Best of the Best: Order of the Stick

Remember when webcomics were a new thing? When upcoming artists filled creative niches in a bubbling cauldron of stories and gags? Well, that was 20-25 years ago. But some of these projects are still around, not new things anymore, but creations with a history.

The top spot of all of these in my heart belongs to the Order of the Stick. Started in 2003 and still going on in its last great story acrt over 1300 strips later, it is a story-driven, humourous comic about D&D 3.5. Which is the D&D I played most, but does date it a bit.

Starting as a lighthearted parody, it has since turned into a story about the fate of its world. Its compelling story, featuring a cast of awesome and deep characters including one of the best paladin depictions ever, has kept me enthralled for over two decades.

As the main comics are all available online, with only a few prequels and side stories gated behind print or Kickstarter projects, you are only one click away from joining the Order of the Stick's quest.

Stay epic,
Gilbert

Best of the Best: Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere

 Of the reading I did in recent years, the nerdy centre has been Brandon Sanderson's oevre. His fantasy-that-is-close-to-SciFi style and worldbuilding is not for everybody, but it has me in its grip.

While he came to wider attention with his Mistborn series and by finishing Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan's untimely death, I consider his Stormlight Archive series to be my favourite. It combines an alien world with great character development, and it is currently at the halfway point of five out of ten books. His original fantasy stories are all connected in a greater "Cosmere", which enriches reading depth. I have recently finishes reading the last story part of the Cosmere, and even with Sanderson's driven writing speed (we are talking about a guy who wrote four extra books during the pandemic) it leaves me wanting for more.

Stay epic!

Nerdy Recommendation: Chrontendo

One more thing to dust off the virtual shelf: Recommendations for stuff on the internet. Not very creative, but still interesting. I want to start with the YouTube channel Chrontendo, a project that not very surprisingly aims to create a chronology of all NES/Famicom games. Yes that includes lots of strange Japanese games. ;)
So far, there are 52 episodes online (as well as some other stuff like eight Chronsega episodes) and while the backlog to watch might be... huge, the release speed of new videos is low due to the necessary amount of research. This means catching up is actually possible!

I like this channel because it is the easiest way to get an overview over the whole NES catalogue in more than just some pictures. Maybe you are interested too?

Stay Epic!

Alert: Awesome Games Done Quick 2018 online!

A quick note as it is starting this evening: Awesome Games Done Quick, the biannual video game speedrunning event for a good cause has started again. If you are interested in these things, you might check out the stream.You can also look at the schedule here!

Stay Epic!