fredville asked late yesterday why the volume of comments seems to be down, given how many have said they love the Moon Maid story. Here are my thoughts on that:1) The number of daily comments is not necessarily indicative of how much the fans are enjoying the story. Yesterday’s strip was mostly summary information, necessary to the narrative flow but not likely to produce a high volume of “oh wow” comments. It seems to me the most important consideration is that overall, most people (not all but most) do seem to be loving this story, its pacing, the new information we’re getting every day, the art, etc. The plot continues to thicken and the Mysta-ry deepens, and I expect there will be some exciting installments and bigger post counts in days ahead.2) The trolls have generally been quiet during the last month, plus a few of our most prolific posters were banned shortly before this story began, and that’s reduced the numbers some. There’s definitely less bluster and brawling on the gocomics comment pages than there used to be, and that’s not a bad thing IMO.3) Last year during May 11-June 10, we were preparing for the Mr. Crime finale and averaging about 33 posts per day. During the same dates this year, all since the Moon Maid saga commenced, we’ve averaged about 53 comments per day. It adds up to a 57% increase in the volume of comments over a year ago, a pretty steep jump.4) The fact that it’s summer vacation time probably pulls the numbers down a bit, since more people are away from their computers.5) I notice the comment numbers are down since the Sparkle Zap, and I wonder if Mysta fans are depressed by that turn of events. There seems to be more pessimism these days about where this is all headed; e.g., that Mysta is probably evil and will ultimately be killed off. I know I’ve felt that way at times, even though ultimately I don’t believe it’s true.6) Finally (and I know some shy away from admitting this, but it’s true), Mysta creates a buzz whenever she rocks it out, and there hasn’t been much of that going on lately, for whatever reason. Mysta is the star of the show and has lots of visual appeal, and the fact that we’re seeing relatively little of her in her moon costume doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. For what it’s worth.
fredville asked late yesterday why the volume of comments seems to be down, given how many have said they love the Moon Maid story. Here are my thoughts on that:1) The number of daily comments is not necessarily indicative of how much the fans are enjoying the story. Yesterday’s strip was mostly summary information, necessary to the narrative flow but not likely to produce a high volume of “oh wow” comments. It seems to me the most important consideration is that overall, most people (not all but most) do seem to be loving this story, its pacing, the new information we’re getting every day, the art, etc. The plot continues to thicken and the Mysta-ry deepens, and I expect there will be some exciting installments and bigger post counts in days ahead.2) The trolls have generally been quiet during the last month, plus a few of our most prolific posters were banned shortly before this story began, and that’s reduced the numbers some. There’s definitely less bluster and brawling on the gocomics comment pages than there used to be, and that’s not a bad thing IMO.3) Last year during May 11-June 10, we were preparing for the Mr. Crime finale and averaging about 33 posts per day. During the same dates this year, all since the Moon Maid saga commenced, we’ve averaged about 53 comments per day. It adds up to a 57% increase in the volume of comments over a year ago, a pretty steep jump.4) The fact that it’s summer vacation time probably pulls the numbers down a bit, since more people are away from their computers.5) I notice the comment numbers are down since the Sparkle Zap, and I wonder if Mysta fans are depressed by that turn of events. There seems to be more pessimism these days about where this is all headed; e.g., that Mysta is probably evil and will ultimately be killed off. I know I’ve felt that way at times, even though ultimately I don’t believe it’s true.6) Finally (and I know some shy away from admitting this, but it’s true), Mysta creates a buzz whenever she rocks it out, and there hasn’t been much of that going on lately, for whatever reason. Mysta is the star of the show and has lots of visual appeal, and the fact that we’re seeing relatively little of her in her moon costume doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. For what it’s worth.