Further Explaination is needed....
First off, I would like to say I'm very surprised by the number of people who actually responded to my post. I'm warmed a little by the words of sympathy for my situation, however, they seem tinged with cruel assumptions of entitlement, or even questions about by sanity. As I have relearned most recently, you really can't rely on the good will of others. The past 24 hours has re-enforced that.
Was my tone harsh? Yes. Do I regret anything I said? No. Everything I said was the truth about my life and how I have felt about the course Girl Genius has taken. I firmly believe that the story has been in a rut for about the last two years, and I don't think we are getting out of it anytime soon. Personally, the excitment I once had waiting for new pages to update has waned considerably to the point now I really don't care if they update at all. That is why I don't comment as much as I used to. Sometimes I have to work hard to find anything interesting to comment on. I can surely say the magic of Girl Genius is gone, for me at least.
Do I believe that the Foglios owe me, or anyone for that matter, anything? No, absolutely not. On that same token, I don't owe the Foglios anything either. As it is their choice to write their story as they please. however, it is my choice to decide if it is even worth my time to read, and worth my money to buy anything from them. As I learned at the WSX this year, only 3% of the people who read the comic online actually buy anything from Studio Foglio. With margins that low, I don't think it is wise to disillusion the paying customers. But that is the Foglio's choice to make.
Another concern of mine is that I'm worried that I will not live to see the end of the comic at this rate. If we are over 10 years into the comic and only 1/3 of the way though the story, that means at least another 20 years to complete it. I will be into my sixties by then. While that doesn't seem too bad, it must come with the understanding that I am in poor health, and and it has become considerabily worse in the past year. While I don't wish to go into detail about my medical history, I will state I suffer from a condition identical to what my father had and he died in his sixties as well. So, I have to ask, why would I bother to emotionally involve myself in a comic I may never see the conclusion? It would just be a cruel ending to a wasted life.
One last thing,.... at the WSX this year, Kaja said something interesting that relates to what I have been saying - she said that she was sorry that the story was taking so long to tell. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the past 24 hours has got me thinking - I think the Fogios have spread themselves too thin, so to speak. Since they started writing the novels, the current story has suffered, I think. Doing too much at once can put a drain on one's creativity, and I think it has shown in the Foglio's work, which I think is a shame, but there isn't anything I can do about that. We all make choices in life and accept what happens in the aftermath. For me, I chose not to involve myself any longer with Girl Genius. It is not worth the effort anymore.
Was my tone harsh? Yes. Do I regret anything I said? No. Everything I said was the truth about my life and how I have felt about the course Girl Genius has taken. I firmly believe that the story has been in a rut for about the last two years, and I don't think we are getting out of it anytime soon. Personally, the excitment I once had waiting for new pages to update has waned considerably to the point now I really don't care if they update at all. That is why I don't comment as much as I used to. Sometimes I have to work hard to find anything interesting to comment on. I can surely say the magic of Girl Genius is gone, for me at least.
Do I believe that the Foglios owe me, or anyone for that matter, anything? No, absolutely not. On that same token, I don't owe the Foglios anything either. As it is their choice to write their story as they please. however, it is my choice to decide if it is even worth my time to read, and worth my money to buy anything from them. As I learned at the WSX this year, only 3% of the people who read the comic online actually buy anything from Studio Foglio. With margins that low, I don't think it is wise to disillusion the paying customers. But that is the Foglio's choice to make.
Another concern of mine is that I'm worried that I will not live to see the end of the comic at this rate. If we are over 10 years into the comic and only 1/3 of the way though the story, that means at least another 20 years to complete it. I will be into my sixties by then. While that doesn't seem too bad, it must come with the understanding that I am in poor health, and and it has become considerabily worse in the past year. While I don't wish to go into detail about my medical history, I will state I suffer from a condition identical to what my father had and he died in his sixties as well. So, I have to ask, why would I bother to emotionally involve myself in a comic I may never see the conclusion? It would just be a cruel ending to a wasted life.
One last thing,.... at the WSX this year, Kaja said something interesting that relates to what I have been saying - she said that she was sorry that the story was taking so long to tell. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the past 24 hours has got me thinking - I think the Fogios have spread themselves too thin, so to speak. Since they started writing the novels, the current story has suffered, I think. Doing too much at once can put a drain on one's creativity, and I think it has shown in the Foglio's work, which I think is a shame, but there isn't anything I can do about that. We all make choices in life and accept what happens in the aftermath. For me, I chose not to involve myself any longer with Girl Genius. It is not worth the effort anymore.