK, WHERES YOUR HEART? THE HEARTLESS MASSES WANT TO SEE MORE PUNISHMENT OF WARBOT![/end caps lock douche baggery]

t_catt11

08-20-2009, 09:37 AM

You must be referring to the whining and/or posting to LiveJournal. I don't see how Warbot can cut himself... isn't he some variety of titanium or tungsten? Then again, that might be funny to watch... in a twisted sort of way.

I think I just creeped myself out a bit. Back, foul subconscious!

Zack Finfrock

08-25-2009, 05:51 AM

I'm literally finishing the comic right now. It'll be up today (Tuesday) and this is the last time it'll take this long for a Warbot comic to update.

Megaman FTW

09-22-2009, 11:36 PM

I'm literally finishing the comic right now. It'll be up today (Tuesday) and this is the last time it'll take this long for a Warbot comic to update.

One month later...

Kurosen

09-23-2009, 12:52 AM

This time it's my fault.

Leper Messiah TR

09-23-2009, 07:56 AM

wow warbot is so bad and absolutely not funny, how can the creator of this nonsense and the glorious 8bit-theater be the same person!? :gonk::(

Megaman FTW

09-23-2009, 08:12 AM

You should ignore that troll's comment and get the hell to work on the next Warbot because he is extremely wrong.

Meister

09-23-2009, 10:41 AM

Oi. Don't call people trolls because they're voicing a different opinion.

Even though that could have happened more tactfully but compared to the stuff some people pulled in the past it was downright constructive.

rpgdemon

09-23-2009, 03:23 PM

Kurosen

09-23-2009, 03:25 PM

wow warbot is so bad and absolutely not funny, how can the creator of this nonsense and the glorious 8bit-theater be the same person!? :gonk::(
I'll be the first to admit Warbot is not for everyone. It's not bad, it's just not your thing. Nothing wrong with that.

Mirai Gen

09-23-2009, 03:28 PM

wow warbot is so bad and absolutely not funny, how can the creator of this nonsense and the glorious 8bit-theater be the same person!? :gonk::(

Wait, aren't you the guy who did that comic a while back styled after Burlew's opus?

Zack Finfrock

09-23-2009, 05:56 PM

Sooooooo, I'm currently waiting on Brian for the next script. But I can say from personal experience, Brian has been writing his ass off the last three weeks.

Just not on Warbot.

Kepor

09-23-2009, 06:15 PM

But I can say from personal experience, Brian has been writing his ass off the last three weeks.

...

Kurosen

09-23-2009, 06:21 PM

Yeah, the workaholic center of my brain blew a fuse last weekend. I'm still recovering from that and should be back on track soon.

Lost in Time

09-23-2009, 06:56 PM

It's almost like Brian doesn't like free time. What's up with that?

Mac

09-23-2009, 07:36 PM

I think this is the nicest thing Zack and Brian did for Warbot.

Mirai Gen

09-24-2009, 01:44 AM

Part of me wants to ask what could soak up so much writing time but than again I know it'd all be a mysterious answer anyway so I'll settle for accepting and waiting patiently.

Zack Finfrock

09-24-2009, 03:14 PM

I just got the new script.

D:

Lost in Time

09-24-2009, 04:40 PM

I don't know who's to blame more, Brian for thinking up these horrible scripts, or Zack for making them come to life?

Leper Messiah TR

09-29-2009, 03:54 AM

Wait, aren't you the guy who did that comic a while back styled after Burlew's opus?

what's that to do with that matter?

(PS: now it's being transformed into interactive fiction :))

8Bit is extremely! funny, Warbot is not funny at all - it just doesn't make any sense

Krylo

09-29-2009, 03:56 AM

I just got the new script.

D:
Get to work, slave monkey.

Warbot is not funny at all

You just don't get it.

Let it go.

Mirai Gen

09-29-2009, 04:02 AM

Warbot is not funny at all - it just doesn't make any sense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Archbio

09-29-2009, 04:05 AM

You just don't get it.

Well, obviously, if they think that "- it just doesn't make any sense", they don't get it. That doesn't necessarily reflect badly on their opinion, however.

Personally, I think I do get Warbot, but I also don't find it funny. So, whatevs.

