When I began producing GU comics they were exclusively about EverQuest. As the game began to lose its grip on me, I moved onto other games. This was met by complaints and the bleeding off of some readers. When I didn't have time to play games because I was busy trying to hold down a job and keep the site up, people complained because the comics were about news and not gaming. When I returned to playing games and left the news behind they complained about that too.

Recently I moved away from gaming news again to play World of warcraft. Since I do comics about the games I play this had an immediate impact on the site's content. Now that there have been quite a few WoW-based comics people have begun complaining about that as well.

Over the years it seems no matter how far I push the boulder it never gets fully up the hill. And it's annoying. The one thing I've always been clear about is that I do comics to amuse myself. Since I'm the ONLY constant in the GU Comics equation, I have to. So, if other people read them and are amused, cool.

Every comic is not going to be for every person. It's virtually impossible for anyone to accomplish that. It's even harder for me to do it because I am NOT a writer. Remember, this comic started as a hobby, me occassionally illustrating humorous conversations I had with my guild mates in EQ. So, I've never claimed to be a writer.

That leaves me with one piece of commentary to bring this entry a close. And it's very simple. If you read the comics and don't like them, don't read them. Someone else will take your place. And if they don't... eventually I'll get to stop feeling obligated to update and go find a real job where I only have to draw.

Most of us with a certain prerequisite amount of maturity recognize that an artist's creation comes from the artist, not the viewers, and is shaped by the muse of that particular creator. One can either appreciate the art or not, but the end result is immutably the creation of its artist, and this has to be recognized and respected.

Some people, however, feel that they are somehow "entitled" to things, and arrogantly believe that the artist works for them. They believe that they are owed art that suits their desires, that the artist and his/her art somehow belong to them, and thus the art comes from them instead. After all, the artist is making the art for them, thus they are the muse. And oh holy CRAP do they go apes**t when the artist does something they don't like.

Despite how idiotic this sounds to a rational and mature person, there are honestly people out there who believe this. A good example I can give is the people who sent (and are still sending) R.A. Salvatore death threats after he killed off Chewbaca in one of the Star Wars novels. So, part of the problem is people like this.

The other part are the purveyors and practitioners of rampant asshattery who plague the internet. Anonymity, an audience, and their own insecurities and issues that they are overcompensating for combine to make them into someone who wears their own ass for a hat. These people are like rats (though I hereby apologize to rodents everywhere for the sullying of their name) in that they are everywhere, seeming to reproduce unchecked on the net. They do not feel entitled to art of their chosing, they simply feel the need to be monkey rectums to compensate for the reality of their own miserable existence.

In summation, the problem with people griping about artists changing their medium- whether it be Woody changing the topics he discusses, Hawk changing his art style to a more serious one, or Metalica suddenly deciding to do country music- is a mixed bag of nuts and rectums, and should generally be ignored.

That's just my opinion, anyway, I could be wrong.

I always lived by a saying...

"You can never please everybody"

Originally Posted by Breandan:

Some people, however, feel that they are somehow "entitled" to things, and arrogantly believe that the artist works for them.

I fill the same way. A artist creates something for the audience to enjoy not criticize. There are artists who draw mostly for people to criticize them but i doubt Woody would draw for that reason =P at least for his Gucomics....

But If I don't like a comic or it confuses me (which yes a couple have...I have mostly me to blame for it though) I will simply not reply to it.

For those who hate WOW or other of these comics or even think his comics are getting worst please don't complain till you try to draw a comics everyday. Good enough a general group of people will enjoy and come back for more. After you try that for a couple years your realizes Woodys been doing a awesome job.

I'm not pointing fingers to everyone except for me. Iv made my fair share of mistakes in posting. There might seem theres a lot of useless rules and don't think woody should delete posts and don't like when he says he needs no advice for something in his comic posts. Just believe me its better this way!

Good job Woody for the comics and sorry for the mistakes I will end up making on the forum in future posts! =P

Well criticism goes hand in hand with art. And I don't mind criticism when it's done correctly. But, too many people fail to learn when criticism is appropriate and what constitutes doing it correctly. They toss their opinion out there and assume it's criticism. It's not. It's an opinion. Criticism needs to be constructive to be truly valid. It needs to be informed and educated.

Non-constructive criticism isn't really my issue with GU right now though. The problem, it seems to me, is that GU has been around long enough that some readers have begun to feel like it is theirs. Because of this, they feel their opinion on the direction of the strip is somehow more valid than it actually is.

My personal opinion is I love reading GU comics even if I have no idea what it's about because you always give a short explanation about why you drew it. I've been lurking here for about 4 years now, and just recently went through and read every comic from start to finish(again). My favorites are the EQ and WoW ones (and that's only because I've only played them, not including a short time on EQ2). But I even the games I have never played I can see the humor in them even if I have do some research on them. The gaming news ones I like because I never go to gaming news site so I kind of use GU as news filter. One of my favorites is the minesweeper one http://www.gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=20060803 and I even enjoy the zapper comics. GU comics has always felt like a peek into Woody's brain rather than the place to read WoW or EQ comics. I enjoy the style of art and the humor in each comic. So, I personally hope that you stay amused enough to keep doing this for a few decades.

Thanks for Blogging.

I think a lot of the problem is, there are a few who are the very vocal minority in all aspects of society now a days. They still have the mentality that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, think of those whiney uber-guilds back in EQ that seemed to actually influence the direction the dev's went in (at least to me, they seemed to influence it, with the raid focused direction it went in).

I am sure there are many who read the comics everyday, yet never post. I was one of those for a really long time. Why? Because we appreciate your art and your humor. I know for myself, there have been comics that I did not understand. But what I love about the write ups are the links where I can learn about what influenced the comic, and almost always am able to get the joke afterwards. As well, there are a few games I have tried after reading a comic about it, just to see what was being referenced (DAoC being the one that comes to mind first).

Woody, you do this comic first and foremost to amuse yourself, but I must thank you for sharing them with the rest if us,

I've only recently started posting. I think I registered when I saw a post about EQ that I wanted to respond to recently. I played EQ for years, and I always love going back and reading the comics you did about EQ. I like all your comics really. Occasionally one leaves me scratching my head, but usually gets cleared up in the post.

I myself am what some consider "artist", though I don't think of it that way. I prefer Craftsman, since I am in school for Metalworking. Not long ago a teacher I didn't like saw one of my pieces and said he didn't like it. Frankly I didn't give a dead rat about what he had to say, he was always too subjective anyways. I only pay attention to constructive comments. Non-constructive comments like "I think it's bad" usually get a response like "brilliant! I am enlightened!" and then I walk away. Frankly, just ignore these people.

As far as the newer WoW comics go, I personally didn't enjoy the game and stopped at level 45. However, my girlfriend loves it and is level 70 etc, so often times she explains it. I still find the comics amusing, however, since on some level I can relate to them. Ok, I've started rambling. Long story short, Keep up the good work, because it is good, and funny.

I am on of those read every day but never (almost never) post. I don't care what the comics are about or which games they contain, I read them because i LIKE them. They are relevant, not overly fantastical and based on something that I can relate to or understand. No, they aren't always funny but i'm not here for hysterics.
This has been my homepage for several years now, I loved the site changes, and recently the 8am update was perfect for me. This is pretty much the only place I come for all my gaming news. I even click on the banners


DJ