....wh...whuh? I didn't understand a lick of that.

. . .

What?

Yeah, Mechazeep, I understand. There are comics which just end or stop without notice and you kind of wish people would let their readers know before ending it. There are reasons this happens which are outside of the creators control. As much of a heartfelt topic this is for you, this might be better suited for the the Comic Discussion forum and not General Discussion.

Why do you hate punctuation?

I know what you mean. There are good comics with updating problems, and bad comics that keep on updating.

Well I must say that good and bad comics are relative to one's perception.

I said it because you don't use any. You don't seem to like grammar or spelling either.

From what I've gathered from our local moron interpretater's interpretation, your problem is called 'Sod's Law'. There is no cure, so just learn to deal with it,

I actually respect the guys that don't get a lot of attention, but keep on going any ways. Unlike really popular comics that only update once in a blue moon, these people drive to become good. To become better at what they do, and make the people that do watch them proud that they are reading a comic that isn't popular, but updates a lot.
Really good comics that don't update a lot, I lose a lot of respect to them. If I have to wait 4 months for a one page update, then whats the point of watching them? While on the other hand, I can watch someone who is a least trying to be good, and updates as much as possible?

Cheers.

On a slightly different but not entirely unrelated note, does anyone know why certain comics defect to Keenspot? Is there really any great advantage being there rather than here?

Mentioning no names, but I can think of three very good comics I was following only to find they then stopped updating here at DD in order to move to KS. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with KS and I certainly don't want to start a flame war between the two sites, but I'm genuinely interested as to why anyone would abandon an established fanbase, especially one as supportive as the DD community.

Any thoughts?

I know how it feels... there are a bunch of comics on my favorite list had stopped for some reason or it's updating so so slowly.

The creator might've lost interest, stopped being responisble, [insert any valuable reason], etc... It's not a big deal, there's always so many fish in the sea (however, you want to interpret this).

All it matters, even if the comic doesn't suit your taste and updating, the creator is still happy about it even theough, he/she is not getting too much readers. Some are so encuraged to go through the whole thing whether it's a story or strip but it's sure is good to keep on going.

Anyway, that's my opinion about the subject... it's depressing but shit does happen. The most you could do is enjoy them while they last.

Keenspot pays you for your page views. They share a percentage from their advertisers for every page view you receive. It's not a ton, but it's better than nada.

I love DD, but wouldn't it be nice to make at least some change for all your hard work? Hey, I'm not tryin' to sell it (I'm still here aren't I), but the temptation is a real pain to ignore.

Later,
Chip

my theory on why people stop doing their comics:

I noticed that people who have a high artistic ability, for the most part (there are exceptions though) are disorganized. lol I remember the old old "messy room" thread. Just looking at it could make me cringe because I would NEVER be that disorganized.

That is a result of the right side of the brain being more active. Therefore making them weak in the sense of thinking in a linear, organized thought pattern, which is necessary in creating a story. It has to be organized... and if theyre not getting any money for it why bother. So they get bored and do something else or do a repetition over and over again because theyre always not contented with the quality of the art.

Doing a long webcomic requires a certain amount of FOCUS. As well as the motivation to keep doing a comic. The motivation could be anything from the expression of personal thoughts... you know, when you cannot really express yourself to the people around you... to the political and religious motives or any combination of all kinds of motivations to do a comic.

As somebody with a history of doing long comics, I realized my initial motivation was a stress release because I had it hard back then and because of that I had the motivation to question reality.

But now its more like creating something like a library of past mind states that are echoed through my characters. In fragmented ways. No character of mine is the ultimate mouthpiece.

Because I love looking at the past so that I can draw lessons for the future.

Life is a learning experience.

wow they pay YOU!mabey i should change even though no one reads "when it come you try to hide".:<

Ah, but there are two sides to that! Sure, you get paid for pageviews, but once you get spotted, you need to close down any other area that your stuff is in. That includes, but is not limited to, mirror sites on DD, SmackJeeves, etc. even your OWN mirror site. Also, places like WOWIO, where you can get some cash from a different kind of audience. You really need to think of that kind of exclusivity before you enter in to a contract like that.

In short, Drunk Duck is not like Keenspot. Keenspot is made for exclusivity. If you want to compare, then Comic Genesis is what you should compare it to.

Now that said, I believe DD is the only place that doesn't limit your own forms of advertising. You can put up PW code, Google ads, or even your OWN ad code. As much as you want, too.

On that subject, your stuff is gorgeous. BOTH of you. You should be mirroring it wherever you can. And then drop in some PW code. You would essentially get paid for page views and not have to centralize your audience. Plus, you should get a Wowio account. :D

Yeah, I knew about the exclusivity requirement which is the main reason I haven't really considered KS an attractive option.

I must admit I didn't know there was payment involved but, for me (not that I've been asked!), it would have to be a significant amount to warrant granting them exclusivity. Anyway, that certainly answers my question. Thanks, guys.

That would explain why Sinfest fled FROM keenspot to its own domain. You can buy it in book form now.
I'm just guessing of course.

Comics will go where it's right for them. I have extreme loyalty to DD, but that's a personal thing, I don't care what anyone else does with their stuff.

Your work is your own little baby, your magnum opus (at least for the cool people here). You do what you think is best for it- whether that means decamping to Keenspot, being part of a collective, spamming it across a thousand hosts, going totally solo, whatever. Do the best you can for it and more power too you!

DD sponsored me at a WW convention for FREE!
I had never been to one. I am VERY thankful for that opportunity and as such find it very hard to consider leaving now.
Not to mention the joint projects I am on here with some other artists/authors and all the nice people and friends I have made here.

Though I do believe the topic is shifting, so um... on topic...

I hope my comic isn't one of those BAD ones that keeps on going strong you mention x_~;

Though I don't usually notice the ones I consider "bad" updating a lot... since I never check them out =p

im sorry for calling it bad people work hard for it so pleasex forgive what i said even though no one was well mabeye but im freakin sorry okay!

Coming from a mainly Comicgenesis background, it IS eye-opening how dedicated and supportive a fan base can become here, even if it's a fan base of (mainly) other DD webcomic creators. That's one reason when I and the creators of Dasien, Lightbringer, A.N.T. and one other superhero teambook will start a "team" book mid-month, we're both doing it on the Duck at http://www.drunkduck.com/crossoverlord, mirroring it at webcomicsnation at http://www.webcomicsnation.com/crossoverlord/ and hopefully mirror it on comicgenesis too. All have good features and all are supportive in various ways.

I'm considering whether to do a mirror site of MINDMISTRESS, my main comic, here. I guess I'll see how well CROSSOVERLORD does, which will prove as a good introduction to all the "solo" comics the team are composed of.