Krylo

09-29-2009, 04:25 AM

Well, obviously, if they think that "- it just doesn't make any sense", they don't get it. That doesn't necessarily reflect badly on their opinion, however.

Personally, I think I do get Warbot, but I also don't find it funny. So, whatevs.

You make me sad.

But no, it's totally not for everyone--but making multiple posts about how it's not funny when people obviously think it is, is kinda silly, eh?

Archbio

09-29-2009, 05:13 AM

But no, it's totally not for everyone--but making multiple posts about how it's not funny when people obviously think it is, is kinda silly, eh?

Well, no. Other people finding it funny doesn't actually make expressing the contrary opinion more or less silly. As for the matter of making multiple posts just voicing the same bare opinion several times (without any particular variation, insight, elaboration or wit)... well that might be silly (I think it is) but that silliness has no relation to the negativeness (or positiveness) of that opinion. People repeat praise of equal or lesser value all the time.

You make me sad.

Performance art!

Viridis

09-29-2009, 08:43 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Also (Tropes!):
Butt Monkey (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey) (arguably the same as schadenfreude, but whatever) and the Woobie. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWoobie) Depends on if you see him sympathetically, only sticking around to see what horrible things Brian does to him comic after comic.

(And yes, a giant war machine woobie.)

Krylo

09-29-2009, 08:51 AM

Well, no. Other people finding it funny doesn't actually make expressing the contrary opinion more or less silly. As for the matter of making multiple posts just voicing the same bare opinion several times (without any particular variation, insight, elaboration or wit)... well that might be silly (I think it is) but that silliness has no relation to the negativeness (or positiveness) of that opinion. People repeat praise of equal or lesser value all the time.

I suppose what I find silly about it isn't simply the 'Warbot isn't funny' but the 'Warbot isn't funny' stated multiple times in a thread where people are asking more Warbot to be made, which makes it come off as if he wants there to not be Warbot, which IS silly.

I mean, if this were a "What do you think of Warbot" going in and saying "I don't like it and it's not funny and I don't get it because 8-bit theater is totally hilarious" would be one thing, but doing that in a thread which is mostly about people being like "Hey, Zack and Brian stop being lazy and put out more Warbot" just comes off in a totally different light.

Also: saying 'it's not funny' when people think it IS funny is, in and of itself, kinda silly--because 'it's not funny' is an absolutist statement which has been proven false in the absolutist sense, but I think we can all safely add the implied 'in my opinion' to the end of that and ignore the absolutism.

And it still makes me kinda sad that you get it and don't find it enjoyable. I mean, really, the plane crashing because Warbot was too heavy was just perfect schadenfreude. Everyone should like all the same things I do. Always. And nothing else.

Archbio

09-29-2009, 02:50 PM

I suppose what I find silly about it isn't simply the 'Warbot isn't funny' but the 'Warbot isn't funny' stated multiple times in a thread where people are asking more Warbot to be made, which makes it come off as if he wants there to not be Warbot, which IS silly.

That's absolutely right.

Also: saying 'it's not funny' when people think it IS funny is, in and of itself, kinda silly--because 'it's not funny' is an absolutist statement which has been proven false in the absolutist sense, but I think we can all safely add the implied 'in my opinion' to the end of that and ignore the absolutism.

I really don't think "funny" works that way. Saying "it's not funny, in my opinion" isn't making something implicit explicit, I think it's purely redundant. There's objective criticism of comedy, with comedic devices and the like, but I don't think that ever gives you an objective sense of funny.

When someone says "that's not funny", all they can say is "I'm not laughing." I know that people do say it like it was an objective fact, and that's technically wrong, but it doesn't really matter that it isn't. There's no higher level to aspire to in the scale of funny itself, on an individual basis. So I don't think it's right to say someone is proven wrong in saying "that's not funny," and the same goes with the reverse, which I think is often said but never remarked upon (which is probably normal, I guess.)

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 03:09 PM

I suppose what I find silly about it isn't simply the 'Warbot isn't funny' but the 'Warbot isn't funny' stated multiple times in a thread where people are asking more Warbot to be made, which makes it come off as if he wants there to not be Warbot, which IS silly.

It's technically off-topic I guess. Lemme look at the rest of the thread, I'll think about whether it crosses over into "worth it to bother enforcing" off-topic.

