[karajorma]

Yes but when you go to the same webcomic 3 times a week and then complain about how bad it is, it's not cause you are a critic. It's cause you are a wanker. And a masochistic wanker at that!

[perihelion]

Yes but when you go to the same webcomic 3 times a week and then complain about how bad it is, it's not cause you are a critic. It's cause you are a wanker. And a masochistic wanker at that!

This.

[General Battuta]

Or because you get more genuine laughs and pleasure out of dissecting how bad it is than out of the content itself. It's like having five minutes of The Matrix Revolutions come out every week!

[perihelion]

   Sounds like a thin excuse to be a public jackass, to me.  But I guess I should expect no better.

[General Battuta]

Really? You've never enjoyed something like Mystery Science Theater 3000, where all they do is make fun of bad stuff?

[SpardaSon21]

MST3K doesn't have a blog devoted to ripping a single webcomic to shreds.  Focusing on just a single webcomic is petty in the grand scheme of things that need being dissected.

[perihelion]

MST3K teared down "movies" that really were that abominably bad.  This is XKCD.  Even on its worst days, I at least get a mild snort of amusement.  You are comparing XKCD (or at least the last few months / years of it) to The Matrix - Revolutions.  Come on.  Really.  There are plenty of worthy targets of all that bile and venom.

[General Battuta]

Ah, but there's actually a whole network of (webcomic)sucks! For example, Questionable Content gets savaged pretty regularly.

noobs gotta go read dresden codak and nedroids and DINOSAUR COMICS

MST3K teared down "movies" that really were that abominably bad.  This is XKCD.  Even on its worst days, I at least get a mild snort of amusement.  You are comparing XKCD (or at least the last few months / years of it) to The Matrix - Revolutions.  Come on.  Really.  There are plenty of worthy targets of all that bile and venom.

I don't care enough to have any bile and venom; I'm not really attached to the issue either way except as a conversation starter. But after four years of college I got to experience the pleasure of casually - casually, mind! - dismantling love for XKCD and turning it into disdain. They all came out Stronger (Wo)Men, better prepared to handle the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with sneering, sanctimonious contempt!

webcomic tastes differ in internet shocker! heated opinions expressed!

It does have a pretty good one now and again.

[perihelion]

It took you less than 3 minutes to come up with a rebuttal.  I find the "I don't really care" line 1) unconvincing and 2) disingenuous.  If you don't care, why are you even talking about it?  Are you just that pathologically bored?

[General Battuta]

Because it's fun to discuss things? XKCD is something a subset of people are very into, like Twilight or Call of Duty. Having opinions on the product isn't hard. It doesn't mean that everyone with an opinion on the topic defines their existence by it.

[Darius]

If you recommend Nedroid, you also must include Dr McNinja. They have very similar styles of humour 

[General Battuta]

Bear in mind that I do think the xkcdsucks blog is kind of overboard, although I totally get the motive to point out that XKCD basically runs on groupthink. But I agree with its general principle! And counterculture is the LIFE OF AMERICA

[CP5670]

xkcd is decent. I don't follow it regularly but check it once in a while. This one gave me a chuckle, even if it probably only makes sense to mathematicians.

[NGTM-1R]

MST3K teared down "movies" that really were that abominably bad.  This is XKCD.  Even on its worst days, I at least get a mild snort of amusement.  You are comparing XKCD (or at least the last few months / years of it) to The Matrix - Revolutions.  Come on.  Really.  There are plenty of worthy targets of all that bile and venom.

See, you're trying to come up with grades of badness. While arguably such things exist...oh **** that, who am I kidding, I cohabit with all kinds of atrocities on ff.net.

The point is, screwups are screwups. Magnitude varies but they're still screwups and deserve to be commented on. When they are created in a public venue, such as a webcomic, any attempt to deflect criticism of them is stupid at best. If you create public works then you must expect and be prepared for public criticism. It is the nature of the world.

[Mongoose]

As long as Randall keeps creating the occasional bit of magic like this, I'll remain sold.

[karajorma]

The point is, screwups are screwups. Magnitude varies but they're still screwups and deserve to be commented on. When they are created in a public venue, such as a webcomic, any attempt to deflect criticism of them is stupid at best. If you create public works then you must expect and be prepared for public criticism. It is the nature of the world.

Which is why we're allowed to call the creator of XKCDSucks a pathetic wanker.

http://xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/2010/10/comic-810-reddit.html

And a pathetic wanker who doesn't understand the concept of humour judging from that review. Could you imagine this guy posting 40 years ago?

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse we were treated to this example. Did Cleese really think we'd buy this bull****? What shopkeeper could possibly stay open with such poor customer service? Doesn't Cleese understand that there are all kinds of laws designed to protect the consumer from this kind of fraud? Why wouldn't he simply call up trading standards? Or at least mention them instead of going on about a rant about how the parrot is in fact dead.......

Sometimes I'm really glad the internet wasn't around earlier.

[General Battuta]

There are multiple posters there. I think his FAQ is actually pretty good too, check it out.

I think you think he's pathetic because you disagree with him. I think if he was writing about Twilight, or passages from Terry Brooks novels (both of which I've seen), can't you conceive of a situation in which you'd find this a hilarious and worthwhile pastime?

[Bearstrike]

I've always wondered, what was it that made the Matrix 2 and 3 so amazingly bad that it seems the world universally hates them?  I was kinda young to understand all the hate when it came out and I havn't seen it since (but seen the first one multiple times since, that is gold.)

[karajorma]

I think you think he's pathetic because you disagree with him. I think if he was writing about Twilight, or passages from Terry Brooks novels (both of which I've seen), you'd be all over him.

No. I think he's pathetic for the reasons I parodied him above. It's not simply that he's picked subject matter I happen to like.

[General Battuta]

Yeah, I disagree with that kind of in-depth dissection of the joke as impractical (no rly?), but I agree with a lot of his other general points.