EDIT: It's not really stated "multiple times", he said it once and then defended his criticism. If he were all like 24/7 HATIN' WARBOT EVERY DAY that'd be kind of silly but he really ain't been and this is close enough to a "let's talk about Warbot while we wait for a new Warbot comic" that I don't see a need to stress about it.

Wait, aren't you the guy who did that comic a while back styled after Burlew's opus?

If writing terrible comics bars you from having opinions on which comics are terrible the ten million posts you've written about CAD would like a word.

Mirai Gen

09-29-2009, 03:28 PM

It wasn't necessarily that inasmuch as the whole defense of his comic via 'if you don't have anything nice to say/don't criticize me' which is meanwhile not applicable to Brian Clevinger.

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 03:31 PM

It wasn't necessarily that inasmuch as the whole defense of his comic via 'if you don't have anything nice to say/don't criticize me' which is meanwhile not applicable to Brian Clevinger.

Man okay yeah that is pretty lamecore.

Kurosen

09-29-2009, 03:38 PM

Mirai Gen

09-29-2009, 03:49 PM

Man okay yeah that is pretty lamecore.
I fully admit that it sounded pretty awful at first - looking back on you quoting me I was like "Woah holy shit, am I a hypocrite or what?" then realized I butchered the point.

NonCon

09-29-2009, 03:49 PM

on a website all about cheeseburgers.

I wouldn't even say that it's a website all about cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers just happen to have been on the menu the longest, and when you put something else there they assumed that, because you sold cheeseburgers, everything you sold would taste like a cheeseburger, and when it didn't they were upset.

Meister

09-29-2009, 03:50 PM

That analogy got away from me toward the end, but there's a point in there somewhere.
Step away from the keyboard and have some dinner already.

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 03:50 PM

The issue is that Warbot isn't meant to be funny. It's absurd and depressing. But many people find it funny because they like absurd, or depressing, or absurd and depressing things.

So, there's nothing at all wrong with not finding it funny, but the criticism kind of bugs me in the same way that no one complains about how a waffle tastes nothing like a cheeseburger. But maybe part of that is my fault for making the waffle in the shape of a cheeseburger on a website all about cheeseburgers.

That analogy got away from me toward the end, but there's a point in there somewhere.

It's sort of like that time my Pakistani relatives were all "Hey try this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon), it's a type of melon!"

Archbio

09-29-2009, 03:52 PM

So, there's nothing at all wrong with not finding it funny, but the criticism kind of bugs me[...]

I really don't see any reason why it would bug you anymore than the reverse, the praise about the strip being so damn funny (maybe it does, though, I'm not the bug police,) except for the simple fact that that one is criticism and the other one's praise. I mean if humour is foreign enough to the intent of the work that remarking mainly on its unfunniness is besides the point (and the analogy presents it as being stupidly beside the point), then remarking mainly on its funniness is just the same.

Or so it seems to me. But I think I'm just plain veering off-topic. Or rather veering Discussion.

NonCon

09-29-2009, 03:55 PM

I really don't see any reason why it would bug you anymore than the reverse, the praise about the strip being so damn funny, except for the simple fact that that one is criticism and the other one's praise. I mean if humour is foreign enough to the intent of the work that remarking mainly on its unfunniness is besides the point (and the analogy presents it as being stupidly beside the point), then remarking mainly on its funniness is just the same.

I always thought that humor was the intent of Warbot, it was just a very different kind of humor. I see it as horrible, soul-crushing events delivered in a hilarious way. Like how some shows try to be extremely over-the-top with their action, and it is delightfully silly (see Needless). I think Warbot is the same thing, only instead of seeing how much more over-the-top the action can get, you see how much more over-the-top the horrible events can get.

Kurosen

09-29-2009, 04:06 PM

I really don't see any reason why it would bug you anymore than the reverse, the praise about the strip being so damn funny (maybe it does, though, I'm not the bug police,) except for the simple fact that that one is criticism and the other one's praise.
If something I have helped to create makes someone else happy, even if for the "wrong" reason -- within a certain range -- I'm not going to complain about that person's happiness.

Archbio

09-29-2009, 04:15 PM

If something I have helped to create makes someone else happy, even if for the "wrong" reason -- within a certain range -- I'm not going to complain about that person's happiness.

Since the reverse isn't true: interpreting Warbot as a comedy and negatively criticizing it from there doesn't make one unhappy (or at least I hope not,) it's all good.

I'm more of a Death of the Author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author) type, myself, anyway.

NonCon

09-29-2009, 04:55 PM

I'm more of a Death of the Author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author) type, myself, anyway.

Yeah, but even if you believe that, I don't think an author can't separate themselves from how they see and interpret their work, so to them an interpretation that differs from theirs could be considered wrong, at least so much as any interpretation can be.

Krylo

09-29-2009, 05:01 PM

It's technically off-topic I guess. Lemme look at the rest of the thread, I'll think about whether it crosses over into "worth it to bother enforcing" off-topic. Yeah, well, I was mostly just arguing with archbio 'cause I was bored and it's fun, but then I got busy (AND STILL AM!) sooo yeah. I never meant to imply he had done anything wrong.
The issue is that Warbot isn't meant to be funny. It's absurd and depressing. But many people find it funny because they like absurd, or depressing, or absurd and depressing things.

Funny may be the wrong word, but the absurdity tends to make me chuckle, so there ya go.

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 05:57 PM

But I think I'm just plain veering off-topic. Or rather veering Discussion.

Or maybe you're veering... on-topic.

NonCon

09-29-2009, 06:02 PM

Is he veering the topic, or is the topic veering him?

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 06:06 PM

Am I a butterfly dreaming he is a man, or a man dreaming he is posting on webforums?!

Archbio

09-29-2009, 06:07 PM

My mind, it is blown.

Or has my blow been minded?

NonCon

09-29-2009, 06:30 PM

Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was Fifthfiend, banning hither and thither, to all intents and purposes Fifthfiend. I was conscious only of my misery as Fifthfiend, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was Fifthfiend, or whether I am now Fifthfiend, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and Fifthfiend there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.

Krylo

09-29-2009, 07:27 PM

My mind, it is blown.

Or has my blow been minded?

I don't know, but that second one sounds kinda dirty.

Kinda HOT and dirty.

Fifthfiend

09-29-2009, 07:45 PM

New comic progress >> critical perspective >> philosophic treatise >> cybersex orgy??

Bells

09-29-2009, 09:38 PM

The issue is that Warbot isn't meant to be funny. It's absurd and depressing. But many people find it funny because they like absurd, or depressing, or absurd and depressing things.

So, there's nothing at all wrong with not finding it funny, but the criticism kind of bugs me in the same way that no one complains about how a waffle tastes nothing like a cheeseburger. But maybe part of that is my fault for making the waffle in the shape of a cheeseburger on a website all about cheeseburgers.

That analogy got away from me toward the end, but there's a point in there somewhere.

So, you're kinda like Tobey Maguire whenever he is not doing a Spiderman movie...

I like Warbot, but i don't find it funny, but rather... amusing. So i don't really mind the delays because it's not like you ever came to us with a set date for updates...

Archbio

09-29-2009, 10:30 PM

I don't know, but that second one sounds kinda dirty.

Kinda HOT and dirty.

If I said that wasn't the intent, I'd be pulling a Ray Bradbury.

Mirai Gen

09-30-2009, 01:59 AM

New comic progress >> critical perspective >> philosophic treatise >> cybersex orgy??

Ideally this is how every thread would go if they remained unclosed.

Mac

09-30-2009, 04:33 PM

New comic progress >> critical perspective >> philosophic treatise >> cybersex orgy??

aka the typical (de)evolution of an NPF post.

Megaman FTW

10-02-2009, 04:14 PM

What the hell happened in this thread? It went like no posts for a month and then suddenly it somehow turned into WaR;CoL.

tshadowdrag

10-02-2009, 05:33 PM

What the hell happened in this thread? It went like no posts for a month and then suddenly it somehow turned into CoR;CoL.

Fixed it for you: it means Colors of Rust/Colors of Lust I think it was already up in the CoM/CoL page.

synkr0nized

10-03-2009, 05:05 PM

I'm not sure Warbot would be as funny** if it was just some guy in each panel instead of a very large killing machine in situations not expected of such a construction. So while I certainly get and appreciate the often-mentioned Schadenfreude, I don't see it as so much depressing [and thus funny] as straight-forward humor of a non-sequitur root.

**edit: In fact, I probably wouldn't read it then.

In any case, more please.